We're movin' to Texas y'all!

Yay! Joe has found a wonderful opportunity in Dallas, Texas. It was the first interview he went on and we ended up cancelling his other interviews because we both felt so good about this opportunity. It met our criteria of warmer winters, great job opportunity, and being in an area where we could possibly stay if we like it well enough. We will be there for at least 3 years and we are very excited about this new adventure. Now comes the next hurdle...since we had to make last minute plans, we were not able to find housing quick enough. So now we are nomads. We will move our stuff into storage here, move in with our parents, and then come back and move our stuff to Texas when we have a place to live. It makes me tired just thinking about it all! We are considering buying a house since housing is pretty inexpensive there, but that means more time living as nomads. It is a pain, but I actually feel more sorry for our parents than us! Well, I know everything will work out in the end...I've learned that it just takes patience and a lot of prayers. Thanks everyone for all of your kind words and support!

Now here are some pictures of us at a park. Samuel does not like to be cooped up in our tiny apartment so we seriously go twice a day if it's decent weather. We usually go to a park with a basketball court because Samuel loves to run around Joe and shoot at the hoops even though his ball goes no higher than his head. It gets a little tricky when other people are playing on the court though because he wants their ball even though his looks exactly the same. Luckily, people think he's cute enough and are happy to switch balls.

Meanwhile, as Samuel is running around and claiming every basketball as his, Mason is usually content to sit on his blanket for an hour and play with the grass. Here he is pretending he is going to crawl.

For the grandparents, here is a video of Mason enjoying the park:

Sienna tags Mason: 11 facts about Mason

1. Like Sienna, we consider Mason our miracle baby. Aside from the tremendous odds I faced on ever getting pregnant, Joe and I are honestly stumped on when Mason was conceived! My OB of course narrowed down the days that it should've happened, but we swear it didn't! Hmm...still stumped. Well, we were so swept up in the adoption thing that the month of December was a blur anyways.
2. Although I love Mason dearly, he was the hardest newborn EVER! Unfortunately, I didn't know about reflux so our household suffered ALOT of constant crying for several weeks. He became happy as a clam once we introduced him to Zantac which he is still currently on.
3. For his first 5 months, Mason was a horrible sleeper. On average, he woke up 2 to 3 times a night. Finally I let him cry it out one night and now he is an excellent sleeper!
4. Mason is our serious baby. You definitely have to earn his smiles, especially if he doesn't know you.
5. Mason loves Samuel more than Joe or I. I've finally come to terms with that!
6. At this moment, Mason feels no motivation to move. He is perfectly content to sit in the same spot for an hour and play with his toys or look at books.
7. Mason is the most low maintenance, laidback child. If he is fussy and he's not hungry or tired, than I take him to the doctor because I know something is wrong (and there usually is!) Once he started sleeping better, he has been such an easy baby which is what I needed to be able to keep up with Samuel.
8. He loves being outdoors. I'll take the boys to the park and all I have to do is park Mason in a stroller and he'll just relax and enjoy the weather while I chase Samuel around.
9. Mason loves to give me kisses. Once he starts, he doesn't want to stop! My face will be covered with his saliva by the time he's done!
10. Mason is terrified of Tickle Me Elmo, dogs, and being in the bathtub with Samuel (I don't blame him, Samuel is a wild man!)
11. Mason is very sweet and sensitive. The other day he was knawing on my shoulder and actually bit me pretty good. He didn't mean to, but I responded out of pain and said "Ouch, no, no Mason!" He puckered out that bottom lip and it started to quiver, and then he started to cry. So sad! It was the first time I was stern with him and I actually started to tear up. I didn't think he'd get so sad about it!

How I love this sweet baby boy...such a blessing!

Mason tags Ella, Braxton, Sadie, Austin

Florida...maybe another time.

Well, Florida is not meant to be for our family at this time. Joe gave his best efforts on the boards and scored almost perfectly on everything...except the biggest portion of the boards. Due to an unfortunate event, which involves a badly decayed tooth and the patient biting down on his hand at the worst moment, he received an automatic failure for that part. He nearly passed despite missing 30% of the grade, so he can retake that one procedure again. But that will not be until November. Although I am very confident that Joe can pass, we have decided not to put everything on the line again to see if he passes. It's too much of a risk and far too much pressure on my poor husband. While he was in Gainesville, he was teased endlessly about how much pressure he had...with a job, house, and my family all waiting for him to pass even though he hadn't touched a drill for 2 years. I am touched at how he went through all of that torture just to please me and my need to be by family. What a husband!
So our plans for right now? Uh, we are back to square 1. Although I was very disappointed at first, I am now pretty excited about a new adventure. Since we now are in a hurry (we will be homeless at the end of this month) Joe is looking for an associateship for a couple of years which will give us a little more time to figure out where we should settle down permanently...who knows, maybe it will be Florida in the future. We are looking everywhere and he already has a few interviews set up. Wish us luck!

Happy Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that 7 years have passed since the day Joe and I were married in the Salt Lake City temple. With every anniversary, we like to joke that "it's been a LONG 7 years" or however long we've been married. But really, it's been the best times of my life. I am hoping that Joe can say the same as well! Unfortunately, we won't be able to celebrate this anniversary together and I am so sad that I can't express how much I appreciate him face to face. We thought our last 2 anniversaries were bad since we moved on those very days, but at least we were together! Oh well, what do you do? Obviously passing the boards is the most important thing right now. Joe will just have to celebrate in Gainesville with take-out from Chili's and I will have to celebrate with the boys and maybe some chicken nuggets (Samuel's favorite).
This next video is for my dad who is concerned about Mason's lack of motivation to move. It is true that he is very laidback; He hardly feels the need to roll around much or even try to pursue any toys that are out of his reach. I don't blame him since he gets enough entertainment just watching Samuel continuosly run around, jump, or throw tantrums. However there are times when he does get bursts of energy and they usually happen in his exersaucer. He jumps in it like crazy and is usaully panting by the time I take him out. Don't worry dad...today I saw him rocking on all fours so maybe we will have a crawler soon (yikes, and I thought motherhood was already tough!)
Happy anniversary Joe and goodluck on your practice boards.