Busy, busy, busy.

Wow! It's been a REALLY busy week... We officially moved and unpacked enough to have a functional household in two days. It's been a little over a week now and the walls are decorated, area rugs are put out, and I've even completed my first round of mopping the hardwood floors dusting, and vacuuming. All while keeping up with school, going to doctor visits for Jerry and wrangling our very busy toddler.

Joliebean LOVES our new house. She gets to run around freely now. : ) Outside is her absolute favorite place. Everytime a door opens she runs to it... when it closes, it's a 20 minute tantrum. When we decide to brave the cold, she likes to hang out on the side walk and patio. Funny child... Jolie refuses to get on the grass! She enjoys playing in her very own bedroom now. She has a new Tinkerbell bed and toy box. The room is decorated in pretty pink, purple, and green dragonflies. It's soon to be completed with pretty pink curtains. (Many thanks to Grandma and Poppa) Jerry's "man room"/office/Jolie's toy room still needs some unpacking, but we got a bookshelf in it today and it's coming along nicely.

Jerry has been a busy guy puting together shelves and lamps for me. He and our friend, Jeremy, made several large trips and moved everything. He's been keeping up with school and working more for the radio station. I'm really impressed with how well he and Jolie have gotten along lately, too. Through all the tantrums and time outs, he still keeps his cool and is the best father ever to Jolie.

Also, in the last couple of weeks, I had my wisdom teeth removed. Still as smart as before, tho! I've had a very difficult time with them. Dry socket is not an enjoyable thing. : (

Grandma Altmiller was my favorite person of the day today. I have a problem with interior decorating. I'm incapable of it... So, she took me curtain shopping! I now have beautiful curtains for about every room in our home. I can't wait to put them up! Thanks again Grandma, from ALL of us!!!

All in all, we've been very busy and it's amazing that we are able to find time for ourselves. Even with all of the chaos lately, Jerry and I are doing spectacularly. Our relationship continues to grow and he is still the best fiance ever. I have complete confidence that our marriage will be even better!

Amanda

Movin' On Up!

To the east side... well, I guess in this case it's the west side. Things are still rolling along, dresses are ordered, cake is getting designed, flowers are ordered, silk flowers are in the works, location is set, and July is on its way! And now, we have a place to move in to! Very excited. It's a four bedroom place, in a nice safe location off the street. Will be fun to see Jolie in a space that is her own, and run around. We'll be moving on Sunday, Valentine's day. 8) My biggest fear is the addition to all sorts of child proofing. I never knew there were so many different types of locks. I may have a hard time figuring them out, but I'm sure Jolie will show me. lol. We'll try to keep everyone up to date on the moving process as it goes.

Rollin' On

Them wedding plans just keep a rollin'! We're ahead of schedule in some areas, but dragging in others. While there are times it feels like we'll never be ready in time, I know it will all be great. By far the biggest thing that keeps me from feeling the stress of it is that on July 31st, whether the cake is right, the flowers are in bloom, or the music is rockin', I get to marry the best gift from God, Amanda. With that kind of blessing I can't imagine anything less than the perfect wedding day! Sorry to use the blog as my personal soap box to once again confess my love to ya babe! Muah, I love you.

We took Jolie swimming last Friday night, that was a blast. Amanda and I were playing and making sure she didn't go under, so didn't get any pics but we'll work on it next time. It was so much fun watching Jolie go from very frightened to acting like water ain't so bad after all. We practiced dunking her under, which got a little better each time, but I don't think it sits at the top of her list of favorite things to do. French fries and Elmo still hold the top spots on that list.

Then we headed up to Spokane on Saturday with Amanda, Jolie and Kaylee (Amanda's MOH and I have no clue if I spelled it right.) I left the gals smiling and holding my credit card at David's Bridal and headed to the Valley Mall with Jolie for some Daddy / Daughter time. Our first stop was the Make a Bear Store.

After letting Jolie hold and kiss every bear/dog/moose/unicorn/and those that fall in the realm of "is that supposed to be something", she finally picked out a black dog. It was difficult to figure out which she liked best, but I knew it was the one she liked because she started giggling pretty hard. Then we picked out an outfit for the guy. This was an easier choice, because she showed absolutely no interest. Except with the fire fighter jacket and hat. So I grabbed the jacket and headed to the stuffing table.

Jolie watched the couple kids before us and by our turn she had it figured out pretty well. When it was all stuffed, she got to pick out a little heart and then she kissed it and hugged it before delicately putting the little heart into the dog. You'd think she was Doogie Howser at her first surgery.

Then it was time to check out and at this point I gained a lot of pride in my girl's creativity. The line was long, the store was hot, and patience thin. Then the smell hit me. Jolie managed to clear out the line in record speed and we went strait to the front. Best part was, she was a team player and it was all bark and no bite, so I dodge another dirty diaper bullet. That's one story I'll be sure to tell every guy Jolie brings home when she's older.

After a little more clothes shopping, Amanda and Kaylee caught back up to us. They found the dress, slip, what sounds like many many veils (who knew there were more than one? Guys aren't taught this stuff), and a secret garter. Apparently I don't get to see it yet, but I'll love it. Been guessing with no luck yet, but here's my guess Amanda: Is it a choose your own adventure garter?

Guess I'll find out in July. For now, that's a little taste of how we've been. More later!
~Jerry

ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!!!!

Sorry, Jerry. I posted them first... I WIN. : )

This is my favorite.

Amanda here,

First, an update on Jolie:

Our poor baby. She has the yuck virus that's going around. Complete with throwing up on mommy's shoulder, non-stop diapers, and fevers high enough to rush us to the Emergency Room. This is day three of this business and I'm about fed up with it. Honestly, I'd much rather be at work! I'm taking her back to the doctor tomorrow and telling him to fix her!

Next, an update on wedding things:

I finally put my foot down on bridesmaid dresses. I picked the ones I want, in the color I want, and I don't want to hear any of my bridesmaids complain anymore! I ordered their shoes to go with the dresses. No complaints about those... I also ordered my dress for after the ceremony. Jerry and I may have come to an agreement on our honeymoon destination too! How exciting!! My goal for this week is to get a design finalized for announcements and invitations. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? We are having Engagement photos done this Saturday : ) You know... Every time I see Jerry, I get more and more excited to marry him.

What sound does daddy make, Jolie?

Amanda here...

An update on Jolie's vocabulary is due. Our animal sounds include fish, kitty, monkey, owl, and we are currently working on puppy. However, Jerry and his wonderful sense of humor have made up a sound for mommy.

Jerry: Jolie, What sound does mommy make?

Jolie: Mommy?

Jerry: Yes. 'I'm mommy! Blah blah blah.'

Amanda: Har har har, Jerry.

So, we are working on another sound.

Amanda: Jolie, what sound does daddy make?

Jolie: Dadadada?

Amanda: No, ooh ooh, ah ah. Same as the monkey!

I am very thankful that I have Jolie and Jerry. Jolie makes my heart smile. Even when she's being naughty. Because I know that ten minutes from a fit she has, she'll come over and give me a big hug and kiss. I love her sooooo much. I never thought I'd love being a mother as much as I do. I am very blessed to have Jerry as the man to spend the rest of my life with. He makes me laugh, he cheers me up when I'm sad, he makes me appreciate the little things. Most of all, I love watching him with Jolie. He shows her just as much love as I do. Her eyes light up as soon as she sees him. I know that he wouldn't treat her any differently if she was his own. But you know what? As far as he and I are concerned, she is his. I'm overjoyed to be marrying Jerry. I can't think of a better start to our soon-to-be marriage than the one we've had.

To Jerry: I love you, hun. You make me very happy. Thank you for wanting to share your life with us : )

We are engaged!

So it's been a week, and lots has happened. Turns out blogging every other day is hard when you're busy enjoying your time. But to sum up, after the holidays I convinced Amanda to marry me. (Wasn't too difficult to convince her. ;)

I'm more excited to be married to Amanda and Jolie than I have ever been about anything else in my life. I know there will be many stressful times in planning, but even if every day from now until July 31st is just insane with planning, it's all worth it for the chance to stand there and marry my love.

So if things get busy and we don't write often, that's a good sign because it means we're getting stuff done and getting closer.

To Amanda: Thank you for saying yes! I love you and Jolie very much and am the luckiest man alive! Muah!

Jerry