Updated pictures of our House

So I have a cool story...

Taylor's ENT Residency Program at the Mayo Clinic accepts only 2 new residents per year. This year they accepted Taylor, and another graduating medical student- Santino Cevantes, who ironically is LDS. What are the chances of that happening right? So we were so excited that both Taylor and Santino matched at the Mayo, especially since they already knew each other and worked together. (They both did away rotations last year at the same time-you know when we were traveling all over the place). Not to mention that Santino has a wife with a brand new baby boy a few months older than Dane. So we were hoping to get together and do somethings right?

Well, they too needed to buy a home since they were going to be out in AZ for 5 years and it only makes sense with the market these days.

So we told them to check out our neighborhood to see if they liked it and the area. It turns out that they did... and they bought the house right next door to us!!! How awesome is that? I don't know anyone in AZ, yet I sorta do already. I take that back, I get to live about 8 minutes from my wonderful sister-in-law Abbie for the next year before her husband graduates from Midwestern Medical School. (Hopefully they will stick around in AZ for his residency, we will have to wait and see on that). But I am so excited because I already know someone I can borrow a cup a sugar, go on walks with the kids, and she will totally understand exactly what we are going through.... her husband will be doing the exact same thing.

So what are the odds-- Only 2 residents per year, both happen to by LDS, both with kids, and now both living in the same neighborhood-- as next door neighbors. Does the Lord work in mysterious ways or what?

Anyways, here are the pictures Santino sent us of our homes when he was in AZ last week. We are on the end and they are the tanish one right next to us. The next one is our our two homes and the connecting side yard aka "our backyard." Then finally, the third one is our view of the pool from our porch.

Cool huh!!!

Typical Scene in the Pollei Household

This is what we see everyday after Zoe's traditional "after dinner treat a- "COOKIE" (really an -OREO)! In Zoe's mind the only cookie out there is an oreo. We've given her others, but her absolute favorite is the OREO. She is such a professional oreo cookie eater, that she even does the twist lick and discard. Yup, that's right, normally it's the twist, lick and dip method your used to, but for Zoe, the actual cookie part is pure garbage... she only lkes the white, fatty cream stuff. Then, when she's done with that she asks for more after chucking her remains to the floor. Lately to avoid wastage of oreos... we buy the double stuffed (I know we are bad parents) and that way she gets double the cream but only wastes one cookie. Anywyas, heres the BEFORE:



And the AFTER:




We've also started doing the double bath thing...this save me time and energy. It's so fun having two kids right?

Dane's Easter Pictures

Dane's Easter basket was full of candy and toys... none of which he can actually eat and or play with, however it was still fun to decorate it for him. Also this is his first official church outfit that my friend Kelley got him. He looks like a little man/"old man" as many have said... but still we love him and he's totally a stud with that vest and orange shirt. Needless to say we had a crazy photo shoot after church. (ps- the Dodge Ball DVD was all Amber's idea, I promise :) hehehe -Taylor)

Easter Pictures

Zoe's Easter Pictures.... This is her dress that she got from Nanna (my mom). It's still a little big so we had to wear a sweater to make sure no cleave was showing...haha... but still it was cold so it was worth her wearing. It's a great little pink dress and it has the cutest cap sleeves, however Zoe wouldn't really let me take her picture let alone get a decent shot of her dress. Also, here is her Easter basket, one in which she was definitely not shy about digging right into.

Meet the newest member of the Family!!!

I've been meaning to put this map of where exactly we will be moving. Here it is. We are the big blue dot.



We did it... we actually bought our very first home-- Yea!!! It's quite exciting, but also a little scary. Now... we actually have to be grown ups and pay a mortgage. However, we couldn't be happier. Although this economy has been really hard on the country right now, some of us are benefiting from a great buyers market.

Here are a few pictures of the house. The animated one is of what our home will look like when it's done. Right now it's being finished, and when we move we will be happy residents of Stetson Valley in Glendale (really Phoenix- Arizona). Taylor's commute to the Hospital will be 15-20 minutes. We are near grocery stores, malls, pools, shopping centers, and parks!!! To me that is so exciting because right now in Philly we drive a long way to get to those necesities.

We are thrilled and can't wait to greet our new family member when we get to Arizona.








Kitchen

bathroom

bathroom


The view of the pool from our window

Update

DANE had his month old appointment today and he was a whopping 9 lbs. 10 oz. Ok, just to remind you he was born at a whopping 7 lbs. .5 oz... he is getting big FAST!!! He is sleeping wonderfuly and nursing great. He's such a good baby and he hardly cries (except for the normal things baby's cry for like- food and dirty diapers-- and even then... he's so good that he really doesn't really even cry much for those things. He's very patient and a very pleasant baby. He cringes when his big sister runs around the house screaming, but he seems to tolerate her hugs and licks (she still hasn't figured out the closed mouth kisses yet). I think he is adjusting to being in our busy home very well.

ZOE LOVES DANE and is getting quite good at helping me burp him, change him and even throw away his dirty diapers. She gets so excited to see him every morning when she wakes up and asks about him through out the day if she doesn't see him (like if he is in in his crib napping). She is hilarious and totally talking more and more. She has discovered what a phone is and uses anything and everything as a phone. She walks around talking to Nanna and Papa on her fake phones--saying "Hallo" and "Bye" and talking in total jibberish. She can say purple and yellow, and has a new and keen ear for airplanes and helecopters. She's always noticed them before, but now, even when I don't hear them she will point to the sky to the most faint engine sounds and get really excited. She is still obessed with balls, babies, and dogs and loves looks out the window to watch our neighborhood squirrels scury on our back porch. She walks around her with babies patting them on the back and burping them, and I have even caught her trying to give them a bottle every now and then. She loves to hug baby brother and hold him, but only for about 5 seconds and then she is done. She is full of life and energy.

TAYLOR Taylor is excited to have matched in Arizona and is using a lot of his time right now to help us find a home. We are having a lot of fun house searching and exploring our new stopping grounds on google map. He is doing a Radiology rotation right now and is finalizing his last few weeks here in school. He is packing, cleaning, babysitting and learning the ropes of his new job coming up. He can't wait until we move--we are soo excited. However, he says that he is sad and will miss Philly a lot--- it's definately a bittersweet moment for him.

ME I am just as thrilled about Arizona and too have had a lot of fun searching for a home to buy. I am thrilled with my growing baby boy and my little Zoe girl and how much both of them change so much everyday. I am so proud to see their individual accomplishments and have been adjusting as well as a I can to this new balancing act. I get excited if I get a nap and a load of laundry done these days. My latest exciting news for myself is that I am only ten pounds away from my pre-prego weight...and I am excited because I am almost coming up on my 6 week post partum mark-- yea- Gym here I come!!!

We are trying to do the last bit of Philly stuff here and enjoying our days as much as possible before we really have to leave. Life is stressful, exhausting and exciting...whaat more could we ask for right?

Baby Dane

Baby Dane is now a month old, but we just got back his newborn (2 week old) photo shoot. Here are a few of his pictures.

(Thanks again Danica it was really fun to take these shots-- We love them)!!!