Ramblings...

Well, in 5 days we will be taking the family down to San Antonio, TX to make one of the biggest decisions in our lives. I feel like overall we have pretty much made our decision, however UTHSCSA has to come up with the numbers and the details. It is kind of exciting to think about, however the stress of an actual move makes me SICK to my stomach.

I have been trying to put stuff on Craigslist, Goodwill, or throw away all of the "junk" in our house. Trying to do this has been harder than I thought when it comes to some stuff, but we are getting there. I just wish it was nicer out so we could have a garage sale. We have LOTS of boxes so far for garage sales that we will HAVE to have this spring. Even Becca has been pretty good with getting rid of stuff, she went through her toy box of dolls, yes an entire toy box of dolls, and we got rid of 1/2. I was impressed!! There are a few parts of the house that are going to be really hard to go through. With James and Becca sharing a room, their room is very full, not sure how we will get it in "open house" status, but...we'll see. The other thing will be the basement. That is where all the kids toys are, and the back room is all of our "stuff". You know...the "stuff" we all have that we don't have any space for. Yeah...it will be hard!!!

We do have a realtor in San Antonio, so hopefully she will pull some houses together for us to see and we will find something that we like. It would be awesome if we can sell our house within a couple months and then buy something so when Jason goes down he can move into a house, and not an apartment. I don't want to move down there until we have a house. So...the waiting game, selling the house game, buying a house game, making decisions about the kids/schools game...oh yeah...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!

2 weeks....

2 weeks till possibly the biggest change in my life. OMG...I can't believe it. Right now the U of I is pretty much off the table, and the job in Texas is looking better and better every day, at least in Jason's "professional" eyes. If we could pick up my Mom, my Uncle and his family, and my sister and move them ALL to Texas...I would be completely happy!!! The kids are looking forward to visiting Texas and the possibility of moving there. I, on the other hand go back and forth every minute of every day. I think it will be a good move for our family. It will make us stronger as a family and it's a GREAT opportunity for Jason and his career. I can't tell him to not take this opportunity, I have to be positive and supportive, and I am trying...real hard!!

1 good thing that will happen if we move, is I will have the entire summer to be home getting the house in order, and the kids and I will be together. They won't have to go to camp or go to a "babysitter", etc. We will also be looking at preschools for James. That right now is a worry that I have, the other 2 will be in school, and we are looking at houses in the school district that was referred to me and I have a list of "exemplary and recognized" schools that we are looking at houses in those neighborhoods. I actually have my eyes on 2 houses, both are about a block from the elementary school and a few blocks from the High School. 1 of them is about $20K less than the other...and is the one that I like the best~online~ so we are hoping to see them while we are down there in a couple of weeks.

Our hopes are that Jason won't have a start date till May...don't know if they will hold off that long, but we are hoping. That way we could purchase a house, he could move into it with a few belongings. While he is there and we are here I am hoping that he will paint (not his favorite thing to do AT ALL) and fix up any thing that needs to be done. After the kids get out of school we would then all move down there the first week or so of June...it feels SO far away, but actually looking at the calendar...it's not a whole lot of time. WOW...my life is possibly changing...will it be better?? We shall see~~

Anyone know of anyone that is looking to purchase a house???????? :)

San Antonio

Yep, that's right...Jason got a job offer in San Antonio. We will be heading down to check out the city, look at houses, and for Jason to meet to talk about numbers, etc. It's not a definite move yet, but it is something that we as a family are considering. They are paying to fly us all down and will pay all of our expenses while we are down there. He is the only candidate right now for the job, 50% more pay, etc., etc.

Do I want to move?? Absolutely not. I have put my foot down on this for the last 2.5 months that he's talked about it. I haven't talked about it with him, I have ignored him when he's talked about it, I have basically been a complete "*itch" about it. I DON'T want to leave my Mom. I know...I'm 37 years old, it's time to grow up, blah, blah, blah. After everything that she's gone through and thinking last August when we found out that her cancer was back and that she might die...No WAY do I want to leave. She is my best friend (besides Jason), she is my rock, my hero, the person that I look up to the most in the world. I love her more than I can even say. When I told Becca about the possibility of moving, the first thing out of her mouth was: "Gee-ma will love living in Texas with us". How do I pull my kids away from their grandparents, their Aunts and Uncles, cousins, etc. How?? I don't know how to do it?

There is a possibility of Jason getting a tenure track position here at the U of I, but with all of the hiring freezes, budgets, etc....we won't know for a while. He has A LOT of people on his side here, and they are all trying their hardest to get him on here. The process here has started and 1 of his advisors is meeting with 1 of the Deans on tuesday...so that's good news. Best case scenerio is that he gets on here at the U of I...the whole situation would be a non-situation then.

I love my husband and I really want him to do what he wants for the rest of his life. If San Antonio can give him that...then I need to allow him to do it. We will have to make it work. Frequent flyer miles, lots of miles on the vehicles, Lots of long distance phone calls, LOTS of money, etc., etc. Pray for us and send us positive thoughts!! Whatever is meant to be will be!!!

Becca's family party

Ready for her party!!

So, yesterday we had Becca's party with family. We had deli sandwiches, chips, fruit, cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun...and the food was SO good. Becca also had her friend Grace over to play with, so she had a good time. She got A LOT of wonderful presents and had a good time visiting with everyone. And to top it off...the Illini WON!!! Here are a few pics from the night.

Becca and Grace

American Girl Rebecca that she has WANTED

Easy Bake oven

My beautiful 7 year old Daughter!!!

James' birthday party

On Saturday we had James' birthday party with family and friends. It was a great night. We had pizza, breadsticks, cake, ice cream and drinks. James enjoyed everyone being here, got some great presents and had a good time playing. Jason and I had a good time "hanging" out at home with our wonderful friends and family!! Here are a few pics and I'll try to upload a video...it's cute!!

Cheesin' for the camera!!

Opening presents with great concentration

He got "tickets" otherwise known as money

More presents

Wearing his "Wobble Goggles"...from Imagination Movers

Wearing his goggles like Scott does on Imagination Movers

Fake smile with his cake

Blowing out candles

Both kids have their birthdays this week so we will be celebrating at home with just us and Gee-ma and Papa, and then Becca's family party is next Saturday with her kid party on the 16th...busy time here at the O'Connor house. :)

Onto Birthday Parties...

Christmas is over and now we are onto birthday parties!!! James will be 3 on January 6th and Becca will be 7 on January 7th (her golden birthday). I don't have babies anymore...it's so SAD!!! We are going to celebrate just us as a family on their actual birthdays and then each one will have their individual birthday party with family/friends and Becca will have an extra party for her and her friends. It is a busy month, but it is so wonderful celebrating my MIRACLES. Every year about this time I remember the words out of the Doctors mouths and the Geneticist's mouth "you should look into adoption or Donor eggs". Yep, that's what they said. Look at us now...we are celebrating birthdays. OMG...what would I do if we would have stopped trying...I wouldn't have these 2 beautiful children. Well, I'd better get off and keep planning these parties and maybe post some Christmas pics. Happy New Year to you all!!!!

Random O'Connor things

So, this past weekend Jason went up to Chicago for a meeting, and I stayed home with the kids. Friday night I took them to the mall, they love going there, so this was a treat. Becca loves eating at the Food Court, so we ate, rode the carousel, rode the escalator, saw Santa, and bought a couple of gifts. Quite an exciting night. Saturday we drove up to Gibson City and went to Strictly Kids to look for snow boots for Becca (I just can't pay $30 full price for a pair of boots that she will wear maybe 10 times). We ate lunch at McDonald's then came home to do some laundry, wrap some presents, etc. We went out for dinner at Culver's and ran to Rural King since we were out of dog food. Sunday we went to a Christmas party at the VFW. They had lunch and presents for the kids, so it was a fun/busy day. Went and visited my mom for a bit- she was down and out for the weekend with a flu bug (we think). Jason got home about 6:30 on Sunday, we went out for dinner with him and then home to put the kids to bed. This was one of the first weekends that I can remember that we had absolutely NOTHING to do...and man was it wonderful.

Today I went to Springfield with Mom for a followup. The Dr. said she can go back to work whenever she is ready...this was VERY exciting for her. I think she is planning on going back after the first of the year. Her job duties are going to have to change since she is not allowed to lift anything, and I hope they allow her to do this. We have to go back over on Friday to see the radiation oncologist so that they can go over radiation, what will happen, etc. She will do radiation here in Champaign, so that is a good thing. It will be about 6 weeks long, monday-friday, similar to what she did the last time. She is doing SO well, I am so impressed with her. She is an amazing person!!!

What is up with the kids...well Bradley is doing OK. He is doing OK in school...could be better, but you can't tell him anything. Becca is 6 going on 16. She drives me CRAZY most days, and her and I go round and round often. James is quite the talker. Nonstop talking all the time!!!

I go in on Thursday to have a mass looked at by the general surgeon...who knows maybe I will get surgery for Christmas!!! :) We'll see!!!

Not much else happening...sorry for the long delay in posts. :)