Settling in

We finally have all the important boxes unpacked and are starting to get settled in. This whole moving thing has been very hard on Teya and we've been very anxious to get her stuff unpacked so she could feel a little more comfortable in our new home. Our first big project after getting our beds set up was putting together her play room. We finished it during one of her naps. When she woke up and walked in her eyes popped out of her head, she flung her arms out with joy and looking at all her toys said, "MY FRIENDS!!" Having her toys out has really made a big difference, though she still misses our old house. The other day we were playing and having a good time and suddenly she stopped and said, "I wanna go home now" "I tried to explain that this is our home, but I think she's still hoping we'll change our minds and go back.

Teya happily relaxing in the playroom

Thrilled to see her"friends"

Brinley likes the playroom too, but she's pretty easy to please!

With our house getting more organzied everyday we've ventured out into the neighborhood to check out our surroundings. We're so lucky to have 2 parks within walking distance! One is literally a 5 minute walk, the other is a mile away but still super close. We're trying to go as much as possible since I know the winter will be here soon enough and then we'll be stuck indoors. On the swing at Weaver Lake Park

Jungle Gym by our house

climbing the monkey bars

Brinley is happy to be there for the ride

Also, sorry I haven't posted any pics of our place yet. It's nothing spectacular, just a little townhouse (we had to downsize because it's much more expensive up here coming from the south). I'll get some pics up when we get it all put together, but the townhouses behind Teya in this picture are what our house looks like, we're just around the corner.

That's the latest update though. Kids are settling in, we're all happy to have our stuff out of boxes, and we really, really love the location we're in. It's awesome being close to parks, not to mention a 5 minute drive in the other direction to Wal-Mart, Sams, Target and Home Depot! what more could I ask for? : )

Home Improvement 101

So when we went house hunting in Minneaplis we had orginally put in an offer on a different house but it didn't end up working out. We had spent a ton of time in that house and taken a million pictures thinking we were sure to get it. Well we didn't, so we had to pick one of our other choices that we hadn't spent much time in at all and could honestly barely remember! (How's that for scary?) But we prayed about it and felt good so we decided to go ahead and put in an offer and head out to our new home that we knew very little about.

When we got to our place I was happy to see that I liked the floorplan and LOVED the location, but I was a little freaked out because it definitely needed some work. Neither Taber nor I have much experience with home improvements so we were a little scared but ready to take on the challenge. On our first day here we headed out to Home Depot and bought a can of paint, some rollers and tape so we could paint our downstairs.

(Teya enjoyed the sweet carts at Home Depot)

After 10 hours, 3 more trips to Home Depot, and several hundred dollars spent on painting supplies, we had only managed to put up one coat on half of our living room. At that point it dawned on us that we are not painters. Meanwhile our cringe worhty paint job is stuck on our walls half finished and the movers are coming the next day to drop off our stuff. We frantically tried to recruit some help but with labor day weekend nobody was available. We finally decided that we'd just have to deal with it when the holiday was over.

Fast forward to today: we hired a professional painter to come and finish the job. It took him half the amount of time to do what we did and he did it a whole heck of a lot better! Moral of the story: sometimes it is worth the money to have someone else do something for you, especially if they are good at it and you are not. :)

Road Trip

Things I've learned from my road trip to Minneapolis:
-2 year olds can be scary when strapped into a seat for hours at a time
-the body can survive for a long time on cheetos and gatorade
-you can change a baby's diaper on your lap while driving if you're really, really desperate

Things we couldn't have survived without on our road trip:
-Portable dvd player (seriously, you can't put a price on how valuable this was!)
-GPS (saved us from disaster several times)
-Beef Jerkey, cheetos, & gatorade (it's truly amazing how they can sustain you for days)
-Hand sanitizer and wipes (a necesisty when using public restrooms and eating in the car)

Cardinal rules to follow when traveling with kids:
-NEVER stop when they babies are sleeping (I would rather wet my pants then stop, it's so not worth waking them up!)
-Don't let the DVD battery die!

So we survived the 2 day drive to Minneapolis with a 2 year old, newborn baby and our dog. Teya did great while plugged into her DVD player but she definitely had some rough moments. After a particularly intense meltdown we finally caved in and let her suck her binky in the car (normally it's only allowed in her bed) She was so happy when we gave her the binky. At one point Taber saw her petting it and saying, "Binky, you're my friend"

Monty did great as long as we were driving, but every time we stopped he flipped out and started barking like a maniac. The true champion of the drive was little Brinley. She slept for 4 hour stretches and harldy made a peep during the whole trip! We got in last night around 7pm and are staying at a hotel until our stuff gets here tomorrow. It's been a crazy week but we're hoping to be sleeping in our own beds and getting Teya back into a routine very soon!

At a pit stop where we let Teya run around in the grass to burn off some energy

Teya zoning out in front of her DVD player with Monty sleeping by her side

A rare moment where Teya joined Brinley and Monty in napping

Moving Day!

The movers came today, packed our stuff and hauled it away. (hey that rhymes!) Sorry, it's been a long day and my brain is fried. Well long last two days, well long last week actually. Taber started work in Minnesota on Monday leaving me behind to take care of the move. Luckily he flew my totally awesome little sister out to help, otherwise I think I would have gone insane! We made it through the week, tag teaming with the girls and cleaning and sorting in between. It was a little rough when the movers were here because Teya went into hysterics every time they packed up one of her toys. We ended up sending her to a friends house to spare her from the drama of it all. But anyway, the house is empty now and Taber will be home tonight so that is good. We'll be sleeping on blow up beds and sleeping bags for the next few days since we're not driving out till Monday. I don't mind though because an empty house means eating out! YES! I always love an excuse not to cook!

Here's the giant truck they sent to haul our stuff away

Brinley chilling in our empty living room

Liz's bed for tonight

It's been nice to have an extra set of hands around to hold the baby,
burp her, and change diapers. : )

Auntie Liz entertaining Teya at the discovery center

Chattanooga Aquarium

Last week we drove down to Chatanooga to visit the HUGE aquarium down there. They had everything from sharks and penguins to sea turtles and jellyfish. When we told Teya she was going to see some sharks she was really scared. She kept covering her eyes and saying, "tect me daddy! (protect me)" When she finally got a glimpse though, she couldn't get enough! We tried to drag her away to the next exhibit and she kept saying, "No! I see the sharks!"

Shark watchung with Daddy

Posing at the front entrance

Petting sharks and sting rays at the touch pool

Waiting for the sting rays to swim by

That's a butterfly on my finger, they had a butterfly garden too.

This butterfly flew right up to Taber and landed on his finger. Teya was impressed.

Brinley slept through most of it but when she woke up we had to document her presence

Brinley at 1 month old

Brinley is 1 month old and in my humble and unbiased opinion, just gets cuter every day! She is starting to smile and it's the funniest thing. When I pick her up she'll look right at my face and then burst into a big goofy grin. I don't know if she likes my face or just thinks I look really funny. Teya has really warmed up to her and is constantly hovering over her, petting her head or face or her feet. She likes to tell me what she thinks Brinley wants or needs and she has asked several times if Brinley could sleep with her in her bed. When Brinley cries Teya plugs up her ears with both hands and says, "Feed her Mommy!!!"

Brinley is a really good eater and is almost up to 10 lbs. She has lots of lucious rolls on her thighs and arms and the roundest little tummy. Like most kids her age, she loves to be fed, held, and taken on long drives in her carseat. We're very lucky to have such a sweet, darling, and easy going little baby.

(Check out those rolls and that cute belly!)

Dad rules!

I think Teya loves having her daddy on paternity leave even more than I do! As you can see from the picture, he let her stay in her jammies all day, didn't force her to have her hair brushed, and the icing on the cake? Running through puddles after it rained. She's going to be so sad when he goes back to work!

Teya and Anna

I stole these pictures off our friends' blog because they were so cute! These are of Teya staying with her best friend Anna while we were in Minneapolis. You can tell she had so much fun! No wonder she didn't even miss us!

on the kiddie computers at the library

Poptarts in PJ's

Cheeto Balls!

Anna tracing Teya's hand

twirling in their Sunday dresses

Paternity Leave

Taber's 2 week paternity leave started on Monday. He is loving having bonding time with baby and a break from the craziness of work. I'm loving having all the extra help at home! It's amazing how much more I get done with him around. : ) It will also be nice to have him home with all that needs to be done for our move. Guess I picked a pretty convenient time to have a baby ; )