Where have I been?

I guess more accurately I should title this post, "where have I not been?"

The last few months of my life have been a complete roller coaster. It started off with a move from an apartment to a house. The best move of our lives, for sure, but also at a stressful time (more on that later). It took months (still not quite done) to get things unpacked and settled. I'm realizing how much furniture I got rid of to move into that silly apartment and now wish I had back!

Then it was my birthday and I got in a car accident! That's right, Happy Birthday, Jennie let's ruin your car. The story is long, but to put it short and sweet, it was not my fault. There was some sort of insurance mumbo-jumbo and I had to take the claim out on my insurance. State Farm was wonderful and now they can fight to get their money back, plus my $500 deductible. But my truck was not fixable and has been totaled out. Due to it's age and the repair cost, I no longer have "Ironhide".

My youngest brother got married (yea!!) and my parents came here from AZ to visit (yea!!) we drove 8 hours to his wedding and then another 5 hours to visit my dad's cousin. All in a rental car that had expired tags, no cruise control and the darn Enterprise people wouldn't return my mom's phone calls. (in the end, my dad got the 5 day mini van rental for free, plus 4 more days for free when they come back to visit!! Awesome!)

 My Buddy wanted a picture of "just me and Uncle Austin" so sweet

My Princess was a "flower girl." She loved her beautiful orange dress and being a part of the wedding.

On Tuesday (a week ago) we found a new truck, but because of some serious mix-up at the dealership where we bought "Ironhide" we don't have a title to give to State Farm to get my check to buy the new truck. It's the exact same as "Ironhide" only it's turquoise. It's beautiful has leather, a tow hook (why I would need that, I don't know!) and the part Oswald likes the most is that it has a gadget that tells me which direction I am going. Being from out west where everything is on a grid, knowing N,S,E, and W was easy...not so much here on the east coast.

After a few more ups and downs in the process of getting our new truck, I finally got it on Saturday morning. She was worth the wait, and I think I'm going to name her "Smurfette". She's blue/green and I just think the name is fun!

And on an even better note, Baby #4 will be here in late April. I am due April 22nd and I am so excited to be past the first trimester. As Oswald said, "now things can get back to normal."

As the doctor was listening to the baby's heartbeat, he said, "It's really strong!"

"What is it?" I asked wanting to know how many beats per minute.

"165" was his response.

I looked at him with a sly grin, "so what sex is usually faster?"

"Girl's" he replied without hesitation, then he said, "but at this stage they all beat pretty fast, but if I had to bet, I would say it's a girl."

We went home and finally told the big kids about the baby! My Buddy looked at his dad and said, "Can we have a girl? Roxie!!!?"

We explained that Heavenly Father gives us what he knows our family needs. He looked at his little sister and said, "Let's pray for a girl!"

That night during our family prayer he reminded my Princess of his "girl request" and her prayer went like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for our blessings, thank you for our girl. Name of Jesus Christ Amen."

So I guess we know what our kids want. More regular posts coming again because things are "back to normal" whatever that is!