We're having another...

GIRL!

We had the ultrasound this morning and had the technician put the picture of the gender in an envelope. Jake and I went to a restaurant this evening talked about what we thought it was, what we wanted, the implications of boy vs. girl...and it was really fun to anticipate it and celebrate it in a different way.

This pregnancy is nothing like Rachel's, although it does feel a little bit Deja Vuish. 5 years ago, we moved to New York and I was pregnant with a girl through the summer.

Anyway, we're really excited and can't wait to tell Rachel in the morning. I wish I could personally call all of you, but we've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

What's your guess?

We find out today...

A New Season of Life

Big news for the Herway family!! Jake received a job offer from Citibank and we have accepted! It is a MBA rotational program for Human Resources. We feel very blessed to have been given this opportunity. Campus recruiting is over, which was making the job search all the more difficult, and frustrating, because he really wanted to utilize his MBA. A friend at church suggested he look into Citi (even though it was a company Jake said he would never work for...but why not) Through networking he contacted the right person who was immediately impressed. The position had already closed but with Jake's investment banking experience, international experience and desire to do HR he was willing to fly him out for an interview and "create" a position for him. Jake is really happy, and really relieved. It's going to be a great start to the career path he wants to take. I'm really proud of him. He has worked extremely hard for this.

So what does this mean? Our world is going to flip upside down. We're starting off in New York City! When Jake first mentioned it I thought, "Yeah right...not going to happen." After all, we already decided 5 years ago (when Jake was interning at Bear Stearns) that New York wasn't the place we wanted to raise our family. That's why we're here in Charlotte. And three kids in NYC?! Crazy! Impossible! But I've gradually come to accept it and am really excited about it. It'll be for one year. You can do anything for just one year, right? And after that we will spend a year somewhere else in the US (TBD) and overseas for 6 months. The job starts July 15, which means the next few months will be a whirlwind as we get our house ready to sell, find a place to live, sell all our stuff, find a new doctor, etc. I really don't even know where to begin.

And of course there's mixed emotions with all of this. My heart strings are already breaking. It's going to be extremely hard to leave Charlotte. I told Jake, before we accepted, that he's going to have to expect tears. I have LOVED living here, I love my house, and we have so many memories here. We have a great ward, wonderful friends, and hard to beat weather! (I've been to NYC in February and I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life!) But CHANGE is what life is all about, and we've been prepared for it.



These are pictures taken last Monday on a street that runs just off of ours. I look forward to these blossoms every year! Bing! (There goes the first heart string)

Trouble with a capital T...and R

So on Saturday after lunch Rachel and Tommy went into Rachel's room and closed the door. They were playing so well together (and it had been a while) that I figured I'd push off nap time a little. Big mistake! We walk in to find long strips of hair all over the floor! I assumed it was Rachel's but Jake told me it was Tommy's. Well, we later find out it was both.

I was going to take them to a barber because I didn't think I could fix them. But when I called and learned it would be $40 total and they were closed for the weekend I figured I'd give it a shot. Tommy still has a bald spot on the top of his head and Rachel's hair looks pretty thin with some evening and layers I had to do but I think it'll do. We'll just have to hold off on ponytails for a while since there's a good chunk cut real short underneath.
I cut hair all afternoon...Jake's included.
Then this morning I took a shower. And there's usually always trouble during those 15 minutes. It typically involves a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet. Sometimes unraveled, sometimes not. Well, I came out today to find Tommy standing on the kitchen counter with bandaids and vitamin bottles all over the counter. I first find a lid, start to panic...then find an empty bottle of children's gummy multivitamins. Do I know how many were in there? No, but I'm pretty sure a lot! Probably half a bottle. I ran to the phone to call poison control! To my relief these vitamins do not have iron in them, but he may have diarrhea the next couple of days. Oh boy.

He's Done!!!!!!!!

Today was Jake's last class as a Duke MBA student. He turned in his last project/paper a couple nights ago. 20 months has gone by fast, but slow. I'm really excited to have him back on week nights, no more long weeks away, and most importantly, to have Saturdays free again! I'm really proud of all the hard work he put into it. His graduation will be May 15. We celebrated this evening by going out to eat at Panera and an ice cream at Marble Slab. Afterward Jake asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate because he thinks it was harder on me...he had fun! Well, either way...WE DID IT!

Our real celebration will come in about 3 weeks. Every time I asked Jake what he wanted for his birthday/graduation he always expressed how much he wanted to go home. The other night as I was falling asleep, Jake decided to spontaneously purchase tickets to Brussels. We will go for 2 weeks, getting home the day before Tommy turns two :) We're really excited!

Lucky Layover

Jake's sister Natalie and her cute family are on their way to Brussels and arranged to have a 6 hour layover in Charlotte. It was so fun to have them here...we really wished they could have stayed longer. Rachel was so excited to see her cousin Bryn and had been asking about her all day (all week really) and they played really well together...most of the time locked in Rachel's room. We had dinner and enjoyed a beautiful evening on the deck eating dessert.
Rachel was picking these weeds out of our grass and said, "these are beautiful flowers...who planted them?!" I told her the Earth did. She stretches out her arms, arches her back and looks up to the sky, "thank you Earth!!!"
As we were getting ready for bed tonight Rachel said, "It was such a great day, I had the best day!" It's true, this was one of the most exciting things that's happened to us since Christmas. We've just been moseying along in the day-to-day routine.

A Dose of Vitamin D...

Does the soul good! Earlier this week we had sunny 60 degree weather and we spent every second we could outside. We had a "micmic" out back and went to the park on Monday and we flew kites for preschool on Tuesday. My allergies are going crazy, but I just don't care. We've had more rainy/cloudy weather since then, but I'm okay with it as long as it's not cold. As Rachel put it today as we walked outside, "it feels like nothin'!" Aahhh, the perfect temperature! And right now I'm enjoying listening to the thunderstorm.

For you basketball fans

Jake was actually there to witness Duke slaughter UNC last night. Unfortunately for Tommy it was way past his bedtime...maybe next year. He'll make a great "Cameron Crazy!"