And The Winner Is...

Because I'm of "mature age" for carrying a baby, I took a genetics test at 10 weeks to screen for any abnormalities, like Down Syndrome and a host of those things. But the perk of this test is you also get to learn the gender much earlier than normal.

Since it's our last one, and the final grandchild for my parents, we had the family over for a simple gender reveal.

 Landon wanted a boy and Emerson wanted a girl. Josh and I didn't have a preference.

Emerson won.

We have a video of a not so happy Landon saying he still wants a boy. "NOT PINK. BLUE! BOY!"

This evens things out for my parents. 3 boys, 3 girls. Their final count.

Now accepting girl names please.

The Pros and Cons

Is anyone else excited that Game of Thrones finally won Best Drama and Claire Foy Best Lead Actress? Excellent. Also, Jessica and Justin nailed it. Amirite?

Sooooo, the answer to the Cliffhanger is finally out there. Josh and I are expecting #3! For the past year we have been casually talking about whether or not to have a third child. We made a pro and con list and the con side greatly outnumbered the pro side - not even close. And they weren't minor things - finances, private school, we are building a TINY HOUSE to live in for the rest of our lives, my health, my age, whether I could handle three. It goes on. But the heart wants what the heart wants so here we are, three months in. 

There was certainly a fear component related to my age. I'm 36. We cannot guarantee a healthy baby. The older we are, the more at risk the baby is for genetic abnormalities and not carrying to term. So this has also been a process of learning to practically trust in the Lord. Holding captive my thoughts and fears and making a way for God's sovereignty in our lives. 

Another negative was a year after Landon was born I got rid of all the baby stuff because who wants to go through all that again? So this child will surely be a third, wheeled out of the hospital in 2 year clothes and sleeping out of a box. It's okay though. Isn't that how babies sleep in most of the world? 

My doctor appointment buddy.

Thanks for all the love guys. We appreciate it. 

Pool House Update

The roof is being installed.  Yay.

Building a house is weird. Weird stuff happens. Like this email that our neighbor sent to our architect over his concerns about the height of our windows.

I bring this up because, well, we don’t wear many clothes (read: any) inside our house and yard and jacuzzi. We have tried to be respectful of your workers since they are there temporarily.  But in the future, your owner or future owners (who I guess the current owners may have to disclose to) may not enjoy 45+ guys not wearing any clothes in their view.  We are not particularly shy, so we don’t plan on putting clothes on in our yard or house in the future.

Um...okaaaay. If this was an insta story I'd poll whether this was a scare tactic or the alarming truth. What confuses me further is they seem normal - a dad, mom, and two boys..

Comfort me with your weird neighbor stories please.

A Public School Girl in a Private School World

Today I went to my first PA (parent association) meeting at school.

Coming from a public school background, I wasn't sure to expect. The only time I remember there being parents and a meeting is when I was chased home from school in middle school by a few girls who lived in the projects (that's low income housing for all you PS <private school> people).

And while I have a distain for public school, I also oddly have a sense of protectiveness about it. These are real people. Most of them good. Trying to do the best they can. With that said, I would grade my education as a 4 out of 10. Could one of my teachers have inspired me? Nurtured my interests? Taught me the multiplication table? Is that too much to ask?

Today my mouth literally dropped open when my daughters teacher told me she couldn't wait for school to start this morning.. combined with all the exclamations and excitement one could muster on a Monday morning. I'm usually good at reading people and she seemed pretty genuine. Geez, I don't think I ever felt that way any Monday for any job I held. You?

Anyway, all this to take us back to this casually well dressed PA mtg. My conclusion was that there are a lot of cum laude graduate school, non working moms putting all their energy into this school. Which is great! And also, can I cringe when the newest fundraiser idea is to gather gently used couture clothing/accessories for resale?

Yes, yes I can. 

My insta purge continues and with every unfollow I breathe easier. Quite liberating!

This weekend was full and wonderful.

And tomorrow we're back at school. Emerson is quite excited because she's staying a bit longer tomorrow to take a cooking class. (Have I mentioned I love this school?) I'm so relieved and thankful that she loves it and also that Josh and I love it. ha When we decided we were moving back Josh began an extensive search of all public/private/charters in LA. You should have seen his chart. And after all that only three satisfied our requirements. Then after touring all three, only one was left standing. 

In the back of my mind I wondered what we would do if this school didn't work out. 

Josh may have done the leg work but God directed our steps. 

And the same can be true in your life too..if you are deep in His Word and saturated by His Spirit. #preachingtomyself

Have a wonderful week.

The Big League

I'm in the midst of a major instagram purge. It was getting stale so I've unfollowed almost 300 people. lol I'm knocking off people left and right! Weird how I'm moving backwards but it feels good to not be in the loop and to do better at my own little loop.

E started school today. Big Day! She's 4 1/2 and going mornings for 5 days a week. 5 days! I wonder if this will be too much for her. And will it be too much for me? In the past two weeks we must have received at least 15 lengthly emails detailing, well, it seemed like everything about the school, including a bunch of homework for us. BIG LEAGUE. Time will tell. But I'm thankful that she had a nice first day. She was excited for school and a bit nervous but she had absolutely no problems leaving us. lol

Here are all the parents after the kids were taken into the class.


Her teacher sent us these pictures.

And some pictures of her before school. I can't stand how happy she is. 

The worst thing was having the dirtiest car ever and being the first in the carpool lane. I tried not to make eye contact with every. single. parent. as they drove by. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to get my car cleaned today so tomorrow will be more of the same. Do I dare not look again and potentially be labeled unfriendly or do I just own it, slap on the biggest grin you've ever seen, roll down the window and wave wildly to everyone pulling up? "Heeeeeeeeyyyy!"

Pool House Update

Our front door is in.