Fall Festivities

Its been a fun 6 weeks.
We are officially in Fall. I'm a little sad that the trees aren't the "on fire" look I was expecting from my first Eastern Fall. They are just starting to change their leaves. Some of the trees are beautiful and bold in their color changing, some haven't started yet, and others just kind of lost their leaves quietly without much change (party poopers). I don't have any pretty Fall pictures, but I do have this wonderful sunset picture

We did have a nice trip to Stribling orchard on Sept 26th to do some apple picking. Joseph had a blast!

Apple Picking

Michael sleeping through it

Our picnic spot

Oh look! A family picture!!!

Joseph and his best friend Ava

For the past 2 weeks we have had Bruce and Kathy visiting. Joseph took them to his favorite restaurant- Chick-fil-a. They also went to his favorite park, Castle Park (as you can imagine it is in the shape of a giant castle). We went to Alexandria to visit Daddy's work. We couldn't stay too long because I think my 2 children were a little distracting. Joseph made sure to leave Daddy and his office a picture on their white board. Sadly most of our plans got rained out :( but we still had a good visit.

Reading together

Daddy at work

 
Joseph is LOVING preschool. He is always very excited to go to school, and he is loves showing off his art projects. He is really into Superheroes right now. He is a big fan of the Avengers (especially the Hulk), but Superman and Batman have their place too. Matt has also introduced Joseph to Ninja Turtles and Star Wars Rebels- both of which are HUGE hits.

His new Superhero Costume

Michael is growing in leaps and bounds. He is 11 months old today. He has 8 teeth to show for it and is SOOO close to walking independently. Right now he can stand for a few seconds and walk with his shopping cart. He still loves listening to music. Joseph was always a singer, Michael dances :) He is pretty darn cute.

Walking!!!

Happy 11 months Michael

Brothers playing together!!!

There isn't too much going on for Matt and I. Matt finishes up his training academy for the US PTO this week. He loses his nice cubicle with a pretty view. Now he gets a cubicle that he must share with another examiner. He also doesn't get a window. I told him that he needs to take a picture of his pretty view and then put it up on the wall of his dungeon... I mean cubicle.

I am filling up my Fall schedule with Scentsy. I have an event almost every weekend until the second week December. I am also a part of a local choir that is going to sing up at the DC Temple in December. We are going to perform "Before Tonight" for Christmas. It is a lot of fun and I am singing with some really fun people.

I believe that is all that is going on here in the Divelbiss family. We are looking forward to Halloween. Joseph is going to be the Hulk and Michael is going to be a dinosaur. I will be sure to post lots of pictures.

As summer comes to a close

We have had a great Summer and we are kind of sad to see it go, I say kind of because I'm really not going to miss the days of the temperature being in the 90s with humidity that makes Illinois feel dry! Joseph is really sad to see Summer go because it means the pool closes. We went to the pool at least 4 times a week and Joseph already misses it. He asked me when it will open again. I told him it would be open again next Summer when he was 5. He responded, "When I'm getting ready for Kindergarden!?!?"- it was kind of a "holy crap" moment for me.

Labor Day was a pretty relaxed weekend for us. Matt had a 4 day weekend, so we were all pretty spoiled. As our lazy weekend ended, Matt headed back to work and Joseph headed off to Pre-K. He loves his new Preschool. He is attending 4Rs Preschool and I think he'll have a good year. 

Michael has thrown us all for a loop. I must have missed the family meeting, but Michael has decided at 9 months old he no longer wants to take a morning nap. It was an instant switch and Mommy just has to deal with the schedule shift (and the resulting cranky child). However, only 1 nap gives us a little more freedom in regards to our out-of-the-house time... He is also eating a ton of food- when he wants to. Consistency is not his strong suit. Today I LOVE grapes, today I don't want them. Wow this pasta is my favorite. Ewww I don't want this pasta. GIVE ME THE SIPPY- nope I want a bottle today.... so what does my child like to eat- I have no idea... nothing or everything depending on how you look at it. However we have discovered he will eat just about anything as long as he is sitting in my lap and I feed it to him whatever I'm eating. The high chair is mean and don't even THINK about putting him in a restaurant's high chair! 

I am not doing too much, just trying to keep the house standing while maintaining most of my sanity. I'm trying to book some Scentsy events and parties being that I had to leave all of them behind in Illinois. Matt is loving his job at the Patent and Trademark Office and will be out of the first part of his training in about a month. 

Here are some pictures

Playing in our tent

Our 9 month picture

Walking along furniture- ugh I don't know if I'm ready for that

Mom's First Day of Pre-K picture

Joseph's First Day of Pre-K Silly Picture

Pretend Doctor

Patient 1
Me: Doctor Joseph my head hurts!
Joseph: What's wrong with your head?
Me: It feels like its thumping
Joseph: Its going thump thump
Me: yes
Joseph: With a wham at the end?
Me: Yes
Joseph: Ok let me go get my light saber
Me:......


Patent 2
Joseph: Looks like you broke every bone in your body!
Me: Every bone? Can you fix it?
Joseph: Lets see if I have any skeleton bones. Nope I have 0 bones
Me: What are we going to do
Joseph: We'll call the policeman and have him bring some bones. He is in New York City and he is on his way. He's here! He brought 139 bones. Whoosh!! They disappeared and went into your body.

Me: So I'm good?
Joseph: Yep your better


Patent 3

Me: Doctor! My foot hurts
Joseph: Does it have fire on it?
Me: Yes!
Joseph: Is it going to explode???
Me: Yes hurry!
Joseph: I will turn it green!
Me: What?
Joseph: Whoosh! Now its green like the Hulk!
Me: What if I don't want a green foot?
Joseph: You have to call the greatest Robot Ever! Its green vitamins that made your foot green and he can wash them away!
Me: ROBOT! Help!
Joseph flies his toy robot over to me and fans my foot
Joseph: You are all better!

Life in Virginia

Well things are settling down here in Virginia. The house is put together- minus a few pictures that I have no idea where to hang and some random odds and ends that still need to find homes. We have a spot reserved in our living room for the piano we have been wanting for 7 years, and our goal is to fill it with such a piano by Christmas (YAY)! Even our lawn is starting to look like a lawn again- all it took was Weed and Feed and then 3 weeks later some Bug Be Gone stuff. August we are going to fertilize it, and the Sept Weed and Feed it again, and Oct Bug Be Gone it again... then winter will come and cover it with snow... but what ya gonna do?

Matt is loving his job down at the Patent and Trademark Office. He has long hours and the commute is MUCH longer than he would like it to be, but he likes his job. We got callings in our new ward, Matt and I are both teaching in Primary and Matt is the 11 year old Scout leader as well.

Joseph is getting used to Virginia. He likes the Castle Park right by our house (it literally is a giant castle). He finally got to go to the pool today because we FINALLY got our pool passes! Joseph loves playing in the kiddie pool because you don't have to get out at the mandatory 15 min break every hour and his feet can touch the bottom. Michael is enjoying the pool more now that he is getting older. He never disliked the pool, but in the past he never really seemed to care. At least today he was splashing and enjoying himself lol. I missed a spot on my shoulder when I was applying sunscreen so that will be an interesting tan complete with a wonderful outline of my 4 fingers.

Michael is teething. In fact his upper lateral incisors are coming ahead of his central ones... so until the central incisors catch up he is going to look like a vampire. He is a fast little crawler and is already trying to pull himself up on the furniture and climb the stairs. I really am missing those days where I put him somewhere, ran to get something really quick, and he was still in the same spot when I got back. Now days I tie my shoe and he manages to cross the room and is trying to climb up the stairs with Joseph's flip flop in his mouth.

Now you can all enjoy pictures!!

Joseph's "selfie"

Happy 8 months Michael

Joseph's new Hulk Mask

HULK

Michael loves his bath

BROTHERS

Such a happy baby!!

Moved and somewhat settled

Alright it has been a crazy two months. We managed to get everything packed away and loaded onto the POD. The kids spent the day with Grandma while Matt and I did the most in depth cleaning we have ever done (talk about a ridiculous checkout list). It was sad to leave Arlington Heights and we will miss everyone. I'm not going to lie, I already really miss my Primary kids :( Joseph was randomly singing Family is of God (one of the Primary songs for the program this year) and I started tearing.

Being that we were homeless for a month we decided to take a trip to Wisconsin Dells. For anyone that makes the trip to the Waterpark Capitol of the World... don't stay at the Polynesian. The only positive thing I can say about the hotel is that it didn't spontaneously explode or anything. However, Joseph had fun and that is really all the matters right? Here are some pictures from our trip.

In case you can't tell he has one of those floating ring toys on his head lol

FAMILY SHOT!

Joseph's first time Mini Golfing

Trying to teach him how to hit the ball

How he decided to hit the ball

VICTORY

Pay no attention to the mommy behind the board

GO-KARTS! Joseph loved riding in the go-karts.

Riding with Mom

Once our trip to Wisconsin Dells was completed we spent the weekend with my parents. We went to the Farmers Market and Lincoln Park Zoo. We also had a wonderful Father's Day.

Posing with the alligator

I spy with my eye....

Due to wonderful positioning... Matt has antlers :)

Our adventure continued as we finally made our way to Virginia. We took 2 days to get there stopping over in Columbus. We had some interesting driving conditions. Right before we moved out of our apartment Matt's car decided it didn't want to have AC anymore. Being that the car is worth about $25 we didn't get it fixed. So I had the kids and the cat in the van and Matt was driving behind us in the now portable oven. It was really a toss up as to which car you really wanted to be in...

Thankfully we made it to the hotel with no car incidences or kid casualties. I do not want to do that drive again for a long time, 3 times in 4 weeks was enough for me! Our townhome wasn't ready for another 2 weeks so we got to spend more quality time together in a hotel. It was nice to be out here a little early so we could get everything situated. We visited the DMV and got new license plates and licenses. Apparently in Virginia they do not allow you to smile (with teeth) because it messes with the facial recognition programs. So our new IDs are... interesting. We both have some sort of smerk on our face... so its not the prison photo I imagined them to be lol.

While we were staying in the hotel we explored the area a little bit. We found that the Smithsonian has a satellite Air and Space Museum right by us :) As unpredictable as our children like to be sometimes we thought this museum was a safer bet than travelling all the way to DC. So we spent a good chunk of the day looking at airplanes... I had a happy hubby.

Yes, that is a R2-D2 mailbox and it is signed by George Lucas

Too much to look at to expect the children to look at the camera

The Space Shuttle!

Flying the airplane

 We ended up getting a wonderful surprise and got to move into our townhome on Saturday the 28th (instead of Tuesday July 1st). I was really relieved because Matt started work on the 30th and this way I wasn't going to have to do move in day alone- with my 2 children and a scared out-of-her mind cat. Sadly when we moved in we found that the previous tenants did not do any cleaning prior to moving out. In fact I doubt they did any cleaning within the last year :( I lost count how many times I have said "Eww that's gross" in the past 4 days lol. The house still looks like a tornado hit is, but it is coming together. We live in a wonderful little community with its own park and pool. Virginia has greeted us with 90 degree or above days (with today be 97) so we haven't really spent much time at the park yet. We haven't gotten out to get our pool pass yet, but I'm thinking swimming will occur this 4th of July weekend! I think I may also try and buy a couch, not that I don't love the folding chairs currently setup in my living room, but a couch might be more comfortable :)

Matt is enjoying his new job. The first 2 weeks is orientation and training so it has basically been a lot of information overload. Working for the government has been interesting. He says they are so over-the-top organized in the way they do things that I would be in heaven. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me or not... but it is probably true.

Anyways... there is my novel about the last month. Consider yourself updated :)

Hectic Life

Well a lot has happened since my last post. Matt got a job with the US PTO in Alexandria, VA. They want  him to start at the end of June so we are quickly packing up and heading out to VA. We found a cute townhome in Bristow (just outside of Manassas). We love our new area. It has excellent schools, and a really nice community. We have a nice resident only community that is filled with both townhomes and houses. The community has a pool, tennis court, clubhouse, playground, and its own Facebook page. I love Facebook because I am already meeting moms in the area. I think living in this community will be great!

We will are moving out on June 5th, staying with my parents for a few days, then taking a mini family vacation to Wisconsin Dells, spending another few days with my parents, and then off to Virginia we go! We'll spend about 2 weeks in a hotel before our townhome is ready. Matt is really excited for his new job! Joseph is a little sad to leave Illinois but he is also excited to move to Virginia. He is just starting to get old enough to know what that means. Me... well I'm full of different emotions... I'm happy, worried, stressed, excited, apprehensive, and constantly listing off all the things that need to get done- the NEVER ENDING list lol.

However here are some pictures of my adorable children!

My wonderful boys

Brothers!

6 months old!