Life as Nebraskans!

Yes, we are alive here in Omaha and things are going great! I have been meaning to post pictures of the things that we are doing but every time Will takes a nap I think of a hundred things that I can finally get done. To start off, we love Omaha so far! I know we haven't experienced a mid-west winter, so ask me again in a couple of months what I think of Omaha then. Just to give you an idea of how wimpy I am, the other night Will was playing outside and I had a sweatshirt on plus my warmest jacket (this was the heaviest jacket I wore the entire time I lived in Phoenix) and I was freezing! Grant came out and warned me I was in for a long winter if I was freezing in 53 degrees. Anyways, Collette has been asking me to post pictures of our house/townhouse that we are living in, so now that I finally got all of our decorations up, I could take pictures to post. This is the front of our house.

I love our location because we are on the end of a row (obviously) and we have trees and shade around us almost the whole day. It is nice too because then Will has the area in the front, on the side of our house (which I actually do hate when he plays there because there is cat poo all over!) and then the back area too. He LOVES it! I don't think I can emphasize that one enough! He is the happiest little boy in the world when we gets to go outside and dig in the dirt, throw sticks and play with his new little friend Corbin.

Next, here is the front entrance. I included this one because now you can see the Halloween subway art that I made this week. I have mixed feelings on it. I love it because I did it for $1 and I like the idea of what I was doing, but it bugs me too when I look at it from far away because it is more obvious that some of the words are crooked! I drives me crazy! But I'm not about to do it again because Halloween is only a week away and it really isn't my favorite holiday!

Here is another picture closer up of it!

Next it goes off to the left into our tiny kitchen! It only has three drawers! This was the hardest room for me to organize because I had to choose which things I would use the most and then the other kitchen stuff I had to put in our storage room downstairs on some shelves in there. Oh well though! I'm actually getting used to it now!

After the entryway, you go into the living room/dining area.

Then this is where we go upstairs. Sorry, these are probably more pictures than most of you really care to see, but since I was going to do this post, I might as well include everything.

Upstairs is where both of the bedrooms are. Here is Will's room. The little train set on the ground was his birthday present from Grant and I. He plays with it nonstop! Before bedtime and naptime I have to put the trains up on the dresser because it is a temptation this little boy cannot resist! The first time he went down for his nap in his toddler bed, it was less than 1 minute after I walked out that I heard the little train going.

Next here is Grant's and my room. Nothing too exciting because I haven't figured out yet how I want to decorate the walls. If anyone has any cute (and cheap) ideas, I would love suggestions!

Back down in the living room, here is a picture where you go downstairs. Also included is another Halloween decoration that I made a couple of weeks ago.

Downstairs is where we have designated as Grant's "office." Even though he likes to keep it nice and organized, it is sometimes impossible because one of Will's favorite games is throwing his balls up and down the stairs. I thought within the first couple of weeks it would get old but apparently not. He loves to throw balls and throwing them up and down stairs makes it that much more fun! Obviously, the basement is another place where the walls need some creative attention! Painted cinder blocks really aren't that attractive!

The only room left that I haven't shown (besides the bathrooms) is the storage room and I'm sorry that room is NOT for show! It is still a work in progress. Maybe someday if I ever get it organized and it looks fantastic, I will post a picture, but more than likely you will never see it unless you come visit! Well, I know that was a lot of pictures but I figured what the heck since I'm posting about it, I might as well include EVERYTHING!

In the last two months since we have been here, we have been to the Omaha zoo a handful of times. I think we have gone almost once a week! I LOVE this zoo though! It is one of the top 5 in the country. I love it because the animals are so active! Everytime I go, I always see some of the animals doing something amazing! Such as, the polar bear swimming in the water right up by the glass for us to see, the gorillas posing again the glass, the little baby gorilla less than 2 ft tall playing with his mom, grandma and grandpa (Will loves gorillas too!), the female lions wrestling with each other than one walking right over to where Will and I are and putting here face right up against the glass so we were just inches away from her! (thank goodness the glass was between us, those females lions are NOT animals I would ever want to mess with!). We love it there! If anyone does visit, you can pretty much be guaranteed and trip to the zoo because so far it hasn't gotten old for Will and I.

This last one, Will is looking at the orangutans! He loves watching them as they are swinging from the netting around their area and on ropes! Sometimes when we are in the parking lots we can here them making their LOUD calls back and forth and he just starts squealing "Monkeys!" and clapping his hands. He gets so excited to see them! Sorry I actually don't have a lot of pictures of us in the zoo with the animals. I will definitely need to do better!

Another thing that we love to do is go to the Children's Museum. They have a room where there are just hundreds of balls and they go all over the room through tunnels and mazes. Will can spend the entire time in that room! It's funny because all of the balls will collect to this place in the middle of the room and periodically an alarm will go off and then the balls will drop down on all of the kids! After the first time, Will just stood there clasping his chubby little hands together looking up at it, as if begging it to do it again! Grant and I were laughing at how adorable he was!

This is Will and his little buddy Clark waiting for the balls to drop again! I thought it was so cute how excited they were!

So life is good here in Omaha! Grant is LOVING law school! Within the last couple of weeks, things have gotten a lot harder and he is really busy, but he is enjoying what he is studying and the challenge it is giving him. I am so proud of him because he wakes up so early to study and works so hard the whole day and then still comes home and is so happy to see Will and me! It amazes both of us that he is over half way done with his first semester! It honestly seems like we just got here!

Will and I are doing great as well! I have loved staying home with Will the last couple of months! There are some nights I go to bed and my legs ache so bad from doing so much from chasing Will around to doing laundry to making dinner and then to chasing Will around some more! He is still having a hard time transitioning to his new nursery, so Sunday's are not our best days, but he makes up for it Monday through Saturday saying cute little expressions he is learning and giggling and laughing at everything! Even when he is in trouble, which sadly I think he got from me! I have always laughed at the worst times! We are enjoying as much time outside right now as we can, since we don't know how much longer it is going to last! Living in Phoenix the last four years, I have forgotten how much I love the fall! There are so many trees around here that the fall is gorgeous! I have to be careful as I am driving because I tend to look around at all the trees changing colors! I love the cool, crisp air too! Cool to me though is now low 70s. We are all doing great and so far enjoying our time in Omaha!

A Long Awaited Letter!

Have you ever been cliff diving? It’s a funny thing. The last time I went cliff diving I was looking from the ground up, watching divers playfully jumping off an otherwise harmless ledge, reaching terminal velocity, and then entering a body of water that seems to accept them like a sharp needle through warm Jello that barely holds its shape (assuming, of course that annoying “Jello skin” has been removed). When I approach a cliff, I somehow seem to lack the confidence the other divers have. I realize in that instant “I’ll have a lot more surface area when I hit the water, this going to hurt.”

It seemed like fun looking up with cool abstraction at ground level, but up there on the edge of a cliff, that soft gelatin starts to look like all skin, no Jello.

I felt the same way when I recently got what most people consider fantastic news. After trying for two years to get into law school I got accepted to Creighton University: School of Law in Omaha, Nebraska. When I applied, it seemed like a great idea, but when I got the letter that said I had actually been accepted it felt like I was on the verge of a legal education cliff. Once I jumped, I don’t really have the choice of turning back if I spot an abnormally thick layer of legal Jello skin directly under my landing pad.

My wife, of course, was naturally frustrated at my hesitation. “Don’t you dare mention legal Jello skin to me you spineless twit!” she said. NOTE: This quote may or may not be accurate as I occasionally black out when Teresa gets angry. I have yet to verify whether this is from my own spinelessness (in which case her accusation would be accurate), or spousal abuse. If anyone has an insight, or has observed the abuse, please let me know.

Understanding her frustration, I promptly played the possum and decided to wait until she could calm down to explain. I thought that such a momentous decision warranted a bit of consideration, though in unanswerable logic she countered, “We’ve been considering for two years. If any more consideration takes place it will be from me considering whether or not to slap some sense into you!” Noting the threat of violence supports my spousal abuse theory, I also realized she was right.

My reservations had only to do with my own insecurities. I wouldn’t want to keep myself from a fantastic law school like Creighton out of cowardice. Though my confidence in their judgement was a bit shaken when they decided to include me in their law school. But it looks like they did it, they finally nailed Jello to the wall and I couldn't be more excited about Creighton.

Thanks to Creighton and my wife for accepting me and believing in me despite my irrational fear of Jello skins. We’ll be moving in the middle of August, and look forward to our new home in Omaha!

Just Random Things!

So if anyone still checks this blog, I admire your faith in me that I might actually do something! Probably everyone agrees with me that life is busy, however, the majority of you still are able to update your blogs and show all of the wonderful things going on in your life. It is one or the other with me apparently. Lately, I have been OBSESSED with sewing little projects (to the point that it is keeping me up till 1:00 am and then wake up late for work and rush out the door without washing my hair for the 4th or 5th day in a row). But with my sister having had a baby in December, Dave & Karlie any day, and Tanner and Lupe in just a couple of months and then about five other friends being pregnant, I can always come up with an idea for someone. My friend just turned me on to this blog tonight www.oneprettything.com and I have just spent the last hour thinking of all the things I could do for Will and so many other kids! I only wish I could quit my job and support my family this way, but I seriously think we would have to scale back on a few things to make ends meet. Sadly though I don't have any pictures of my crafts!

Here are some pictures though from the last couple of months.

This is just a picture of Will brushing his teeth. It amazes me at how fast he is growing up and how he is starting to insist on him being able to do as much as he can by himself. He loves that little stool and will carry it around to help him climb up on things.

This is Will Easter morning after he found his little Easter basket. It didn't take him long to realize there was candy in each of the eggs and we weren't stopping him from eating it! Let's just say that to him that equals a pretty good morning!

Here we are doing a little easter egg hunt. After the first egg, he wanted to stop and eat the candy, but then he saw that there were more eggs to grab so he kept moving until the job was done!

Grant and I have always loved reading books to Will! Most of the time when I can't hear Will playing it usually means he is into something he shouldn't, but lately he has started going into his room, grabbing some books, and then sitting in his glider and will just look through the books. I love it! I think it is so sweet!

This is Mother's Day morning when Will is painting me a picture with Grant. The final project was a bouquet of feet and hand prints. I have to give Grant credit for going to all of that work because finger painting with such a wiggly little boy can make such a big mess!

Selling the Car

This has been our go-to car for a while now, but its time to sell. This is a quick slideshow for our craigslist ad.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cowboy-Up and Shop!

This weekend Will went to Elsa Nunley’s Birthday Party. Elsa’s parents, Marc and Kenna put on a fantastic Wild West Themed Party. They had a huge cardboard cutout of a “Juice Saloon” and a jail and it looked great. Also, unrelated to the cowboy theme they had a big bouncy house that Will liked once he got it all to himself (the other kids made it too disorienting for his already clumsy walking). Elsa was the cutest little cowgirl on the invitation so Teresa and I decided we would try to dress up Will too. At first I thought it might be fun to have will be an Indian to Elsa’s cowgirl, but then I thought he would just get shot at by cap guns all afternoon (and ironically he can’t stand loud noises). On further reflection it is probably better that we didn’t use our firstborn to perpetuate an unfair caricature of Native Americans, but to be honest my first thought was the cap gun shooting.



For those who have seen Will walk, you know that he already has that irrepressible swagger that is known to cowboys. Though, as devil’s advocate here, I may have to suggest that swagger be the wide-legged stumbling of a 15 month old. At any rate, we knew that role of a cowboy, individualistic, stubborn, reticent, though at times well spoken, would suit Will perfectly.



So the task then fell on my shoulders to find the various props needed to transform Will from City-Slicker to Cow poke. I thought that surely I would be able to find a toy gun and a badge at the first “Dollar Store” I came across I but I was wrong. So very wrong. After making trips to four different dollar stores, I didn’t find one gun, hat, or belt buckle. I didn’t even find bandana.



Giving up I went to Wal*Mart where I quickly found not one, but two cap guns, a felt cowboy hat, a belt with buckle included and one green bandana. The bandana turned out to be the trickiest as all of the Latino workers thought I was saying “banana” and the first “Whitey” I talked to had no idea at all. Finally I had to walk by the “unmentionables” to the handbags where I found women’s scarves and there it was, the green bandana like a beacon showing me the end of my four hour shopping fiasco. I snagged a Revlon Color Stay Eye-Liner (nod to Teryn Jensen for the “Believe-Me-Beauty Blog”) and then spent another half-hour trying to get out of the store.

But I hope as you can see the Eye-Liner came in handy both for painting a little mustachio on Will’s upper lip and for (I’m told) lining the lids of Teresa’s eyes. Teresa made flashy belt buckle even flashier by making a big “W” Buckle out of foam and aluminum foil. Hopefully these pictures of Will hamming it up for the camera made the shopping trip worth it, as he didn’t even wear the items for which I had spent so much time looking for even five minutes when we got to the party. I think this one tipping his hat as if to say "Howdy Padna'" made it worth it for me anyway.