Thursday, July 08, 2010

BIG changes!

So I've taken quite a break from blogging lately. Usually this wouldn't be such a bad thing - so the world misses out on the happenings of Harrison for a couple of months. But SO much has happened in our family lately that I could no longer deny the need for a blog update.

Lets start with the most important news first: I discovered today that Harrison has his first freckle! (Clearly, this picture is not of Harrison) His freckle is so tiny and light that it wouldn't even begin to show up in a picture, but as a very experienced wearer of freckles, I'm confident in my diagnosis.


It is adorable, but it does foreshadow his future as a redhead. May he be blessed with the cute sprinkling of freckles his Uncle Lance had as a child, and not cursed as his mother is with polka-dotted skin.


Next news: Harrison is getting a little brother!! I have been so remiss in blogging that I am pregnant, it is embarrassing! I think I put something on Facebook a couple months back, but I never got around to making it blog-official. The baby is due on November 21st, a few weeks after Harrison turns two. I haven't taken any real pregnancy shots, so here's a pic of the actual guy!


Pretty handsome profile, right? This picture is from a couple of months ago (shame on me, I know!) He hasn't had any ultrasound pictures since then turn out better than this one. For all of our sakes, I hope he hasn't already hit his peak of good looks, at 13 weeks. Poor guy! The baby (who I've already named in my head but Byron has forbidden me to call him by that name aloud, since he's not yet won over) has passed all of his tests with flying colors and is doing great!! We're more than halfway there!
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Harrison is very excited about his baby brother (at least we think he is). He touches my stomach and says "baby brother," which I absolutely love. However, I have also seen him point towards older men with potbellies and his own protruding stomach and say "baby brother," so we may not be making quite as much progress as we think we are. He may now just think "baby brother" is another way of saying "fat."


Third news: WE ARE MOVING! After living in LA for the past seven years (8+ for Byron) we are finally dragging ourselves away. Byron is transferring to Vegas with his job and he starts there on July 19th. Wow. 10 more days left in LA.


This has been a possibility for some time now and I've been enchanted with the thought of buying a house and living near his family (voluntary babysitters!!!). But now that it is actually happening it is so much more bittersweet than I expected.


I moved to LA seven years ago, a fresh-faced 22 year old moving to a big city alone, about to start graduate school. Since I've lived in LA, I've made so many awesome friends, met/dated/broke up with my future-husband, finished grad school, dated/married my husband, worked in my field for years, got my professional license, had a beautiful baby and watched him grow into a toddler and now am on my way to having our second baby. Many of my biggest moments in life have happened while I've been living in LA, and it is much harder to leave than I expected. We are going to miss our friends and our home so much! Of course, by "home" I'm speaking figuratively, since we will not miss apartment living, but we will miss the beautiful weather, knowing all of the best places to eat, bumping into friends in random places and the familiarity and comfort of living somewhere for so long.

I just have to remind myself of the wonderful things to come. I'm sure Harrison is going to enjoy all of the swimming to survive the hot summers (still not sure how I'M going to survive them...)



We had a trial run this weekend, and I think it was a success!

We are going to love living by Byron's family. Harrison LOVES his grandparents, aunts and uncles and is never happier than when he is playing with his cousins (and their dogs). Harrison has six cousins living in Henderson and they make him SO happy!


It will be SO fun to buy a house (just look how appealing my realtor/sister-in-law can make a closet look!!)


And of course I'm excited about missing out of some of LA's less appealing features, such as the traffic and the cost of living. I will not miss paying for parking at the post office, the library, the doctor's office and everywhere else you can imagine!
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Besides all of our friends, I will miss the weather in LA most of all. That may also be because my greatest fear in moving to Vegas is: the weather. I figure I'm approaching the weather with a "band-aid style" mentality. If I do it all at once, the pain will be intense but it will never be that bad again. So, I'm moving to Las Vegas in JULY, while pregnant.
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My test run this weekend confirmed that the heat was all that I had feared it would be (my in-laws may have some concerns that I am prone to hermithood, as my basic survival instinct is to stay indoors at all times when the sun is up.) In my defense, it really is HOT there. Harrison had never said the word "hot" before, but the first time I put him in his car seat after the car had been sitting outside in the sun, he put on a very sad face and said "HOT." (It was 120 degrees on the car's temp guage at that time.) After this weekend, "hot" may have moved to the top of his most-used list of words.
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Now that we are back in LA until next weekend, we are enjoying it to it's fullest!! LA welcomed me back into it's open arms with a temperature of 67 degrees and the delightful marine layer blocking the sun - I could not have been happier!! Harrison and I are taking advantage of wearing pants (and maybe even sweatshirts!) for the last few times until possibly October. We are playing the delicate balancing game of trying to eat all the food out of our freezer and pantry so we don't have to move it, while still hitting all of our favorite restaurants in LA one last time. It is a delicious challenge.
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We will be spending most of our time outside, enjoying the weather while simultaneously soaking and storing the vitamin D for our indoor days ahead, hitting the beach, attempting to see all of our friends one last time, trying to fit in Disneyland, and I'll be getting one last cheap LA pedicure.
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Then: Goodbye, Los Angeles. Las Vegas, here we come.


One last final note: I distinctly remember telling Byron on one of our first dates, after learning that he was from Vegas, that I would NEVER live in Las Vegas. Hmmm, life has a funny way of proving you wrong and making your husband think that he can always have his way.

15 comments:

David said...

Congrats and Congrats. That's exciting for Harrison to have a little bro. And Congrats on the move to Vegas. I'd heard of Byron's transfer and I hope it works out well for your whole family.

David

Carmen said...

I am SO glad you are finally blog official! I wish I would be here for the new secret named baby, but now that you are going to be in Vegas year round I am hoping you will be making more regular treks to Utah and MAYBE we will run into you on one of our trips home. Your post was AWESOME and I can totally relate. Leaving Californa was harder than I ever imagined, life changed a lot for us there! But the hardest thing about moving from California truly is the weather, HOT or COLD. But, life will bring with it new surprises and excitement! BTW, I am pretty sure the fact that you are now moving to the place that you said you NEVER would just proves my point about your "humbling experience"...LOL! Love ya tonz. I hope to see you soon, since it may be a while before the next time:(

Brit Warner said...

Oh it is so sad! You guys are going to be gone too soon! And that is awesome that that picture is of a closet... I am still in apartment mode and I was sure that was a nice looking kitchen! I am excited to see what your new home will look like!

Tricky Nicky said...

Wow! That's a lot of information in one blog post! I'm so happy about the little baby! I'm sure he'll be adorable, just like his parents and big brother! Vegas is hot, but it's not even a day's drive from LA, so on long weekends- you can still go to Disneyland! AND- it's closer to me!!! Looks like you guys are doing great! Keep me posted on everything and maybe I'll come visit you, when it's cooler-of course! XOXO

Caroline said...

congratulations, Kim! I'm so happy for you on all accounts! But we will miss you! I hope you get an awesome and HUGE house with a garage and a backyard and a pool and a walk-in closet and lots of storage space!

About us said...

Kim!! Wow! Wow! Wow! So many changes! First, congratulations on the little baby!!! And YES, he is handsome already!! And congrats on Vegas!! All my extended family lives there, and they love it!!! We go there often to visit fam, so who knows, maybe we'll run into you guys there! I wish you all the best in finding a place, and in the move . . . Leaving LA is tough, but you are absolutely right, wonderful things are to come :) Congrats honey :) So fun!

Sarah said...

Kim, that was quite the exciting and official blog post. I need to hear all the Vegas details. Let's chat soon.

Jennefer said...

Hooray for the new baby!! Keep us posted on the freckle status. Oh and the new little one. :)

Maxine Parrish said...

Whoopie! I had heard both bits of news through the grape vine and am happy to see it straight from your, uh, fingers? Anyway, we're excited for you guys and I'm sorry we never got a chance to have any play dates. Good luck with your second baby and keep your blog stalkers posted as things progress! :)

Kim said...

i love reading your writing. there is something so inviting about it! oh how missed you'll be, and not just in primary. :) but we are so happy for you!!

Matt "Hacksaw" said...

It will be a fine and exciting adventure for you guys and I can just see you in ten years complaining about leaving Las Vegas, sorry I won't be able to visit you as often, but I will still visit you.

Lorie said...

Congrats on the boy! That is so fun that Harrison will have a little brother to play with. Hopefully, they will be best buds! I'm so sad that you're moving, but so happy for you! We would love to see you before you leave, but I can't imagine how busy you must be now. If you guys have a going away thing or are bored :) let us know. We would love to say goodbye!

Brian, Emily, Charlie, and Lucy said...

Um, I already knew about the move and I still teared up while reading about it. Darn this whole "life moves on" thing.

Karina & John Calderwood said...

CONGRATS ALL AROUND!!!! I STILl miss LA weather and cheap pedicures after being out of state for 5 years. Sigh. What an adventure for you all!!! CONGRATS!

Sara said...

I am already thinking of how fun it will be to visit! Good luck getting it all together. Moving is a lot of work!