The Wharton’s have BIG news! No this family of four IS NOT becoming a family of five. I know that’s what some of you were thinking though. Nice try!
Our big announcement is that just like Dorothy, we are leaving home and heading to the Emerald City!
Don’t speak code and cliche’? That means we are leaving our home here in Porter Ranch and moving to Seattle (also known as The Emerald City)!
This is a big adventure for us. One that is exciting, scary, sad and happy all at the same time. We are excited about the new changes this will bring, the chances of living in such a beautiful city again, and the closeness it will bring with some of our family. We are happy to give our children the chance at better schools, smaller towns and a better environment for them to grow up in. But we are also sad that we have to leave family and friends that we love and we have to say goodbye to the places we love to travel to like Disneyland, the Santa Barbara Zoo and much more. However, this isn’t a permanent goodbye as there will always be vacations and visits. I love Seattle and its weather but I am sure that every now and then we might need a dose of California sunshine.
Many of the details are not in place just yet but we will keep you posted as things change. For now our goal is to be moving by mid-July. There is a lot to do before we can say that for sure, like finding a place to live. Until then I will begin the process of packing, which I was a pro at but now that we have two children I have a feeling my packing prowess needs a bit of fine tuning. I guess that is why we will start early!
Stay tuned for more updates from The Whartons. There will be plenty to read over the next few months!
So… does this really shock anyone?! Ok, maybe it does but yes we have moved again! This time it was only 10 minutes away from our house to Porter Ranch, but it was a good move to a great location. Our house in Winnetka will soon be on the market and our hope is that we can get it sold as quick as possible. Don’t worry, everything is going great we just wanted to makes some changes and put us in a place that is best for us. The other issue is that our neighborhood was quickly becoming a place we didn’t want to be. It was no longer the place we wanted to raise our girls and plant our roots. We will again find that soon, but for now we are happy with our choice to move forward! For now, thanks to Zoe’s generosity, we will be living in Porter Ranch until the right opportunity comes our way.
Once we made the decision to move, things moved quickly. Packing began and before we knew it, it was time to go. Moving day, which was today, went as well as could be expected. We are fortunate to have found movers that are amazing and so helpful. We used them when we moved back from Seattle to Simi and then again when we moved from Simi to Winnetka. They do an amazing job of trying to ease the stress of moving and take all of the work out of your hands. I certainly cant complain about that. I know I was under a lot of stress and some of the things I wanted to accomplish didn’t get finished like I had hoped.
Luckily we didn’t move far so we had the opportunity to go back and get any small items that might have been left behind. Now comes the task of unpacking and getting ready for the next few months that I know are going to be busy. What is life without chaos? Im not sure we know that answer to that.
Here are a few pictures of our new digs!
Dining Room and Entry Way
Looking into the kitchen from the Dining Room
Living Room from the Entry Way
Our Office
Abby and Ellie’s Room
The Master Bedroom
Ok so I am back! There has been so much going on that it was nearly impossible to keep up with it all. But I will catch up with everything as best I can!
Abby at 5 months… look at those big baby blues! On April 2nd, 2009 Abby went in for her 6 month check up. We are always blessed to hear the words… “she looks perfect” and that was exactly what Dr. Calig said again! Abby was 26 inches long and weighed 18 pounds 15 ounces at the time. I am sure she has grown more since. Abby is changing so fast and is doing a lot in regards to development. She has just finished eating her first round of veggies and is now on to fruits. Luckily, she is not a picky eater and peas were her only issue. While she makes faces of distaste for them, she still eats them. Abby is rolling all over the place and I am sure will be crawling soon. If she had it her way, she would be walking instead of crawling but Shaun and I dont want her to miss that important step in development. We shall see what happens in the next little bit!
Abby at 6 months… Smiling away like the little cutie she is!
Since my last post and I happy to say that we have found a house! Yes, we finally found a home that we absolutely love! We put an offer in and now we have a wonderful home in the San Fernando Valley. We closed escrow close to the end of March and moved in not too long after. We have done some work on the house which has slowed our ability to unpack boxes, but we are finally settled and hope to stop living out of boxes soon! Once the work is finished I will post some before and after pictures for everyone to look at. It is a beautiful home and I am so happy to live here!
One drawback to the house was that the kitchen hadnt been touched since the house was built back in the 40’s. So Shaun decided that it was the first thing that needed to be fixed and right away. Work began completely gutting the kitchen before we moved in. I think we hoped that a bulk of the work would be done before time came to move, but alas it wasnt meant to be. The kitchen renovation has taken care longer then expected and still has not been completed. Shaun knew it was driving me batty as it meant that we couldnt really even unpack everything from the move, so I spent spring break with my parents and sister up in Montana. Abby came with me, but unfortunatly Shaun had to stay and work. I already had the time off. I had a wonderul trip and it was great to get away. Even though my parents still had to work because of the late notice, I still had lots of time to visit and relax. Abby and I had the chance to see where Aunt Jillian works ( both Bath and Body works and Tanya’s Dance Company), meet one of my dad’s coworkers, meet my moms coworkers and we had the chance to visit Yellowstone National Park. It was Abby’s first trip! We also had the chance to see Jillian dance at the Montana State Games in Billings. All in all it was a wonderful trip and as a plus I came home to a kitchen that was almost done, minus a few important details.
Its early in the morning but Abby smiles for mommy just before hitting the road for Montana.
Abby and Auntie Jillian had the chance to hang out quite a bit and Abby took everything Jillian had to say very serious…. I love this picture!
Abby seems to think she is Grace Kelly! She is sporting her glasses on her first morning out to Yellowstone…
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park. This area of the park is home to several of Yellowstones largest wolf packs, the Druid Pack and the Slough Creek Pack.
Mommy and Abby in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park. Can you see Abby’s adorable bunny slippers? They were a gift from Great Grandma Prueter, Aunt Diane and Uncle Barry and they looked absolutly adorable on her tiny little feet!It has been a while since our last post, but life has been super busy. It takes a bit just to get settled in and I think we are definitely still in that process. Jack loves the apartment but I think he longs for a backyard! Hopefully the house will sell soon and we can start looking for something.
After we moved in, Shaun basically turned back around and drove to Seattle again to pick up my car and the last of our remaining items. We also had to break contract with our realtor two weeks from the end of contract due to some issues, so Shaun also wanted to make sure all that we asked for had been taken care of and we decided to change the locks on the house as well. When Shaun got back home, he was definitely exhausted and I am sure it will be a while before we drive I-5.
Our anniversary and my birthday were pretty calm and uneventful. I think we were too tired to really want to do anything in particular. I think just spending time together and not having to pack or unpack was pretty special to the two of us. Really, its the little things in life that matter.
Shaun has been working at Abandon Interactive in Malibu for the last 2 weeks now and has enjoyed it. Its not exactly the position he wants, but its work and I am sure something better will come along soon. Its just a matter of time, patience and persistence. I am also working now as well. Bobbies School of Performing Arts, my former dance studio and second home, has asked me to come back and continue where I left off just before the wedding. I will be helping with administration and accounting and it will be wonderful to be back with the people I have known for so long. An even better plus to being back to a place I love, is that I can work now before the baby is born and then when I return to work after I give birth, the baby can be with me! No need for daycare and I can go back to work and still have plenty of time to continue to bond and be close, which is very important to me. It is so great to be back!
I am now exactly 27 weeks pregnant, only 91 days (give or take) to go! I cant believe how fast time has flown! In less then 3 months I will be a mommy, Shaun will be a daddy and we will be first time parents! Yay! Luckily, the both of us have grown up around children, helping to take care of younger siblings and I have spent a lot of time around children through my babysitting and nanny service, so we are beyond ready for this! Don’t even say “just wait, you have no idea”! That’s one of my biggest pet peeves! Of course we don’t, that’s half the fun and the joy of being a parent! The Unknown! And besides, we may be first time parents, but we are not oblivious to the needs and demands of being parents and all the surprises (big and small) that wait around the corner. No family is the same and no child is the same. Just let us figure it out on our own and enjoy everything that means being a parent, the ups and downs and everything in between! Hehehe… its another hormonal rant!
I had my first official doctors appointment with our new OB. He is great and seems very soothing and calming, which will be helpful when it comes time for our little one to enter this world. Luckily he is familiar to the family as he is the one that delivered James and Brittany, Shaun’s siblings. I also had my glucose screening and I am now waiting for the results. For everyone out there that told me how horrible it was to take the glucose tests, all I can say is hmmm. Its not that hard, if anything bothered me it was the fact that I couldn’t drink water. Other then that, the glucose drink wasn’t nearly as horrible as I was told and well, drawing blood is drawing blood. Hehehe, thanks for trying to scare me but it didn’t work. 😛 Along with all of that I have made my decision to try and deliver without medication. If I need it and things become too difficult, of course I will use that option (Im not trying to be a hero), but I know from talking with people, my doctor and research that recovery is much faster if drugs are not used. So wish me luck!
Well that is all for now! I will post again when there is more to tell! For now we wish all of you the best! Come back soon!
Greetings from California! Shaun and I are back and we are here to stay! No more funny ideas about living somewhere other than here.
On Wednesday, after a day full of packing and helping the moving crew pack the rental truck, we set out on the road in our little caravan. Shaun drove the huge 24 foot rental truck and I drove Shaun’s car (my car is still in Washington until Shaun makes one last trip up). The drive on Wednesday and Thursday was very uneventful and when we finally stopped for the night on Thursday, we were only a few hours away from Simi Valley! When we woke up on Friday morning, ready for a short drive, we were not more then 50 miles from the Grapevine when we saw the sign…. ” I-5 Southbound Closed, Use Alternate Route”. Affter tuning in to the road condition station we found out that closure was due to a “hazardous waste spill”. Hehehe…. WELCOME BACK TO CALIFORNIA! Luckily, the best route for us was only 20 miles back, so we turned around and headed for the “alternate route”. Instead of taking 2 hours, we had the chance to drive out to Paso Robles on the 101, head south and get caught in traffic in every city from Santa Barabara to Simi Valley. Yay! Instead of getting into town at 12 as planned, we got in at 4:30. It was definitly Friday the 13th! But no worries, we made it back to California and thats all that matters!
Tommorrow, we have movers coming to help us unpack the truck and get us into our apartment. It will be a long day, but I know I am looking forward to it. I know many of you cant wait to get together and neither can we, but give us just a few days to get settled in. However, if you feel the need to unpack boxes on Sunday… let us know!
Alright, its off to bed for some much needed sleep. Even the baby is tired! Take care and we will update when there is more to tell! Lots of love from all of us!
Our Journey Through Whatever Life throws our way
Our Journey Through Whatever Life throws our way
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Our Journey Through Whatever Life throws our way
The Adventures of a Mom, Wife, Amatuer Photographer, Traveler and Lover of the Outdoors
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I am a pediatric surgery travel nurse, amateur photographer, and aspiring travel blogger, who hiked from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017! Visiting all 59 National Parks before my 35th birthday!
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