Columbia, Missouri

I feel so blessed to have a husband who went back to school to ensure job security for our family in Today's economy. Jarom went on 3 interviews this month for a job as a CRNA(Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). He received ALL 3 job offers. After prayer and careful consideration we chose to take the job in Columbia, MO. His tentative start date is February 1, 2011.
Columbia is in the middle between Kansas City and Saint Louis both an hour and a half away. There are tons of things to do in both cities for Little or no cost. There are also 2 lakes about an hour away from us. We are excited and can't wait until he graduates in Dec. and can begin working.
This has been a busy month for us with interviews, Saige starting Kindergarten and finding out we are having a baby boy:) We are welcoming the changes with open arms and are looking forward to the future.
I want to thank my family and friends who have supported us while we have been on this adventure . It was hard to move away from Everyone and I miss you all terribly. Hopefully with Jarom working we will be able to visit more often and know that you are welcome to visit us any time. I am also grateful for the friendships we have made here in Tennessee and will miss them as well.

It's a BOY!

Unfortunately Jarom was at school when I had the ultrasound. I was going to have her write the gender on a paper, then have Jarom and I look at it together when he got home, but I couldn't wait. I hung up some boy clothes and put the picture of his boy parts on the paper. When he came in the door he saw this hanging up.

He was very shocked and excited because he thought it was a girl. He kept saying it's a boy over and over.

The girls on the other hand are not too thrilled about the news. They both wanted a girl.

Savannah told me, I am going to have a boy baby and she has a girl baby in her tummy. She thinks one of the pictures is of my baby and the other one is of her baby. We asked how the baby was going to get out of her belly and she said it is going to hatch. Saige understands everything and thinks Savannah is funny for thinking that.

Here is our baby boy. He was very active during the ultrasound, so she had a hard time getting pictures of his face. He was sucking his thumb and posing with his fist under his chin. It was very cute.

Me at 18 weeks and 1 day.
Jarom's reaction

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The BUS!

At first I was against Saige ridding the bus. She is so little and I didn't want her to get lost, but she really wanted to ride it. Last week when I went to pick her up I waited for 30 minutes. The bus drops her off at 4:10 PM, so it is faster for her to get home taking the bus. The stop is in our neighborhood across the street from our condo, so I gave in and now Saige is a bus rider.
Here we are waiting for the bus.
Saige getting on

ready to go.

I drove to school after the bus picked her up to make sure she knew where to go. She did, she lead me right to her class, so I guess I can chill out now and know she is a big girl. She said she liked it and wants to ride it home.

This is her getting off the bus at the end of the day.

Columbia, MO

The final interview was in Columbia, MO. He saved the best for last! Columbia is still a small town with only 100,733 people, but still has all the shopping, dance, gymnastics, gyms, and parks. It is also a beautiful town.
Here is a park with a lake and a beach area you can swim in.
a fire pit area

The map of the Lake

Jarom ready for his interview

While he was interviewing I has a realtor take me around to see houses in different neighborhoods. They were all very nice homes with basements. Here are some backyard views.

This one is a front yard view

This neighborhood had a lake/pond in the middle and you can get a house that backs to the lake.

We really enjoyed Columbia!

DuBoise, PA

Jarom interviewed in DuBoise, PA on Wednesday and here are some pictures he took while he was there. Treasure lake is a community in DuBoise where we would live.

This is the park in Treasure lake

A beach area on the lake

sand volleyball courts

a wooden train in the park

This is a horse stable you can ride the horses.

A view from a backyard

another backyard

This is the house I would want to buy if we move to Treasure Lake. They are still building it.

A Romeo and Juliet balcony above the kitchen...
That looks out into the living room.
The living room, it has nice views of the lake.
Looking out the kitchen window
Our private dock
the backyard
Treasure Lake is beautiful, but it gets very cold in the Winter. The highs in the Summer only reach 80 degrees. That is the biggest draw back for me with DuBoise. It is a very small town only 7,000 people.

Saige's first day of Kindergarten

Tuesday was Saige's first day of Kindergarten. They stagger the day s the first week and only have 4 kids a day to get to know the students. She said she had fun, but didn't want to tell me about her day. She did say that they made gingerbread cookies and they ran away, so when they found them they ate them fast before they could get away again.
The girls decided to color when they woke up.

Then they took a bath after breakfast.
Saige walking to the living room to get dressed
getting dressed

After her hair was done. she brushed her teeth and used her mouth wash

Then we went outside for some pictures.

There was still time before we had to leave(school starts at 9 AM), so she wrote her name a few times.

Arriving at school

walking to her classroom

finding her desk

hanging up her backpack

coloring a picture of a gingerbread man

Savannah was more upset than I was about Saige going to school. She said she needed her sister to play with her. Now Savannah wants to go to school.