Boating fun

We LOVE going to the lake in the summer, it's our chance to relax, have fun, and be in the sun. Fortunately for us my Mom and Randy have a boat :)

Last weekend we continued our celebration by heading to the lake. It was a gorgeous day for boating, I even got out and knee boarded. The water was super choppy so it was a ton of work to just hold on, but oh so fun! I was sooo sore the next day and it felt good because let's just say it's been awhile since I've worked out hard enough to be sore. Or worked out at all.

Not so sure about the bulky life jacket, we tried to assure her it was for safety precautions and this is the look she gave me...guess she didn't understand/care.

Lathering on the sunscreen for the umpteenth time

Bria was in heaven and had a blast jumping in the water to Daddy and then swimming back to grandma. She wore us all out and kept us laughing.

She would get so excited on the swim back! Her mouth would open and her tongue would come out and she'd laugh and snort.

Swimming to mommy

Once she fell asleep we all kicked back and chatted and soaked up some sun. It was a wonderful day and I can't wait until we can get back on the lake.

Passed out after all the swimming

A closer shot of the cuteness

Enjoying some crackers after a good nap

I don't know how she didn't fall asleep on the drive home since it's a good hour and a half, but she didn't. It was fine though because we wanted to bath her when we got home anyway since she had pounds of sunscreen on and who knows what else from that lake. I was expecting her to sleep in since she had a long day of playing, but alas, she did not. And she even took a short nap that day, short sleeping usually means more teeth so I think those molars are giving her some pain. It sucks they are all coming in at the same time, but hopefully that means she gets a long break of no teething ;)

Our Big News!!!!

Brian started looking for a new job last fall since he knew he would be completing his Masters soon. It's a tough economy so he got started early, smart guy. In the winter he interviewed with Amazon and was flown out to Reno, then Kentucky. His job would have been in Lexington, Kentucky and let's just say our families were none to thrilled. Well, fortunately for them (and us as we would later learn) it did not pan out and the job searched continued.

In June Brian got the most exciting call yet, Intel! This is his dream company to work for and we were both dancing for joy. It was all very serendipitous and here is why: Brian's sister Heather works at Intel, Heather is friends with Corey, and Corey knows the hiring manager's manager. Follow? So she recommended Brian and Brian got the call. He got the call while we were in Arizona for my grandpa's funeral and when he told the family, my cousin Brad said that it was his old position and his old boss. Oh my word. The stars are aligned. So Brad recommended Brian for the position as well.

Brian did a phone interview and then a week later flew to Phoenix for a face to face interview. The position itself would either be in Phoenix or Portland and honestly, we didn't know which one we wanted more. Half of us wanted to stay in Oregon close to family, and the other half was excited about a new climate and being close to my extended family. Really, it was a win-win.

It's been a very long process and we've been on pins and needles waiting to hear from them and we finally got word last week, on our anniversary. He got the job offer and they want him in Portland! We are Portland bound! We are thrilled to pieces and so happy to be staying near family. I am beyond proud of Brian. He has accomplished all of his goals and more: completing his undergrad, completing his MBA (while working full time and being a daddy and awesome husband), and getting an awesome job at an amazing company. We are just thrilled and so so so happy.

Things are still getting worked out so we aren't positive of the start date, we're hoping the middle of August but we'll see. Then we have tons of stuff to figure out with the house and all that, unfortunately we bought at the wrong time and are selling at the wrong time so we're going to take a pretty big hit. It's not fun to think about, in fact, I'm going to stop thinking about or else I may vomit.

Anyway, all in all it's a really good thing and it feels like this is where we were meant to be. When I think about how we almost moved to Lexington, Kentucky I just have to thank God for unanswered prayers. Or in the case of our families, answered prayers since they were all praying against that move.

We are spreading out our celebrations because that makes the excitement last even longer :) So Friday we went out with the Tegner's and Kayla. And what better transportation than to haul everyone in good old trusty Penny:

"Peace and love."

Jenny, me, and Kayla at our best attempt at being hippyish

"Cheers!"

We're moving to Portland, oh my gosh!!!!!!!

4 stars

I give the last 4 years of my life 4 stars. Why?

Simply put: Brian Holcomb aka The Incredible Hulkomb

Brian and I sat outside on our anniversary (last Thursday) with a bottle of wine and talked about all the good times we've had in the last 4 years. We have done some fun things and had great adventures.

In our 1st year:

• I had just graduated college and got my career job as an accountant
• Brian turned the big 3-0

• We bought a house

In our 2nd year:

• We went to Hawaii for Jenny and Kyle's wedding

• We paid off tons of debt
• Brian went into management at UPS

In our 3rd year:

• We got pregnant
• We had a baby!!

• We took thousands of pictures of said baby

In our 4th year:

• We started learning how to be parents, which we will continue to do for the rest of our lives
• Brian finished his MBA!

I am seriously so in love with Brian. I can't wait to get a text or call from him during the day, and when that garage door opens in the evening both Bria and I jump for joy. He's the favorite part of our day :)

And the day of our 4th anniversary, Brian got some amazing news. It looks like the Holcomb's are about to embark upon a new chapter and we are so excited! More info to come...

Pink polish & water fountain fun

Now that we are all feeling better, we've been able to enjoy the sunny weather. It's gotten pretty hot here and we even had to break out the portable AC unit for Bria's room.

Brian's had the last couple days off and we've enjoyed it so much that I'm a little nervous for him to go back to work, it's like I forgot how to do things, how do I do it alone again?

I was so excited the other day because Bria was letting me clip her toe nails. She usually cries so hard she gags so I give up. But I caught her in a pretty good mood and kept her distracted with items from our junk drawer. She was doing so well that when I was done I thought, "Why stop here?" So I lured her upstairs and painted her tiny toe nails bright pink for the first time. I was giddy with excitement and Bria could've cared less. She'll love it when she's older ;)

Matching toes!

Yesterday we ventured out to the water front to have some fun in the fountains. I was so excited because I knew Bria would have a blast and sure enough she did. It took her a good 15 minutes for her to loosen her death grip on my hand, but eventually she got courageous enough to venture out by herself.

It was adorable watching her walk into the water and squeal with excitement as she ran back to us. The only thing that I was nervous about was her getting run over by bigger kids because they do not watch where they are going and take off at full speed. But fortunately we only had close calls, no actual collisions, phew!

Her favorite was when the water was little and only shot up a foot or two

But she thought it was pretty cool to venture into the big water fountains every once and awhile

Grandma and Bria

Daddy and Bria, she thought it was funny to sit on it

She kept lifting her foot in it and I was thinking she might have been trying to stand on it or something, too funny

How cute are her little flip flops?! Old Navy :)

"Mom did you see me out there? That water is just coming out of the ground!"

After the water fun we changed Bria and went for a little walk and then out to dinner. While walking downtown we saw a HUGE dog sitting on the sidewalk by a restaurant where it's owner was eating. Bria LOVES dogs. Like, a lot. She makes sure to say doggy at least 14 times whenever she sees a dog, whether it be on tv, outside, or in a book. Needless to say she was so excited to pet the dog.

Bria petting the "good doggy"

She was either trying to touch his face or unhook his leash and set him free

So we had a lot of fun yesterday and it made me so grateful it's summer time, there's just so many fun things to do. Now we need to plan a trip to the zoo!

Independence Day 2010

Our 4th of July:

While the adults grilled and got the food ready...

...the kids played and played...

...and Bria and I cuddled...

...and the girls bonded...

...and made goofy faces...

...and adorable Porter shot a BB gun...

...and we bundled up when it started getting chilly out...

...and we watched the guys' firework show...

...and we watched in awe at their beauty...

...and then we posed for more pictures...

...Randy and Mom posing...

...Anna and Dad posing...

...and there was lots of fun on the trampoline...

...and the guys did more fireworks...

...and Schuyler and Jaime were the best hostess'...

...and there was even more fun on the trampoline...

...and fun with glow sticks...

...and awesome fireworks.

All and all it was a great night. Unfortunately 24 hours later the puke fest began for 4 more members of our family: Mom, Jaime, Porter, and Jaidyn.

I feel AWFUL. We didn't think we were still contagious which is why we went, but apparently we were. So needless to say the 4th of July 2010 will be one we won't soon forget :)

A video

Before puke fest hit, I got a little video of Bria saying some of the animal noises she knows. I can never catch her on camera in one of her talking moods, but this is the closest I've come. The monkey is my favorite, makes me laugh every time. And I'm sad she didn't do the "meow" like she normally does, it seriously sounds like a dying cat usually.

Still recovering here, Bria woke up puking last night again. She didn't have any milk yesterday and not a lot to eat so I'm at a loss as to why she is still throwing up. I'm still nauseous so I don't blame her lack of appetite. The one nice thing about me being sick at the same time as her is that I know how she's feeling.

I cleaned a lot today in hopes that will help get rid of this darn virus once and for all, I want to enjoy this summer sunshine we are finally having!

What was suppose to be a fun Holiday weekend...

...turned into puke fest 2010 at the Holcomb house.

Not fun.

It all started Thursday night. I started feeling a little off around 4 pm and soon started to get so nauseous that I didn't want anything to do with food. Brian put Bria down and then we climbed into bed early because I was feeling so sick. Around 8:30 pm I knew it was coming, but fought it. I HATE throwing up and avoid it at all costs, but I started sweating and got dizzy and ran to the bathroom.

I'll spare you the details of what happened in there.

While I was throwing up, Brian was listening outside feeling sorry for me and then he heard Bria cry out. He went in to find puke everywhere. The poor girl was cuddled on one end of her crib to try and get away from her puke covered crib.

After I was done throwing up I attempted to help Brian which consisted of me comforting Bria while he had the fun job of rinsing puke off all Bria's bedding and then starting a load of laundry. I hopped in the bath with Bria to help clean her off and then we got her in new pj's. We made her bed up but then she had another episode of throwing up so we decided to bring her in bed with us. Good thing we did, this poor girl was literally up every 20 minutes heaving her guts out. Since there was nothing to throw up she would violently heave and just cry and cry this horrible gut wrenching cry. I attempted to help, but eventually I ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor so I was close to the toilet myself. Then my hips started hurting so bad (darn aging body!) that I crawled back into our room, but noticed Bria was sleeping on my side and there was no room for me. So I slept on the floor, but that was still painful so I threw up a few more times and then slept in the guest bedroom.

Brian was super Dad and tended to Bria all night since she continued to throw up until 3 or 4 am, when her body finally let her sleep. Seriously, Brian was amazing. He took Friday off work which is a big deal. Brian never takes work off period. Especially if he's sick, but it's a different story if his girls need him.

Back off ladies, he's all mine.

We used up every towel, sheet, and pillow case that night and he did a bunch of laundry the next day as well as the dishes as well as taking care of both Bria and I. He went to get us Gatorade and popsicles and napped with Bria on his chest so I could curl up in bed for awhile. Not only did he take care of us all day long, but he did so with a smile on his face. He is my hero.

Friday Bria slept from 7:30-9 am. She was exhausted to say the least and we all needed that sleep, it felt really good. I thought we were all doing better on Saturday but no such luck. Bria puked a few times that day, I still felt nauseous, and Saturday night Brian started feeling sick. Sunday brought little change except Brian was feeling even worse. We did make it out of the house for the 4th of July at my sister's house and ended up having a much needed good time. More on that later.

I gave Bria some milk because she was asking for it by name all day long. Big mistake. Not only did she blow out her diaper at the BBQ, that night she woke up and puked twice. I ended up in the guest bedroom with her for a few hours to make sure she wasn't going to keep puking.

So basically Bria and I have lived on water and gatorade for the last 3 days. She does eat crackers and dry cereal which is good, but that's about it. I cannot believe how long this is lasting, I am still feeling nauseous and I know Bria is too because she isn't eating. Fortunately other than her lack of appetite, Bria is pretty much herself. She just gets a little clingy sometimes.

So yeah, it hasn't been that good of a weekend for the Holcomb's and I'm anxious to get back to feeling 100%, I'm so sick of feeling nauseous. And no, there is no chance I'm pregnant so no speculating.

What do you do though, it's a Mom and Dad's life right?

I had to throw in a few pictures real quick. Bria got her first knee scrap at the 4th of July bbq, at least she gets to rock a cute band aid though :)

Let's hope we start feeling better soon!