We’re Moving!

Although we are not moving far, we are about to start the wonderful process of uprooting our life for a little while. Tim and I have decided to move about 20 minutes closer into Tulsa since we are constantly in town for family functions, church and work. We feel like we are outgrowing our current home so we figured now was as good of a time as any to make this move. We decided to build in Broken Arrow in Trinity Creek and we are very excited to begin the next chapter of our life.

First, we wanted to sell our current home before we started the building process. Well, it sold in 41 days … time to begin a state of panic! Next, we had to find a place to live while we built – since we cannot find a rent home for a measly 5 months we decided to rent an apartment. The apartments are new and only 1.5 miles from the home we are building and Josh’s new school. Apartment life with 2 kids should be an adventure for sure! Now we are onto trying to find a new daycare. So far this has proven to be an extremely challenging task. My standards for daycare are a tad ridiculous, but it will all work out. I think.

So, we move out of our current home and into an 1100 sqft. apartment on Memorial Day weekend. From now to then we have to pack our stuff and somehow take a vacation for a week in the midst of this as well. Goodness, our timing for adding as many tasks to our life as possible was impeccable!

- Our home at 9000 N 156th E Ave –

We have a lot of wonderful memories and there are some great things we are going to miss about this house in Owasso. Some of the great memories are: bringing Owen home from the hospital, Josh was only 18 months old when we started building, Tim’s dad was physically still here and visited us in this house, Josh – every moment from 18mo-6 years, Owen – every moment from 3 days-3 years. The thing we will miss most about our current home is the amazing view! I loved backing up to a large pond and 80+ acres of trails, ponds, and parks.

Tim and I will both fully admit that our life is abundantly blessed with treasured moments. Luckily we get to take the memories with us!

Some pics of our home in Owasso …

Dear snow: You are only great for a day and by the way, I don’t like you!

Snow. Snow. Snow. Holy mother of snow! The amount of snow we got this year set records and was unreal. It shut Tulsa down – stores, businesses, roads, everything came to a standstill. Grocery stores were bare and the wind chill was brutal. The first blizzard brought just over 22” to my home, followed by a 6” weird melt away day, and then followed by another 12” of snow. Oklahoma is overly hormonal sometimes. Please note: being locked inside is now tested and proven TO NOT BE FOR ME! I am glad the snow has finally left our area and that I am currently looking outside to a 75 degree day! Sunshine makes me happy.

BIG Surprises Headed Their Way!

So, Tim and I are about to surprise the hello-kitty out of our children. Operation awesome vacation is booked! The kids DO NOT KNOW and that is for 2 reasons … (1) I do not want to be asked a million times a week if “it’s time” and (2) The surprise is going to be sooooo awesome. Yes, we will be the dorky family that videos the big announcement. ;o)

In the meantime … I look forward to Mother’s Day Weekend when Mickey calls my kids and welcomes them aboard the Disney Magic and we sail away to the Eastern Caribbean. I am so freaking excited!!

Owen's 3rd Birthday

My little man turned 3 on December 30th. What can I say about this kid? Well, in short - Owen is a rockstar! He is funny, kind, loving, opinionated, laid-back ... he is just a cool kid. He is very similar to his big brother, yet very different too. I absolutely adore being his mama.

To celebrate we had the family over on New Years Eve. Owen loved the attention and all his presents. Thank you to everyone who made his day special. Happy Birthday O!

Christmas 2010

As usual Christmas was filled with F-U-N at the Govier house. Josh and Owen who are at the perfect age for Christmas did not disappoint their parents with Christmas magic. Thomas, our elf, arrived at our door just after Thanksgiving and Josh literally lit up and ran through the house just absolutely elated that Santa sent Thomas back to watch after my kiddos. I wish I had known that Josh’s response to Thomas’ arrival would have been that awesome – the video camera would have been rolling! It was absolutely amazing.

I had to take 2 weeks of required vacation time in December so I headed to Houston for a few days to see my sister and family with the boys. Tim had to stay in Tulsa to work – life of a Controller at year-end, I guess. Anyway, the boys and I had a great time in Houston. We enjoyed the White Trash Sweater Party at my sister’s house and just hanging out with their family. I wish we lived closer as my sister is my best friend and it would be great to spend more time with her and her family. Love those Dougherty’s!

Christmas morning the boys awoke at 6:30 a.m. – I was actually pretty impressed that they made it that long! Karen joined us bright and early and was at our house before we were awake. The boys opened their gifts from Santa and then their gifts from us immediately after. We enjoyed breakfast together and then the kids played with their new toys as we watched the Disney Parade.

Christmas Day was spent with my family and although it was hectic, it was great! I am a family girl and will always love the time I get to spend with my parents, grandparents, and my brother’s family. The day after Christmas was spent with the Govier family. Josh, Owen, Avery and Adalyn play so well together and they always enjoy their time together. Add new presents to that mix and you have a recipe for success!

Christmas for me, besides the religious side, has morphed into amazing moments of watching Christmas magic dance in the eyes of my children, nephews and nieces. Watching them open presents and light up with glee and is absolutely intoxicating and I don’t think I will ever get enough of it – I love it!

"Be Still and Know that I am God"

I have went back-and-forth on whether or not to write about the below information and have finally decided to post a brief paragraph on what happened to our family last November.

Since I last posted, my family was hit with horrible news. On November 8th, Tim and I went to the ob/gyn to find out the gender of our expected baby, I was 15-weeks pregnant. Unfortunately what we found out was that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. I had a D&C on November 11th and have really struggled with this loss since that date. Every day gets better, but for me personally I still occasionally get blindsided with emotion over this loss. I am no longer angry, but I am still sad. Besides the actual loss, the thing that hurts the most is how the medical community refers to a D&C as an abortion. To try to stomach that I somehow had a choice in this matter is extremely difficult for me. However, what I have chosen is to remain strong in my faith and to try to live by the mantra “Be Still and Know that I am God”. I know that there is a miraculous plan that I do not understand and has not been revealed to me. I also look forward to one day meeting the child I lost at heaven’s gate.

Halloween 2010

The best part of Halloween this year? We were not sick - whoooo hoooo!!!!! Last year all 4 of us had the swine flu so it was so nice to be healthy this year. Very thankful to be healthy!!!

In the past I have been able to make my kids match with Halloween, which for my own selfish reasons I like. Two years ago we had Woody and Buzz, last year was Batman and Robin … this year my kiddos developed their own opinions and we had Wolverine and Handy Manny. Even though they did not “match” they were so cute! We went to the Phillips House for chili and trick or treating and had a great time hanging out with friends. Josh and Trent had fun running around the neighborhood and even ran into 2 more of their friends, Matt and Dani, and the 4 of them tackled the neighborhood and scored some serious candy. Owen, by nature, is a very timid child. At first, he did not know what to think about the scary costumes or the idea of going up to some random house and saying trick or treat. Well, when he figured out that they gave him candy, all fears were washed away and he was on a mission. It was pretty funny how quickly he flipped from being scared to being this little man who could conquer Halloween.