Blessed

I did not take 1 picture today, ridiculous isn't it? I was too busy stuffing my face and playing with nieces/nephews to take pictures I guess. So you are out of luck if you're looking for some cuteness. I do have pictures of Eleanora putting makeup on Bryce...but I will save those for another post.

Today I have been thinking a lot about how much I love our life right now. We are so blessed. A few months ago I wouldn't have been able to write this post, as we were pretty beaten down by life. Let's start from there....

Flash back to May, Bryce calls me early in the morning to tell me he's coming home from work b/c he was fired. WHAT??! We both cried. I was so scared! Thankfully we were living at my mom's at the time, so we had a roof over our heads no matter what (thanks mom!). He got a decent severance package which helped me to not panic, but with the economy it was very scary. People kept saying "Just wait, this will be a blessing in disguise" Yeah, right I thought. I could NOT see how losing our sole income would ever be a blessing to me. After a few months of unemployment, right when we were about to break down emotionally from the stress (I was talking about taking an overnight job somewhere because we NEEDED MONEY), Bryce got the job offer for a position he actually wanted.

He began his new job July 13th, at a pay cut but still decent, and the most important thing is that he went from dreading his job to LOVING going to work each day. He used to come home so stressed and worn down that it took a toll on all of us. Now he loves to talk about the neat things he gets to do at work, how much he loves management and how he sees a future there (rather than asking me every night when he could quit! Yikes!). Plus every channel on cable & high speed internet for free, can't beat that!

Then to our living situation...the three of us were living with Anne which as I said was a blessing at the time. But Eleanora was approaching her first birthday and we really needed our own space, but with Bryce's pay cut and the economy still in a free fall, was it a good idea to take on rent/mortgage? We couldn't justify it to ourselves no matter how hard we tried. Then one day I saw a listing for a Resident Manager team needed and in return you get free rent and utilities on a 2 bedroom apartment. I emailed about it and convinced the woman that although we had no experience, we were awesome :) She fell for it and wanted to interview us. One major problem, no dogs allowed. Now most of you know Bryce is madly in love with Kirby. I thought to myself "well damn, that would have been perfect, oh well". Then to my surprise Anne volunteered to be Kirby's foster mom if we got the job! Then to my even greater surprise Bryce agreed to leave Kirby with Anne! So we rocked our interviews and got the job!

We love our job as managers! It requires one of the two people be home part of each day to take phone calls/do paper work/show apartments, etc. It allows me to stay at home with Eleanora and still contribute financially. Our management is made up of amazing people, too. Plus we've lucked out with some great residents! Just tonight, we had put out a Happy Thanksgiving sign with a bowl full of Andes Chocolate mints on the mailbox landing and a resident left a note that said "We are thankful for such great Resident Managers! You guys are so sweet to leave treats for us. Thank you! Love the Residents" and I almost cried! We had left out Halloween candy, too. It's nice to know they appreciate us. Plus, there is a direct bus (no transfers) from right outside our building to Bryce's work, so we are able to make it just fine with one car.

Then it just so happened that a good friend of mine was in a need of a very part time nanny to watch her kids on a varying schedule and was having trouble finding someone that she trusted that was ok with different days and hours each week. That was perfect for me! So Eleanora and I go over there 1-2 days a week (sometimes none, it all depends) and I bring in some extra money while still being able to care for Nora. I love her kids and have a great time watching Nora learn to play nicely with others!

Seriously in a matter of months we went from being so overwhelmed with the future to beyond happy! Bryce loves his job, I love my job, we both love our apartment and our daughter is the light of our lives. I never thought that I would say Bryce being let go would be a blessing, but it so so so so was!

So, this Thanksgiving I am thankful to Uline for firing Bryce. Weird, huh? But it was a great blessing.

I am of course also thankful for our wonderful daughter that makes us such proud parents everyday, my amazing husband who adores me, and our health.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, you deserve a medal if you made it through this long post!

The countdown to Christmas begins!!!

Darlin' Do Not Fear - Brett Dennen

Pictures from playing outside the apartment today, enjoy!

Silence - Eleanora is napping and I'd like to keep it that way

We had a crazy birthday week for Bryce. Sunday night: dinner with my dad. Monday night: dinner with Bryce's mom, Nisa, Ben and Keaton. Wednesday night: dinner with my mom, Chris & Amy and the boys. Last night: dinner with Gary and Joann. Whew. That's a lot of family for one week! Add in Friday night's surprise bday party for Auntie Mary and you could say we OD'ed on family this week, maybe we should take a hiatus :) Just kidding.

Because Anne says I don't post enough of the boys, here's Trav with Grandma on Wednesday,



Add in Carsten and their jammies, (and baby Abagail)



Now that Anne has some pics to show her co-workers, the following are all pics from today!

First, a picture that you can finally see Nora's top tooth in! Isn't it cute?



Then I thought I should take pictures of the apartment now that we've moved in. Most of you blog readers haven't been here yet, so here's a tour of our place (see before pictures here)

Living room



Dining area I guess,



Kitchen,



Bathroom,



Our room,



The other side of our room, still in the midst of figuring out how to organize this side. As you can see, Eleanora is crying to be let up on the bed. She loves to be on our bed. Saturday and Sunday mornings one of us goes and gets her when she wakes up and brings her into our bed to lay with us and watch an episode of Barney, so it's a favorite place of hers.



So I let her up, along with the book she was carrying,





Then off to her room, notice the play house she recently got (a score off craiglist for $25, retails for $80)



This is her "I'm about to throw a tantrum b/c you told me no" face. I think I was telling her she couldn't play with my camera.




This is how we usually find her when we realize she's been awfully quiet and been playing in her room by herself for a long time, always sitting reading a book to herself,



Then I realized I never shared with you readers Eleanora's dresser transformation. Here is the "before" dresser that has been in my room since forever. Once we heard we were moving for sure, I decided Eleanora needed a dresser for her nice new big room, but the one we owned was pretty beat up,





So after sanding, a couple coats of nice bright white paint and new hardware here is the "after",







Here's Eleanora reading corner, it is impossible for this girl to take just one book off the shelf,





So here's her whole room, the play side,



The sleep/changing side,



So there's our place, still a work in progress. We've still got some things to put up on the walls, organizing and re-arranging of furniture, but it feels like home to us!

One last picture of Eleanora, if you say "Oh man!" this is what she does,

On and On - Jack Johnson

This lady's hair length is getting so frustrating! It's in her face ALL. THE. TIME. It's not long enough to tuck behind her ears, far from it in fact. Clippy bows are my first defense, but she usually rips them out once she realizes it's there. I am determined to not cut bangs. So some days it comes to this so I can see her sweet face,








Also, Eleanora is enjoying sitting on the potty. The way our apartment is set up leaves little privacy. Our bathroom is like a Jack n Jill bath, except that's the only way to get to Nora's room - thru the bathroom. So if you are in the bathroom, you quickly have an audience! Which is why this girl loves brushing her teeth, putting on mommy's make up, washing her hands and putting on lotion. We decided to go with her curiosity and she LOVES potty time. And the more acquainted she is with the potty and less intimated the better!