No our baby didn't arrive early, we adopted a dog! Max is a 10 month old Golden Retriever-Husky mix that we adopted from the local animal shelter. He has been with us for 2 weeks and is adapting well. We knew we wanted to get another dog at some point to grow up with our kids, and decided that it would be better for us to train him first before the baby arrives. Here are a few pictures.
Max and Adam
Max and Jess
Helping Adam put together the baby swing...he was very interested in being involved!
The baby countdown continues! Only about 7 weeks to go (give or take) until we meet our little boy. We're just waiting for the crib to be delivered for the nursery, and then I will post pictures once it is finished. Other than that, we just still have a few little things to get and we will be all ready!!
After almost 2 months since moving into our new house, we are finally feeling settled in. The boxes are (almost) all un-packed, we've hung a few things up on the walls, and we finally have gotten used to where everything is in the kitchen :-) Since we were starting to feel a little bored, we decided to try our hand at some planting. We really don't have any experience with gardening, but I think we did a pretty good job for our first time! We'll see how our new plants do as the hot TX summer begins...here are a few pictures:
Front of the house BEFORE:
Front walkway BEFORE:
Things have been so crazy the past few weeks. Jess and I have been so very busy that our heads are still spinning.
I spent three days in February taking the Texas Bar Exam (February 24, 25, 26). I spent all of January and all of February studying for it. Jess did not see me much of that time. I am not feeling too confident that I passed, but we will see come May. I totally "misunderestimated" it. I simply ran out of time to study. At least it is over. Jess is glad to have me back.
We bought and moved into our new house. We are still unpacking as I type this. It will probably be a couple weeks before we are totally settled in, but we love the house so far. It is so nice to be in a house again.
I bought a new TV for my "Man Cave". We do not have basements here in Texas, but us guys get a gameroom or a media room (or both). I splurged on a 50" Samsung Plasma. It is awesome. Anything that big is awesome, but this one is a really great TV. It was part of my 30th birthday celebration. I also got a subscription to Netflix. I am really looking forward to enjoying the home theater experience. Jess is even permitting me to decorate the cave myself. We are still negotiating the elk antlers...
So yeah, I am now thirty. Kind of sad, but cool I guess. I do feel older. Or I feel like I should act older. Deep down, I am still 17. Now if I could only get my 17 year-old abs back...
We also bought a new bed for the guest room, so any y'all can come and visit! We bought a new dresser and nightstand for the master bedroom. It is the first time since we have lived together that we finally bought "grown up" bedroom furniture.
Our baby is also growing up quickly, and he is not even born yet. Jess is 22 weeks today and her baby bump is coming along. She is the cutest mommy. I am getting even more excited every day for the heir to arrive. I know July will come soon enough and I will be wishing for more sleep, but I am so excited right now. Soon I will get to help decorate the nursery and I cannot wait. We are still trying to decide on a name. We have a couple that we are thinking of, but we are keeping it a secret until the birth. One of the most exciting recent developments is that the baby has started to kick. Jess feels him quite often. I have only felt it once, but soon I will be able to feel the kicks too. Jess definitely thinks he will be an athlete based on his activity so far. Either way, he will be loved and spoiled. The grandparents have promised that.
We also bought a new car (yeah, we are doing our part to stimulate the economy with the Bell Stimulus Plan). It is a brand new 2009 Mazda6. It is only the 2.5L 4-cyl., but it is definitely "zoom-zoom". It has plenty of get-up and go. Very fun to drive. And it looks sweet.
So besides the house, car, TV and furniture we are also filling the new house with new things. It is fun.
My job is going really great. I have finally found something that is fun and exciting at the same time very fulfilling. It has only been two months so far, but I love it. I get paid to have fun and do what I love, so it has never seemed like work.
Jessica's job is going well, and she is in love with her new house and the baby. Our house is full of love and things are getting better every day. Texas has started to feel more like home for us now and we are looking ahead to the future with lots of excitement. Now that we have more to actually write about, I hope to update the blog more often. I have already skipped over so much in the past almost year that we have been here.
Until next time... Happy trails.
It has been a long time since we have posted on our blog, because things have been busy in the Bell household! Here is an update on what we have been up to the last few months:
At the beginning of November, we found out that we are going to be parents for the first time!! We are so excited and cannot wait to welcome our new baby in July 2009. We had a great time over the holidays sharing our news with family and friends. Here is a link to our 12 wk ultrasound we had in January:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVARrD3W9yc
Right after the holidays, Adam accepted a job with the Denton County Clerk's Office. He is the Assistant Department Supervisor of Administration. He has been in his job for 2 weeks and still getting oriented to his new responsibilities, but really likes it so far. I am jealous of his nice private office with a window and the nice new office furniture they let him order (no wonder our property taxes are so high...). Adam has been working hard studying for the Texas Bar Exam, which he will take in February right after he turns the BIG 3-0!
Our final exciting news is that we just bought a house! We close at the end of February, and are so excited to finally feel settled in a place of our own after living in an apartment for the last few months. It will be nice to un-pack all of those boxes that are sitting in our spare bedroom (I can't even remember what is in them anymore) and get settled into our house before our baby arrives. We bought a house in Little Elm, TX although its technically not even within the city limits. (Think: township, fields, cows...yes, we are going to be living somewhat "out in the country"!) However, it's only a 20 minute drive for each of us to our respective workplaces so civilization is within reach :-) However, the area where we bought is being developed incredibly in the next few years as the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex expands more and more. Soon those fields will be replaced with more housing, shopping centers, restaurants, and hopefully a Starbucks (or seven)! We bought a new house that a builder just completed, in a master-planned community. Here is a picture of our house. We'll post more pictures after we move in!
We lost our dog Murphy unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. We are not sure exactly what happened to him. He was sick to his stomach a couple of times, and then kind of just collapsed on us. We raced him to the Emergency vet clinic, but his heart stopped after he arrived there and they were not able to revive him. It is still bewildering to us that he was absolutely fine earlier that day, but we are happy that he did not suffer long. We're not sure what made him sick--he was on new medication for his allergies but our vet did not believe there was any way it could have caused his death.
He was a GREAT dog, and we miss him so much. Our little abode in Texas is definitely a little lonlier without him! We adopted him through a fantastic organization called RAGOM (Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota); he had previously been living in a puppy mill. We will definitely adopt a rescue dog again-- it was a great experience for us.
Here are a couple of pictures of Murphy, taken just a few days before he died:
Adam's dad had a conference for his company in Frisco, TX this week (the city bordering ours), so we were able to spend some time with him on Sunday after he flew into town. It was so great to be able to see him, even if it was a short visit. The rest of his time in town was spent golfing, sampling some great local restaurants, and maybe even working a little when he had time in between :-)
We hung out at our apartment for a while, and then went to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant--Mi Cocina. Here are a couple of pictures:
