Moving info and ... a baby name!

Yes, you have my permission to skip to the second half of the post.

OK, so we should close on our new house on May 23, Lord willing. I feel like I'm on the phone and/or online making arrangements every second of my life, but this is moving. We plan to load up a truck on Monday, June 2 and drive down to Liberty Tuesday, June 3 (Happy 8th Anniversary!). I'll try to stop posting about moving, but this is my life right now so I won't promise.

And the baby name, you ask? Well, this is always subject to change until we sign on the birth certificate, but we are fairly certain that a little Noelle will be making her appearance near the beginning of August. Noelle is my sister's middle name, and mostly we just like it. Let's call it an homage to my French ancestry.

But now we need a middle name. Any suggestions?

Not that y'all don't already know this info, but there was a little blurb in the paper today mentioning Josh's new job:

http://www.theeagle.com/sports/LOCAL-ROUNDUP2008-04-22T00-11-16

House Pictures

We were down in Liberty today, and Josh signed his contract for the school district right before we signed the contract for our new house. I took pictures as promised. I will say that I can't figure out on this computer how to fix the vertical pictures, so they're sideways.

Obviously, this is a picture of the front of the house. Oh, and that blue thing? Kellen calls those "robot houses." 

Yay, trees. These are in our front yard.
This is the view across the street from our front yard.
I think this will be Bonnie's room. I took pictures of the other 2 secondary bedrooms but they're pretty normal and boring.
To be continued...

More House Pictures

Sideways view into the hallway of the 3 kids' rooms:
The kids' bathroom. It's really small and this was the best picture I could get.

More House Pictures

Lots of sideways pictures. Bummer.

This is the entryway.

The master bedroom
Part of the master bath
Living room, as seen from the entryway. The master bedroom is to the right and the kitchen/dining room is to the left. Also to the left are the other 3 bedrooms.
View to the "dining room" from the living room. After you walk into the dining room, the kitchen is on the right.

Gym Pictures

Here's a picture of the new gym:

And everyone's favorite coach, undefeated so far: (Sorry for the sideways picture.)

A Good Book

Another random pick from the library, this book is the perfect book for a little boy. We read about "Jack and Guy" 2 times every night before bed. 

Moving News #2

Well, I know y'all are all anxiously awaiting updates. Serious sarcasm there.

We've decided to move ahead with the purchase of the new house. The contract isn't final yet, but I think we will be closing May 23. So, Lord willing, we will be moving in early- to mid-June. And no, we haven't sold this house yet. C'est la vie.

Josh already had plans to go down to Liberty on Friday to sign his contract, visit with kids during lunch, attend athletics, and hold an open gym after school. So, the kids and I are going to tag along because Josh and I need to meet with the builder to finalize the contract for the house, and I, um, I mean we, need to go ahead and choose the carpet so they can get it ordered and installed. I'll take pictures then and post them.

One neat thing: Josh got an email yesterday from the maintenance director at the Liberty school district. Aside from business stuff, he said that he's an elder at the church in Liberty and that the church knows we're coming and is excited to welcome our family. He said to let them know when we're moving in and they'll have plenty of hands there to help. We look forward to meeting and getting involved with our new church family, though we will miss this one so much (note to self: don't think about that).

So that's what's going on for now. Hopefully good news after Friday.

Moving News

We've found a house in Liberty (easier said than done), and are waiting to see if our contingency contract will be accepted. So, if you think of us, please say a little prayer that things will move along as they should. I'll post more info later.

Changes

Kellen knows changes are coming in our life and I love how he talks about them. Usually he says something at a random time that makes me think he spends more time thinking about things than I think he does.

On the subject of babies (remember, he doesn't remember becoming a big brother the first time):

"Babies take a lot of time."

"Babies like to taste my toys, but they won't eat them."

"Babies like warm milk, but kids like cold milk."

On the subject of moving:

"Can we take ALL my toys (or shoes, or clothes, etc.)?"

"Are we going to our new house today?"

"Our house is on the market." He busted out with this one last night at dinner. It was funny.

I don't think Bonnie cares about moving but she's not in to the baby thing. I predict jealously issues there...

Names

Now that we know we're having a little girl, lots of people are asking what her name is. We do have a name that we like at this moment, but aren't settled so you'll just have to wait on that one. But in case you're wondering (which you're probably not), here's how we came up with the other 2 names.

Kellen Rhys - We knew that Kellen was a boy, and saw his name in a baby name book. We both liked it, and also liked the fact that it was not too popular but not too unfamiliar. (Kellen is an Irish name that means "warrior," or something like that.)  Looking back now, I realize that subconciously we were probably influenced by the -en endings of a lot of boy names, such as Aiden, that are popular these days. In Kellen's class at MDO there is Kellen, Kelton, and Klayton. But we love the name and think it fits him. As for Rhys, we like the name and like the spelling (Welsh). And my grandmother informs me that the name "Reese" is a family name, but this isn't why we picked it.

Bonnie Brooke - We chose not to find out Bonnie's gender before she was born. A few weeks before my due date, Josh suggested the name Bonnie for a little girl. I was a little unsure because it seemed kind of old to me. But the name grew on me and it so fits her. What I like about Bonnie's name is that lots of people know Bonnies and love them (as in, "Oh, I have an Aunt Bonnie! I love that name!"). The name Bonnie is not even in the Social Security top 1000 right now so she will probably be the only Bonnie her age. Bonnie is a Scottish name that means pretty, etc. As for Brooke, that is my middle name and we thought it sounded pretty with Bonnie. Not too much thought went into the middle name choice. Oh, and if Bonnie had been a boy we would have named her Patrick Ryan, but I was never really in love with that name so I'm glad she was a girl.

And so modest, too.

We were at the A&M softball/soccer complex. On the way to the restroom we saw the track. Kellen asked if that's where they play basketball. I answered that, no, that's where they run around and see who's fastest. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me with, I might call it, a little bit of irritation.

"But, I'm the fastest."

I guess I should call up China and tell them they can just skip running track at the Olympics this summer. Kellen has settled things.