Happy Independence Day & Job Changes

Happy 4th of July!!!!
Taeya sportin' her patriotic onsie
Side profile of my beautiful baby.

The showdown
Taeya won
A happy girl

Little blue eyes
Here are a few of Taeya trying avacado and carrots for the first time. She didn't prefer either which is why she ended up wearing most of it.

Carrot face!! I love the orange eyelashes (click for details)
Carrots make me orange!!!
I can paint my feet too.
This avacado is NOT my favorite food so far. (She's swallow it but not without a lot of yelling, grunts and funny faces).
Have YOU tried this stuff mom?

Many of you know that we've been trying to move to the Denver area since the spring of this year. We've had a number of good leads but nothing has worked out, mainly due to insurance issues for Taeya and I. (Many places didn't provide insurance and if they did, it would only be for Phil). If you know me, you know that I NEED to be insured.

We've been praying that the Lord would direct our steps and He has done just that. The area we currently live in has a pretty high cost of living. Even when I was working full-time before Taeya was born, we were barely able to pay the bills. Now that Taeya is here.... well, you get the picture. We just haven't been able to make it on Phil's salary and the little I make w/swim lessons & tutoring. Phil has also been in a high-stress job traveling all over the area every day of the week and usually working 10-12 hour days but since he was salaried, he didn't get any compensation for it and he often didn't get to see Taeya before she went to bed.

Last week, one of the body-shops that used to be one of Phil's network shops called him and wanted him to come in for an interview. Phil let R (the owner) know that we have been trying to move to Denver so he probably wouldn't be interested. R still wanted Phil to come in and listen to the job offer. So, last week, Phil stopped by and talked to R about the job. It is a management/estimator position at a body shop where Phil will learn all of the body shop side of things. He'll be able to get good experience there and he likes the owner and other employee's he'll be working with. He'll work NORMAL hours which will allow him to see Taeya in the evenings and he will be getting paid enough that we can actually afford to live here on one salary! Praise the Lord! The most challenging part is how the insurance will work but we've been working on that and even if we have to pay all of the deductibles, we'll still be in better financial shape than we are now. So, after praying about it, and doing a lot of budgeting figures together, Phil has given his two weeks notice at his last job and has accepted the new position. We are both excited about this new opportunity and the changes it will bring for our family. Someday, we would still like to move to the Denver area, but for now we're excited to stay here and see what the Lord has in store...