SWABO PARADE!!

We have started a new tradition in the Swobo household- an "End of the Day Parade". We all pick up an "instrument", sing a song, and march all over the house. Cole gets so excited and he starts chanting "Parade, parade, parade". I have to admit it's more exercise than I care for near the end of the day. But seeing Cole's eyes light up gets me off my lazy a*# and march around.

Happy Easter

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a happy Easter today. We had a quiet day in Terre Haute. It snowed off and on all day and was very cold. Cole was a maniac in Church. Whenever we said "Shhhh" to him, he would put his pointer finger to his lips and say "Shhhh" back. It was really cute. Like the dufus you know I am, I accidently deleted some of the Easter pics, including all the ones of him dying eggs. I could cry right now. Here are some that remained... our finished eggs, and the basket the Easter Bunny left.

Our new house!!

Thurs and Fri this week we were in STL looking for a house- actually a suburb called O'Fallon. We found two we really liked, but one we loved. We put in an offer and after some negotiation, mainly over the closing date, they have accepted. So we got the house!! We close on Apr14 and can't wait. I have uploaded pictures from the listing to the flicker site (click on the "More Swabo pictures" link on the right). Take a look.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's back to work I go...

My paid leave is officially over tomorrow morning at 8A. Booooo. Anyone not in the first wave of layoffs has to start working 40 hours. Mike is in the first wave and will be officially laid off on Wednesday. So back to work I have to go- even though there is no work for me to really do. I would rather get on with our move and start my new job but I still don't have a start date.

Mike decided to accept the position at Sigma Aldrich- he doesn't have a start date either.

Well, I better get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be the longest day in 5 months for me!!

Westward bound

After four stressful months, we have decided to relocate to the land of the Arch- St. Louis. I was offered a position with Pfizer Research and Development at the Chesterfield, MO site. It means a nice raise, promotion, and a fantastic relocation package!! I don't have a start date but I'm guessing I will begin around the middle of April.

Mike will officially be laid off next week. But luckily he has already received an offer in STL and has interviews with two other companies later this week. Thankfully, we did find daycare for Cole. There is a Kindercare associated with Pfizer which is only 0.5 miles from the site. It seems like a great place for him!

We figure by the end of this, we will have recieved 7 job offers between the two of us. We are sooooo blessed. We thank God for making all this happen for us! Thanks to all of you too who have prayed for us during this time. We really appreciate it!

The only downside was turning down the position in Groton which meant not moving home near Mom, Dad, Granny, Aunt Pat and Uncle Joe, Jody, and Mike. I was really looking forward to living near family again- sorry Mom- even though you are happy for us, I know I'm breaking your heart.

The decision to move to STL really made more sense for us financially, more opportunities for Mike, and for my career advancement. We are so excited about moving to STL. It is such a family-friendly city. There's the zoo, aquarium, two children's museums, science museum, football, baseball, hockey, NCAA March Madness (yeah, baby) and bunches of other stuff. Everyone should find something they want to do there- so start thinking about visiting us 8-)

We'll keep you updated as we go along. Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts.