Another Door Opens

One door did close recently, but another one opened today!

We closed on our new house this morning!!! It's been a crazy busy day and it's not over yet. We've been painting ceilings all afternoon. I highly recommend renting a paint sprayer for ceilings -- it's fabulous!! I just came back to my parent's house to put X to bed and will be returning to the new house for some late night painting. I've been taking pictures today but don't have time to post them right now. I just didn't want to let the day go by without giving a shout out to our new place!

Ready for Takeoff

As if striped socks with polar bear jammy pants and no shirt is not a fashion crisis enough.......daddy goes and sticks a lint roller on my back! He says it's my rocket pack. Yeah whatever, you just want me to look like a dork!

Week in Review

It's been a week since I've posted, and my picture collection is getting backed up. We're still staying with my parents. I thought I'd have all this extra time on my hands not being a homeowner and all, but the laundry and dishes have followed me! Also, I was given a puzzle on Easter that is now my new addiction. 1500 pieces of fun! Anyway, here's what we've been up to.....

It was Walter's birthday last week in the midst of the move so we didn't quite get to celebrate as usual. But we did manage to snag his free birthday burger at Red Robin and enjoy dinner with some great friends!

We've been visiting my grandma (Mia) a lot lately while she's working on getting her strength back at the rehab center down the road. Here's X and Mia playing the straw game.

Last weekend while Walter took his gpa to the Cardinal's game, X and I went to the park with "Aunt Lynneee". First we fed the ducks. X preferred to see the ducks from the safety of the stroller rather than be right up there next to them.

Then we had a picnic dinner that Lynn so graciously brought for us. X had his first taste of tuna salad and LOVED it! Since we were just on a blanket and no highchair, X thought it was pretty neat to take a bite, then walk around, then come back for more.

I love this picture for some reason.

X has also been trying out new hairstyles in the tub.

Lord, forgive me - Easter is almost a blur. Unfortunately I didn't feel much of the "Spirit" this year. I've read all these great accounts of celebrating the risen Lord on other people's blogs, and it just wasn't happening for me. We went to church in the morning, and it was unbelievably crowded and we had to stand in the back. X was very restless and a challenge to deal with. Then, I couldn't hardly hear anything that was going on. It was like the microphones were not up loud enough. Since we are in a temporary living situation, we didn't bring all of our clothes and I was completely uncomfortable in my "Easter Outfit". I quickly ditched that after church for some jeans and a t-shirt. X got ravioli all over his cute little shirt so that was a gonner by lunch. I was hoping to get a good family photo on Easter, but that never happened. We did have a nice dinner with family and then X got his Easter basket. He pretty much had no interest in the basket except for the plastic eggs and the wrapping paper from another gift. I didn't get any good pictures ALL DAY!

One morning this week X and I traveled out to one of my favorite places -- GOODWILL. X decided to try on some hats....

I had to be quick with the camera because he instantly took them off once I put them on his head. If it doesn't have a chin strap he won't wear it. That's disappointing because I think he looks so cute in a hat! So, while we didn't get any hats, I did manage to get a steal of a deal.... an adorable dress for $4.00 that I'm hoping to be able to wear to my uncle's wedding this weekend.

Speaking of the wedding, as I was putting together the gift yesterday, X found the packing peanuts to be quite enjoyable.

Hopefully I'll be back with some fun shots of the wedding. And, gosh darn it, I'm determined to get a good family photo of us all dressed up -- even if it kills me!

One Door Closes

We're now homeless...well, sorta. We closed on our now "old home" Thursday morning, and are in transition until we close on our new home in a few weeks. This entire week was filled with mixed emotions as we prepared to leave. The more we packed, the more it didn't "feel" like our home anymore, so in a strange way that was good. But, then I'd look outside across the street at our neighbors (who we LOVE!!) house and saw what we were leaving behind and get sad.

The house took on a very sparse look the last few days as the amount of furniture left continued to dwindle. We moved our bed into the living room to double as our couch. Xavier LOVED that!


This was our last night in the house. I made a nice dinner and we ate it on our very fancy card table/dining room table.

Our attempt at a family photo while holding the camera. Umm...not so successful!

X was fascinated by all the boxes everywhere. I guess he thought they were a jungle gym or something!

The last morning Walter and I went back to the house to get a few remaining things and leave our keys before heading to the closing. We walked around and reminisced a little about the last 6 years. And then, in true Nina fashion, I realized I'd left my garage door opener (which we were also supposed to leave at the house) in my car which was over at my mom's house. So, we had to rush out the door to go get the opener, bring it back to the house, and then get to the closing on time. So much for a leisurely goodbye! Oh well, on to new and exciting things!

Rock A Good Bye Baby

I felt like I was having deja vu yesterday. The same scenario from this post happened again. Xavier woke up crying in his crib about halfway through a nap. So, I ended up in the rocking chair with a warm little munchkin who fell back asleep in my arms. And then it hit me. This is one of the last times that I'd rock him in this nursery since we are moving in just a few days. A flood of memories came over me. Yes the rocking chair will be coming with us, but the room will not. There is so much that has happened in this nursery. I have spent countless hours in there rocking, feeding, changing, and playing over the past 15 months. Walter and I spent so much time getting the room ready for "baby D" as he/she was known as at that time. It will be very hard to leave that room behind. Probably more so than all the others in this house. It makes me sad to think that Xavier will never remember this house. He's just too young. I know good things are ahead though and we will make new memories in our next home just as we have done here. But it will be different, there will never again be another "first home" for our little family.

I've been so busy packing and dealing with the logistics of the move that I think a little time in the rocking chair was just what I needed to make sure I don't forget the things I always want to remember about our first home.

Spring Fling

This morning I took X (along with my neighbor and her little boy) to the Spring Fling event sponsored by Parents as Teachers. As you may remember, the holiday event had its up and down moments. Well, why would I expect this one to be any different??!!

X was a little apprehensive the second we got to the door when he noticed there what a lot going on. I tried to direct him to individual activities so as not to overwhelm him. We started off coloring a picture. Since X pretty much has no interest in crayons yet, the page stayed pretty colorless, except for a few scribbles that I "helped" him with. He was content just holding the piece of paper.

We moved on to another activity where there were beach balls and hula hoops. X decided to let loose and do what he was born to do...roll things!

There were several pairs of bunny ears laying around and I attempted to get a photo with X wearing them. Silly me, I should know by now that he refuses to have anything on his head that doesn't have a chin strap.

Like the holiday event, the stacking boxes were out and that's always a bit hit. I stack, X knocks them down. I did notice him stack 2 together on his own which is a new skill!

One activity was to use tongs to transfer plastic eggs from the tray to the bucket. We are not quite at that skill level yet, so X was happy to just use his hands for the transfer. Putting things in and out of a bucket is another task that X enjoys.

A mock "egg hunt" was set up where you tried to find the eggs under all the grass. X found the grass quite enjoyable. He pulled it through his fingers kinda like he does when he finds my stray hair on the bathroom floor!!

He wasn't really into playing with the balloons that were floating around the room, but I put one in a basket and that peaked his interest for about 1/2 second.

In hindsight, I should have gotten the picture with the Easter Bunny taken care of right when we got there before the sensory overload had kicked in. So, like Santa, there was the Binky and crying. The problem was that X got up much earlier than normal this morning and while we were in line for the bunny he fell asleep on my shoulder (how he did that amongst all the noise I have no idea!) So, he wasn't too happy with me when I interrupted his slumber and turned him around for the picture.

Afterward he happily returned to his cat nap while 100 other kids ran screaming through the gymnasium!

X continued his little rest while my neighbor and her son finished up a craft. Then we all headed out to lunch, played at a park, and came home for a "real" nap. Despite a few mini meltdowns along the way it was a fun day!