No such luck.

Well, we didn't get the house. The only thing we could find out is that there were quite a few bids for the property, and the winning bid was "a sizable chunk" over asking price, which we knew we weren't interested in doing. This house was only GREAT because it was so underpriced. At a higher price, we'd have a slightly larger payment (not a huge deal) AND wouldn't necessarily make any money on it when we sell it in 2-3 years. The last thing I want is to be stuck with a house we can't sell on the eve of entering medical school! So, back to the drawing board.....aka-staying where we're at and trying to stuff one more little one in this place.

On a happier note, my best friend, Lucy had her baby last night! It was a tough go of it, being in the hospital laboring for close to 48 hours, but little Elora Sophia made her debut at 7:47pm at 7lbs, 9oz! She has a pretty good amount of dark hair also :) However, she'll be in the NICU for a little bit, we're all hoping that it's a short stay and she can go home soon! If I can get my dad or Dan to watch MY little rascals here in a bit, I'm heading over to the hospital to see that little cutie and welcome my bestie into mommyhood!

The past few weeks...

Have been insane! For Koda's birthday, he got a guitar from gma, gpa, and Dan. Since he got back from Kodiak, that's all he'd been talking about wanting. So, we signed him up for beginner group classes at a music place just a mile down the street, and he loves it! He can play a few simple songs already. He also started YMCA basketball a couple weeks ago, and has practice every Monday and games every Saturday afternoon. It's pretty hilarious watching these 8-10 year olds run up and down the court. His first game was last Saturday, and he even scored twice! He was on cloud nine!

Brayden is Koda's right hand man and is glued to his side 24/7. He's sad when Koda leaves for school in the morning, and asks me multiple times when he's going to be back home....every day! He has developed quite the attitude, and picks up on bad language/smart little quips easily...so we really have to watch what we say around this kid! But if he catches anyone else saying something they shouldn't, he's the first to call you out on it!

Kylee has became quite the little diva, and is SO adorable! I was getting frustrated because she really didn't say hardly anything...ever. And she'll turn 2 next month. But the past few weeks or so, her vocabulary has exploded. We know she doesn't have a hearing problem, as she understands virtually everything you say and will follow directions (when it suits her). I think she just got what she wanted without having to talk, so why make the effort?! Her hair has finally grown long enough to "play" with, and she actually enjoys getting her hair done! She doesn't necessarily stay still, but she still enjoys sitting in front of the mirror and playing while I attempt pigtails, or twists, or whatever. She still has quite a bit of curl in her hair, but I can tell as it gets longer, it probably won't last...darnit! She is really excited for her new little brother, and she points to the ultrasound pictures or my tummy all the time and screams "BABY"! I think she may be in for a rude awakening in February.

George is still working DOT construction engineering...aka-babysitting contractors. It's not the most exciting work, but it pays the bills well! While he hasn't had weekends off or anything (still working 7 days a week), he's usually home by 5ish, so it's been nice not feeling like a single parent like summer's past!

I am taking my last class, Organic Chemistry 2, plus the lab, this semester. I hate the class, love the lab. I suppose it's just really hard content to understand. It's discouraging when you're 5 points ahead of the average and still technically failing! I'm hoping to do better on the next couple tests (the grade is simply the average of 4 tests....nothing else, which sucks!), and hoping for a little bit of a curve at the end. At this point, I'd be happy to get a C, which would be the only non-A or B on my transcript! In July, I started working at Providence Hospital in the Emergency Room a couple days a week. I work as a scribe, which is assigned to one physician each shift. I follow my physician around and document all the medical information as they're performing the exams, tests, and procedures. It's pretty interesting, and I'm learning a TON of terminology, procedures, reading Xrays, CT's, and MRI's,etc. Plus, it's always interesting to see what all comes into the ER.....a seweing needle stuck in a woman's leg (I'm talking DEEP in her calf) for the past 2 weeks, insanely disgusting abscesses (I know....but it's just so crazy gross interesting), traumas, and tons and tons of sniffles, sneezes, back aches, etc.

On another note, baby Blake (I think that's going to stick, since I can't convince George to name this one Jaxson is growing well, and I've been feeling pretty darn good. I'm just over 22 weeks, definitely have a baby bump/basketball belly, and haven't really had many of the usual pregnancy ailments since getting over morning sickness around 13 weeks. I'm hoping the rest of this pregnancy goes as well as it's going at this point!

And now for the (maybe) big news....we went to check out a HUD/bank owned house on Tuesday, and made an offer on it Wednesday. The HUD bidding process ended last night at midnight, so we're on pins and needles waiting to see if we're the "winning" bid. It's a pretty simple cookie-cutter house (which anyone who knows me, knows I HATE those), but it has 500 more square feet than we have now, a 2 car garage (instead of a carport), and a large covered back deck (nice for year-round!). It's also in a nice neighborhood (Independence Park), and we'd only be moving literally about a mile down the road! And the best part? The asking price is about $50k less than the market value of the place! We should know whether they accepted our offer sometime today. If so, we'll be in there by the beginning of December!

And on a final note, we're on baby watch, as my best friend, Lucy, went into the hospital to be induced about a day and a half ago. She's been having a tough time, but hopefully today things will progress a bit faster and we'll get to meet this sweet little girl! I can't wait to be able to go in and hold a little baby, welcome my best friend into motherhood, and having mommy-daughter pedicure dates together in the future!

Drum roll, please...

It's officially official....the last addition to the Skinner family is a.......................

 

BOY!

 

 

Yes, we brought the entouage to the ultrasound appointment...all three kids...and it was crazy! The boys have been wanting a boy, and Ky and I a girl. Just before we went into the room, Koda and Brady changed their minds and *said* they wanted a girl....until it was announced that it was a boy...and then they were ecstatic! I think it totally made George's day! In reality, I was fine with either one, but IF I could have picked....I really love all the girl stuff! But, another rough-and-tumble boy it is!

 

I packed up all the newborn and 0-3 month girl clothing for Scott and Heather (their boy-girl twins are due in December), and it made me just a *little* bit sad. I kept the outfit Kylee came home from the hospital in, as well as the dress she took newborn pics in.

 

In all honesty...I can't wait until we can officially get rid of ALL the baby stuff-clothing, gear, equiptment, etc-that literally has claimed half of the crawlspace storage! Knowing that this is the last baby (at least to come out of ME-I'm totally cool for adopting later on!), is a bit liberating, because I can purge a LARGE chunk of storage as this baby grow out of things, and I won't feel like a hoarder anymore! I'm just glad we finally know that this little munchkin is a boy!! 



And now for the pictures

So, most of these are iPhone pictures...so my photographer friends/cousins, don't be judging them! We have majorly slacked on pictures since last Christmas, and have literally taken maybe a dozen since!

Soaked to the bone! But soooo much fun!

My little man!

He has more fun with dad on the slopes than anywhere else!

Johnny Rockets in Phoenix

Death grip on a Johnny Rocket shake!

Kylee LOVED Famous Dave's ribs!!

Splash area

She was a bit aprehensive at first, but eventually soaked herself!

My Bradybug.

Cousins Colt and Kylee in Fairbanks

The fab four reunited! They sure do miss their cousins!!

His 2nd place medal at the Wasilla Tournament...pretty tickled with himself, so we celebrated with daddy at Crazy Moose for lunch!

Ky on Easter.....I loved those boots!

After State, holding the team's championship trophy for Freestyle!

I HAD to let him get one of the cool, overpriced sweatshirts!

George, his dad, and my dad getting the tree that the beaver gnawed down off the roof of the cabin!

George made a little Kylee chair out of that stump!

Brady loves helping out at the cabin!

After a whack to the eyebrow from Koda and a shovel....still happy as can be! This one didn't require stitches...

This one, a week later, DID require glue. It wasn't nearly as exciting...he just fell on the driveway. It was smaller, but it was much, much deeper. He was a trooper at the ER though!

Lucy and Josh's gender reveal cake.

The Three Amigos at Flattop

Best buddies for life!

Arguing over the tricycle at the cabin.

2nd cousins Kenadie and Kylee at the cabin

When you get THAT dirty at the cabin, this is a bath!

Brady's "frankencake" Mater on bottom, McQueen on top.

Saying goodbye's to the boys :(

Brady's 1st dental appointment! He was so good!

 

Little baby pygmy goats up at my Grandparent's place/cousin Amy's place! They were so darned cute!!

High fashion right there.

Loving his 4 wheeler rides

What we have deemed the Alaskan redneck swimming pool.

Lucy's baby shower cupcake display

Stylin kids.

Sometimes, bedhead happens. Actually, it happens most days.

Mr. Suave. Waiting at the park for Koda to pull up in the float plane from Kodiak!

Looking up for Koda's plane.

So happy to have big brother back home!

What? Jams, jello jigglers, and rain boots are perfectly fine at the cabin!

Wanting to be a big helper.

Boys will be boys. Climbing treees!

Up at Flattop

Hiking with daddy!

"Ohh-ing and Ahh-ing" at the jewelery cases at Sam's Club! She's definitely a girl!

Oh, and one other *little* thing...

So I realized last night that I probably left out the BIGGEST *little* thing going on lately...we're expecting baby #4 in February! We find out next Thursday if it'll be a little brother or little sister, and we all couldn't be more excited! This is the last one (at least coming out of ME!), and I have mixed feelings...I definitely won't miss the morning sickness, the weight gain/struggle to lose, and all the pregnancy pains that go with having a baby. BUT...it makes me a little sad that this is the last time I'll be creating a little human. That in February, it'll be the last time of my own new baby excitement. But, with a myriad of cousins and plenty of friends who just started on the "baby train", I'll be able to cuddle little ones for years to come :) I'll make sure to update next week and let you know if the boys won out (George, Brady, and Koda all want a boy), or if the girls won out (Kylee and I want a girl)! In reality, I don't think Kylee even knows what's going on, and I could care less if it's a girl or boy...it'd just be easy for the 2 boys to share a room and the 2 girls to share a room instead of having to cram 3 boys in a room later on! Plus, I really want to do the whole frilly, frufru, pink and purple stuff all over again!!

Updates of the last 9 months!

Woah....again, sorry for the blogging hiatus. Since my last post (which I belive was about Christmas 2011!), plenty has happened! Here's a quick "bullet point" type abbreviation of the last 9 months:

• Koda's 2nd semester of 2nd grade went WAY better. A couple of the "problem" children were not in his class anymore, and he made some new friends!
• We went snowboaring/skiing a few times, and had a blast...including one late-season day that was so insanely wet that we only held out for about 2 hours before we were all SOAKED to the bone! Pictures in the next post.
• Organic Chemistry kicked my butt last fall, so I had the *pleasure* of doing it all over again starting in January. It went much better this time. While it still totally sucked, I ended it with a "B". I'll take it thank-you-very-much.
• Since I only had that one class, there were plenty of days I substitute taught for the high schools. I filled in for about a week as the choir teacher at Hanshew and Mears for the teacher who broke her foot, as well as the last 3 weeks of school for my dad up at Service, who was the lucky winner of the jury pool and ended up on a high-profile case!
• We went down to Phoenix for a week over Spring Break and had some fun in the sun. We stayed at my parent's "vacation" home down there, so that was nice! We spent time with our brother and sister-in-law Alvin and Eleanor. George's parents were staying with them at that time also, so we got to spend some time with them also! Probably the highlight of the trip for the kids was the little water-sprinkler splash park thing at the mall!
• The weekend after Spring Break, we spent a few days up in Fairbanks visiting Lizzie and Alan and the boys. We sure do miss them!!
• February through April was overrun with Koda's wrestling! 3 days per week, at 1.5 hours per day, plus most Saturdays (for meets)=one tired family! Koda did amazing this year and really stepped his "game" up. He medaled in every meet after this 2nd meet! He even came in 6th in his weight division at State out of somewhere around 40 kids! His weight division (and the one directly below it) were arguably the toughest in the meet, with the most kids, and the most diciplined 5-7 year olds out there! We were pretty darned proud of him! As a team, the Battle Cats made history, becoming the first (and only) team to sweep the state tournament with championships in all three divisions: Freestyle, Greco, and Folkstyle! We even had a couple older ones who took 1st in their weight divisions in ALL three divisions!
• We spent Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin near King River, as usual. This was Scott, Heather, and the boys' last campout with us :( We had a blast, though, staying up late, roasting marshmallows, and playing cards together!
• Dakota chipped a big chunk of a bottom tooth off chewing gum (?!), and ended up having to get a "silver tooth" (ie: stainless steel cap). He thinks it's pretty cool and we all call it his pirate tooth. Thankfully, his front teeth have fully grown back, so he doesn't look *too* goofy anymore.
• We held Brayden's birthday party a few weeks early so that Koda and the twins could be there (it would have been a pretty lame bday party without anyone there!). Brady decided on a "Mater-McQueen" franken cake, and it turned out pretty good!
• Koda left for Kodiak the beginning of June :(
• Scott, Heather, and the boys left for New Jersey (Heather and the boys) and Spain (Scott) the middle of June. We sure do miss them tons! They spent a couple weeks driving to New Jersey, making some fun stops along the way. Scott got the family settled into a nice townhouse before heading off to Moron Air Base, Spain for 15 months. He ended up with a really nice condo with a pool and tons of ammenities, so don't feel *too* bad for him!
• Brady had his first full dental checkup, including XRays, a polishing, and flouride, around his birthday in June. He did awesome, had no cavities, and actually thought the dentist's office was pretty cool.
• I took a 5 week (full semester) intensive Physics class this summer out in Wasilla. 6 hours a day, three days a week was rough, but I made it through!
• Brayden, Kylee, and I were able to go out and enjoy the little baby pygmy goats that my cousin, Amy's, goats had this summer. They were adorable, and so playful! Brayden couldn't get enough of them!
• Kylee has turned into a full-fledged diva. She loves everything girly and frilly. She's become picky about her clothing, and often won't let me put pants on her....it has to be a dress. She also loves shoes, and has a solid opinion on which ones she wants to wear on any particular day. Her favorites are probably her hot pink patent leather danskos.
• My best friend, Lucy, is due to have a baby girl next month...Tina held a gender reveal party in May for her, and I got to make the cake. Hahaha....I was the only one to know the sex for a whole WEEK!! I told her she couldn't call or talk to me once I knew because I would probably slip up! We had her official baby shower in August, and was able to make all the cupcakes also!
• George and I celbrated our 4th wedding anniversary August 2nd!
• Koda came home the 16th of August. After flights being cancelled all day in and out of Kodiak, Keller came to the rescue as Ryan and Koda showed up to the harbor with dinner for him (and a hefty amount of $$) for him to fly them (and a few others) up to Anchorage in his Beaver. 3 hours later, with a stuffed plane (Koda and Keller were the only ones under 300 lbs!), and they peeled themselves out onto the dock!
• Koda got his preferred teacher for 3rd grade, and he was SO excited! He loves going to school everyday, which is such a change from last year.
• We spent 2 days at the state fair this year, and got thoroughly rained on the first day. It was pretty miserable. The 2nd day ws insanely crowded, but sunny, so we had some fun :)
• Labor day was spent up at the cabin as usual, but George had to work, so it was just my parents, the kids, and I. Pretty quiet compared to the normal!
• We had a massive windstorm (hurricane force category 3 winds) here in Anchorage the night of the 4th (September), which cancelled school the next day. On Wednesday, I took the kids on a drive to check out all of the downed trees. There was a lot of damage-trees falling on houses, cars, etc. As well as the power outage. We lost power for about a day, and my parents lost power for a few days!
• Last Sunday, we took the kids up to Flattop to go hiking. We ended up doing Blueberry Loop, and were able to pick quite a few blueberries! The only downside was the wind, which made it a little chilly.
• I started Organic Chemistry 2 plus the lab a couple weeks ago. My very LAST class for medical school prerequisites, and I can't be any more excited to get this class over with! I'll be done in December. Then I have about 4 months to study for the MCAT, which I will take in April.

In all, that's a quick rundown of our lives! I'll get on and post some pictures of our winter/spring/summer/fall adventures later!

Christmas 2011

This post really is about 2 things: the annual Alaska Airlines Kids Christmas Party, and Christmas. As usual, "Santa" and "Mrs. Claus" didn't disappoint, and made their usual enterance into the party in a Boeing 737. Koda was excited to tell Santa what he wanted, Brady had plenty of curiousity mixed with excitement mixed with aprehensiveness, and Kylee truely wanted nothing to do with the dude. The kids had a blast playing in the bouncy houses, eating pizza, decorating cookies, and the like.

Now....on to the "real' Christmas:

This year, Koda had to be in Kodiak for Christmas AND we took a trip up to Santa's House/Chena Hot Springs before he left, so Santa came about a week early to our house, and he definitely didn't dissappoint! The "big" presents consisted of an electric blue mustang (hot wheels), and a play kitchen. Granted, the kitchen didn't interest Koda *much*, but he really, really loved the mustang, even if he can't hardly get in it. In all honesty, both presents were pretty much for Brady and Kylee, but Koda ended up with a few more "larger" presents than they did :)

Caveat: we finally got the car out last month and they love taking it for a spin around the driveway! While Koda can technically drive it, he really is too big for it. He is literally eating his knees, as they don't fit under the dash! But, he loves it none-the-less***

Kylee got plenty of little girlie things: dresses, other clothes, hair accessories, shoes, books, baby dolls, etc. I seriously LOVE having a little girl! After all the boy stuff the past 7 years, it's nice to be able to shop for frilly, cutsey stuff!

Both Brady and Koda also got a menagerie of things, including books, clothing, legos galore, and a geotrax "Cars 2" set, which really is Brady's favorite!

With all the hustle and bustle around the holidays, sometimes it gets stressful. BUT....when I really sit down a think about it, those are my favorite times of the year. I love to shop, and the holidays give me excuses to shop for the kids :)

Mommy and Kylee chillin' at the party

Letting Santa know their wishes :)

Santa and Mrs. Claus in their traditional enterance!

Ky having fun at the party!

Christmas at Scott and Heather's

Ky opening her presents from Auntie and Uncle

Brady was so excited about his remote controlled car!

Brady showing off his Toy Story Lego Train set

Ky and one of her twin dollies. A total girl through and through.

The boys with their new Mustang Convertable!

Kylee and Brady's kitchen set

Our 3 little goobers on Christmas morning!