May 2014….. Moving Day is Rapidly Approaching!

May was a busy month full of house-showings and getting ready for our big move to Texas.  Things were also winding down for the school year and with Abby's dance class.  It was a fun month, and a little sad as we prepared to leave a place we love so much.

Here are just a few pictures of our family from the month of May...

Abby and Emma love their daddy! 

Michael is not about to be left out! 

Abby's observation day in dance.   

"Look, Mom!  I'm a mermaid!" 

One more dance picture of her class…. 

For Tara's birthday, Ivette Heutmaker and her daughter, LaRue, stayed the night with Abby, Michael, and Emma so Coley and Tara could have an evening to themselves.  We went to the temple and stayed the night in Palmyra.  It was a wonderful night.  The kids had a great time and still talk about how much fun they had!

On Mother's Day, we visited Sister Wheeler.  What a sweet woman!  We will miss her so much!

 Tara and Sister Wheeler visit for a few minutes.

A Sunday afternoon attempt at a picture with all three children…. 

Emma, Abby, and Michael enjoy the soft, green grass in the backyard.   

Emma loved the pinwheel! 

The plants were interesting, but not as interesting as the dirt! :)

By late May, we had accepted an offer on our house.  Coley was also wrapping things up with his job at Rochester General Hospital.  Big changes were just around the corner! :)

Getting Ready to Sell our Webster House- April 2014

This post is mostly for me…. so I can look back and remember our Webster house.  This was the place we called home for a little over seven years.  This is the house we brought each of our three babies home to.  We have so many great memories here with our immediate and extended family as well as many memories with the great friends we made in New York (who became family to us).

In April, we began the difficult process (made a little more complicated with three small children) of selling our house.  Here are a few pictures Coley and I took as we started getting things organized to list our house for sale.

We hope that the new owner loves this place as much as we do!

April 2014

In my attempt to somewhat catch up, I am posting a few pictures from April 2014…..

 Abby, Michael, and Emma are ready for the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  Ready, set, go!

Emma discovered the remote control and even figured out how to use it.  Uh oh, we are in trouble now! 

Michael and Abby show off their dance skills. 

When we told Abby we were moving to Texas, she cried and told us she was not leaving her room.  The next day, she told us that Texas is the Wild West.  She would go, but she wanted a horse.  Here she is, showing us her skills! 

Abby and her friend, Hannah, spend the afternoon dressing up and choreographing dances.  We had several mini performances that day. 

Michael Superhero 

Emma is just about the right size for Abby's American Girl Doll Scooter. 

Easter Sunday at church in Lubbock...

Our first visit to Lubbock as a family to hunt for a house.

During our week-long house hunting adventure, Abby created her own rating system for the houses.  She recorded her notes in a little notebook.  "P"-perfect; "G"-good; "B"-bad; and "Y"-yuck!
Her mind is ALWAYS going!

March 2014 Fun

Here are a few more pictures from our cold month of March 2014.

The box is always more fun to play with than the item that came in it!

This was a rocket ship. 

Emma and Abby have a little tea party. 

Sunbutter sandwiches taste better when wearing goggles.

March 2014 Allergy Scare

In mid-March 2014, Michael had an allergic reaction to something he ate at lunch.  He had eaten everything on his plate before, but the ingredient list for Craisins had changed to include refined sunflower oil as a processing agent.  While Michael is not allergic to sunflower oil, we are pretty sure the oil was contaminated with some sort of nut oil. 

Michael first complained of a stomachache after he ate.  I thought he might have some sort of stomach bug since some friends of our family had sick children at the time.  After nearly an hour, the symptoms became much more severe and included vomiting.  It was only when I began cleaning him up that I realized he had hives on his thighs (but only on his thighs).  At that point, things began turning south quickly.  When he began to have sneezing and tongue swelling, I used the epi-pen and called an ambulance.  This reaction was scary because the initial symptoms were so different.  Usually, he has hives by his left eye and I know to give him Benadryl.  That is usually the end of the reaction.  This time, I had no idea I was dealing with an allergen until the reaction had progressed beyond the point that Benadryl would have worked quick enough.

When I grabbed the epinephrine from the cupboard, he started crying.  I cried with him while administering the medicine.  Thankfully, the tongue swelling settled down pretty quickly.  By the time the ambulance arrived, he had improved quite a bit.  Nonetheless, he was transported by ambulance to the hospital for several hours of observation.  

Here he is hanging out in the ER.  What a brave boy!

We just keep praying that he will outgrow these allergies!  His allergist and pediatrician in Rochester both believe that he will, at least, outgrow the milk and the egg allergies.  Even that would be a huge help!  We will soon meet his new allergist in Lubbock and hopefully be able to do more RAST testing this fall to see where things stand for now.

Our last (and BRUTAL) winter living in Rochester 2013-2014

As I try to catch up on my posts, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures from our last winter living in Rochester.  It was a very long, cold one!

Looking out our front door mid-December 2013 as I waited for Abby's bus from school.

This was just the beginning of our winter…..

 Abby, Emma, and Michael show off their Minnie and Mickey hats from Santa. (January 2014)

I just happen to know the elf that made them.  Thank you Michele!  The kids absolutely LOVED them!

With January's arrival also came the "polar vortex."  Snow days are rare in Webster, NY, but in early January, we had a day with temperatures of -35 degrees with the wind chill.  I guess they considered that cold enough to cancel school.  A few days later, the wind chill was -20 degrees.  That was NOT cold enough to cancel school!  Wow!

Emma is looking out the front door, waiting for her "Abba" to come home from school (mid-January 2014).  As you can see, there is no snow on the ground.  This was just a brief pause in the white stuff.

Oh, and just because it wasn't white outside, it doesn't mean it wasn't cold.  It was terribly cold!  How cold?….  Cold enough that when we actually had a morning that felt pretty warm, I decided I should take advantage of the weather to wash the layers of salt off the car at the car wash.  The line of cars at the car wash was unbelievable on such a warm winter morning.  It was 22 degrees!

 February 2014

My little "Larry Boy" robot superhero...

February 2014

Emma FINALLY started walking on her own!   

With such cold temperatures, the kids did not get to play in the snow very much.

Finally, in mid-February, they had a few days that were warm enough that they were able to make snow angels and run around in the pretty, white snow.

With March's arrival came a crazy blizzard.  School was actually canceled once again.  In Webster, we received over 18 inches of snow in about 24 hours.  That put our season total at 113.2 inches.  (And we weren't even done with the snow yet!)

A couple of weeks later (end of March), we were hit with another big snowstorm.  This is what the parking lot at church looked like! 

 That same Sunday, Emma went to her first day of nursery!  Yeah!  She had a great time!

As winter ended and people were informed of our upcoming move, many asked if it was the crazy winter that was driving us out of upstate New York.  I don't know that I will miss the "polar vortex" cold temps or the blizzards, but at Christmas time in Texas when there is no white on the ground to make everything silent and beautiful, I will probably miss the snow…. at least until January!

Changes

So, I obviously haven't been very good about posting about our family for the past several months.  2014 has been full of changes for our family.  In February, Coley signed a contract for a position in Lubbock, Texas.  After seven years in Rochester, we moved across the country.  While we are excited to be closer to family, we miss our friends in New York.  

We moved to Texas in June and are getting settled in.  We haven't found a house yet, so we are renting.  It looks like we will be building a house.  We have identified a lot and are moving forward in its purchase.

Abby has one week left of summer vacation and will then start second grade at her new school.  Michael will start preschool the following week and is very excited.

Emma is growing up so much and just wants to do whatever her big sister and big brother are doing!