Catharsis

Well, well... it's now into February and no blog from the world the Holmans of northeast PA. A lot and yet nothing at all has changed since my last post... Thanksgiving came and went with an air of gratitude and fellowship. Our trip out to California was eventful, slightly stressful, but most importantly a lot of fun. We got to see a lot of people we (or at least ScottE) hadn't seen in some time and ScottE got to spend a lot of time working on cars which is something he greatly enjoys but has very little time to do on a regular basis.

The stressful part came when we were ready to come home... we planned to drive home, in a car that we co-signed for – the current owner is unable to make the payments and is wanting something smaller that gets better fuel mileage – but after a lot of debate was unable to give up the car because she has nothing else to drive. Completely understandable since she is a single mother and needs to work, but the problem was we bought one-way tickets in anticipation of our drive home and she had told us that we could take possession of the car because we had been making the payments for both the loan and the insurance for the past few months. Suffice it to say that we ended up flying home with the promise of delivery of our car within the next few months. We'll just have to wait and see.

I don't know if I've mentioned this at all to anyone, but in November we decided to try to sell our car. Initially I was hesitant because I really like having a car because it makes getting around for just me and Ender much easier. I wasn't ready to give that up so easily, but after much deliberation, we decided it was best for the family in the long run. About a week into 2011, the car sold!! We were kind of surprised but very grateful that the car sold so quickly and easily... we even made a bit of a profit! So we have a car loan paid off and will soon be inheriting another... c'est la vie.

In addition to selling our car, we are planning to buy a 4 wheel drive. We've been having some pretty crazy storms lately and right now we can't even get up our own driveway! It's been a little frustrating and slightly embarrassing, but we are surviving and I guess that is what really counts. ;)

Aside from all of the news about our past and future transportation, things are going relatively well. Ender's vocabulary expands with every hour and he's nearly grown a mouthful of teeth (I think he has 13 or 14 now). He's still not walking which is a bit of a concern but for the most part I'm not worried. He's freaking brilliant and grows smarter everyday. He's learning his colors – he can't yet identify other items but he has several toy balls of different colors and he knows which one is green and which one is yellow. He tries to mimic what we say and his taste buds are developing... he doesn't like hot stuff as much as he used to. He is already beginning to develop the attitude of a 2 year old and he's not even 18 months old yet!!

As it's been said, the only constant in life is change. Things have been changing in my life, some due to my own choices, others due to the choices of those in my life. For the most part, these changes have been positive. I'm really trying to take the baby steps towards making my life what I really want it to be. I know that it's going to take time to establish the habits I want and it's hard to not get caught up in the “all or nothing” mentality and then fall into bad habits. I have good days and bad, but I'm trying and that's what counts, right?

One of the biggest things that I want to work on is writing more. I forget (and I know I say this a lot!) how cathartic it is to sit down and get all of my feelings out in the open. It really doesn't matter if I actually post it to the world or not. What really matters is getting everything off my chest and in the world of a journal or a word processor.

Another thing that I'm working on is losing some weight. I have about 25ish pounds that I would like to lose. I know that so many use the new year to establish new habits, but I would like to think that I have been trying to do these new things throughout the past year and am really wanting this year to be better than the last. I'm looking for healthier recipes and an exercise program that is neither boring nor overly strenuous. I'm also cutting down on my portions and that seems to be helping at least a little. ;) and I'm open to suggestions from anyone...

School is currently on hold because of procrastination on my part. I needed to get some testing done and fingerprints taken and processed. I've gotten the testing done and the kit for the fingerprints has arrived, but I have to go to a certified technician (i.e. the police department) but I have to pay for the processing. It's been a bit of a process, but it's in the works and I'm hoping to be back to school within the month.

I don't know why it takes me so long to sit down and write an update... perhaps because sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming. I definitely will be posting some pictures soon, whether on here or Facebook, I'm not sure yet. First I need to take some pictures! ;) anyway... I'm sitting in a hotel, listening to Ender not take his nap and wondering what I'm going to do to pass the time of today. I'm sure that I'll think of something. I've missed this feeling! (and my laptop ;) )

Plans for Independence Day and beyond

While not a whole lot has changed, I've been wanting to take the time to blog on a more regular basis. I need to get into the habit now otherwise it's going to be very difficult after Ender is born! I still haven't been able to get ScottE to take any pictures of my belly. Hopefully we can get some done this week.

All about baby
I don't think I've ever seen a more active baby inutero! He pushes on me constantly. It seems his favorite position is to stick his head out my lower left side and put his back/bum out the right side of my ribs. It can get to be incredibly uncomfortable at times! He also likes to push on my ribs and hip bones. ScottE asked me just the other day if I was still willing to do it all over again so we could have more children. I can't help but smile... because it's been a pretty easy pregnancy! I'm a little worried to discover how labor will go because things have been so easy so far, but if this is what it's all about - I could do it a million times! Aside from being slightly uncomfortable, the minor back pain and the swollen feet, I have no other complaints! I guess we'll have to see how he behaves when he gets here... can't believe it's coming up so quickly! Only 5 more weeks...

His room is still a disaster area. We have a bunch of clothes spread out all over the floor. I'm hoping to get the "new" clothes washed today so I can start putting things away. Hopefully, ScottE can get his crib put together and it will actually begin to resemble a room! It's not as bad as our spare room was back in CA, but it does look a bit like a storage room right now. I just hope I can keep my energy up enough to get everything done!

My next doctor's appointment is on the 6th. I'm not looking forward to this one as I have to get my Group B Strep test done. I know they will be starting the internal exams soon and I'm not looking forward to those either. I guess it's just part of the price we pay to bring babies into this world!

Plans for the 4th
Jana and Tyler are planning to come down for the 4th of July! ScottE and I are both very excited. This will be our first family visit since the move. It's going to be so nice having family here... We have some minor child proofing to do before they get here. I'm not overly worried about it though because the children are well behaved. We simply have to communicate with them! Their visit is another reason I need to get a lot of things done on Ender's room. They are planning to come down on Thursday night. Jana has offered to help with the stuff that I can't do, so it should be a really fun and productive visit. We are planning a big bbq on Saturday after watching a parade or something downtown. I hope the children are as excited as we adults are!

Our TV
I don't think I have mentioned this to anyone! Shortly after the move, we started having issues with our tv. Basically, we were seeing red pixels in some of the dark spots and the faces would appear a little weird. We called Best Buy about the warranty and they said they would send someone out. Apparently they didn't give the technicians the right phone number and they never showed up. I called Best Buy a week or so later, and they did some minor troubleshooting over the phone. Those suggestions didn't work. So I called again and they finally sent someone out. The techs got here and basically told me we had an LCD panel out. They knew they wouldn't be able to get the part so they sent the work order in to Best Buy. I called them the following week and was told they would process the work order. Basically they were going to look for the part and if they could get it, they would send the tech out again to fix it. If not, we would get a confirmation number for an exchange. The service company has since called me and said we would be getting an exchange. We have yet to receive the confirmation, but are hoping to get it soon - it should arrive sometime today or tomorrow. Then, ScottE suggested we get credit for the tv we have now and then put some extra money on top of it and get a bigger one. When I asked customer service about this, essentially it's up to the store where we do the exchange. But that's what we're hoping for! We are also hoping we can get this done before Jana and Tyler get here. Right now our tv is sitting on the floor with a bunch of wires everywhere. ScottE doesn't want to drill into the wall until we know what we are going to be doing for sure. Can't wait to find out! It's very much time for an upgrade!

More plans:
The next few days are going to be pretty busy for me. I have a lot to do around the house to get it ready for our visitors. I also have a lot of shopping to do! We have this really awesome Farmer's Market every Tuesday and I'm planning to get a bunch of stuff there tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be very busy and I'm going to be on my feet most of the day. I just hope it's not too hot! The humidity here is killer for my feet and my hands.

A sister in our ward allowed me to borrow her vacuum so I need to get most of that done today. There is just so much to do! And what am I doing? Sitting at my computer!! How silly can you be? Anyway... I should probably get back to working on the house. I have some boxes to go through as well as a TON of laundry. I will definitely be posting something after this weekend... or at the very least after my doctor's appointment.