Tornado Watch

If you haven't heard from us this week, and have been watching the news, you actually may be wondering if we are still alive.   YES we are :)

We did have a pretty serious tornado scare on Monday.  But nothing since.  And today is beautiful (tomorrow should be too)!!

I went into our clubhouse to ask about our mailbox # Monday afternoon, and the ladies who work there were panicking about a recent tornado warning in our area.  I didn't think it was too serious, but they convinced me to stay down there (apparently our 2nd floor apt isn't safe).  So I put on a movie for Calin in the theater (though he decided running around the clubhouse was much more fun) and stuck around for over an hour.  One of the ladies told me she would give me a call later if there was another serious warning in our area, so I headed home and made some dinner.

She called a couple hours later, panicking again, and told me "Honey, you betta get you and tha bayba down here now!" (you know, in here Arkansas southern accent)  So Calin and I ran down to the clubhouse again.  Luckily I saw another wife on my way, and told her what they told me.  And luckily she has been with this office a few years and had most of the other wives numbers.  AND luckily, she took it way more serious than I did, and made sure the girls knew how serious it was and they needed to come ASAP.  So we all hukered down in the clubhouse with our kids till the tornadoes (we had multiple ones that day) passed us just a few miles away.

Oh, and our husbands, they ran around like crazy trying to find a house they could wait out the storm in.  Jordan was in one right away, but our manager was driving around for at least an hour picking up guys that weren't inside a house.  He finally pulled over and they all got out and started running till someone a lady opened her front door, asked them what in the world they were doing, and they all ran inside till it was safe to leave.

People are really nice here, and that helps!  I had no idea what to do in a tornado, or that I even needed to be checking the weather that often - I now check it ALL the time!

We haven't had any warnings since Monday (we were on "watch" Tuesday, but no warnings came our way).  They say this is supposed to be the worst tornado season yet.  We'll see I guess.  It should end in just a few weeks, that's what we're crossing our fingers for anyway :)

{ Here is Calin with his little Easter basket that I threw together for him.  Jordan ended up eating his candy and peeps :) }

In other news, we're still loving it here!  Though the tornadoes have made sure we know this is not somewhere we would ever want to live permanently.  Calin is loving all the kids his age, I have loved all the wives I have met so far, and Jordan is so happy with the office!  And he's doing great his first week, and we're really proud of him!

I haven't been able to venture out too much since Jordan is driving this week, but the little I have done has been nice.  And I'm very excited to start using my new library card that I received in the mail today :) 

{Oh, and this is a picture of Calin in his BIG bed (it's a queen) the first night he slept in it.  It's a horrible picture, but it was pitch dark and I was not about to turn my flash on and wake him up!  Nope he didn't get any cool kid bedding.  Just some extra sheets we had.  I don't even think they make cute kid bedding for Queen size beds, not that he would care anyway :) }

Happy Easter from Arkansas

So far we are loving Arkansas.  We arrived early Friday morning and are still trying to get settled.  Everything is so green and there are trees everywhere, it's so beautiful!  The weather has been great so far, but we should be getting some storms pretty soon.

{Jordan texted me this picture yesterday while I was out running errands :) so sweet!}

We went out to dinner with some people in our office Friday night.  It was great meeting other wives and all their kids.  I think Calin will have a blast with all the kids his age!  And I've only met 4 other wives so far, but they are all so sweet!

Saturday we did some shopping at a nice outdoor mall in Little Rock which was a lot of fun.  I'm loving the warmer weather, though it's already pretty humid and I know it's only going to get worse - it's not even summer yet!

While here, we decided we would start transitioning Calin to a bed.  Last night was our first attempt.  I was so nervous!  I was prepared to lay with him for a while till he understood he was supposed to sleep there, but he crawled right up to his pillow, gave me a kiss, snuggled up to his blankets, started waving and saying "byes!  byes!"  So I said goodnight and he actually went to sleep!  He slept ALL night, no problem!  It wasn't until 7:30 this morning that he came running into our room, turned on the radio, opened our blinds, and started jabbering away while he pulled Jordan out of bed.  I am so proud of him!  He's down for a nap right now, and so far so good :)

We went to church this morning, and it was a great Easter service with lots of singing :)  The ward here seems great and I got some recommendations for OB's here in town so I feel better about that.  I put together a little Easter basket for Calin and later we'll have an Easter dinner and hopefully dye some eggs.  I took some pictures, but don't have a way to get them off my camera, so maybe later this week :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday!  

  

Quick Moving Update

Thanks to SO much help from our awesome friends in Rexburg, we finally finished packing and cleaning our apartment, packed our car for the summer, and put everything else into storage (to be picked up at the end of the summer and moved to wherever we end up). 

It was sad leaving our ward and all the friends we've made over the past 3 1/2 years, but at the same time we are excited for our summer.

We left Sunday night and drove 18 hours (stopping for breakfast and lunch) to Sioux City, IA.  We're staying with Jordan's aunt and uncle till Thursday night when we'll set out for our final 12 hours to Arkansas.  I'll post more on our stay here in Iowa later.

Oh, and before we left Rexburg, we made about 3 more trips to Kiwi Loco.  On Friday and Saturday they had a little game where if you guess the weight of your yogurt correctly then it's Free.  On Friday I guessed mine right on!  And on Saturday we both did!  3 free yogurts!  Now I really wish that place was around longer before we left!

27 weeks

I had a check-up yesterday, my last one here in Rexburg. 

(if you're looking for a belly pic, check the previous post)

They pricked my finger to check my hemoglobin levels, and all was good.  No glucose test needed :)  

My blood pressure is great, and I gained 3 pounds last month making a total of 12 for this pregnancy.  I'm happy about that, especially since I wasn't too sick this last month, 3 lbs isn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I had gained way more than 12 lbs by 27 weeks when pregnant with Calin.  And I'm measuring right on schedule.

I also got my RhoGAM shot (and blood drawn so they can test whatever they need to with my blood & Rh), so I'm all taken care of :)

After my appointment I decided I needed a treat since I got my finger poked, a yucky shot, and blood drawn all in one visit, so Jordan and Calin took me to Kiwi Loco, a new yogurt place that opened in town.  SO good!  I can't believe they just now opened as we are leaving!  I have been dying for a good yogurt place here!  Maybe it's a good thing.  It's pay by the ounce, so it's pretty spendy.  But their yogurt is just as good as Yogurt Mill's back in Modesto (and I'm always craving yogurt mill!).  Yogurt Mill still has more and better flavors, but Kiwi Loco's yogurt is so delicious and creamy!  They gave us some coupons, so maybe we'll go back today :)

A little random note - This morning I headed to the temple by myself, and I had the thought to tell Jordan where the benedryl was (because I made chocolate peanut butter cookies last night, and was worried Calin might climb on the counter and snag one) but I didn't.  Sure enough, while I was gone Jordan fed Calin, not a cookie, but a snickers granola bar (with peanuts).  He didn't have any type of reaction at all.  Jordan said it was because there weren't really peanuts in it, but Calin didn't eat the whole thing and after looking at it, there are plenty of peanuts, and lots with little Calin bites taken out of them.  So, hopefully he just had a couple small reactions to peanuts in the past, and the allergy already passed?  That would be GREAT!  We'll see.  I guess we could give him a cookie and see what happens (we do have an epi-pen for him), but I'm not that brave.

Oh, and also, I received an email from a distant cousin who pointed out that our baby girl will be the 17th generation of mother/daughters that have been identified in my family tree.

Baby Girl Spence (2011 - ) who is the daughter of

Michaela Elizabeth Valponi (1983 - ) who is the daughter of

Joan Louise Parkinson (1957 - ) who is the daughter of

Harriet Jane Henry (1931 - ) who is the daughter of

Harriet Rebecca Jackson (1897 - 1991) who is the daughter of

Helen Miller (1860 - 1940) who is the daughter of

Frances Louisa Pitney (1829 - 1899) who is the daughter of

Keziah Fox (1810 - 1880) who is the daughter of

Wealthy Phillips (1784 - 1813) who is the daughter of

Lydia Shafter (1760 - 1814) who is the daughter of

Esther McMellen (1723/4 - ?) who is the daughter of

Esther Town (1686 - ?) who is the daughter of

Mary Smith (1658 - 1726) who is the daughter of

Mary French (1633 - 1683) who is the daughter of

Mary Scudamore (1612 - 1681) who is the daughter of

Frances Lechmere (1568 - ?) who is the daughter of

Margery (1538 - ?)

Isn't that neat.  I would have hated to break that line by not having a baby Spence girl to add to it :)

Graduation

Congratulations Jordan!!

It's so strange finally being done, knowing that we won't be coming back this fall for more school.  Strange, but Oh.So.Nice!

We had a great weekend! 

Nate and Kelly came up Friday afternoon and we hung out while Jordan finished his last final.

We even fit in some family pictures for them

 

Saturday morning was graduation.  Nate came with me and Kelly stayed home will all 4 kids. 

  

Mickie, Maylee, and Suzanne where at our house when we got back from Graduation so we ate some lunch, put the boys down for naps, and us girls got started on a very long photo shoot of sweet little Maylee.  

Kelly was the main picture taker, so I'm excited to see her pictures soon!

After pictures Mickie & Suzanne headed back to Utah with their brother Colton, and the rest of us went out for a celebratory dinner at Craigos (now Pizza Pie Cafe).  

Sunday we headed to church, then after lunch Kelly and I headed out for more picture taking fun.  This time Kelly wanted some practice with maternity, so I was her subject.

Did you notice I chopped off a TON of my hair?  At least 7" probably more. I can't remember the last time it was this short.

Sunday evening we had our friends the Crooks over for dinner.  It was fun seeing them again before we all leave.  We'll miss them, and Calin will sure miss his friend Allison (I wish I took pictures!)

We had such a fun weekend!  Hopefully this week we'll be able to get together with more of our friends before leaving, but for now we need to get to work :)

Last Day at BYU-I

Yay!  Jordan is one final away from being DONE!!  

Graduation ceremonies are tomorrow morning.  

Nate & Kelly & kids are coming into town this afternoon for the weekend, and Mickie & Maylee will be here tomorrow :)  

So excited!  

We have lots of photo shoots planned, and I can't wait!  

I also can't wait to have Jordan home all next week, and spend the following week together on the road visiting more family before we arrive at our 

Summer Home

in  . . . .

Arkansas!

Ha, can you believe it?  I can't believe I hadn't posted it yet.  I was sure I did.  I was also sure I would never ever ever live in Arkansas, but we will.  For 4 months.  I'll even have a baby out there.  Ha!  We really are excited!  I'm super excited that we have another summer to sell, we were both really hoping we would, and we'll probably even have another summer next year :)  Yay!

So I'm super excited that our summer home will have a washer and dryer inside our apartment, and their site even says internet (and cable, but I doubt we'll have a tv) is provided!  Oh my how wonderful will that be!  We usually have to use the internet in the office, and since I worked in the office it was no big deal, but not this year!  Oh, and our apt will be close to 400sq ft larger than our current one :)

Yay! 

*P.S. We will be in North Little Rock for 3 months, then in Fayetteville for the last month

Too big & Too small

I took all these pictures on Friday when the weather was beautiful.  It hasn't very nice since, so I'm happy we spent that whole day outside!

Have you  heard of the new changes to the carseat safety guidlines the AAP came out with this month?  

"All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer." 

ours is 5-35 lbs & 19"-36" for rear facing

 (previously the guideline it was one year & 22lbs)

 

Since we had to move Calin's seat behind the driver's seat for our move anyway (so we can fold down at least two of the seats) we switched it back to rear facing.  He doesn't seem to mind, but WOW is our car small!  We had to move the drivers seat up so it would fit, and I still think it's supposed to be tilted back more, but even I feel squished behind the wheel as it is.  And he's getting the seat so dirty with his feet.  And once we add the infant seat in there with Calin's it's going to be a tight tight fit!

So it looks like our little Jeep Liberty is a tad to small if we want to make sure our kids are as safe as can be while in the car.  Since we're moving in less than two weeks we won't be getting a new car right away, but we'll have to start thinking about. 

This is Jordan's last week of school.  Between just his two chemistry classes he has 3 tests and 2 finals this week.  He also has a psych final, and already finished his micro lab final.  Both of us can't wait for the weekend to come so we can celebrate graduation with family coming to town!  But even with his super packed schedule this week, he still finds ways to help out and do nice things for me everyday.  Last night Calin was in one of his "cuddly" moods and wouldn't go to sleep in his room, so I fell asleep while laying with him in my bed (which means I left the house a mess).  I woke up at midnight to put him in his crib and found Jordan cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes :)  So sweet!

Did you notice the big bump on Calin's forehead?  We were in the laundry room and of course as soon as I turned my back for a second he climbed on TOP of the stroller, where the handle is, it tipped over backwards and he banged his head on the floor.  Well, at least that's what I'm assuming happened from where he was on the floor with the stroller after it happened.  I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it was, but it went away pretty fast, he just has a slight bruise there now.  But he's becoming more and more fearless.  He likes to jump off the couch or a chair when there is nothing below to break his fall.  And last Friday he started walking down the stairs alone while holding on to the rail, but now he won't hold on to the rail or my hand, and pushes me away if I try to hold on to him.  So I'm sure more big bumps and bruises are on the way.  I'm hoping we get a first floor apartment this summer, but with our luck we'll end up on the 3rd with no elevator.

 (this was his first attempt going down by himself)

Well, now that Calin is napping, I better get to work packing and cleaning so Jordan doesn't come home and do it for me :)

Maternity - Laura

 It's only 11:30am and already in the 50's.  

 Today is a good day!

I just got back from a walk with some friends, and oh it was so nice to finally get outside again and have some girl time while our little ones all napped in the strollers.  I'm really going to miss all our friends here!

Earlier this week I took some Maternity pictures for my friend Laura.  This was my first time taking Maternity pictures, so it was definitely a challenge, but we had fun.  I promised I would post some so she could show her family this weekend while they all get together for General Conference.  so here is your little preview :)

And my friend Michelle (who also happens to have an awesome wedding special going on if anyone knows anyone getting married soon, check out their site) asked if I would like to come help out for a newborn session tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to that!  I asked her a while ago to let me know when she has one so I can come shadow and see how she does it.  It should help a lot for when/if I take my own little girl's newborn's this summer.  And hopefully next weekend my s.i.l. Kelly and I can take some newborn pics of my newest niece Maylee, I'm so excited! 

I really really am going to miss our friends here!  And family too!  It's been so fun these past few years!