Not sure Brian could ever top this one....

Buying a house has been anything but easy and anything but fun until now...our loan and how much we could quailify for kept changing from week to week so we put our house looking on hold until I got back from Las Vegas (steph and I did a trade show there--another post..). We got back late Thursday night--Friday night we met up with Brian's family in Ladera for dinner. Our agent called us & wanted to show us a house real quick before we left. It was a forclosure that just went on the market. It was a total fixer-uper & smaller than what we'd been looking at in the past. Brian proceeded to tell me that we no longer able to qualify for what thought we could. So I was trying to stay optimistic--it had potential. Our agent wanted to show us one more house--Brian said he wanted me to wear a blind fold so I wouldn't be distracted by the neighborhood and I would just see the house itself. I resisted and he insisted--so i conceeded. I was thinking it was in this area of Ladera that I didn't want to live in. We pulled up, Brian opened the door, helped me out of the car, handed me 2 dozen red rozes, and a key?! He took off my blindfold and my dreamhouse was in front of me with his whole family and our kids on the doorstep. Complete and utter shock. "Are you kidding me?" is all I could keep muttering between tears and a lot of kissing.

**side note** no way would Brian ever be allowed to do this but it was a house that we previously fell in love with and we didn't get--so he knew it was a sure bet!!

He knew that I had been having a hard time juggling all the change and uncertainty with the kids--so when the house we lost came back to us, he didn't want me to be disappointed yet again so he did it all on his own. I am shocked he was able to keep this from me. I'm notorious for having to know everything all the time and he's a terrible liar.

We ended up getting the house for $150K less than they were asking. I love a good bargin. All the drama and homelessness was worth it--we get to move in hopefully by Sat. the 27th. We're going to have a big Halloween party & everyone can visit our new pad. But don't expect any new furniture for awhile--we're poor... Here are a couple of pics--I'll post a couple of the big "surprise" as soon as we get them from Brian's dad. We will not, however, be posting the video that Brian's brother took of the whole thing--embarrassing.

It's around the corner from the other house that was on my blog forever & it has the exact same floorplan. We've got a guest room now so please please come stay with us!

Don't die of shock...

Did you miss me? You all probably stopped checking my blog long ago but I'm making an attempt at a comeback (no promises). Life in the Lombardi family has been crazy lately. Just a quick recap on the summer's major events: A trip to the river with friends, Ruby turned 1, Payne family vacation in San Diego, started potty training Jack, 4th of July, Lombardi Family vacation at beach house in Newport and river trip, rented out our condo, and moved in with the in-laws...i know....

Tell your friends--Pink Lemonade is finally up!!

It has taken us forever, but Pink Lemonade baby accessories is finally up and running! Ryan Blad designed the site and he did an awesome job---we're so stoked! He put so much time into it (a big thanks to Steph and Luke Blad as well for giving up their husband/dad)! It has taken a lot of time and work, but it is totally worth it--it looks great. There is a link to the site on my list. Steph and I sold our stuff again at the CUW (california utah women's conference) at the Disneyland hotel on Saturday so it gave us a date to shoot for and we got it done! We sell our products at some boutiques so we can't charge a lot less than they do so, if you go to order, enter "farmers" in the voucher section at checkout and you'll get 10% off the orders, so tell everyone about the discount too! Thanks to all of our fun friends who have been our "fierce" models--maybe we'll help you launch your (or your baby's) modeling career! Also a big thanks to everyone who has ordered from us to help support our little business--WE LOVE YOU!!

Ruby's 9 months!

Still teeny-tiny but still not a sign of a tooth! She's a party girl. She would go all day without a nap if i'd let her. She loves family mealtime and eating all the food we do (in mini-pieces). you better give her food fast enough or she throws a tantrum! Among her new tricks is "head banging"--usually onto a person, but sometimes any hard object around her--ouch! She climbs the stairs and is 100% in love with Jack! He can do no wrong in her eyes. She spends most of her days exploring, putting any and everything in her mouth and giggling at Jack. Whenever there are kids around, she can't wait to become part of the action--she practically jumps out my arms and squeels with delight at the top of her lungs. She has gotten so fun!

Easter at the River

It's become the new lombardi family tradition--2nd annual--to spend Easter down at the river. It was fun to just go out on the boat, shop, relax w/ family, and eat of course (to the tune of 4lbs--yikes!) I have never seen Jack enjoy the boat so much! He couldn't get enough. "Da Boat, Da Boat" is all we heard from his mouth the whole day long!! irritating... The boys had fun riding their dirt bikes and cleaning all the toys--for hours! Rachel and I loved it because the kids all entertained each other and it was sweet to have so many babysitters around so I wasn't chasing Jack around every second ( just every- OTHER-second :)

Jack's first hunt

A few of our friends got all the kiddies together for a little easter egg hunt which basically entailed us scattering some eggs on the lawn (the 2-year-olds hunting skills aren't too keen) Jack was a little slow at the gun, but he finally caught on. But once he figured out the eggs open and there's candy inside, the hunt was pretty much over and the pigging out began. He was shoveling it in as fast as he could because he thought at any moment I was going to come take it away. Jack and Ruby were excited their cousin Marie came down from Ladera to join them. They all looked so cute--we would never have been able to get them all to sit still for a pic if they're weren't gorging themselves on chocolate! They would have sat there all day....