HUGE update post

I'm a bit behind and a lot has happened in the past week! We moved in to our new house two Sunday's ago! It was a busy day, but it went well. The Ritter's and the Ranke's came over on move day to help paint the girl's rooms. THANK YOU, family! I promise to return the favor one day!

 

Ready for a cheesy caption?

"Benjamin Moore"

haha, I crack myself up.

 

Poppy and Michael busy at work. Papa also helped!

PS, can't wait to replace the blinds!

 

Nana and Grammy kept the girls happy, very happy.

 

Addison loves "The Gingerbread Baby" and we read it all year long. Excited to make gingerbread men and houses this December!

 

Addison enjoyed unpacking all the toys. I've decided that I must do a toy rotation. Switch them out every month. We just have a lot of toys!

 

My Audrey turned 6 months old! She is such a joy! A loud, happy, smiley, drooly bundle of joy.

 

It has been so nice to have her in her OWN room. I love her, but I don't want to share a room with her anymore! She is sleeping so much better already. Only waking twice at night to eat! Addison has officially switched from saying "Augoo" to "Augrey" :)

 

Addison misses her Daddy so much during the week and usually gets mad at him. But by the end of the weekend they are best buds again.

 

Last weekend Grandpa and Grandma stopped by on their way home from a Canes game!

 

Saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa!

 

Publix Fried Chicken and the Nest = happy Daddy

 

 breaking out the fishing pole

 

Addison has grown up a lot in the past few weeks and in some way she has regressed too. She can count to 13 and recognize some of the numerals, she knows all her letters and is trying to write some, she can feed the dogs all by herself, but she is having at least one accident each day. Tried negative reinforcement (taking her pants away, taking TV away, time out) and that didn't work. Tried positive reinforcement (cheering, giving her a marble, letting her watch Mickey on an accident free day) and that hasn't worked. So today I tried putting her on the potty after meals until she pooped. I had to read to her while she sat there, but it worked. Ugh, 2 year olds.

 

We have tall ceilings which means tall Lego towers!

 

 Audrey has graduated to her own stroller seat instead of the car seat!

 

 cracking coconuts

 

We've worked the most on Addison's room. The rest of the time I have been scrubbing the tile and grout. It was disgusting and probably the reason why they had a hard time selling this house. We haven't started painting the rest of the house yet. On Friday demolition begins in the kitchen and they will begin to install cabinets too! Excited to have a kitchen! Getting tired of eating just fruit and peanut butter!

 

Put Audrey in the bucket swing at the playground and she does like it for a little bit. She LOVES it when Addison pushes! So do I.

 

Trying to get her comfortable on the big swing!

 

happy girl

 

happy baby

 

There is a lot of work to be done, but we are very happy and thankful!

 

Excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with the whole Ritter family on Thursday!

A break from packing

I have 60 small boxes packed but there is still stuff everywhere! I had to take a break from it so today I took the girls to Jungle Island again.

 

 

The parrots didn't say hello back to us this time...maybe because Addison says "hillo" instead!

feeding the goats

 

 the leaf...she still loves collecting them

"selfies" are too hard with three

 

It was a beautiful day and a much needed break from packing!

 

Meanwhile, Andrew got to participate in the courtroom today in Delaware! His first time ever. It was just a small role, but he thinks he did pretty well despite his leg shaking from nerves! Very proud of him.

 

 

Happy Veteran's Day

 

Proud of my Veteran!

 

 

 Andrew served in Operation Enduring Freedom in early 2007 just a few months after we were married. He deployed with a neck injury and during his leave home a few doctors confirmed that it would only get worse with all the physical strains of infantry. I can't tell you how upset he still is over this. On one hand we were all excited to have him home safe, but he still feels upset about how it ended. His time in the military and specifically in Afghanistan completely changed who he was. I don't think he would have been as successful as he is now if he didn't enlist and have those experiences. I am very proud of him and I can't wait until the girls are old enough to see his pictures and hear his stories.

 

Family and Weekend

Thursday night Dad and Kim came over for dinner and they spoiled Addison with some new 3T clothes! On Friday we went to the Children's Museum. Then on Saturday they came to see the new house. It was a great visit! They also gave us a really "cool" house "warming" gift ... a Nest thermometer! Thank you Grandpa and Grandma Barber!!!

 

it was a lovely day to eat outside

 

Children's Museum

 

Entering the time machine into the Dinosaur exhibit ... Addison was a little nervous that they would eat her.

 

My poor exhausted girl. This picture pretty much sums up the weekend.

 

 

 

Addison and her Minnie Mouse family

 

Grammy and Poppy were staying at a nearby beach and they took Addison for the day. (we love the new bedroom floors!!)

 
 

 

 Grammy and Poppy, thank you so much for putting a smile on her face and giving her this special memory!!!

 

Meanwhile Andrew and I painted two of Addison's bedroom walls ...

 

 and Audrey watched :) She's in Addison's toddler air bed.

 

Then we went to dinner with Grammy and Poppy. Addison was a handful. Poor girl. I can't wait to get back to a normal, relaxed routine.

 

Grammy and Poppy got us a personalized Advent calendar and I am very excited about it! December is going to be such a wonderful month!

 

One more week. We move in on Sunday morning! I have about 40 boxes packed.

Weekend Update

This weekend Nana, Papa, Uncle Benjamin, and Uncle Michael came to the new house to help and to visit. It was so great to see them. The appliances were delivered and the old ones were recycled, we scrubbed the tile some more, Nana and Papa cleaned the bathrooms, the uncles played with the girls, we enjoyed dinner together, and of course a long trip to Lowes. Thank you Ritter's!

 

It was so great to see the progress in the house! The carpets and baseboards were all taken out of the bedrooms, the huge mirror wall was removed from the dinning room, and the front closet was removed from the entryway. Can't wait to see it next weekend!

 

coloring with Nana

 

Daddy and Audrey

 

Addison loves her Uncles and I know Audrey will too

 

Happy 5th Birthday, Stella!

Happy Birthday to my Stella! She is 5 years old today! Addi and I sang to her and gave her an apple slice with peanut butter...she loved it! I love this dog.

 

Cutest puppy ever! She looked like a little fox.

Mom

Today Addison started calling me "mom". We went from mamamama, to mama, to mommy, to mom. I don't like it. She is growing up too fast. Andrew is still "daddy".