We're having a baby!

We will skip the last two years of travel for a little bit as they are not coming along as I would like, but they will be up at some point soon. Instead let's focus on the reason I am blogging again after such a long absence. We're pregnant!

Yep after being married for over 6 years we will finally be turning this twosome into a real family with a mini-us that will consume all of our money, time, and love. That is pretty much what we want (except for the money part as retirement sounds super cool) so we couldn't be more excited, or nervous. And if you can't guess we are having a girl! Here is an ultrasound proving it, see no \boy parts!

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Here is our baby with the first image we have for her that looks like a baby. It is a 3D scan from one of those elective ultrasound places. She is only about 17 weeks at this point so she appears super skinny and not fully formed or baby-like, but we think she is adorable.  you can actually see most of her in this image with her face toward the middle and she is smiling (and unlike the first smile we will see after she is born, she is most likely not having gas). Isn't she cute?!

As of right now we are past her due date of 9/9 but hope for her any day now. More about her birth, nursery, showers, life, etc to come in future posts so hang in there, I promise to come back once we have her with us!

Life Update 3/3/09

So again I have fallen off the wagon with posting. Well I promise to post once day on my crafting blog so I should be on here more often. I have been busy though. My dad had some heart problems, which weren't fun but Kaiser fixed him right up so he is fine now. Jason has had a hectic time at work, mostly because his co-teacher has never actually materialized. But even with all of this life has been getting a little easier and happier in the Moratuk household.

I am subbing much more often (still not enough but better). I have found I really miss the classroom. It is nice only having to be in one classroom for the day without any planning or grading but I miss having the kids be my own, not just for the day! Hopefully, next year I will be able to teach in my own classroom again. I am applying to every district I can reasonably get to each morning but no bites yet. I probably have to wait until they know their budgets better. Well a girl can hope, can't she?

As for Jason he is taking his last class before he gets his clear credential. He is also taking to his dream district about a job for next year so we are keeping our fingers crossed. As for this year he is doing the best he can with what he has. He was supposed to have a co-teacher, which never actually happened, and his kids just don't seem to want to learn, which really hurts him. But he is doing relatively well with it. At least spring break is about a month away and we don't have plans yet.

In other news, we are still in love with our apartment, but Jason is itching to buy a home. Maybe if I get a full-time job next year we will be able to. However, Jason needs a new car and to emphasis it even more his car was recently broken into and his stereo stolen. I guess it is time to look into one. We are still discussing what would be right for us and maybe mine will be mostly paid off by the time we actually have to buy the new one.

Jason is still making his way through his video games. We had a huge high streak in the fall but now we are on a low. Most of the games aren't worth playing but we look forward to many hours on the new Resident Evil, but probably on the Wii not XBOX. He is also looking forward to Watchmen which comes out on Friday. We can't wait to see it!! I hope it is at least good, if not close to the novel. We are both on a reading lull right now. Neither of us can find books we really want to read and I can't even make it through Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets and can't seem to start Twilight. However, my new book club book looks promising, In the Woods.

I have also been very active in both my online community (someone finally got me to rejoin Facebook... so bad!!) and I am also on Ravelry (also bad!!) and more crafting boards than I care to list. This month is also NaNoEdMo, where I should try to finish and edit my novel from November and some inspiration to do that would be great too. Also I need to finish going through the wedding photos. I just can't seem to get into it anymore... I just have too many of them. I have been busy with my crafting, especially crochet. In fact, I am now testing patterns and enjoying it. Maybe I will be able to do it for profit one day. If nothing else I am getting a ton of free patterns. But you can read all about my crafting exploits on my crafting blog (Found Objects).

Well that is most of it. I will relay what I am doing for the Lenten season and about our most recent date nights soon. Oh and I should have book reviews if I ever finish these books. I also have some fast and yummy recipes I just need to write up. So stay tuned!!

My Aunt Rosemarie

My Great Aunt Rosemarie passed away last month. She was a great woman who had always been there for her family (me being part of it). This picture is the last one I have of her (and one of the last times I saw her). It is from my wedding. My best memories of her were of the summer's I spent with my grandmother. We would go over to visit my AR and UD (Uncle Dave) and swim in their pool after having lunch in their backyard. AR always had treats around and loved talking about everything. She will be greatly missed and because of the loss I have been away from blogger. I guess I just couldn't bring myself to chat about my life when I had just lost someone important to me. It has been about a month now and I am out of mourning (well enough to blog again). I promise to chat more often but we will see how often that is as life is throwing some curve balls at me right now. Thanks for reading, I just thought you should know.

Family Visits

We have been lucky enough to see some of our family that does not live near us over the holidays. It started with my brother and sister-in-law coming down for a whole week around Christmas (it is hard being so far from my sibling again this year). It was so much fun to see them and my 'niece' Bunny. I hope she is out of the ugly puppy stage by my visit up north this summer.

J's dad also flew in for a conference after Christmas and made some time to see our humble abode. I was afraid all of the Christmas would bother him but he seemed to roll with it. J really likes this one-on-one family time the best and I am so happy they got to see each other. Oh and we had dinner at my favorite place, Sahara, which is totally the best restaurant in the world... if you like Moroccan food.

And most recently my aunt came out to see my grandmother and they trudged all the way out to see little ol' me and our place. J had to work but he wouldn't have liked the visit anyway because we had seafood for lunch (his least favorite food, but he likes sushi). We tried out Captain Blyther's which seems to win awards every year as best restaurant in our area. They didn't have want I wanted so I tried something else. It was ok but not the best. Maybe next time I will enjoy it more. However, we did get lots of gifts with the visit. My aunt brought me something new to craft (a lined cookie bag) and some note cards (a hint to write more often?). We also received some more penguins (can you ever have enough), a little ficus, and a first Christmas ornament from my other aunt. We are totally stoked about the ornament since we failed to find one this year (plus it is Lenox so really pretty).

My cousin is coming out later this year as is my uncle and aunt again. Also I think J's mom is coming for Christmas this year (which is making J excited) and we see my brother and sister-in-law for a cruise with my folks this summer. It is great being back and the fact we get to see so much family even after we moved.

Christmas Decor Part 1

Christmas is a time for decorating in my family. My family has always done very impressive Christmas decor but no one ever makes a big deal about it. Because of that I have decided to do a series on my and my families Christmas decor this year. I will start with my maternal grandmother's house, which I helped set up about a week ago. Please note I am not really very talented at taking pictures but I loved some of these.

My grandmother only had her living room finished when I left so that is all I have to show but it is very impressive. We will start with the sofa and back speaker which includes lots of music players and a display of Santa's (I forgot to take a picture of the deer display but it is impressive this year). Those lovely pillows you see were made by my mother. I am not as good as she is yet but I think you will like mine this year too. Below you see my grandmother's mantel (and some of the deer). The painting was done by my cousin.

And lastly here is her tree. It is a little pre-lit tree which we only add ornaments too (we can leave it up since she has room to store it, so much easier than fully taking it up and down). You can see that most of the ornaments are of deer. I think we did a great job with it and it was so much fun to go through the years of ornaments and recount the stories they all bring up. Oh and the tree skirt was made by my mom. We can see where I get my crafty side from ;)

I hope you enjoyed the first installment and come back for more. Next time will be the outside of my home... then maybe some of our inside. I am a crazy Christmas decorator. Oh and you need to see the presents I made this year... including a crocheted menorah. Happy Decorating!

Thanksgiving and seeing the siblings

My holiday has been very full. My brother and sister-in-law came down to visit and we have been spending tons of time with them and my niece, Bunny. Here I have given you a picture of Bunny and yes she is adorable. If only my step-daughter could be that cute and loving. Well I am sure I should write more about what we did and I will, maybe next week but now I need to sprint to try and finish my novel. Too much family time is only a bad thing when you have more commitments than you are ready for. Enjoy the picture of Bunny and thank you for your patience on the update! Oh and yes we had a wonderful Thanksgiving without any problems!

Is a house too much for me???

Today I spent the day helping my grandmother around the house. It was fun actually getting out and doing some home improvement work. I fixed most of her stairs up the hill, replaced batteries in the smoke detectors, fixed a hose line, and even snooped on the neighbors ;). I have been thinking about wanting a house for a while. In fact, Jason brings it up all of the time. I want one but seeing how much work is involved and looking at how much I already do with an apartment I don't think I am there yet. My best friend has a new home and she is enjoying it but I see how much work that is and wonder if I could do it alone? I don't think so. I want a house but is it possible to be more than just not financially ready for one? I know I am not ready for a child (WAY too much work and stress for me right now). Can you be that way with other forms of responsibility? Do you just know when you are ready, like I knew when I was ready to get married? I hope so. I love helping my grandmother and even my parents. That will have to be how I live my house dreams for now.