We're Moving!

Yes, the Bishops are moving! Here's the FAQs:

Where are you moving? Williamsburg, IA
When are you moving? Brian starts his new job in mid-February. The boys and I plan to stay in Worthington until the end of February. The exact move date will depend on the housing we find, etc.
Where/what is Brian's new job? Brian will be working for (ironically) the Veterinary Medical Center in Williamsburg. This new job will allow him to really focus on his work with swine. And, of course, the job brings us much closer to family (and many old friends!)
WHY? We truly love it here in Worthington, but could not give up this chance to be back in eastern Iowa. We are very excited about being closer to our family and many friends. The combination of great job opportunity and great location doesn't come up very often!

This is such a bitter-sweet time for us. Leaving friends, Brian's work, our church family, my dance family, and the many groups we have been involved with is so difficult! Despite not having family here, we have made a "family" here with wonderful people who have supported us in so many ways! Worthington, we will miss you so very much! For now, we will continue to enjoy the time we have left here, and we will try not to be strangers, if you promise to try and keep in touch, too!

We also know that we have a lot to look forward to with this move! We look forward to finding the perfect house, and putting our roots down as we get involved in a new community. We can't wait to be close enough for day trips back to see family! We look forward to Wesley starting preschool and making new friends, seeing where Brian's job takes him, and seeing what kinds of things I will find to keep me busy (you never know!).

Prayers and positive thoughts are appreciated throughout the process, especially for a Mom with two crazy boys and lots to get done! If you are in Worthington, feel free to come over and hang out with the boys anytime between now and our move 😉 If you're back in Iowa, let's make plans to hang out when we get settled!

PS - Moving means we're selling the acreage! It's an amazing property, and we've done a lot of updates on the house! If you know someone who may be interested, please have them give us a call!

PPS - We also have 5 chickens who may need new homes! Let us know if you might want to adopt our ladies!

30 Years Blessed!

Well, today is my 30th birthday! I may be seeing a few new signs of aging lately... but the bottom line is that I am SO very blessed, and have been for 30 years!

Years ago, I was inspired by someone who raised money for an awesome cause in honor of their 30th birthday. Ever since then, I've wanted to find a way to give back when it came to be my 30th. After much thought, here’s what I came up with!

In honor of my 30th birthday, I've decided to find 30 ways to give back to my local community. (Because I have a newborn and a toddler, and May is a busy month besides, I'm giving myself the entire summer to complete this.)  I have been blessed for 30 years, and I want to pass along some blessings to others! I also hope this will open my mind to new ways of giving, allow me to meet some new people, and encourage me to connect with some new organizations in the area. It will definitely push me in some new ways, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me! It will be quite the adventure!

So...

1) Look for updates! I know that sharing with all of you will help me to keep moving forward!
2) If you’re in the area and know an awesome organization that could use a volunteer, or have an idea of a way to give, please let me know!

I hope all of you are feeling as blessed as I am today!

All About Wesley: 10 months old

How can our little boy be 10 months old already? I recently held a friend's newborn baby, and it was hard to remember him being that small. How quickly we forget! Wesley is full of personality these days, and is learning new things all the time! Brian says he is acting more like a person and less like a baby. Here's what he's up to:

• The first picture is fitting, because I feel like he spends a significant amount of time in his high chair these days! Wesley is eating real food (mostly table food) at all meals now, and boy can he eat! This kid ate an entire piece of pizza (plus veggies) the other day. His favorite foods are proteins - especially chicken and cheese - but he does well with his veggies, too. He also mastered drinking from a straw cup this week! Brian says that watching Wesley eat is his favorite past time. I can't say I disagree - it can be quite entertaining!

• Wesley started pulling himself up just before he hit 9 months, and decided the next step was climbing! He discovered the stairs and wouldn't stop trying until he had them mastered. His favorite hang-out is under the table, where he climbs over the legs and pulls himself up on the chairs. It's a pretty cool fort! Now we are working on going down the stairs, which he almost has mastered. Mom and Dad spend a lot of time watching Wesley go up and down the first 4-5 stairs.
• Our favorite games right now include: Taking things off of shelves, taking things out of baskets and buckets, and taking baskets and buckets off of shelves. We are definitely in the "taking out" stage and haven't yet reached the "putting in" stage. I think I only put things away because I know he wants to take them out again. Keeping them cleaned up is hopeless!
• While we are still a ways off from Wesley walking on his own (thank goodness!), walking is definitely another favorite thing to do right now. He has figured out how to push chairs and other objects so that he can walk with them, and if you hold his hands, he'll walk you in circles for as long as you are willing!

• As you may have seen, we recently got a new puppy, so Wesley has been watching the dogs a lot! Izzy and Raider play and fight, and Raider likes to steal Wesley's toys! Wesley isn't real sure about Raider yet. Being a puppy, Raider sometimes crawls over Wesley or nips at his fingers and toes. He loves pulling Wesley's socks right off his feet! They will grow to be good friends in time, I'm sure!

Life is crazy in the Bishop household with 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a baby, but we wouldn't have it any other way! We are enjoying getting ready for Christmas with family! We can't wait to share all of our celebrating with Wesley and have him meet some new family members! I'm thinking his presents from grandparents will be minimal.... 

Until next time - keep on adventuring, everyone!

All About Wesley: 8 months old

Where does the time go??

Obviously, I've missed a few months on updates... I have taken the pictures each month, but haven't gotten to editing or posting. I guess that's how life goes with a baby! Wesley is officially 8 months old now, and he is starting to seem so grown up in many ways. Here are some updates on Wesley as he learns more, and we learn more about him!

• Wesley has always been a mover, but he can now get pretty much anywhere he wants by rolling and turning. He can move from laying down to all-fours, and now in and out of sitting as well, which means reaching new things! He is loving it, and we are spending time baby-proofing!

• Wesley is eating lots of different foods, including soft solid foods like green beans. He just recently started actually eating a significant amount of food instead of just tasting and moving it around in his mouth.

• This little boy's giggle is the best sound I know! (Maybe I'm a little biased?) And I love that we hear it more all the time. He giggles when we give kisses on his belly or make silly sounds. Sometimes he giggles at Izzy, too!

• Wesley loves exploring things through touch. He is definitely a fine motor guy and loves to grab small things like strings, as well as feeling different textures. We have been working on picking up food like puffs and chunks of green bean.

• Everything to the mouth! Wesley has 8 teeth, with 2 more that we've been working on for some time! I feel like he's always teething, but luckily he handles it pretty well. 
• Sleep is still a little hit or miss, but in general, Mom is getting much more sleep these days! Wesley was even sleeping through the night for awhile!
• Wesley is now with a friend for childcare 1.5 days a week while Mom works, and that has been going well for all. Mom is enjoying being back to work in Fairmont, and Wesley is enjoying having new friends to play with!

It is amazing to be watching Wesley grow every day! Each month brings a new adventure in so many ways. I can't wait to see what this month holds for our family!

All About Wesley: 4 months old

Wow! Our little boy is growing so fast! Happy 4 months, Wesley!

We are truly seeing new things from Wesley every day right now - it is so much fun! Here are some fun facts about Wesley right now:

 - He has two teeth that came in a couple weeks ago: his front teeth on the bottom. He is working on lots more, so he is currently a drool machine!
- Wesley is SO close to rolling from back to tummy, but still doesn't like to use his arms when playing on his tummy. We keep working on it. It will come!
 - He is discovering new sounds all the time and is very vocal! Last week, his favorite sound was a high-pitched scream. As you can probably guess, this was our favorite...
 - Blowing bubbles is one of Wesley's other newly discovered skills. All the drool he makes these days makes blowing bubbles that much easier.
 - Wesley now plays with both hands together and can bring toys to his mouth. He loves exploring his hands, with or without a toy. He can even hold his own teething toys now sometimes!

 - While not a true baby giggle quite yet, we definitely get big smiles and simple laughs more and more often! Wesley found my animal sounds hilarious while singing Old McDonald the other day.

 - While he is definitely still not sleeping through the night, having just 1 night-time feeding is becoming more normal. Wesley has also moved from his bassinet to his crib. He wakes up happy as a clam most mornings between 5:30 and 6:30am!
 - Wesley loves to sit and stand with assistance, and sometimes doesn't want to lay down! He is so active and enjoying exploring lots of new ways to move.

We are all moved into our new house and getting settled. We are loving it here already, despite the storms this week that have taken out 3 trees! We are just thankful to have trees at all! I will post some more about the move and house soon! Happy summer, everyone! Go have an adventure!

Our new place!

The house was built in 1918, and is in amazing condition!

Well, I realized that most of our friends around Worthington know this, but we haven't made an official announcement... we're moving! We're moving to an acreage just outside of town here in Worthington. Here's our story:

We always wanted to live on an acreage eventually, but with a new baby and having just moved a couple years ago, we had no intention of actively looking for another year or two. We always said we would make the leap if the right place became available, though, and it did! We need a place that is close to town for when Brian is on call, and these don't become available every day.

Some friends of ours had bought a wonderful acreage just outside of town just over a year ago, and they found out in March that they were going to be moving. We are so sad to see them go, but we made a quick decision and let them know right away that we would love to buy their house! We had fallen in love with the place when they moved in and knew it was the right decision. Within a couple of weeks we had signed paperwork and already had a couple of potential buyers on our house. Fast forward to now.... we move in two weeks!

Here's the new place:

This is the main entry to the house. The door on the right goes into a breezeway that attaches the house to the 6-car garage with insulated workshop!

Barn. Willow tree. There are also 2 apple trees on the property!

Any guesses what this building is?
The door on the left goes to a small dirt-floor area that was a pig barn.
The door on the right? A three-seater outhouse! 

Lots of trees!

This is looking toward the house. There is also a large grassy area on the other side of the driveway.

Looking out onto our farmland: 4 acres that are typically rented out.

Izzy loves it here! All of this is now green and lush with the arrival of summer!
This is looking toward the barn (on the left) and garage (on the right)

We have kittens! We are keeping a couple to mouse for us along with their mommies,
but we may have some to give away if anyone is interested!

We are so excited for this move, though we have a lot to get ready still! Yikes! It has really come up fast. Remember, we always welcome visitors, so if you're ever up this way, we would love to show you around! We'll post more photos of the house itself after we get moved in! Here's to our next adventure!

All About Wesley: 10 weeks old

Time sure flies when you've got a little one!

Wesley is already over 2 months old, and he is growing like a weed! Our slender little baby is filling out with chubby cheeks and adorable baby thigh rolls. He weighed over 13 pounds at his 2 month checkup! We knew he was growing, but that shocked us!

 Wesley has new expressions and sounds every day, and is oh so talkative! He has figured out how to purposefully bat at the toys on his play gym, and is showing more interaction all the time. It seems not a day goes by now that someone doesn't comment on him looking at his mommy! He starts most mornings with arms and legs flailing as he explores new movement. We are loving seeing all of the new discoveries he makes.

Our still mostly-mild-mannered little boy now has some fussiness most evenings, caused partly by the fact that he is already working on some teeth! When nothing else will calm our poor Wesley, we put on Jennifer Gasoi's "The Bayou." Apparently I listened to it more than I thought when I was pregnant? It truly seems to calm him when nothing else will! Wesley continues to be a good eater, but is being a stinker about taking a bottle.

On the flip side, we are LOVING the SMILES we are seeing on a more regular basis all the time!

We have a constant reminder of the simple joys in life, and we are enjoying them with lots of walks outside and snuggles in the mornings. Our days are getting busier as Mom jumps back into parts of her pre-baby schedule, but we are doing our best to balance it all! From this happy family to yours: take some time to enjoy the simple things today!