Getting Settled In

Though they were two weeks late, the moving company finally arrived with our stuff!

   While it was nice for awhile being without many of our items, it was definitely nice to have it all back again! We will certainly not be using that company again! Not only were they late (we had to call them repeatedly for days when they did not arrive on time, only for them to tell us they were going to be 2 weeks late). Even worse, we noticed a lot of our boxes were mislabeled, meaning somebody had gone through them. Nothing was missing as far as we know, though we still have several unpacked boxes stored away.  Anyway, that part is done!

   The good news though, is we LOVE our new city! We've been on so many fun adventures and just getting to know the area. We also learned Texans are way friendly! Been here a little over a month, and at least 5 different neighbors have come to say hi to us. Our new ward is great and friendly as well. I have to say I definitely feel at home here.

    One of my favorite things about Round Rock/Austin is the greenery. It's SO GREEN here! Just fields of green. There are so many parks, lakes, and outdoorsy things too, which is wonderful. Alex and I have been to 3-4 different parks, but there are many other areas I still want to visit.

    Austin itself is really nice too. The city and skyline is just beautiful. The lakes are gorgeous, and you'll just see people out riding their bikes, running, and walking. It's also considered the live music capital of the world- which we've clearly seen. Concerts and live music in the parks is pretty much nightly, there's live music at many restaurants we go out to, and we've been enjoying it all too. Gary and I had our first date night in downtown on 6th street at an Irish pub/restaurant, where we saw Celtic music as well as folk music. We also met some friends while there. Definitely a blast!

One of our favorite restaurants we discovered, County Line on the Lake 

We went to the Dell Diamond during 4th of July for the baseball game and firework show

Mayfield Park in Austin- full of peacocks! Alex was enjoying going up to them until one of them did a call to another bird-and he was done. FYI- peacocks are LOUD!

Checking out the ponds

His bravery before that thing brought him to tears

Swimming in our pool! 

Playing at an inflatable play place

Live Celtic music!

Brushy Creek Park

Splash pad fun! We have a lot of these around here. 

Yum!

     Anyway, as you can tell, we've been having a good time here! I also think we're finally getting used to the humidity. The first day we arrived here, we were outside with our luggage trying to find our specific place- and I was certain I was going to die. I remember visiting family back east in Georgia and wondering how people could live in humidity- yet here we are! Luckily Austin isn't as bad as the cities on the Gulf, but it still can get pretty humid.

   Okay, that's the update for now. More later!

Alex is ONE!!

 On May 29th, our cute little boy turned ONE! Crazy, huh? This year flew by. As someone once told me, the days are long but the years are short.

Aww, I want to go back in time and snuggle him!!

      Alex is such a fun, sweet little guy. He is all over the place. He loves to: climb, run, chew on everything (including wood chips and leaves from outside), steal shoes from the closet, help me clean, chase the cats, get into EVERYTHING, pull down rolls of toilet paper, throw his food on the floor, suck his thumb, suck his thumb while grabbing the collar of my shirt and resting his head on me, car rides, reading books, going places, people, socializing, snuggling, the outdoors...can you tell he keeps me busy?? Haha. Never enough entertainment for this little one.

      For his one year checkup, he weighed just under 18 lbs., and did great! In fact, it was the first time the dot went ABOVE his growth curve and knocked him out of the 3rd percentile. So, he's definitely growing! We love his little self though.  His height was in the 50th percentile, so he's just long and lean like his doctor says!

    Anyway, we traveled to Bakersfield for his 1st birthday party, where it was thrown at my brother and SIL's house. They did such an awesome job with everything and completely went out of their way! We stopped by Valencia on the way there to pick up the cupcakes make by my friend Amber Teague, who seriously makes the best!!

Lemon with cream cheese and chocolate mint

"Happy birthday- Fun to be One"

His "All Aboard" theme

Pushing a Hot Wheels

Playing with the boys- Alex LOVES cars!!

I think all the boys at the party were more excited about opening presents than he was.

My dad made him a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting-YUM! He also happened to grab a chocolate cupcake someone left next to him. Well, he enjoyed that too!

     Anyway, it was definitely a success as there were more than 30 people and friends who attended! Some of my family traveled from out of town as well, so that was super nice. He had a blast!! Thankfully his tummy handled the cake well.

    I can't believe we have a KID now, instead of a baby. Well, he's still my baby. Definitely a Mama's boy :). He is a blessing!!

We're Here!

   Well, it's almost been a week in our new place, and so far so good! It was hard finding a place online without checking it out in person (I spent an entire day doing this), but we are pleased with the results. We are walking distance from lots of shopping, and our apartment is probably the most luxurious we've had so far. We are in Round Rock.

    I'm also glad the moving part is done. It was stressful getting everything planned and prepared within a 3 week span. We had our cars shipped here, we got rid of a lot of our old furniture so we could start fresh, we had to find a good, affordable moving company, and to save a couple grand, we packed the boxes ourselves. It was hectic. But it's done! We saved another 4 grand by having the moving company deliver within 2-3 weeks instead of 3-4 days, so a lot of our supplies are still en route. But, it's fine. It's kind of nice living a simple life like this. No television, fewer electronics (just our phones and my laptop), and all sleeping together (though we just transitioned Alex to his new room). He misses his crib as it's still on the way. We had him on an air mattress for awhile, but it was just too bumpy for him, so we bought a new Pack N Play, and he's done really well in there. I do miss sharing him on our air mattress though because he literally slept ON me the entire night when he was with us- and I loved it. I'll take all the snuggles I can get.

    He's been transitioning to the move okay. The time change was hard on him, and he's been a little crankier than usual. I also think he's been bored with less toys and things to explore, but the change itself has been a little challenging. We're also experiencing the toddler side of him with the tantrums, tensing up and screaming when things don't go his way, and throwing things when he's mad. It's cute to see him express himself, but of course it can be frustrating at times. I just have to roll with it and know that he's just a little guy learning his own personality. This is good for him. We're slowly moving him over to whole milk and he's eating a lot better now.

     Anyway, Texas has definitely been different! The humidity is something to get used to, and we've been having on and off storms. We don't get sprinkle warnings here like California. It will just suddenly rain hard out of nowhere, then calm down and be clear again. We did have a pretty wicked thunderstorm a couple of days ago though, and it was nice. Alex is also experiencing his first heat rash spread out on his tummy and back. Poor guy. We now know it's important to take off his humid, wet clothes when we come inside and put cool, loose cotton clothes on to prevent it.

He did GREAT on the plane!! We left pretty dang early (flight left at 7:55am, we were there about 6:30am). He fell asleep as soon as takeoff started, then slept the first half. After that, he chatted, played and relaxed. We were complimented a lot on his behavior during the flight. 

Checking out our new ice cream place across the street. 

A little creek behind our place, near the shopping center. Love the big Texas skiy!

Got our new couch a few days later- now we just need to decorate!

After receiving his animal (giraffe) balloon at the Boathouse Grill.

Playground fun

Good food, but boy was it fried!

Checking out our new Bass Pro Shop that just opened up last week down the road.

Playing on our patio- definitely his favorite part of the new place.

His fun outside that particular day didn't last long due to sudden rainfall and storms. 

     Anyway, all has been well so far and Gary is loving his new job. It was nice having him home for so long, too! But he gets to choose his hours, which is nice. He's been able to sleep in a little more, and since his job is a 10 minute drive away, he's been able to have more family time.

    Also, in a separate post, I will talk about Alex's first birthday and party! Can't believe he's ONE!!

Bye Bye California!

   Well, most of you have heard by now- Gary and I are moving out of California!

  We have been wanting to get out of Los Angeles for awhile now. Not only is it affecting Gary's health, but the prices of rent and homes keep hiking up to insane prices. Plus, him taking the subway everywhere was just being a little too overwhelming after some time. So, I asked him one afternoon if he felt like we should start looking for something out of the area- and he agreed. So, the job hunting began.

   He had several phone interviews over the course of a few weeks-month from companies in South Carolina, Tennessee, Montana, Oklahoma, Virginia, and a few other places. One company in Louisiana was really interested in him, but after some research on the location, we decided it wasn't what was best for us and declined to move forward.

    The one company Gary was hoping to hear back from was a golfing company in Texas. It was a job he knew he'd enjoy, and everything seemed very positive about it all. He had two phone interviews with them, then didn't hear anything for a few days. He started to feel a little down, but I had a good feeling and told him they'd call by the end of the week. Sure enough, the next day they called him and asked him more questions. This was a long, 2 hour phone interview from several different people. They told him they'd let him know by the end of the week. 2 hours later, they called and offered to fly him out to Austin to interview in person. He was so excited!

  A few days later, he was in Austin for his in-person interview. He flew out that morning, and came back that same night (long day! Alex and I spent time at the ocean). Then, the next day, they offered him the job! They told him they loved how he communicated with everyone and were impressed with his skills. So, he is now the new Business Intelligence Developer for them!

  So, we are moving to Austin! The company is north of Austin, right between Austin and Round Rock- and since we like the Round Rock area, we were able to grab a nice place there (so technically we're moving to Round Rock). It's next to parks and shopping, so we get to walk everywhere.

Veterans Park in Round Rock

      

Beautiful shot of the Pennybacker Bridge in Austin

Austin's skyline

   We are excited! It's located right on the Colorado River and many other lakes- and Austin is also considered to have the fittest and healthiest people in the nation. It's HUGE on sports and athletics, which probably explains it. Austin and Round Rock are on the list of the top safest cities, and the number one school district in Texas is in Austin. The housing prices are also great, so this will be a great move for our family.

     I understand all the floods and storms going on, which is crazy! We contacted our management to our new apartment, and they told us it's not serious in Round Rock, and it should be improved by the time we get there. Just some of the lakes are flooded. New adventures for sure!

    So, Gary starts on the 15th of June, and we fly out the 10th. This gives us only 2 weeks to get all the packing and moving done. C.R.A.Z.Y. YES, we have been busy! Thankfully his company is paying for a huge portion of the move. We are having our cars shipped, we're flying ourselves, and we are still in the process of finding movers. Most of everything else is settled. I seriously can't believe that in 2 weeks, we will be in our new place in a new state! 

     We will miss being so close to family for sure, but we're just a plane ride away. We are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives!

Family Updates

I haven't been so good at this blogging thing lately, especially keeping up with everyone else. But, while I have some free time, I thought I'd do some updates.

Alex is 11 months now, and extra mobile. He is into. EVERYTHING. He clears out shelves, reaches up and tries to pull items off of tables, etc, and just- well, a handful and a load of fun! Seriously, I love it. Well, except for the part where he got a little overexcited in the cultural hall at church, and face planted onto the wooden floor, causing him to bite through his lip. Gary had him at Mutual, and I received a text message picture of him with blood all over his face. Poor dude. But he was fine and playing, and he just had a bit of a swollen lip for awhile.

There's a place walking distance from us called Pint Size Kids. It's a big, indoor playground, with different rooms to explore- a workshop room (Legos, cars, tools, etc), a general store room with cash registers, shelves of food- kinda like a mini grocery store, a medical center with equipment, a "play house" room with baby dolls, strollers, stove, kitchen- you get it, and a special, gated area for infants and toddlers. The main floor is a huge track with fake grass for pushing around buggy cars and such. Alex doesn't have to be in the infant and toddler area, as the rest of the playground is safe (it's really there to keep him safe from bigger kids), but I just set him down and let him loose. It's nice because it's completely safe, the staff are obsessed with it being clean and disinfected, and I can relax while he plays with other kids and not have to worry about him getting into something he shouldn't. There's also an actual kitchen area in the back with an eating area, and you can order food from the Cafe a few doors down. So, when Alex and I visit, we have lunch together in the back (and of course they have a changing/bathroom area too). Outside the back is a soccer field (fake, safe grass), and there are also various classes like dance and sports. We love it! It's really his favorite place, and when he's worn out, he'll actually cry when I pry him away to take him home.

Playing with the boys

Throwing himself into stuffed animals and apparently having a blast from it

Shopping like Mommy

Our sign it's time to start heading home! Snuggling a stuffed lion.

          Anyway, I cannot believe this child is going to turn one in a few weeks. How crazy is that??

     The rest of the Pollock home is doing well. In fact, we are getting ready for some big changes, but that's a different post altogether! We've definitely been busy. Love my family!