BUSY

    Justin doesn't ever post, so I am going to post for him.  We are always praying that God will bring him new clients.  Friends, and strangers.  People we least expect and anyone he can help find their dream home.  His commission-only income can be very stressful on the family, and especially on him.  Be careful what you wish for.  God has blessed him with so much business!  It is such a good thing, and at the same time, very difficult for our family.  He will go days (sometimes almost a week) without seeing Colt.  He doesn't get to eat all day sometimes and told me that yesterday he made 72 calls from his cell phone, not including his work phone!  No wonder he never wants to talk when he gets home.  He is so tired, and at the same time, Colt and I are tired of not seeing him.
    He has an unbelievable amount of stress, and we are trying to be as supportive as we can be.  Like I said, we prayed for it, and it is a HUGE blessing, but it can be very difficult for out little family too.  All that said, we are VERY proud of him!

Of corse, just a few pics!

Easter

     Hallelujah!  He is risen.  This year was the first time in a long time that I felt I was able to truly reflect on what happened on Good Friday and Easter.  We are so blessed to know God and to have our faith.  We were able to spend time with everyone on Easter too!   We started with an Easter egg hunt at Ovid with Dad, Delaine, Maddie and Kaleb.  It was Colt's first hunt, so he wasn't too sure about it.  He did not want to put his eggs in the basket!  But he loved playing in the bucket where everyone threw their empty eggs.
  

  On Sunday, we went to church with my mom and then to Chuck and Sue's to do a mini celebration. We opened Easter baskets with Josh and Beth and Chuck hid eggs in the yard for Colt. Sue bought him eggs that were basketballs, soccer balls and footballs. He LOVED them. But instead of putting them in his basket, he went to the basketball goal and tried to shoot them :). 

                                                           Mickey Mouse Underwear!

 Next we went to my aunt and uncles. My Aunt and Uncle moved home from the Ukraine this year, so we were able to have Easter at their house, which is where we had all of our family get togethers growing up. It was so much fun to walk around the house again and reminisce. They have been gone for 15 years. We had a HUGE meal and then the kids got to do another Easter egg hunt. Colt was starting to get the hang of it this time and even collected a pine cone! It is so much fun to watch him with Allie. They are just 6 months apart, and he kept trying to give her hugs and kisses.

   For dinner, we headed to my mom's. They had a neighborhood egg hunt. Colt was on a mission. He was fast and furious and his basket was so full he couldn't keep all the eggs in. Chuck, Sue, Josh, Beth and my grandparents and Great-Grandma Helen came over for dinner. And Colt got even more fun stuff.
It was a great day. It is so much fun to watch Colt grow up and enjoy holidays. We are so thankful that we live close enough to everyone that we can see everybody on Easter.

Sold and homeless

Sold!  We sold our house in 9 days!  Putting the house up for sale was something we prayed about for a long time.  We wanted to move and be closer to family, but we absolutely loved our neighbors.  Not everyone is lucky enough to be blessed with amazing neighbors.  When we said our goodbyes, I couldn't even talk I was crying so hard.  We truly loved each one of them, but knew it was the right decision.  Since we sold the house so quickly, we didn't have a chance to find a new place.  We had lots of offers, but came the conclusion that my mom's house had the most room, and we decided to move in with her temporarily.  We are all adjusting really well and LOVING that we can visit all of our parents and grandparents within a few minutes.

Adjustments

     Our family has been adjusting to me being back at work. Colt is doing much better at daycare. That is a huge answer to prayer. He really likes the other kids and is learning all kinds of new things. It has been much different than I expected. I have been switching around quite a bit, which is good and bad. I am anxious to get a set schedule, but it has made the time go by quickly. I have moments when I think it isn't as bad as I thought it would be, and moments when i feel as though I never have enough time with him. Justin has been very helpful around the house and has been very appreciative of me being back at work. Hopefully each day gets a little easier, but I don't think I will ever have enough time with him!

Cincinnati

On my way home from work Friday, I had a crazy idea. I told Justin we should take a random family trip. Since i have been back at work, family time has a been limited, due to basketball season and family stuff. He agreed, we packed in 15 minutes, and we were off! We stayed at the Westin downtown Cincinnati and we were so pleased. They gave Colt a welcome bag with a night light, first aid kit, rubber duck and outlet covers! As a CCLS and ABA therapist, I was so pleased. We walked to dinner, and then watched tv in bed with Colt way past his bedtime. We woke up and walked to breakfast, and then got ready to go to the Newport Aquarium. Colt fell asleep, so we weren't sure how he would do. He was really tired, but he was a trooper. Justin and I liked the jellyfish, but Colt LOVED the sharks. We really enjoyed watching him stare in amazement. Dan the shark followed Colt around everywhere. Since he was so tired, we got done early, and decided to head to the outlet mall. It was an amazing weekend. Colt was such a trooper. We could not have asked for anything better. It was so nice to get away for a day and spend time with just the three of us. A perfect weekend!

dinner

He loved his big boy cup

Going Swimming

Petting the Sting Ray and Crab

Jellyfish

He really wanted to go scuba diving

There is Dan the shark

Dan again!

Time for some changes

     Justin and I have been talking about moving closer to home for a while now. Our 3 years was up on our house this April, so we have been working like crazy to get the house ready to go on the market. We decided to put it on the market in February because we didn't know how long it would take to sell. Well, after an absolutely crazy two weeks, we sold it.... Twice! I don't know how people do this for very long. It was so hard to keep the house clean for a toddler running around, not to mention, Justin was out of town for a week too! We are so excited for the next chapter of our lives. We aren't sure where we are going, but we know God has a plan for us!

Back To Work

      A lot of things have been changing around here.  Justin and I have been praying and thinking about several big topics in our lives.  We have been throwing around the idea of me going back to work on a full-time basis.  I applied for a job at Riley.  In the mean time, I continued to substitute at the autism center.  Things did not work out at Riley, so after much prayer and consideration, we decided I should take an opportunity that was given to me to return full-time at ABC.  I shed a lot of tears, but we felt like God was really leading us in this direction.  
      Today was my first day back.  Colt had a difficult day in daycare.  He spent most of the day crying.  I am able to check on him and eat my lunch with him, which makes things a bit easier.  I peeked in to check on him a few times, and he was pathetic.  It broke my heart.  When I went in the room to eat lunch with him, he looked at me like I had just rescued him from the worst place on Earth.  Unfortunately, I had to leave him and go back to work.  To make things worse, it was a very hard day for me too.  The new kid I had really challenged me.  I took the position thinking I would have 2 specific kids, and found out today that I will not have either of them.  It was a big challenge, but I am choosing to trust God.  There must be a reason I am here. 
     I am sure the days will get easier, and I will grow to love the new kids.  Colt will get used to day care and will love playing with all the kids.  By far, the best part of my day was when I went to pick Colt up at the end of the day.  He looked at me and ran to me.  He wrapped his arms around me, sat me down, turned himself around and sat down in my lap.  The way he looked at me was priceless.