Chowhound

It's no secret that m takes eating very seriously.

When we were planning the meal for her first birthday I knew right away that it had to be pasta.

But I didn't know how she would respond to the cake.

She seemed to like the idea

but started a bit timid

She warmed up quick though :o)

We have internet!

And... we're finally back on line. Internet was installed at our house this morning. Hurray. Enjoy some pictures from m's birthday. More coherent posts to come including a study on m eating :o)

Happy Birthday Baby Awesome!

Today is a great day. Today our little one turned one.

(don't mind the missing tail, the photo was taken after the girls already had their pieces)

M is an amazing one year old. She does a ton of babbling, including using words that sounds an awful lot like "mama", "dada", and "this". She LOVES to eat (as evident tonight when I washed spaghetti off her foot), and is so well loved by everyone around her. She's been an absolute trouper through this move, and I can't wait to see what her next year in Utah brings.

Photos from the birthday to come once I get them collected :o)

Packing up

Day 6 and 7 of the move - packing packing and more packing

Day 6 was a blur of packing, packing, then freaking out that we were never going to be done packing.

Day 7 came after only a couple of hours of sleep and the house looked like this:

Then at 7:30 this showed up

And for the next 5 hours we watched all of our stuff come out of our house and into the truck. The driver inventoried everything - he ended up with 11 pages of inventory, and used 305 inventory tags. Yikes.

See you in Utah stuff!

Back at it

Day 5 of the move - back to Madison and Packing

This morning I got from Caroline's to my car by Metra, and Charlotte was way jealous. 

I then drove through construction on 90 for what was hopefully the last time back to lots and lots of packing. We're at 103 boxes, and definitely not done. Truck comes in 36 hours. Tomorrow will be a big day :o)

Back to the midwest

Day 4 of the move - girls start ranch camp and I head back to the midwest

Yesterday was a tough one. After a fantastic morning of playing

...I had to say goodbye to the girls and head back to Chicago with Caroline. Definitely one of the toughest parts of the process so far, but that goodness for all the technology that makes this whole mess easier to handle. Yes, my data usage on my phone will be higher this month, but totally worth it to be getting updates on the girls before we even made it to the airport :o)

After easy travel I crashed at Caroline's house for the night. Chris was super welcoming. Parker not so much :o)

New House

Day 3 of the move - checking out trailside

Big day here for me and the little ones. We got to see our new house! After an awesome night of sleep by both girls and an excellent morning nap by m, we were finally rested enough to go check out the new digs. There was a little trouble with getting the key, but we got it worked out. And it's going to be fine :o) The house is good, the neighborhood is great, and I'm feeling much more comfortable about the whole ordeal.

And c wanted to give you a tour:

(Warning - the video is long, and involves a lot of unsteady and fast panning camera work.)

Go West!

Day 2 of the move - girls go to Utah!

After a fantastic sleepover where all parties involved actually slept (!?!), we had a lovely morning with Grandma Mary and Sahlty, and got to go back to the park!

We headed to the airport around 1 and met up with my personal hero Caroline who bravely volunteered to help me fly the girls out. Luckily o'hare has a fantastic children's museum right in the airport where we spent a good bit of time before the flight.

Once on board the girls took turns sleeping (we are so lucky).

The only real mishap was when m puked on the car ride home. All and all, a hugely successful travel day.

And... we're off

Day 1 of the move - girls say goodbye and we head to Chicago.

Yesterday Kaitlin came by to do m's 1 year shoot. The weather was TERRIBLE, but we did get this shot.

Which I am beyond thrilled to have because there's a very good chance neither one of them will remember the house, which is very strange to think about. But anyway, this morning c and I walked around the inside and outside of the house and set goodbye. They then went to school for half a day while I continued to pack, and then we did the goodbyes at WHCC. LOTS of crying. Mostly by me.

The girls were reasonably good on the drive from Madison to Chicago, and we got here with enough time before dinner to go play at a park near Alex's grandparents for a bit. We had a lovely dinner with Grandma Mary and Sahlty, and now we're all tucked in for our "sleep over" in the guest apartment. Me and c are sharing a king size bed - there's a lot of room :o)

Tomorrow's the big day as far as travel goes - wish us luck!

Helpers

Between canceling our contract with our cleaners and not having to get ready for showing any more, we've been slacking a bit when it comes to house work. Luckily, I had some excellent helpers today:

Ok maybe it more like one helper and the helper's fan club. Either way the crumbs are no longer on the rug so I'm happy :o)

Happy Friday

Today's my last day of work. I can't even begin to process it, so instead m will wish you happy Friday.