Wow, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have come and gone since I last posted.  The stress of the move has been almost forgotten, and the boxes have long since been unpacked.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house and got to meet our first niece, Bailey.  We enjoyed having Christmas morning at home and having the Elders over for breakfast, then had dinner with the Bertucci's and ended the day by heading down to Houston.  We were able to see the whole family over the weekend and were happy that we could be there for Peter's Eagle Court of Honor and to see Bailey be blessed. 

Since then Abigail was talked about babies non-stop and drags hers all over the house with her feeding and rocking them :)  She chatters all the time now and a good portion of it is actually real words!  She has been in nursery for about 6 weeks now and does better every time.  She loves to help me and is getting more and more able to actually do small jobs.  We moved her into a toddler bed at the end of the year and ever since she tells me that she is "big, not baby".  So apparently we only have big kids in our house now, not babies!

Joshua will be 3 in a few weeks.  I can't believe how fast my little boy is growing up.  He loves to play outside and help me take care of Abigail and Riley.   He checks every morning to make sure that Riley has enough food and water and helps me to refill his bowl if he needs something.  He has officially outgrown his carseat and graduated to a booster.  He likes that he has a big boy seat now :)  We have also put away all of his sippy cups and I am happy to say we have not had a spill in several days.

Tommy is happy to finally be done with school, but is keeping busy at work.  We still don't have callings in our new ward, and with both of the kids in nursery we are able to enjoy our classes for the first time in years!  Tommy's parents are coming back to the States for a visit in a few days and the kids are excited to see Gigi and Abuelo for the first time since last June.  We are settling into our new community well and are loving our new house.  We are so excited to see what this year has in store for our family!

Our new house!

We offically have an "executed" contract and should be closing in the next week or so if everything goes well!  I've had several requests for pictures of the house, so I'm going to try to get some up here to show off  :)

It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a wood burning fireplace, a good size kitchen with an island, and a huge yard with tons of trees and a big deck in the back. We are planning to move in just after Thanksgiving!

October news

Our exciting news for the month (and year!!!) is that Tommy was offered a job in Harker Heights a few days ago! He is going to be the Director of Planning and Development for the city, which will be a HUGE step up for him in every way. This isn't official, but we've been told that he will be the youngest person in that position in the entire state! I am so proud of him and so ready for this new adventure to start. We are in the process of putting in an offer on a house and are looking forward to closing on it and moving in soon. We are so thankful for the prayers on our behalf, they truly played a big part in helping him get this job. His new boss told him that by no means was he the most qualified applicant that they had for the position, but he really felt that Tommy was the one for the job and he wanted to train him himself. I know that there is no way this would be happening for us with out the help of the Lord.

Joshua is talking more all the time. His new favorite phrase is "Uh-oh, mess. Clean up!" I hope he likes this one for many years to come! I took both kids to go look at houses today and he loved running in the yards and looking in the rooms. He told me "my room", "Abby's room", and "new house!" depending on where we were. I know that he doesn't really know what it means to move, but I'm sure glad he's excited about it!

Abigail and I went to nursery at church yesterday for the first time. She's not really old enough for about another 6 weeks, but she wanted to stay and the teachers said it was ok.....so we skipped Sunday school and played with toys instead :) She can't wait to be there full time and I can't wait to be able to listen in my classes! She is turning into a big girl way to fast! She wants to wear my lipstick all the time, tries on my high heels, carries around my purse, and brings me her hairbrush and bows and tells me "pretty hair please". I am in SO much trouble in another 10 years! I love it though and am grateful everyday that I have been blessed with a little girl.

Tommy is in the home stretch at school and is busier than ever. His deadlines are forever moving closer and there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Add to it the stress of changing jobs, buying our first house, and moving and you have my poor husband's life right now, lol. He's doing his best though and I'm sure he can hold on for a few more weeks.

I am busy these days house hunting and trying to figure out how to close on a house in a month......tips would be appreciated! I am so excited for this move and for all of the opportunities that it will bring to our family.

We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon.

July and August :)

Again.....sorry for the long gap between updates, I'll try to be better! Life around here is going well for everyone. Abigail started walking a couple of weeks ago and is getting better everyday. Joshua is adding new words to his vocabulary daily and is growing up WAY to fast. Tommy just started his LAST semester of school before graduating with his masters in Public Administration in December, and I'm trying not to lose my mind before then :) We got back yesterday from spending the weekend at the batch, and for the first time the kids actually enjoyed it! We went to the aquarium to see the fish and played in the sand on the beach. Joshua really enjoyed running up and down the beach trying not to let the water get his feet then squealing and laughing when it did :) Abigail liked getting buried in the sand and watcing the bird show at the aquarium.
Abigail had a check up last week and is officially 18 lbs. 4 oz. and 29 inches tall.......in other words, tiny :) She is no longer even on the growth chart, she's 3% below it but the doctor is not concerned, so neither am I. She thinks it's great because her "perscription" was to have special things added to her milk, lots of full fat cheese and ice cream, etc. She is happy and healthy and entering the terrible two's a bit early :) She already throws better fits than Joshua ever dreamed of having, but she snaps out of it pretty quickly and is the sweetest little girl I know. We are counting down until she starts nursery, I can't believe I'll actually be able to listen at church for the first time in almost 3 years!
Joshua is my helper these days. He loves to hold Abigail's hand and walk around with her, show her pictures in books, and get snacks for both of them :) We went to nursery to pick him up a couple of weeks ago and he ran to Abigail and walked her over to the toys so she could play too, then he stood guard to make sure no one bothered her! We are still meeting with a speech therapist once a week and he is steadily adding words and phrases. I asked him why he did something the other day and he sighed, held his arms up in the air and said '"I don't know!!". He thinks it's really funny when Abigail says a word or tells him what the animals in their books say, so he tries to get her to do it all the time :)
Tommy is busy, like always. He is in his last semeser of school and working hard to get finished. Between school, work, the property and his new calling (Executive Secretary) at church, we don't see much of him.......but we know it will be over soon! We heard back about the Foreign Service today and it turns out that they had WAY more applicants than they have positions available, so it looks like we will be staying in Texas after all. He has started looking for management positions that he is qualified for and has applied for a couple. Your prayers to help us find the right place for our family would be appreciated.
Not much is going on with me. I'm just trying to get through this last semester and explain to Joshua why Daddy isn't home......this was WAY easier before the kids were big enough to know that he was missing. We are doing well though and reminding ourselves often that in two and a half months it will be over and it will all be worth it.

May and June catch-up :)

Where have the last few months gone? Sorry for the gap between updates but we've had a lot going on :) In May Tommy's mom came back from Baku to take some classes at a community college to prepare for starting her master's in the fall. After that we were kept busy with wedding receptions in Houston, baby Michael's blessing, and Abigail's birthday party. Then June started and we had Dash's birthday party, Danny coming home from his mission, Tommy taking the Foreign Service Exam, and a family reunion in Dallas........ Thankfully things have finally slowed down now! We enjoyed a quiet 4th of July and went to watch the fireworks display that the city put on. Abigail LOVED it! She tried to grab the lights out of the sky then she would clap and say boom! Joshua wasn't quite as excited though......he had fun until the fireworks actually started, but didn't appreciate it getting so loud so long after bedtime :)

Joshua is getting way too big way too fast and is a great helper. He loves to help me sweep and mop, unload the dishwasher, and recently he has been helping me cook :) We made rice krispie treats the other day and he got to measure and pour things for me, he thought it was the best thing ever! He loves his little sister and wants to play with her all the time. They both get upset with me when I have to step in and break things up when they get too rough :) They chase each other around the house, read books together, share their snacks, and sit in Joshua's chair together. He loves to try to get her to sit on his lap, unfortunately she's a little to big for him to pick up easily!

Abigail is 13 months old now, I can hardly believe how grown up my baby is getting. She feeds herself (or the she feeds the dogs at least!) and seldom lets me help her these days :) At her last check-up about a month ago she was 17 lbs. 3 oz. and 28 inches tall (5th% for weight and 10th% for height) so she probably won't be catching up to Joshua any time soon! She is quite the stubborn little lady and has a temper that would fit just fine in someone twice her size, but is usually a happy kid. She loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. She will look at books and play by herself for hours. She loves her brother and wants to do everything that he does. I really hope that they keep getting along this well!

Tommy is back at school and beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. He will graduate next May, so we're just trying to keep going until then. He did well on the FSE and will be continuing the hiring process through out the next year or so. If we do decide to accept a Foreign Service post we will most likely be moving to Virginia next summer or fall sometime for training, then continuing on to explore the world :)

I'm keeping busy with the house and the kids. We're looking forward to visiting Tommy's parents in Baku this winter and are SO thankful for Mom and Dad agreeing to watch the kids (again) so that the trip is possible. After looking over the FSO posts we found that Baku is considered one onf the most difficult places to live, so we decided to go visit :) Our thought process was that if we can get around Baku and feel comfortable, we should be ok to go just about anywhere :)

We love you all and look forward to the next time we get to see everyone. We are THRILLED to be welcoming a new little girl into this family and can't wait to meet Bailey(?) in a few months!

The month of April

I can't believe how quickly this year is going by! It seems like we just celebrated Christmas and now Easter has come and gone and summer is just around the corner. April was a fairly uneventful month for us. The kids and I took a trip down to Houston in the middle of a storm to see David while he was home. Joshua was thrilled beyond words to see his Grandma and was so sad when we had to leave. Abigail decided that she loves her Uncle Peter too :) He held her most of the time we were there! We have been keeping busy with projects around the house and have officially finished getting the backyard ready for the kids to play in, just in time for it to get hot outside! We had to rip out a bunch of garden beds that were completely overgrown with weeds and put down grass seed so Joshua wasn't just playing in dirt, not that he would have cared :) Luckily a few days after we seeded the backyard it started raining and didn't stop for a week......Joshua was upset because he couldn't play outside, but it was so nice to see everything turn green and the flowers start to bloom. I've been feeling for a while that there are too many little ones under my feet, so unfortunately the puppies are no longer with us. We found them a new home with some friends of ours who have three little boys. Needless to say they are getting more attention than they have ever had in their lives and have adjusted well to the move.

Joshua is a big help these days. He helps Abigail stand up, gets toys for her, feeds her (yes, with a spoon!) gives her drinks from his cup and helps me change her diaper. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. It's fun to watch him learn new things and start to explore more on his own, but sad at the same time because he definitly isn't a baby anymore. His time with the speech therapist is going well. She comes over once a week for about an hour and plays with him. He thinks it's great that she comes just to see him! He gives her hugs when she gets here and never wants her to leave. In the few weeks since she started coming he has started saying baby, moo, baa, roar, gobble, cock-a-doodle-doo, Mama (and actually means me!), boom, ball, and ow. There are probably a few more, but I can't think of them at the moment. I'm not sure if these new words are because of the therapist or just because he's getting older, but as long as he starts talking it's fine with me! We (just me and Joshua) went to Baskin-Robbins last night for their 31 cent ice cream cones and he loved it (even though more ended up on the ground and on his clothes than in this mouth)!. He has really started to want one-on-one time with me lately, lots more reading books, coloring, and "helping" me in the kitchen. He even helped me load the dishwasher the other day!

Abigail is 11 months old now....I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone by. She is crawling all over the place and getting into EVERYTHING! She spends more time standing than crawling these days; it's only a matter of time until she starts walking. She still loves to cuddle and gives me hugs and kisses all the time. She loves to play with our new dinosaur toy (you put balls into holes at the top and it lights up and plays music), read books, pull all of the stuffed animals out of the basket, and turn the TV on and off :) She is VERY interested in feeding herself these days and so far has been successful with Cheerios, Gerber puffs, macoroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwhich pieces, Mother Maria cookies, crackers, etc. She is almost completely off baby food and I'm excited not to have to buy it anymore!

Tommy has had a busy month trying to get the semester wrapped up. He turned in a HUGE paper and a final this week and has a paper due next week before getting a few weeks off until school starts again in June. We're excited that he is down to one more year....just one class over the summer, two in the fall, then one more next spring! He found out a few days ago that he is scheduled to take the Foreign Service Exam on June 6th, so his break from school will be spent studying for that! If we do decide to pursue working/living overseas that will officially be the start of a 12-18 month process.

I'm having fun playing with the kids and watching them grow-up way to quickly. We're planning on going to Houston in May for a friend's wedding reception, then College Station for baby Michael's blessing, followed my Abigail's birthday party, then back to College Station the following weekend for Dash's birthday, and off to Dallas the weekend after that for a family reunion :) Needless to say I'm enjoying the little quiet time we have left before all of this starts!
We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon. Watch out for the swine flu!!!!! :)

The Garcia Family

How on earth?????

Ok, so I went to get Joshua when he woke up this morning and picked him up to change his diaper like always......but he wasn't wearing one! Somehow he had taken his diaper off, WITHOUT taking off his clothes, and thrown it away. After I got him diapered and dressed I asked him what happened to his night-time diaper. He got the biggest grin on his face, ran over to the diaper pail and showed me how to turn it over to throw the diaper away :) I have no clue how he did it, or how long ago it had been done, but he was dry and I didn't have to deal with a soaked diaper, so I'll take it. That boy never seases to amaze me!