Welcome to Bakersfield

When Amy and I first talked about where we would like to live when I got a job after college, I told her the only place I don't want to go is California. I hate traffic and always associated California with sitting in a hot car for hours on end. Well, Tuesday I had a chance to fly out to Bakersfield for a job interview with Dreyer's Ice Cream. Bakersfield is a small town for California standards, only about 300,000 people live there. It has grown a lot over the past ten years, and because of that, coupled with it's desert climate, reminded me a lot of Vegas, minus the strip. It's not the prettiest town, but the traffic was great, the people were all very nice, and it seems like a very family oriented town. On the down side it's a hot dead town. At least they have a triple A baseball team!
I spent Tuesday driving around the city looking at apartments. We're definitely hoping to get in a house sooner than later, but figure we'll have to spend at least some time in an apartment. I took the video camera with me and filmed it all for Amy. Wednesday was my interview from 8:45am till 3pm. I interviewed with 8 different people. Luckily they were organized enough that they each took a part of my resume to ask me about, so I didn't get the same questions over and over. I was a little nervous that morning, but I talked to Amy and she reminded me that I had a chance to spend a whole day talking about something I love, Ice Cream. I went in with that attitude and really had a good time. Some of the interviews were pretty intense, asking me tough science questions. Other interviews were a little more laid back, mostly just about my background. Overall, I felt like I did well, and was impressed with the opportunity. There is really no better company than Dreyer's that I could work for. They are by far the leader of being dedicated to advancing the science and technology of Ice Cream, and that is a perfect fit for me. I spent that afternoon going to a couple of houses with a realtor and the camcorder. Then I got back here to Columbus yesterday afternoon.
Today I got a call to let me know they unanimously decided to offer me the job. Amy and I have been praying about it and went to the temple, and have decided that this will be a great opportunity for us, and we're grateful to a loving heavenly father who is guiding us. They want me to start October 5th, so it is going to be crazy getting ready to leave that soon. So, we're pretty excited and nervous. Even though we might not be living in Utopia, it will be a great opportunity as well as a chance to be a lot closer to family.

The Winds of Change

So this is an update to my previous post stating that Mike had an interview with Dreyers. A couple of weeks ago Mike had a 2nd interview with Dreyers ice cream which is owned by the Nestle company. This second interview was with the person who would be Mike's potential boss. She told him that he was their first choice for the position, but that they needed someone as soon as possible. After talking with his Professor Mike realized that he would be able to finish his research by the end of September and would be available to start work the beginning of October. Along with working he would also be finishing up his Thesis and would have to come back to Ohio to "defend". The lady from Dreyers thought this plan might work out for them as well and so this Tuesday Mike is flying out to Bakersfield, California in order to have an on site interview with the team he would be working with as well as all the head honchos. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks with the prospect of getting ready to possibly move in a month. AAAAAHHHH California is definitely a lot closer to home than Ohio, but I will sure miss how beautiful it is out here. We have really enjoyed living in Columbus. So now we just have to wait and see if Mike gets an offer. I hope it will be sooner than later if I need to pack and prepare. There are a lot of decisions for us to make right now regarding whether or not to take this job if offered, whether or not to buy a house or continue to rent, etc. We feel fortunate to have this opportunity, and hope that things will work out. Oh, boy please keep us in your prayers. Thanks

Happy Times

So I finally caught a video of Emma when she is really happy and chatty. I also finally got her to laugh on video so here it is. I thought it was pretty cute, but I'm a little partial. I hope you enjoy it.

You Gotta Love The Animals

Yesterday we had a fun trip to Holmes County which is the county with the largest Amish population in the country. It was neat to look at all of the tourist shops, but out favorite part of the trip had to be The Farm at Walnut Creek. It was a farm of sorts, but more like a zoo. They had an Amish farm house that we toured and then we were able to drive around this "farm" and feed the "wildlife". They had your typical cow and geese, but they also had zebra's, giraffes, ostriches, wild pigs, Elk, deer, llamas, kangaroos, camels, buffalo, and lemurs. The animals were so used to people feeding them that they came right up to our car, and literally "wouldn't" get out of the way unless we refused to feed them after about 5 minutes. We had an ostrich and llama that were pretty set on getting in the car with us. The one llama was so mad that we had finished feeding him that he stood right in front of our car, and then when that didn't change our minds he proceeded to kick our car. It was pretty funny. We also almost got charged by a wild cow of sorts. I don't know what it was, but it had really big horns and it was pawing the ground right next to our car. It just wanted us to move, because as soon as we backed up the car, it walked right on past. At one point we were stopped by a herd of animals blocking our road when all of a sudden a huge Elk showed up. He must have been the head honcho at the place because he proceeded to nudge all of the animals out of our way. It was a very unique experience and we really enjoyed it.

Also, tomorrow, the 15th of August, is Gracie's "birthday", well it's the 1 year anniversary of when we got her. She has become such a great part of our family and we sure love her. She has been really glad to have us back after our month long vacation. Hopefully we won't be leaving her for that long again. This picture was of the day we got her.

O.K. I know this is forever long, but I have to share the story about Emma sitting on the ledge. This spot is right outside our bathroom and the other day I came out of the bathroom only to see Emma sitting there on the ledge. I instantaneously screamed and reached to catch her. Mike thought it was a pretty funny trick, but luckily he had a good hold on her because he didn't expect me to react quite that well.

We're Making Progress

Our Little Mummy Tummy Time So for the past couple of days I have been just laying Emma down in her crib and letting her cry herself to sleep. The first couple of times were torture for both of us but now she is doing so well. We had gotten ourselves into the habit of having to rock her to sleep. Before I had her I told myself that I was going to allow my babies to cry a little bit and learn how to soothe themselves, and not only rely on me holding them all of the time. Yeah, so much for that. We definitely have gotten ourselves into the habit of picking her up and holding her at the slightest peep. I feel so blessed that she is making this transition so well. It is a blessing for both of us because I think she is getting more sleep since being on a better schedule and I also get to spend more quality time with her as well. Hopefully this trend will continue. Also, Mike has an interview with Dryers ice cream tonight. He has had a few interviews so far, but everyone has needed him before December, which is when he graduates. So, hopefully this interview will go well, because California is a lot closer to home and it would be a good job opportunity for Mike as well. It will just be nice to know where we are going to be so that we can start making plans. Whether he gets this job or not we know that the Lord will bless us in time, we just have to be patient and faithful, but things are definitely going well with the Sharp family.

YES!!!!

So I had to share this funny story. Mike is a volunteer for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and the other day he took his "little brother" Mike, we call him little Mike to differenciate, to the zoo. On previous outings I have made the boys sandwiches and "little Mike" comments every time on what great sandwiches I make. It's funny because he tends to think of Mike as more of a friend than a mentor and so sometimes he refers to me as Mike's mom. "Wow, your mom makes the BEST sandwiches." Little Mike is a lot of fun and he gets really excited about everything. He also tends to exaggerate a little bit and so that's why I got a big kick out of this story. Anyway, so they went to the zoo and again I made them sandwiches. This is how Mike explained "little Mikes" response to the sandwich. "Mayo, YES! Ham, YES! Extra ham, Yes! Cheese, YES! Lettuce, YES!" as he bites into it, "Pickles, YESSS!!!" I am proud to say that my sandwich was a big success yet again. Yah, it pretty much made my day! YES!!!

Continually Learning

It's funny how much you think you know about being a parent until you actually become one. Mike and I continue to be amazed at all of the things that we worry about now that we never realized would be a concern. For example, how much food Emma is eating, how much sleep she is getting, how to wrap her up good enough to actually get her to sleep, how many bowel movements she is having, Oh No is she getting teeth, is she still breathing when she is sleeping so quietly, and on and on. Well I am happy to report that we continue to find things that worry us, but we are also finding some things that have really helped. There are also many things that I wish I would've known or had 4 months ago. So after struggling to get Emma to sleep in her crib lying down my sister in law suggested that we double swaddle her which has really helped for awhile, but she has become so strong that she just wriggles herself out of it. So we decided to invest in a swaddling blanket for her and it has been working so well so far. Also, we had a couple from our ward come over for dinner on Monday and they have a daughter who is the same age as Emma who has been sleeping through the night since she was 4 weeks old. She sleeps for 11 hours. How awesome would that be. Emma slept for 8 1/2 hours one night but that must have been a fluke because she usually averages 4-5 hours before waking up. I guess the key to their success has been "Baby Wise". I heard about this book before I had Emma, but never read it. We are seriously going to be looking into it now and hopefully it won't be too late. She had sure gotten into some bad habits and it would be wonderful if she could fall to sleep on her own. Sorry to all of those who are bored by all of this baby talk, but as a stay at home mom this is what I think about and have to talk about. Anyway we went to Emma's doctor on Monday and she is doing so well. She now weighs 13 lbs!!! I can't believe how chubby she is getting. She is also in the 50th percentile for weight and height when compared to most 4 month olds. This is really great since her gestational age is really 3 months. The doctor says she is developmentally on target for the 4 month range which is so great to hear. She had to get some yucky shots, but she did pretty well. Well Emma just woke up from her nap and so I better end this and go get her. (So I just went to get her up from her nap and wouldn't you know it she managed to get herself out of her swaddling blanket as well. Hmm I guess we'll continue to learn by trial and error:)

Emma at 4 Months

Emma at 1 Month Emma at 4 months

Emma at 1 monthEmma at 4 months


Emma at 4 Months

It's amazing how much Emma has grown in the past 4 months. As we were looking back at pictures you can really tell. She is finally getting chubby little arms and legs and she has such fun facial expressions now. I can't wait to see what she's going to look like in another month. She is just growing up so fast. So I also had to post this picture of the baby elephant at the zoo. He was born 4 days before Emma. I think he has her beat in size for sure. :) It was really fun to see the baby elephant interact with his mom and trainer at the zoo. Pretty cute. So Mike finally got the samples that he has been waiting for for 2 weeks. It was really exciting until he realized that he didn't have enough and then the machine that he uses is "down" AGAIN. Seriously the machine is down more often than it is working. So needless to say things aren't going as quickly as Mike would like, but hopefully they'll pick up soon at least for his sake. He's getting stir crazy, but Emma and I sure don't mind having him around.