We're Moving!

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to blog, so I am going to take advantage of the fact that both boys are napping at the same time today (woo hoo!) to catch up a bit since I scrubbed the house clean last night after they went to sleep! :)

In case you haven't seen any of my recent FB status updates...we're moving! And that is the reason I have been a bit busy lately. Searching for houses is hard work! So we made it almost three years in this house. It was the same for our Kentucky house - just a few months shy of it. I think it will be much harder to make the move this time though (not just logistically, based on the two extra little people we have now, but sentimentally as well). We love our gorgeous house, the wonderful neighbors and friends we have made here and the beautiful Georgia weather (most of the time)! ;) This is the only house the boys have known. It's kind of crazy to think that I was still pregnant with Ethan when we first moved in. So much has happened and changed since then!! Just this year we had finally painted most of the rooms, did a complete remodel of our yard and built an outdoor building. The house/yard is looking fantastic! Go figure.

Aside from the house, we now have a 2.5 year-old toddler and a 2-month-old infant to keep us busy. They are the reason for our move. We decided that having Josh take a job with a better work-life balance was what we needed now that our family continues to grow. Josh genuinely liked his job and co-workers at Kia and really enjoyed what he did there, but the 65-70 hr weeks were starting to be too much and were not allowing him much time to spend with his family.

He wasn't really looking seriously for a new job, but when he was contacted by a recruiter (while we were still in the hospital, the day after Noah was born) about his new position, he was open to interviewing with them. After a couple of phone interviews, they invited him up for a day-long interview in August. We all made the trip north to Kingsport, TN, where we met both sets of grandparents, eager to see the grandkids. We looked around at the housing in the area, enjoyed a delicious dinner with one of the guys Josh is working for, and Josh completed his interview. It was an interesting weekend in the hotel room with a 4-week-old eating round the clock and a 2-year-old who has always had his own super quiet room (and hadn't slept away from home in 8 months). When he woke up with Josh on that Monday morning around 5:45, I caved and let him crash in bed with me. At that point, sleep was necessary, no matter where it occurred! All went well and Josh apparently made a good impression as he was offered the position a couple weeks later. After much consideration, we decided the offer was too good to pass up. The promise of a great salary, possibility of awesome bonuses and raises, incredible work hours (four 9's and one 4), and a relocation package out of this world was enough to convince us that is was time to move on. His new position at Eastman Chemical will be a research and development position, working with the raw materials that go into paints, so it will be a move out of the automotive industry. A bit intimidating to leave something that you are so familiar with, but exciting nonetheless.

Josh started his new job on October 3rd. So far, so good. He thinks that it will be a good position once he gets all settled in. He has been doing a lot of orientation/training stuff for now. It is definitely a different experience for him working with a bunch of PhD guys and having his own huge office (complete with nameplate on the door)! ;) So far they have been very accommodating with his schedule, which allows him to come back to Georgia every weekend.

We all went up the last week of September to hunt for houses. Grandma Frank came along to help watch Ethan and Daisy at the hotel so that Josh and I could search a little easier. Thanks Mom!! We went out with a realtor all four days we were there and saw at least 53 houses. Ugh. It was a bit disappointing to discover that to get a house and land comparable to what we have here in Georgia we would have to pay almost double for it. Sigh. We're still searching for the perfect house/lot, but have a few on our short list of houses to look at again. We are considering building again if our search doesn't turn up something perfect soon. Maybe we are too picky? Just seems silly to pay an insane amount of money for a house that still needs thousands and thousands of dollars of work yet too! :( Hopefully our perfect home will turn up on the market soon!

We have had two showings now on our house here in Georgia. One of those was this morning, so I have yet to hear how it went. We were told the other showing (last week) went great and that the couple wanted to make an offer, but then they had a death in the family and we haven't heard anything from them since then. Hopefully we will hear something soon so that we can get this house sold! It will be a bittersweet moment for sure, but at this point we are ready to be reunited again in Tennessee. The boys and Daisy and I are staying here at the house in GA while Josh is living in an apartment in Tennessee. We felt it would be easier for me to take care of them here with all of their stuff vs. cramming all of us into a 2 bdrm apartment. This is my first week alone with them and so far we are surviving. We'll see how long that lasts! ;)

Well, I think that pretty much sums up what we have been up to lately. Hopefully I will soon be writing to say we have completed the move!