Memories & Milestones of the Gonzales Family: 2012

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Kiddos

Our kiddos are something else! Evan is now 4 years and 5 months old, and Aubrie is 2 years and 8 months old. They have both grown up sooooo much over the summer!

Evan favorite things are now Spiderman and trains, mostly. But honestly, his favorite thing lately is to play with Aubrie and Aiden, no matter what they are playing. He really is growing into what I think of as a little boy, meaning very exaggerated expressions when he talks, and a loud "inside" voice while he talks to us. He also thinks he knows everything. I thought that was supposed to happen in the teenage years, not at 4???!!!! When I picked him up from daycare a few weeks ago, he was telling me all about a picture that he drew in class that day. While he was talking, I made a comment like, "Mmhmm, I know." He looked at me and said, "You don't KNOW, Mommy!" He's getting big WAY too fast...

My Aubrie is growing up way too fast, as well! She is now talking even more than before, but with her cute little way of saying things. For example, she still says "geurl" for "girl". She is Firestar for Halloween this year, and she says, "Iya Firatar, Mommy." (fi-rah-tar). We are definitely having more days where she is being a pill than sweet now, but I am thankful that I can still calm her down quickly and get her to do whatever it is that I'm asking, even if she's still upset. She has a favorite Bunny pillow and blanket nowadays, too. She also LOVES to play games on my new iPhone. There is a Princess game that she particularly loves, but then throws a fit every time something goes wrong with it. She's definitely Ms. Independent these days. I can't even help her wipe from the potty without her saying, "You-un go sit in yur chair." I am also the only person that she will not hold hands with anymore. Sigh.

It's a transition period in our home as we all settle into the idea that we will have a new home in a few weeks, as well as the kids deciding on how they are going to act during their new "independence." Chris and I are needing to come up with a more strict discipline system, as Evan has lied to us a few times, and Aubrie loves to say, "Leave me 'lone!" in the most shrieky voice possible. But we will pass through this phase and move into the next before I know it, so I'm going to cherish every moment of it - even the crazy moments. :)

(A pic of us. Just because.)

Back To School

On top of keeping our house clean and on the market, packing, moving, getting kids acclimated to daycare, etc, I have also gone back to teaching! I decided to go back to work to help us sell our home, and was not really excited about it in the beginning. However, the transition has been much easier than I anticipated, and I'm actually enjoying myself (on most days).

I am teaching at Ralph Eickenroht Elementary in Spring ISD. It is only about 15 minutes from our new house. It is the school that Cooper (my old school) split with the year that I left to stay home. So I have actually taught some of the the 3-5th graders before, which makes it a bit easier in some cases.

It is still a challenge every morning to leave without saying goodbye to the kids (I have to leave before they even wake up because I need to be at school by 7am). It's also hard when I only get to see them for a few hours in the evenings; especially when I end the night by getting onto Evan for getting out of his room a quadrillion times. :) Those are the hard nights. But then I have afternoons like yesterday when Evan fell asleep in the van on the way home, and then wanted nothing other than to sit in my lap for 30 minutes. Or when he got my attention as I was walking Aubrie up the stairs to go to bed to say, "But I didn't give you a hug goodnight!" Those are moments that I will always love, and I hope happen more and more often as the kids grow up.

I am so thankful that this has all worked out well. I know that God has put me at this school, at this time, for a reason. I am determined to be a good influence on these school kids, as they don't all have great home lives. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, but glad to be making a difference. The way I look at it, is that I'm always going to miss being with my kids. This way, I can contribute to the new house, and give the kids a life that would have taken much longer to achieve if I'd stayed at home.

Baptism

A few weeks ago, at the end of September, we were able to witness something amazing; the baptism of Chris' parents!!! They have started attending church regularly, and we have seen an amazing change in both of them. We are so excited about this new chapter in their lives, and we ready to be see the Holy Spirit work in them! I am so thankful for second chances!

Catch-Up

Where to start...

I know. I'm a terrible person because I haven't written anything down in the last few months. Nothing of real consequence, anyway, with what's been going on in our lives lately. But, it's a beautiful Saturday morning, and I finally feel like I have some time to sit down and blog about our life recently.

The most important thing that has happened is that we have finally sold our home! I can't even begin to explain how amazingly God has blessed us throughout this entire process, but I am in awe and very humbled to think that He had this in mind all along. Every little detail has been taken into account and covered. Just amazing. It's not a process that I am anxious to go through again anytime soon (or ever!), but I am thankful for it all the same.

We started working with an amazing realtor last year, and officially put our house on the market on June 21st. Then we went to live with my Mom for the summer so that we wouldn't have to keep our already impeccable :) house clean. It was a wonderful summer, and I have so many great memories of being there with my Mom and our family. In fact, we may have started a tradition!

After only 3.5 months, we officially closed on the sale of our house last Friday, October the 12th (2012)!! It was an amazing feeling, although it still doesn't really feel real yet. We have been living with Nick and Alia's family for the past week while we wait for the paperwork to be finished on our new home. We are supposedly closing on November 5th!!!!!!!!

Our new home is simply wonderful! We thought we had lost it when this whole thing started, but God had his hand on it the entire time. Another couple backed out of their contract on it, opening it up for us!!! It has everything that we are looking for, and it just feels like home. We've had both the home inspection and the appraisal, and both have come back with great results! Now I just need to get all of the documents together for the loan officer and underwriter, and then we can close! Just as with the rest of this process, it's been an up and down roller coaster ride. It feels a little bit like the day before a wedding when all of the little details threaten to overwhelm me, but I know it's almost over.

It has been a blast staying with Nick & Alia, and the kids have enjoyed waking up to find each other still in the house. Right now it just feels like a big vacation, and that we'll go back home in a bit. It is a little weird to think that we'll never walk back into the house that I brought my babies home in, but I know that feeling will be completely replaced once we move into the new place. I'm feeling very blessed and thankful right now, and life is good. :)

Evan helping to "label" boxes.

The packing has started!

I thought the kids would have a hard time with this, but that is obviously not the case!

The last time in our swingset before being sent off to Grammy's house.

We had LOTS of amazing help with our packing. We couldn't have finished without everyone's help; that includes the little boy across the street that reminded us to unpack the attic... :)