Across the Universe.

Okay so its really just across the country, but it FEELS like we moved across the universe! Three months of no blogging, but with good reason(s). Because there is so much to write about I will have to resort to sub-sections again. Sorry guys but I've got a lot to cover!

On Loss
  Robert drove up to Milwaukee Wisconsin to train for his new job at the end of June. I was prepared to kick myself into high gear and get my house cleaned and packed and ready to move. It wasn't going to be an easy task (particularly since I had barely adjusted from two to three kids) but I was up for it. I was off to a good start but was hit with a massive emotional blow on July 9th. I had spent a productive day packing most of the kids room and had time to make a good dinner for us all (we'd been eating a lot of leftovers and mac and cheese)  the evening news was on in the background and I was in the middle of getting Andy seconds when I received a series of text messages that changed everything. The Stays, a family in our ward, good friends of ours, had all been murdered with the exception of one survivor, a teenage girl that had been one of our favorite babysitters. The story was all over the local and national news. It was like being in a bad dream for the next days and weeks. Memorials, funerals, and fundraisers filled so much of our time. I could write a whole series of blogs about losing the Stays. The whole situation brings up hundreds of topics and talking points, and perhaps I will revisit the subject at a later time, but for now I will just say that I miss my friend Katie. I miss her sweet children that I had the privilege of working with in primary. I miss the family that were such pillars of good in the community.

I just miss my friends.

On Andy's birthday and a cute baby photo dump
After that bit of sadness I have to enhance the happiness of this post before it gets depressing.
 My awesome, adorable little firstborn turned six in July!

I am pretty sure this is the handsomest 6 year old
 in existence. 

It's kind of unfair that he is already so big , because I am pretty sure he was just my little baby and now he is my biggest boy and he is smart and kind and takes care of his little sister and baby brother and, and....okay I'll stop the weepy mom rant.
While Rob was gone for his new job training and it was just me and the kiddos I took a lot of cute pictures of them. Because me kids are the most beautiful of all children alive, I think its only fair that I share some of them with you. So:

You're Welcome.

On packing and preparing to move, single mom style
Moving in general is stressful enough. Add to the mix, a husband who is across the country,

*sniff*

 three small kids, one of them a baby who feels desolate after a half hour of not being held/nursed

though, to be fair
 REALLY happy when he is held.

and you reach a level of stress that makes for a good blog! I had lofty aspirations of writing about the frustration of finding good boxes, stocking up on packing tape, and using pinterest ideas to plan the whole move. Unfortunately, I'd spend my days trying to get a modicum of work done, and never as much as I wanted to, so I could never justify sitting at my computer to write, when I couldn't even manage to get as many boxes packed as I needed to, even as my house turned into something that looked like it should be featured on an episode of "Hoarders"

SOMEHOW I was able to do it. In the end it wasn't without quite a bit of help from some very lovely people, but it got done. We packed up the moving truck and got on our way!

On traveling across the country
And so, we bid our home in Texas farewell (for now) and made our way to Wisconsin!

We started with your classic "Stand in front of the
'welcome to the state' sign" picture and decided it was
a tad on the dangerous side....

So I just started taking pictures of the state signs.

Had to stop in Memphis to take a picture of the house I
grew up in.

HELLO WISCONSIN!

On moving in and getting settled in Greendale
So after two LONG days of driving, (and I am pretty sure there was a governor on the truck that slowed us down. That plus the time required at pt stops to feed kids and babies, make bathroom runs and change diapers as well as the necessary refueling, made the trip drag oooonnnnn.) We FINALLY pulled in to our new home in Greendale Wisconsin!

Greendale is seriously one of the cutest little towns you could ask for! Walking around this neighborhood is like stepping back in time. In fact, most of the homes were built in the 30's and 40's. The "newest" ones around don't look any more recent than the late 60's. All the homes are beautifully maintained and have perfectly manicured lawns and flowers EVERYWHERE!

A freaking  ROOSTER ,WEATHERVANE!

A statue in the town square of Norman Rockwell
painting the town square.

This house was BEGGING to have its picture taken! Isn't
it adorable??

The weather is awesome (thus far) and I have finally gotten the house unpacked and more or less put together!

Welcome to our little home!

A tiny kitchen, in which to eat.

More of the tiny kitchen.

Living room, from the kitchen.

Aubrey's room

Andy and Evan's room.

We have started exploring our new home which is a cute little suburb of Milwaukee Wisconsin and on labor day I got my first look at the beautiful lake Michigan!

I think we will be okay here for a while. But just in case you guys aren't sure, here is a picture I took of an honest to gosh, double rainbow I totally saw outside of my house yesterday!

"What does it MEAN?!?!"

Adventures in...

Well boys and girls, its once again, been a very long time since I have updated! Many things have happened, and are happening all at once and so I will once again (because I find myself doing this a lot) write a post in vignettes. I will be  covering many topics at once and *hope* that I will get back on track so I can stick to one topic per post several times a month, rather than my recent habit of several topics once every couple of months.

Here we go:

Adventures in: family expansion!
 A little over three months ago I had a baby! My labor and delivery was definitely an experience which you can read all about here if you are so inclined. Or I can sum it up in about two selfies:

Before.

After.

I got a new phone the afternoon before I had the baby and tested the camera with a selfie. I tested it again many hours, contractions, and blood loss later with another selfie....

Evan Saul Attaya was born at 2:52a.m. of  March 13, in all his 7lb 3oz glory.

There is definitely a learning curve to having three kids. I feel like I am adjusting to it alright. (Haha Haha....*collapses to the floor*)

I know I am lucky to have three beautiful, healthy children who are each awesome in their uniquenesses. Evan is a pretty rad addition to our already epic family unit though. He was this tiny little skinny thing when he was born, but that was a temporary condition. Apparently I am a champion breastfeeder, or I simply produce heavy cream, because my babies all tend to pack on the weight pretty quickly. 

All I care about is that he is happy and healthy. (Which sounds super selfless, but is in fact the opposite, because if he were unhappy and sick, my life would SUCK!)

You've gotta admit though, the chubby cheeks and legs are REALLY adorable!

Adventures in re-acclimation. (or getting back my pre-baby body)

So getting pregnant and having a baby, does a number on the female body, or at least it does to my body. My joints become all loose and painful. My legs feel like they are connected to my hips with rubber bands. my center of gravity shifts and turns my posture into complete garbage, and thats not even addressing the bodily trauma that is 'labor and delivery'.  So, when my six weeks of 'recovery ' was up, I was super anxious to get "back to normal" and start working out and running and fitting into my clothes again. 

Yeah.....still not quite fitting into those clothes yet. Did you know that you can't just leave three small kids home alone while you go get a good work out???

 When one has a husband who is a pilot, and is therefore gone for several days in a row each week, one cannot simply 'get into a good workout regiment' easily. 

I do of course go running as often as I can when he is home, and not busy with other things. Which isn't as often as I would prefer, but at least its SOMETHING. 

Also, running after having a baby is difficult, and sometimes painful because your body is readjusting to it's normal center of gravity and all that dang relaxin is still working itself out of your system.  So my pace had slowed significantly since last year when I was running five miles a day. I find myself getting better with each run, but its still frustrating working back up to my old pace, because it feels so slow. 

My hair has started falling out again too. I knew THAT was going to happen again also, but I wasn't looking forward to it. All that gorgeous, thick, shiny hair you get while pregnant, is a temporary thing. It all starts coming out about three months after the baby is born. The worst part is its EVERYWHERE! 

 I'd be the worst person to commit a crime just now because It'd be so obvious who perpetrated it once they saw the strands of my hair littering the scene! 

Really I'm just in awe of the fact that I'm not bald. 

I know my hair will stop falling out in handfuls soon (at least it has with each of my previous babies) and if I stay diligent with MyFitnessPal and keep working out when I can, I'll get my old body back eventually too. I'm just impatient.

Adventures in Adventure!

 So I made you all wait till the end of this post for the really juicy news. 

Our (not so) little family is embarking on one of the biggest adventures yet: We are moving to Wisconsin!

For the past three years, Robert has been flying for a company that inspects pipeline for oil companies. He does so in smaller planes. Well, we knew that he didn't want to fly the smaller aircraft forever, but there were many jobs he couldn't apply for until he had accrued more flight time. (a common catch 22 in the aviation industry is the need to have a job flying so as to get more flight hours, but not having enough flight hours to be hired)  He recently applied to a company that flies cargo and was called in for an interview, where they offered him the job right then and there! He will have the opportunity to fly bigger planes and get the hours in THEM that he needs. 

The catch, is that the job will necessitate our relocation to Wisconsin. Land of dairy farms, cheese, breweries, and ACTUAL winters. (living in Houston TX. we get 'fake' winters and too much summer)

I have to say we are anxious in all possible ways about this move, but overall very excited! We hope that it will act as a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of flying the corporate jets back here in Houston. 

For me this means about two months of single parenthood. Rob leaves for training at the end of this month and will be training in Milwaukee for the entire month of July, and then will be sent to another city in Wisconsin (we won't know which, until he begins training) to start the job, and find us a place to live.  I will be down here cleaning, getting rid of stuff we don't need or use, and packing up the rest. All while taking care of my three kiddos and attempting to maintain my sanity.

I know that military wives will scoff at me, and this isn't as long as a typical deployment in the military, but it IS the longest we will have been away from each other since we were married. Even during the six months he was in flight school I would still see him once or twice a month or more. This will be two solid months apart, and I have to say, it makes me a little nervous. BUT I also know that being a real, live grown up person, I can do it!

(Also, if during this time anyone wants to come by and offer me adult conversation, or sedatives, or cookies.....I probably won't say no.)