A Place to Call Home

Yay! We're finally in our new house! Last Saturday was move-in day and the whole move from both the storage unit and our little apartment took about 5 hours (thanks to the great help we had from our new friends!). Of course, although it only took 5 hours to get all our stuff here, it has taken more than a week to get all that stuff arranged in a livable manner. We are still working to organize, downsize, and prioritize all of our packaged belongings. But despite the arduous process, this house is slowly becoming our home sweet home. Since Saturday, we have managed to arrange the kitchen, laundry room, Zaylee's room, and our bedroom. And we've also worked some in the backyard by planting a vegetable garden and a small tree (which we found growing along the side of the house and managed to uproot fully intact). That may seem like a lot, but we still have a ton of work to do! We still need to organize the guest bedroom, garage, hall bathroom, and finish up in the living room. Not to mention painting and decorating - that's a whole nother story! It's a lot of work, but I don't mind it. I find it exciting to see our house come together. And those days when all that needs to get done seems overwhelming, I just remind myself that I should be enjoying the process and thinking of how much fun it will be to finish and have friends and family over to share it with! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you as soon as I can find the camera in all this chaos. ^_^

Zaylee Easter Pictures!

Ok everyone, here's the story on Zaylee's pictures:

Go to www.jennywhitephoto.photoreflect.com

click on Zaylee Mullinax

password: mullinax09

Share this information with whomever you want! Let me know that if they want to order anything to just call me or email me. It will look like you can order online but you can't. The number I will need for ordering is underneath the picture when you click on it.
example: picture id #1 Zaylee

Any can be in black and white and any can be in color.

Prices for ordering:

wallets 4 for $3
4x6's - $4
5x7's - $12
8x10's - $20
11x14's - $50
16x20's - $75

Here's Jenny's contact info:
Jenny Connell
Jenny White Photography
918-691-8500
www.jennywhitephotography.blogspot.com

Check out some of Zaylee's Easter Pictures!

http://jennywhitephotography.blogspot.com/2009/04/springeaster-sneak-peeks.html

I can feed myself!

New Highlander #2

Robbie reminded me a few days ago that we have yet to inform you that we have a new 2008 Toyota Highlander - yes, another one. After Robbie's accident that happened at the end of February, our insurance company declared that our beautiful SUV we bought in December was totaled. It was sad news since we loved everything about that vehicle and we knew with it being the beginning of 2009, it would be difficult to find an exact replacement for the same price we paid before. But fortunately, we were able to talk down a dealer in Grapevine, TX (about 3 hours from OKC) to a reasonable price and we drove down to get a new Highlander almost exactly like the one we had before. The main difference is that this one is black and our first one was gray.
It felt so great to have a second car again - FINALLY I had a way to get away from our apartment during the week! Unfortunately about 2 days after we bought it, the tire pressure warning light went off and we had to go get it checked out at a dealership here in OKC. The tire pressure was equal in all the tires, just overall a little low. So they aired them up and we were good to go. Then two days ago we were driving to church when three more warning lights went off - a check engine light, a VSC off light, and a skid warning light. It wasn't slick or raining so we knew that couldn't be the problem. We looked up the lights in the manual and there was no explanation. I was beginning to worry that we had a lemon on our hands.
So yesterday, since Robbie was working late, it was me (and Zaylee) who took the Highlander back to the dealership. I had never been there, so Robbie gave me directions. Bad directions. I ended up circling OKC on 3 different interstates before I found the dealership (thanks to my brother, Brian, who navigated my way via mapquest from his dorm room computer back at Purdue!). 45 minutes of driving to find out that our problem was a crooked gas cap. Guess who was the last one to gas up - well, it wasn't me or Zaylee. Thanks Robbie, just awesome.
So I guess I don't have a lemon, just a melon head of a husband (Sorry hon, I couldn't resist. I still love you.).

Easter Frills, Thrills, and Spills

Easter is just around the corner and with Zaylee at about 6 1/2 months old, it was the perfect time for her very first professional photo shoot! Yesterday, Robbie and I took Zaylee to Tulsa, OK so she could have pictures taken by our good friend Jenny. I got Zaylee all dolled up early yesterday morning and we were ready to go around 9 am. We met Jenny at a park that was covered with BEAUTIFUL flower gardens, ponds, waterfalls, and walkways. It was a beautiful day and the perfect setting for some cute outdoor pictures. I have to admit I was a little nervous about how Zaylee would do (I was hoping we could get some REALLY cute smiles), but I had no need to worry. In the first little set of pictures, Zaylee was sitting in a tiny wheelbarrow in front of a bed of tulips. She smiled and played with the tulips and was SOOO cute!! We were getting up to go on to the next spot when Robbie twisted an ankle and went tumbling down the rock walkway - with Zaylee in tow! It was like I was watching a slow motion movie as it happened, I was thinking, "Noooooooooo!!" Robbie really tore up his hand and knees, but thankfully Zaylee only withstood a small scratch under her left eye (which Jenny said she could easily photoshop out of the rest of the pictures). I was relieved that everyone was okay. Zaylee cried pretty hard - out of fright more than anything, but she was up and smiling and ready to go again within a few minutes. Unfortunately, Robbie needed a little more time to repair himself. The poor guy had a huge oozing gash in his hand and a very tender bruise on each knee (not to mention the twisted ankle!). Today he is doing much better.
The rest of the day went by without any more problems. Zaylee even got to take some indoor pictures with a live bunny named Thumper. She LOVED him, a little too much in fact, and we had to put Thumper away shortly after she decided that pulling on his ears and whiskers was fun. I'm SO excited to see how they turned out! We'll be updating you all soon on how you can view the pictures online and order prints if you want.
Well, as far as everything else going on, as far as we know this is officially our last week in our apartment. We are planning to close on our house Friday and move in on Saturday! Thankfully, we've already met some good friends here at church and on base who will be coming out to give us a hand and make that crazy process a little less hectic. Robbie's doing well in training right now. This past week he just started "practice flying" in the motion simulator, which seems to be going really well. He has a lot of time at home as well, which is really nice for me and Zaylee.
The animals are just their normal, crazy selves. They have no idea what the next week will bring. The kitties will have a new house to explore and our dog will FINALLY have a yard of his own again (complete with a little club/dog house at the base of the play set in the backyard!).
As for me, I'm doing okay, too. Our family has recently joined the "Y" here in Norman and I'm really enjoying the exercise! After 6 1/2 (+ 9) months, I'm finally starting to feel a little more like my pre-baby self. I think it will benefit the whole family for me to feel stronger and healthier than I have in the past (and it also helps relieve built up stress!). I'm so excited about finally getting into our house and starting the process of making it a home. Well, that's all for now! Bye!