Yes, so...have I mentioned yet how much I love my new camera? These are the flowers that were in a little vase on the table at my brother's birthday dinner (we went to Greens in SF--I highly recommend it). And here is a pic of my handsome brother on his bday.
Speaking of SF...my dad's side of the family had a family reunion of sorts last month at his cousin's house in SF. My grandma's cousin from Sweden came with his wife for a visit & every family member in CA who was able gathered to meet them. I loved it. I felt as though it might've been my only opportunity to meet my Swedish relatives (plus, I admit, I wanted to make friends with them in case we ever get to go to Sweden in the future & need tour guides). They were such warm & friendly people...and they loved our girls (our oldest is the most Swedish looking in our family!). The Swedes are the older couple standing next to my dad.

We had more adventures last month, too:

• Erika invited the girls to 'Kids to Work Day' at ebay & I got to tag along. Our oldest got a rainbow painted on her face.

• We went to Wallace to celebrate Halverson birthdays. Our youngest got to see her buddy Scott, D helped put out a fire (he's wearing the red shirt in the pic) & our oldest played with Nana.

Can't wait to see what happens in May!!

Learning

I sat down at the computer today fully intending to post an update on life at our home, but quickly became distracted by email. Now, an hour later, I have things to do & places to be. So, once again, this will be a quick one. I swear, one day soon I'll devote more time to this.

1: D got a job with Q & A Research as their Client Services Manager. He started on the 14th.

2: The girls both have colds. Those of you who are moms can imagine what their "sick days" are like for me! Poor things just can't breathe & it annoys them both. Me, too, when I am up all night alternating between their bedrooms to soothe them back to sleep. Yikes!

3: Recently I felt the Holy Spirit's prompting to memorize more scripture. I'm currently working on James 1.

4: D went surfing last weekend! He still fits into the wet I bought him when we were dating. Stinker.

5: I had a friend from Arizona visit the other day & she asked how I'm doing with two kids. My response? I'm learning. Some days I feel like I have it all together & know what I'm doing. The house is clean & so are the girls, dinner is ready when Dave gets home from work. Other days I feel like I have NO IDEA what in the world is going on. I'm overwhelmed by the floors that need to be mopped & suffocated by the amount of laundry that needs to be done. Horray for the strength of the Lord. I don't know what state I'd be in if it weren't for God's grace & provision.

Okay. that's all I have time for. more later. promise.

An Interview

D had an interview last Friday. He's supposed to have a second (phone) interview tomorrow. It looks promising!
P.S. The baby's been sleeping through the night (7 hours) for almost a month!

Updates (some good, some not-so-good)

An update for the last blog posted:
D got his paycheck (with some adjustment made to his w-4 dependents) on the last day of the month. We also received our California State tax refund in our account that day. The next business day our mortgage was deducted from our bank account. With the paycheck & refund we were able to make our mortgage and rent payments! Thank you, God!

An update since:
D got laid off today. His company's been laying people off at branches
country-wide, but we never expected he'd be one of those lay-offs! With the housing industry doing so horrible, the relocation/moving business is directly negatively affected. They gave him one month's pay as part of a severance package. We'll have our medical coverage until the end of the month, then we'll have to pay for cobra. However, his company will reimburse us for the cobra for three months. I'm in shock. I think he's actually dealing with it better than I am
(I tend to be the one in our marriage to stress out about life). He's going to start looking for jobs tonight as he only has a month to find one!
Please pray for him to land a job quickly--one that won't leave us
financially stretched from month to month. And please pray for me to
stop stressing out and fully trust that God is still in control (I
know it in my heart, but in my head I'm freaking out).

Unexpected Twists in the Plot

So...Monday afternoon we received a letter from our mortgage company stating our home equity line of credit has been suspended because of the significant decline in the value of our property!
We began renting out our house last December for less than the total of our mortgage. We refinanced the house a year ago and had money in our heloc when we moved to CV. We've been pulling the extra $ we needed for the mortgage from that line on a monthly basis. And now we'll be short that money because we're no longer allowed to access it.
Please pray for us as we are unsure of where that extra money will come from each month.
D was told he wouldn't be receiving a raise this year because no one in that branch of the company is receiving one while they're trying to improve it. So...we have a lot of questions and several options to explore.
God has always provided for us. We believe He will continue to do so. We are also human in that our "freak-out" mechanisms are currently working at defcon 1! Pray that our faith in God's provision will not falter in this time of indeterminate direction for our family.

Our Girls

I was fortunate enough to capture a beautiful but rare moment on film last week. My two little girls cuddling on the couch.
Big sister's still doing well adjusting to her big sister status. That's not to say she doesn't have her not-so-excited-about-this-baby moments...she's asked the baby to stop crying, asked me if the baby can go back in my tummy, etc.
I think the baby has developed some colic. She has episodes of crying for seemingly no reason almost daily (okay, nightly--usually between 5 & 10pm). Our oldest was like that, too, when she was a baby. Thankfully, we've been reassured this will only last a couple of months. We can get through this.
I'm learning to be mommy to TWO children. It's tough! I'm thankful for preschool and gymnastics. Without those things to keep our oldest busy I think we'd all be going out of our minds!
I thank God daily for the luxury of living so close to our parents...and for D's new position at work, which allows him to be home more often. Although these last couple of weeks have been a little rough, in the end I know we are so incredibly blessed.
We'd still appreciate prayer about the whole possible colic thing, though...

Birth

Our baby girl was born! She sleeps well at night and is the best natured baby. So far, she is making the transition to having two kids so easy. Our oldest is a fantastic big sister and a tremendous helper for Mommy. D had a week off of work to stay home with us and help, too. We are enjoying being a family of four!

still waiting

No baby yet. She was due yesterday. I saw the doctor this afternoon and she seems to think we won't have to wait much longer. Everyone we know has been calling to ask if we've had her...I feel pressured. I don't mind the calls coming in today since it's the day after her due date. It's the calls that have been coming for the past few days to ask...We have our call list, though, and we'll definitely let everyone know when she's born! Promise.

Moved

We did it! We're officially back in the Bay Area. The movers unloaded everything in our new house yesterday and our parents all came over today to help unpack & organize. I'm so very thankful for our family and their hard work helping us get settled.
Our oldest hasn't seemed to have any problems adjusting to the move. That was my biggest stressor about the whole deal: that she would freak out or be super sad about living somewhere different. But she's enjoyed the whole process....granted, we've sheltered her from most of it. D & I unpacked her entire room last night while she spent time with my parents, so when she showed up today she got to play with her things and feel at home. She was actually a little disappointed when we didn't stay the night at the new house last night and is looking forward to spending the night there tonight.
We still have a few boxes to unpack, but we can definitely live in the house now.
It's still a little surreal...living in the Bay Area, being so close to family again...it's both exciting and strange.
We're looking forward to discovering all that God has planned for us this next year in our new home. And we're thankful to be together as a family on a daily basis again.

So....it's been quite some time since our first post. Actually, I forgot all about this page. I've had my hands full already between email, myspace and facebook.
In the interest of saving time (which I'm all about these days) I'll keep it to the facts. Here's the latest for our family:
My grandfather passed away in July and things haven't calmed down stress-wise since. My grandma fell & has been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks. She probably won't go back to live at home. Most likely she'll move to an assisted living facility.
We're moving back to Castro Valley next Friday. I think we'll officially be living in our house Dec. 1! We're renting out our house in Modesto, so we'll be renting the place in CV. In a year we'll re-evaluate everything (including the housing market) and decide what to do from there. But at least for 2008 we'll be back in CV!
Our little girl is going to preschool at Happiness Hill and LOVING it! She's made several new friends and has grown attached to her teachers. She goes three 1/2-days a week right now.
We've known since August: we're having another girl! Future big sister is THRILLED. Said she didn't want a baby brother because she doesn't like boys. We've chosen her first name but are still deciding on her middle name. Everything has gone well with my pregnancy and we're all looking forward to her arrival (hopefully by the end of December).
D's been working as dispatcher for Graebel Relocation since July. That's the main reason why we're moving back. He works in Milpitas/San Jose. He's been staying in the Bay Area all week every week since he took the job. Our oldest & I have been coming out Wed-Fri each week so she can go to school.
Like I said, it's been crazy. But I have all my Christmas shopping done and Christmas cards are ready to be mailed next week! Now I just have to focus on getting moved in to our new place. Then the baby can come. Seriously, as soon as I'm done unpacking would be great.

New Beginnings

This is the first time we've used our new webpage...and we have a lot to talk about!
First, we found out a few weeks ago that we should expect a baby brother or sister for our little girl in early January. I'm doing well aside from feeling tired most of the time.
Also, we might possibly be moving to Fremont. Yay! Being back in the Bay Area has always been on our wish list.
D's been working in Union City and is going through the application process for Alameda County Sheriff's Office and Fremont Police Department. He's been staying with his parents in San Leandro all week every week, so it would be a welcome change to live closer so Zoey & I can see him more often!
We'd like to rent our house in Modesto out to friends or friends of friends. It's something we're praying about.
Our little girl continues to be a joy. She surprises me daily with her vocabulary...and her sense of humor.
We're reeling from all the possibilities God's put before us and praying everyday about where He's leading. It seems we've been in a similar situation before: taking new jobs and moving at the same time. Some days it seems exciting...others it's more exhausting. We're confident the Lord will continue to provide.