Packing is DONE!!!!

Well, our packing is done for the most part.  Now the house needs cleaned from top to bottom before it goes on the market THIS Monday, April 2nd.  I'm so blessed with such a hard working husband and family.  Carlos has helped a lot too and is very good about taking care of Sophia.  So, the storage unit is about full...it has just enough room for my office books.  Speaking of my office, now that the house is done, I'm in the process of cleaning out my office.  It's slowing getting there, but we would like everything done by our moving sale.  MOVING SALE is April 13-14th.  Lots for sale and lots of big furniture items.  As we have been packing, we also have been getting rid of STUFF!  I have realized in this process that I am selfish!!!!  I have bought and kept stuff that I haven't used in three years.  As humans, we get into a regular routine and use the same stuff over and over again without changing our ways and adding new stuff.  Our kitchen has been packed for 2 weeks now and we haven't missed anything.  We are getting by on the bare essentials.  I feel guilty with all my STUFF and now look differently at things.  I ask myself a lot of questions before I buy something.  I'm proud of the progress that our family has made but at the same time, I have a lot to learn about myself when buying things.  Lent has been a wonderful season to clean our house which has cleansed my soul!  Thank you to our parents, siblings, and Zion family for all the support!!  We are so blessed.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend.  May I present Pepe Le Peu! Someone decided to put Sophia above his head! This is the result...

My little Bradley girl...



Another packing weekend!!

My mom and two nephews (Joshua and Joseph) came for the weekend.  They came on Thursday so mom did some painting and a little cleaning while I was at work.  Then Friday we packed most of the kitchen stuff that we don't use regularly and then mom babysat while Paul and I cleaned out our storage room and packed a bunch of stuff.  Our garage is filling up quickly with moving sale items...we might have to rent another storage unit just for our moving sale.  Our storage unit is getting full as we have taken 6 trucks loads, but there is still room for a couple more loads.  The house is emptying out and its looking and feeling good.  We appreciate all the help we can get to make this a successful move.  We should be hearing something soon from the seminaries so we know what the financial package looks like.  Keep praying! 

The weather was awesome this past week.  Carlos was on spring break so he was a huge help getting things done.  Sophia enjoyed being naked most of the weekend and dressing up in her spring outfits.  Here's a few pictures of Sophia's weekend.

Now its back to another work week and getting small things done during the week.  This weekend we hope to accomplish moving furniture out of the house that we aren't going to use.  Most of it will be sold in our moving sale.

IMPORTANT INFO:  Moving sale is Friday, May 4th and Saturday, May 5th!!  Also, we have a 2007 Viking Pump pop up camper for sale.  Let us know if you know anyone interested.  Thanks!!

SPRING BREAK!!!

Like students, faculty, and spring break trip planners- the time has arrived that we enjoy some nice, sunny, warm weather! Luckily for us, the aforementioned words are describing Northeast Iowa! As we have sprung forward in time (the clocks adjusted, the dogs and Sophia have not), we have been blessed with some beautiful weather! This doesn't make staying in the house and sorting/packing/storing/selling stuff any easier.

As I walked 2 miles over the lunch hour, I couldn't help but think of the changes that are ahead and what our future as a family looks like. We are all excited, yet nervous for the next step. Through the adjusting process, we have managed to spend some quality time as a family, watch Jonathan run, enjoy meals with friends, and reflected on our home and possessions.

The cleansing process is not easy- we have talked about it, thought about it, justified unused things, talked about it some more, and even started sorting. After working for over 12 hours this weekend on going through boxes, sorting piles for immediate use, storage, sell, recycle, shred, and throw away, we have both realized all the stuff we have (some of which we had forgotten about)! With one corner of the basement and our attic closet complete, we each commented on how cleansing it feels to get rid of old or unused things. There are lots of memories, some before we met, some as we dated, and some as we are married, but we realize we get caught up in the 'stuff' we have! Always easier said than done, we are feeling good about living more simply and knowing that we will be moving multiple times in the next decade!

We still have plenty to work to do, and we know we are blessed with some good help! Thanks for reading, for those who help, and those who have lifted us up in thought and prayer! When I was thinking of Spring Break, I didn't know it was code for 'Spring Cleaning!'

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

Well, the packing and moving process has officially begun!!!  We spent time this weekend working on our basement and big attic closet.  We made a lot of progess but have lots more to do.  Sophia was a great little princess this weekend and took good naps so we could work!  Usually she takes small cat naps but this weekend they were longer naps.  YEAH!  Our storage unit is rented and its getting good use.  We have 3 truck loads in our storage unit and a good section of our garage full of things for our moving sale which we need to have in the next couple of months as well.  Anytime you want to come and help, we could use the extra hands...feeding Sophia or carrying boxes.  My family is coming this weekend and we hope to get most of the kithchen and living room boxed up.  Then we have one more full weekend before the house has its final expection and approval for it to go on the market and have our first open house.  Please pray that our house sells and that we are able to move together as a family.  Paul is still waiting to hear about his acceptance to LSTC and financial aid packages from both seminaries.  Then we will be able to make a decision.  We have yet to start Sophia on her cloth diapers.  Since she got her shots, she's had diaherra.  Therefore we haven't been able to use them, but we are hoping that we can start that process this weekend as well.  Formula and diapers are expensive!!!

Back to work as I have lots to get done.  It's Lent!!!  Between now and the big move this summer, things will be a blur.  Soccer season officially starts today and Carlos graduates this spring so on top of the house, we have lots of other fun events to attend!!

NEW pictures of Sophia!!

Here is a picture of Sophia eating cereal....she got her 4 month shots so she's a little sad. 

Everything is official!!!

We now have told everyone in our lives that will be affected by our move that we are moving this summer and our house will officially be on the market April 2nd.  YIKES!!!  I'm glad we have a deadline, but that means the next 4 weekends we will be busy doing house stuff.  Sorry in advance if we miss something or don't see you for a while, but its important to get our house ready to sell and take care of our STUFF!!!  We have rented a storage unit so that we can keep stuff that we want and we would like to have a moving sale when the weather gets nicer so if you want anything...let us know.  We will have a 2007 Viking pop up camper for sale as well as a 2000 Dodge Dakota truck (eventually....it will come in handy for a while to move).  Sophia will be leaving her in home day care which is sad because I've known that family as long as I've lived in Waterloo.  So, as we begin to come to end of several chapters in our life...soon we will begin new chapters.  Thanks be to God for the support of our family and friends.  We could not do this move without your help.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Another month down...bring on MARCH!!!

I can't believe its March already!!!  That's scary.  Sophia is now 4 months old and goes tomorrow to the doctor to get her 4 month shots!  She did a fabulous job getting her 2 month shots so I hoping she's a trooper tomorrow as well.  Grandma Waterman came to Waterloo last Friday to hang out.  We went to Red Lobster, Christian bookstore, Portrait Innovations for 4 month pictures of Sophia, Scratch cupcakery, and Barnes N Noble.  It was a fun day!  This weekend the Palmer family is coming to visit us on Saturday and the rest of the weekend will be relaxing with a few chores here and there.  It's the first full weekend we are at home in over a month.  Last weekend was nice to be home all day Saturday, but we had a very busy Sunday. Zion was broken into on Monday while the church was open for a funeral.  It just makes me so mad and sick that someone would do this.  Now because of this, again we have to have more safety measures and procedures in place.  Very little damage and money was taken, but just a year ago, someone broke into the church and did a lot of damage!!!  So, part of my ministry time this week has been spent trying to figure out what procedures need to be put in place and get the right people to help put those procedures in place.  Conference are tonight for Carlos....YEAH!  Its his last conferences of his high school career.  Now we don't have to worry about conferences for a while...until Sophia gets old enough or we have more foster children in our home that are older than Sophia.  Not much else to talk about....we have started using cloth diapers on Sophia and they are working great.  We originally bought some cloth diapers at the Farmer's market.  We tried those several months ago and they didn't work.  The lady fixed them but they still didn't work.  We found ones on cotton babies website through a friends advice and bought 3.  We tried them last weekend and Sophia did awesome.  So, on Monday I ordered some more because they were on SALE and we all know how Paul likes to save $$$.  This coming week we should get the order and then after they are washed we can begin to use cloth diapers on a more regular basis.  We still need to ask Karen (our day care provider) if she's willing to help us with cloth and  if not that's OK.  We will still use them in the evenings and on the weekends.  Will save us money and help the environment.  Happy March!!