New Year's Resolution....

It is my New Year's resolution to be better at posting on this blog. I am going to aim for 3 per month. They may not be long posts- but that is my goal. I decided to start my resolution early so I can work up to it by January! :O) We just finished a busy couple of weeks with hosting Cousin's weekend 2009 and then Halloween. Cousin's weekend was an absolute blast. We had so much fun with all of the cousins. We started out the weekend on a Yacht sailing around San Francisco Bay. It was a beautiful day and we were all (including Natalie) enjoying the fresh air and sun and true to my family's style- nothing can ever go as planned.... the wind picked up, the boat started tilting, Candace started crying and Natalie started petting Candace's head. I had a death grip on Natalie and the boat railing and Candace had a death grip on me. Natalie was watching her with a look of confused concern and then started petting her head. It was pretty darn funny. So, once our captain figured out that it wasn't "fun" anymore, then he got us a little more leveled out and a discussion ensued in regards to sailing to a little bar in Sausalito for drinks and appetizers before returning to the car at about 8 ish. I said, No problem- as long as we're back at the car by 8 so Natalie can sleep on the way home. Riiiiiiiiiiight...... so we ended up leaving the bar at 8 and ooops! We're stuck because the tide went out. Try as we might, we can't get unstuck. So, we settle down to wait another 2 hours until Low Tide and then another couple of hours after that until it comes up again enough to get unstuck. Needless to say, we didn't leave the dock until 2:00am and after motoring around the Berkeley Shore looking for our marina (yep, our drunken captain couldn't find it) we finally got to the marina at 4:00 am and got back to the house at 6:00 am. Natalie was a trooper. She did sleep on the boat from about 9 till 4 am which I suppose is better than nothing. Whew- glad that's over... no more boat trips for us for a while. :O) We spent Saturday in Napa and went to Placerville wineries on Sunday with the cousins who didn't leave. What a wonderful weekend!!! (minus the boat drama) I was going to try to add some Halloween details, but that might have to wait until tomorrow night, I'm getting tired. AND that will give me my second November post! Enjoy the pics and I promise I'll post again soon!

getting settled.

Yes- we are working on getting settled. Painting, fixing toilets, fixing faucets... it seems to be never ending but is fun and eventually we will get it done. We had the first big storm of the winter this week. 40-60 mile per hour gusts of wind with continuous rain for 2-3 days. We ended up with 4 leaks in the roof... two in the garage and two in the house. I was freaking out, David said it's not that bad. We'll see.:O) Our contractors are suggesting putting additional tar paper and they think it will fix the problem. On a brighter note, we finished painting Natalie's room. It turned out really cute. I love the yellow color! Natalie is doing so well and learning so much at her new daycare. We were talking today and she showed me her ear, eye, mouth, nose, tummy, foot, hair and neck. What a smarty pants! lol! Here are new pics of Natalie's room and Natalie. Enjoy and we'll keep you posted

And we're in!!!

SO we did it, we made the move. Everything finally closed and fell in line and we are in our new home in Granite Bay, CA. So far things are going pretty well, although there have been a few bumps.:O) Like only one of three toilets working and the cleaning people not actually cleaning. But we're getting there. Most of the boxes have been unpacked, and the boxes that have not are waiting until we paint so I don't have to move things twice!. We have new windows now, the front deck has been ripped off as well as the giant stucco arch. The contractors have removed all the dryrot and bad boards and David cleaned out the front garden with the exception of the lime tree and the pomegranite bush/tree. The fron of the house is going to look very different when it's all said and done. I will post some before during and after photos for you all to see. We are doing well. It's nice being so close to work. We found a new daycare lady who we really, really like! She's great and Natalie is already learning so much from her as she runs her daycare like a little preschool. Natalie is imitating everything and is really into doing everything herself. Her latest is "all done mamma" or "not now". She is naming and labeling everything and wants to know what everything is. "Dat" she says pointing and then imitates the word you give her. Even after taking all my childhood development classes and learing what goes on, it's still amazing to see it in your own child. We are loving every second of her. She totally cracks me up. Lastly, I told you all I would keep you posted about the court date with her crazy daycare lady. It went ok at court, but we did just get the judgement and the judge says that we have to pay crazy lady $450.00. Bull sh** , but I guess he just looked at it as a straight contract dispute and basicly told us that we could pursue the other issues in a civil suit against her. We can always appeal. i'm not sure what we're going to do at this point. It makes me so mad I can't see straight when I think of having to give that woman one more cent of my money- but on the other hand, I don't really want to deal with her any longer and just want to move past it. We will see. Here are some new pics and sorry if they end up out of order:O) I can nnever remember just how to do it. Don't forget to check our other website, I finally uploaded some new pics to it!

Still waiting...

So just a quick update- We're STILL waiting to close on the house. It has just been one thing after the other to hold it up, although they say we're still on track. Other than that things are going ok- we have our court hearing on Wednesday of next week- wish us luck. The state licensing board sustantiated our complaint and fined her $800.00. LOL!!! I wish I would have been there to see it. Tomorrow Natalie and David will be heading to WA state to visit Grandma and Grandpa Sowle. The idea was that since I had to work, we would send Natalie with David to spend time with her Grandparents and I would be baby and husband free to paint and settle the house. Yeah right. Now since the house hasn't closed yet, I'm sitting home in a wreck of an apartment by myself for the weekend. I'm a little nervous about being away from Natalie. I have never been away from her over night before, and certainly not for 5 days and in another state. But... I couldn't let her pass up a chance to spend some quality time with her Grandparents, and I know they and David can handle it. (I'm just not sure that I can! :O)) At any rate, I will keep you all posted with the results of the hearing and whenever the heck we close and move.:O)

We're in the Nuthouse Now!

So..... I didn't think things could get any nuttier here, but I was totally wrong. Again I apologize for not updating sooner, it just seems life gets in the way:O) So where was I... Oh yes, that house that we bid on and lost that we were hoping would fall through for the other people...did!!! We don't have a closing date yet, but we have completed inspections and been talking to contractors for bids- Very exciting! We definitely will be busy with this new house as it is a "fixer-upper" but it has GREAT potential, is on an acre and is in a really good area. About the time we found out we got the house and now had a million things to do with that, we had to fire our daycare provider because she left Natalie with her 15 year old granddaughter and a neighbor while she ran errands. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid woman. There was literally smoke coming out of my ears. She did not end up coming back to her house before David and I decided to leave (we had been waiting to speak with her in person) which probably ended up being a good thing. To make a long story short, our contract with her that we had signed, stated that we would give her 4 weeks notice prior to terminating employment. But given that she was making poor decisions in regards to Natalie's care, we fired her immediately and called licensing and a child care legal hot line, as she was already calling and yelling about legal action if we did not pay for the month of August (the next four weeks). The lawyers said she's an idiot and that she breached her contract with us, by leaving Natalie with someone else, and licensing is investigating her because she has no one else listed on her license, therefore she broke the law when leaving Natalie with someone else. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid woman. We got served with legal paper last week. She is taking us to small claims court for $1,452.69. Not really sure how she came up with that number... We'll find out 9/9/09. Go Team Sowle. We are going to counter sue. and she has absolutely no chance, no leg to stand on so to speak. SO like I said- I didn't think things could get any nuttier, but I was totally wrong. David has been working from home most of the time to care for Natalie because I can't take any time off from my new job (which is going really well by the way, although busy cause it's full time and 30 min away) and then in the evenings we were getting bids, picking out windows, and interviewing daycare people. The good thing is, the bids are in and done, we have childcare lined up for two weeks and then we found a daycare place we really like in Granite Bay for once we move. Hopefully things are settling down for us once again.:O) Well I'm exhausted and need to go to bed, I hope you enjoy the pics I posted, and the little video at the end. Her new dance moves crack me up! LOL

Our New House (almost)
Kool Girlz (love the vest Uncle Randy and Aunt El)

Natalie and Addison during our MI trip

Natalie at Carol Park on the Camel

Visiting Great Grandma Luey

New Dance Moves. So Funny!!!

Sorry it's been so long...

Things have been crazy here in CA! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. We enjoyed celebrating Natalie's first birthday on her birthday with just the three of us and Maizie on her actual birthday. We tried a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles to see if she liked it any better than her cake in Wenatchee... She still went for the sprinkles and the preferred strawberries to cake! Things have changed a little bit for both David and I. David had a meeting with some big wig from his company who advised us to buy a house here because he see's good things in David's future with the company and want's to start having him try some different roles in the company. After talking about it with David and deciding that this move is going to be a little more permanant than we'd like, I decided to take a different job at an acute rehab hospital. I will be working full time again, but I know I will be enjoying it more and it will be a better fit for me. I put in my two weeks notice and start my new job on July 13th. Wish me luck! We also decided to expand our home search to single family homes. We just began looking at single family and found one we liked in a good neighborhood that was a forclosure. We got outbid, but there's still a chance it will fall through and we could get it, so keep your fingers crossed! Natalie is saying more and more everyday. Mary is here visiting and Natalie is enjoying her time with Grandma Mary. We are looking forward to our MI trip to see everyone and have some fun in Northport. We will keep you posted as we continue on our house hunt and of course with new pics of Natalie!

Birthday Kickoff!

It's Birthday time!!! Here are some initial photos from our Birthday Weekend. We are enjoying our time with Grandma Mary, Grandpa Scott and Uncle Nick and will be sad to head home tomorrow. Enjoy the few pictures, I will be posting more on Picasa when we get home. Oh yes- and Natalie is now saying her first words: She says mama and dada but her first word was "Maime" or Maizie! LOL! Pretty bad when your kids first word is the dogs name.:O) We were sure that's what she was saying when she called Mary and Scott's dog and Nick's dog AND the cat "Maime"! Pretty funny!

The Party Decor

First time with balloons

Got it!

Mama and Natalie

Let's get this party started!

Party Time!

Family Photo!


Birthday Girl and Uncle Nick

Time for presents!

Bows are her favorite part!
Lots of books for her birthday

All birthday'ed out- Naptime before cake

Gettin' Ready

Tasting the cake! SHe kept pointing to her fork- didn't want to use her fingers! LOL

First taste of ice cream- not too sure of the cold!

It's my birthday!



Yum!

She really liked the cake:O)

Clean up time:O)

Hope you all enjoyed the photos, we will be posting more photos to the picasa website hopefully this week! Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Weekend!