Family Update

Had to post this picture...Rob is smiling :)

I feel like all I do is post about the kids, ok well I do. But anyway there are other things that are going on in our life...really...ok not too much more :)

Life has been crazy these last 4 months. And when I say crazy I mean Rob and I sit and talk about it and just have to laugh at how fast this time has gone by. When we first discussed our move down to Florida little over a year ago we knew the day would come where he would have the opening to do and what went into that. Talk is cheap :) Living through these last 4 months has been a whirlwind of emotions. Take away the fact that I was an emotional wreck from just having a baby a week before we moved, it was hard. He was so tired and giving so much of himself to his staff that when he came home it was a blessing to have him change a diaper. I have to say though it was wonderful to have him come home every night. No matter what happened in our day there was that hour when we could just sit and catch up. He would tell me about the construction, hiring of a new staff, budget issues, staff issues, and everything else that goes into opening a new restaurant and I would sit and tell him about poop, eating, baths, reading books, and all the funny new things our kids were doing.

All the emotional things aside I have NEVER been more proud of him then I have been these last 4 months. Not only did he do the job of a General Manager but he also took on the role of the District Manager and Construction Manager most days. Now that the restaurant is open he has blown the previous record of turning a profit in 12 weeks down to 5 weeks. And each week that passes he is putting more and more money into the bank. I have talked to many of the higher ups and they are beaming about the job he is doing. (I am not proud at all). I think the best comment I got was one of his bosses asked me what I thought about the job he was doing. I told him I could not be more proud! He told me I should be and that Rob was way to good to stay in this position for long.

The store is beautiful and the staff is wonderful a true testament to what he is doing there!

Ok so now past the 2 big things in our life...Kids and Rob's job! I have been looking to go back to work a few days a week just to get out and have some sort of a social life that doesn't involve a play date. My luck we move to Orlando in the "slow" season and everyone is staffed. I have been following up with this place called the Ravenous Pig and it would be by far the PERFECT job for me right now. It is only opened Tuesday thru Saturday and they are booked for a week and a half out. Which means $$$ for those of you not in the service industry! :) They say there should be some positions opening up in August when all the students start school again. So only time will tell there. I have been meeting a ton of people and could not be happier to live in Orlando. Though we miss the beaches of Destin...there is nothing like a 5 minute ride to Target :) I am a workout fool right now and have started to establish some friends there. (Regressing to the kids for a minute) The staff knows us all by name and welcome Coop and Caddie when we walk in...so cute. Our playgroup has been great and I can't wait to do a few more things with them. We are finally getting past the infant stage with Caddie and she is easier to take out...now if the heat would give us a break that would be AWESOME!

We have a family day on Sunday that has really caught on with our friends in the area. We always have lunch at the same Mexican restaurant and now we have 5 other people that join us. We love eating there! The food is so good and the staff is so friendly and love our kids. In fact it is one of the only times in my week when I get to eat hot food because they hold the kids while we eat...SO nice. We always have a great time and it is wonderful to be able to hang out with our friends and share a meal.

I think we have finally found a church that we like. They also have a great children's program that includes preschool, which will start for Cooper in about a year. They also have a great woman's group that meets about twice a month and that would be awesome for me. (It offers childcare too!!!) It has been such a challenge finding a church and after the Mother's day "event" I almost gave up. But thankfully we found one that will be great for all of us. With Rob being able to take 2 days off a week (I know such a luxury) it will be easier to get motivated to go.

We have great landlords and they just put down sod and repainted the house. We are planning on being here for the next 2-3 years till Rob knows for sure where he is going to end up, so we were happy to hear they are not planning on doing anything with the house for 15 years when they retire.

On a side note I am hosting my first houseparty on Sunday for the DJ Hero game. If you have not checked out this site you need to. My friend Stacy turned me on to this and it is really cool and you can get some really neat things. http://www.houseparty.com/ You sign up to "host" parties with various products and if chosen they send you a huge gift box filled with things for your party and you get to keep it all. Very cool! So we are having a group of friends over on Sunday to play some DJ Hero!

Overall we are all thankful that we are almost past the opening phase of the restaurant and our life has begun to get back to a more normal pace. In the moments that we are the most stressed and tired from our long days Rob and I just go back to the fact that we are extremely thankful for his job and our little family, we are truly blessed. There are so many people in Florida that are out of work and cannot find jobs and are having to place their children in foster homes just to feed them. I thank God daily that he is allowing us to live the life we do and has given us the greatest gift ever our healthy and happy children.