It's Been a Long Time Coming

And, no, the title isn't referring to the length of time since the last post. I know it's been a long time, but Blogger hates me and wants to make it impossible for me to sign on or comment, so I've been punishing it by not posting. I have been reading all of your posts, though--I haven't completely abandoned you.

Now, on to the meaning of the title. I have two pieces of news for you. I think both of them qualify as BIG. Yes, BIG in all caps. That BIG. I'm just having a tough time deciding which of them to tell you first. One is more life-changing news, but the other is maybe a little more surprising.

I know, I'll tell you in the order that we found out the news ourselves...

First, I'm going to have a baby! Yes, Bennett is going to be a big brother in late April or early May. He is already practicing to be the best big brother ever--he lets me know (in a very concerned tone) whenever he hears a baby crying (even if it's on TV). And he gives the baby (well, my belly) sweet little kisses all the time...well, okay, most of the time the kisses are zrbts (is that how you spell zirbert?), but it's still cute. I am mostly past the vomitting portion of the scheduled events, but smells (especially Bennett's diapers) can still send me running. I'm feeling pretty good overall, but I'm tired all the time--of course, I'm the mother of a VERY energetic toddler, obviously I'm tired all the time. We don't know for sure yet, but it's very likely that we're having a boy...I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks that indicated such, but that was about 6 weeks too early to tell for sure. (We have the more conculsive ultrasound scheduled for the 18th.) As the ultrasound tech said, "I'm pretty sure it's a boy, but don't decorate the nursery on that." The only problem with having another boy is that literally all of my favorite boy names have been used by friends of mine in the last 2 years or so. Seriously, who knew my friends had such good taste in boy names? I'm either going to have to bend my "k sound" rules or duplicate a name...unless one of you geniuses is able to come up with a good one that meets my very exacting criteria:

1. Must have a postive meaning (and while things like "from the willow grove" and "running stream" might be quite lovely and lyrical, they don't count in my book)
2. Doesn't start with a K sound (not my style to use alliteration in names)
3. Doesn't end with a K sound (messes with the ears when said with our last name)
4. Not so popular that my kid will have to go by Tank K. throughout his school career
5. Not the name of one of my friends' children or one of my relatives (unless it's one of the few relatives who actually deserves to have my child as their namesake)
6. Has to be a real name spelled in a predictable fashion, not something made up--I am way past the age where making up a name for my baby is cute (FYI: in my opinion, that age is 18--and since I didn't even have my first kiss till I was 19, I missed that window of opportunity)

I realize that you kind of have to be psychic to work with 4 and 5, but that's part of the fun. If you suggest a name that we actually use, you will receive a framed photo of the corresponding child along with a handwritten thank you note telling you how grateful they are to you for saving them from being named Hey You. Let the suggesting commence--and the first person to suggest Pilot Inspektor is going to get coal in their stocking.

Now, if you remember correctly, I mentioned that I had two pieces of BIG news. I realize that nothing trumps news of a new baby, but this should sweeten it a little for those of you who live in a certain locale and would like to have first hand evidence of said baby...

We're moving back to PORTLAND (or the surrounding metropolitan area). Steve has been offered a job as a QA inspector at Boeing!!! He got an email asking him to interview in late October, and since we were already planning to be in the area for a family vacation to the coast, he was able to interview in person on Halloween morning. He got the job offer about a week later, and since then we've been waiting for his background check to go through (it takes a while because they have to deal with the Air Force). Once he's cleared for employment, he'll get an Orientation Date. It's kind of good that it's taking a while because it means we don't have to jump through hoops to have the family together for Christmas.

At first, he's going to be staying with my parents, but as soon as we can find renters for our house in Boise, we'll be joining him in Portland. We've decided to rent for a while because we don't want to try to buy a house out there till we can sell the one here. Feel free to pray that we find really great renters FAST. And if you know of a good place to rent on the eastern side of the Willamette or even in Vancouver, please let me know.

One of the great things about getting the job with Boeing is that they are going to pay the relocation costs. I don't have to pack anything except the clothes and miscellaneous stuff that we'll need till our household goods arrive. Unfortunately, the pay isn't a whole heck of a lot better than what he's making now, and we'll probably have to pay a lot more for rent than we'll be getting from our house here, but I'm going to try not to complain about the money because at least we'll be HOME! YAY!!!! Steve's going to be working the 4pm to midnight shift, which isn't great for socializing on weeknights, but how much would we do that, anyway? And this schedule will be a lot better match for my own weird sleep habits--if only the new baby will cooperate and be a late sleeper like Bennett is! We're hoping that we can spend lots of time with our friends (if they still remember us) on the weekends. I've missed having friends!

Okay, there are my two pieces of big news. I'll check back in a month or two to see if anyone notices that I've posted something.