Kaleb at 6 months

Our little Kaleb is getting to be not so little anymore. He is growing and developing so fast.  He weighs a chunky 19 pounds.  We love to kiss on his great big cheeks.

Here are a few things we love about Kaleb at 6 months.

I love to compare Kaleb’s size to other kids his age.  This is Kaleb’s second cousin, Kale.  They are about three weeks apart in age but Kaleb has a few pounds on his little friend.  Not to mention, the very noticeable discrepancy in head size.

It’s a head so big, not even a hat can disguise it.

One of Kaleb’s favorite things to do is sit out on the porch of our house and watch all the cars go by.  If ever he is fussy and I can’t seem to calm the child, I stick him outside in his bouncer and he quiets right down.  He could stay out there for hours just watching the world go by.

I love Kaleb’s chunky cheeks.  They are so fun to kiss!!!

Kaleb can now sit up all on his own.  I love being able to set him down and rest my weary arm from toting him around, because, did I mention, he is a lug!  Okay, that is my last reference to Kaleb’s enormity.  He is going to start getting a complex.

I love to watch Kaleb and Austin play together.  Some of the sweetest moments in my day are when Austin sits down to play with his little brother.  What a precious sight!  My favorite is when Austin tries to hold Kaleb and says, “you’re so cuuuute”.

However, it is not always sunshine and rainbows when they play together. We have recently had to start implementing the concept of sharing at our house, much to Austin’s dismay. 

And finally, at 6 months of age, Kaleb has his first tooth.  I love feeding him baby food.  I have never seen a kid enjoy food quite like him.  I love to give him something new and see his facial expressions as he determines whether he likes it or not.   What a cutie.

Home Sweet Home

It’s official. Vance and I are now home owners.  Vance has been working for the past year at Sugar Salem high school as a guidance counselor.  Although he loved it there, the pay was just not quite enough to be able to take the plunge and buy a house.  It was also kind of a temporary job because he would have to go back to school to get a master’s in school counseling.  We had been praying a lot that we would be led to a better paying job that would not require Vance to get any additional schooling.  Vance spent all summer applying for jobs at various universities.  He primarily applied at universities in Utah and Idaho because we wanted to stay close to family.  After searching all summer and not having much success we prepared ourselves to do another year at the high school.  In early June we heard through some connections at BYU-I that there were going to be four academic advising positions opening up.  We were really excited because this is exactly what Vance wants to do and we both love BYU-I so much.  It seemed like the perfect fit.  We were, however, reluctant to get our hopes up.  Vance submitted his application the end of June and was called in for an interview the first week of July.  Vance was so nervous after the interview because he wanted the job so badly and kept replaying the interview in his mind and thinking of things he should have done better.  It was the longest three days of our lives.  Much to our relief BYU-I called Vance and offered him the job.  We were so excited to finally have a permanent job that kept us in Rexburg long term.  We were glad Vance’s degree fit the position perfectly and that Vance got his dream job.  Vance started August 1, 2011.

Now that our income had increased and we were going to be in Rexburg long term we decided to start house hunting.  We looked at a lot of houses that we liked but couldn’t find anything that felt just right for us.  One day our realtor called us and said that there is a house out in Lyman (which is south Rexburg area) that just came on the market.  The sellers needed to sell fast so it was priced really low.  Vance was out of town so I went by myself to see it.   The second I saw the house I fell in love.  It had everything we were looking for in a house and was actually in our price range.  I definitely wanted Vance to see it when he got back.  The next morning our Realtor called and said there was another offer on the house and if we wanted to make an offer too we needed to do it by noon the next day.  I said Vance would be home that evening and we made an appointment to go see it.  Vance saw the house and really liked it too. We decided to make an offer.  Two days later the realtor called and said that the sellers accepted our offer.  We were so elated.  The owners were really anxious to get out so we did our best to move the process of closing as quickly as possible.  On September 1 we closed on the house and started moving our stuff in.  It all happened so quickly but just felt so right.  We did a lot of praying, wanting to make sure we were making the right choice.  Never once did we feel any hesitation about this house.  We took that as an answer from the Lord that this was the right house for us.

This is the house we were renting in Rexburg.  It was a great house for us for the year that we were there, but we were so excited to have our own place with a lot more space.

And this is our new home.  It is a beautiful 5 bedroom 3 bathroom house.  Vance’s favorite feature is that it has a spacious basement that is nice and cool in the summer.  My favorite feature is the walk-in closet and master bathroom.  LOVE IT!!!

Austin’s favorite feature is the nice big yard to run and play in.

The house sits on a 3/4 acre lot.  It is the perfect size for us.  It’s big enough for our wild little indians to run and play but not to big where we feel like all we ever do is yard work.

We are so excited to have so much space inside and out. We feel so blessed.  Although, Vance and I have quickly come to realize that we have a lot to learn about home ownership.