Back in the metro

Hello from Ankeny, we are officially back in the Des Moines metro. After a whirlwind year, we have moved three, yes three times. We are settled in for the most part, but a year from now we will be moving back to Altoona when our house is done being rented. The good news is, I have become very good at packing a U-Haul truck, so if anyone needs help, I would almost go as far as to say I am an expert. We had a scare this last week, Jax our grey cat, was missing for five days, but Monday night came back after we had become resigned to the fact that he was gone for good. Carter was very excited to have his cat back, and George was super excited to have his friend back. Carter is adjusting better than the rest of us, he loves being close to his cousins and wants to see them almost every single day. Steph started back up last Thursday at work and already is accustomed to the drive and the new building. She loves having an employee right underneath her, pretty sure that she likes to be called boss! I have been staying busy with work and watching my neice and nephew a couple of times a week. It is good practice for when our little girl arrives and I am still not sure if I will be able to handle another Haas girl. Pregnancy wise everything is going fine, Steph is very tired most of the time, especially after a day of work. We haven't had any more Dr. appointments, but have another ultrasound in a couple weeks. Well that is all I have for now. If anyone wants to send me a gift of any sort :-), our new address is 5105 NE Ledgestone Court, Ankeny, IA 50021

It's a girl!

So surprise surprise, Stephanie couldn't wait the four weeks for our doctor's ultrasound and she had to go to a different one. I figured that it was probably the first time she has ever not used her birthday present on herself. The lady that we went to will only tell you what you are having if she is 100% sure and she said that she is 110% sure that it is a girl. Girls are not something that come easy on the Ehlers side, the last one that was on that side was my mom, and we won't flat out say her age, but it has been four grandsons and three great-grandson's since a girl. The only thing that I wish is the my Grandma was still around as I am sure she always wanted to hold a baby girl, but I am sure that she had a part in making sure we are having this one.

D Day

So over the last year we have become very good at moving, and as of the 28th we will be back in the Des Moines metro area. We found a house in Ankeny to rent until our rentor's move out of our house in Altoona.

Ultrasound #2

We had our second ultrasound today and everything is going great. Heard a heartbeat, 127 beats per minute, so good and healthy. Steph continues to be sick, but Carter and I are healthy. The embryo measured at 6 weeks 4 days and that translates into a September 12th due date. More updates as they become available.

Big News

So we had lots of good news in January so far. First of all we are moving back to Des Moines on March 1. Steph took a job at the West Des Moines Manor Care facility as the admissions director. I am going to keep my same job and work from home. Unfortunately we won't be able to move into our house in Altoona until November 1, as it is rented right now. We are very excited to get back to the Des Moines area to be close to friends and family. Carter is super excited to be close to his good friend Zane. Our other big news is the we are expecting #2! We aren't very far along, but are super excited to add to our family. The initial due date is September 9th, which is also Carter's birthday, so September will be a busy month for us. So far Steph has been a lot sicker with this one than she was with Carter, but other than that is doing just fine. She is anticipating five weeks from now when the first trimester will be over and hopefully the sickness will be gone. Needless to say the next 8 months are going to be very busy for us.

Christmas

So Christmas has come and gone and of course we spent most of our break traveling. Carter woke up Christmas morning and was very surprised by all the gifts that Santa Claus had brought him. Needless to say there were plenty. After we cleaned up the mess that was Christmas morning we packed up and started the trek for Ankeny to Nana and Papa's. When we got there is was chaotic, like usual, but what can you expect with 10 adults and 7 kids, 6 of who are under the age of 5! Carter had a great time playing with all of his cousins and openening even more gifts from Nana and Papa. Sissy got him new shoes, Hawkeye black and gold Nike's! On Friday morning we got up and Steph went to look at the West Des Moines Manor Care facility, more on that later, and then we started our trip to western Iowa. The weather was surprisingly good and we made it to Grandpa and Grandma's in plenty of time to see that there were even more gifts for Carter. On Saturday we went to Storm Lake to have a family picture taken with the whole Kuhl family, and let me tell you the photogropher must have had a wide angle lens as it was a huge group. After that we went to the Demers' family house for supper and then started our path back to Des Moines as the weather was supposedly bad.

Steph's Update

So I do not think Josh is a man of many words so I thought I would update everyone on the Erickson family. First off, for those of you who do not know we moved to Bettendorf in Feb. of this year for what I thought to be the job opportunity of a lifetime...well four months later I quit. I hated every single minute of it and I wanted to get back into healthcare. So in July I started a job with ManorCare. They are opening a new 120 bed post surgery rehab center and I am the Admissions and Business Development Director. We open on Monday the 3rd and I am SO excited because I have been working 60 hour weeks in the pre-opening stages. Now this truly is my dream job! To many hours and all I still love it.
Josh got a job in Feb. with an online job search company as an Accountant. He really likes it however I am not quite sure what he does all day. I do know he gets a lot of facebook time.
Carter started Pre-Kindergarten this year. The program is run through the Bettendorf School District and it is an all day program. He absolutely loves it! In the beginning of the school year I got a call from the school nurse saying he was complaining his stomach hurt. I picked him up and he said "yippie now I can play Wii!" I told him sick boys have to lay in bed, eat soup and drink lots of water. So we came home and I put him in bed and he had soup and water. Needless to say he has not tried to play hookie again! I knew when I picked him up he wasn't sick and he just wanted to play his Wii he had gotten a new game that week. He has two best friends at school and every thing is "Mason this...Logan this..." We had our first parent/teacher conferences and Ms. Runde (who by the way is 22 and makes us feel SO old!) says that they don't include other kids so we had to have a very long conversation about including everyone. Which to a 5 year old that conversation went no where. He is becoming such a little charater. He looks exactly like Josh but has my disposition. We bump heads alot.
Tonight was trick or treating. Carter went as Darth Vader. He is kind of shy (which I will say he did not get from me!) so we had to go to each and every door. He got to much candy and I am sure he will try and eat it all in record time. But I guess that is what kids do. Well that is all for now. More to come later.