Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was a little different this year then years past. Shelli went to visit her Aunt (& Cousin) in NC to spend a little time with them. I was glad she was able to get there and have some quality time with them. When Shelli booked her plane ticket, I told her I still wanted to make a turkey dinner for Zoe and me.

Shelli left Wednesday night and not long after she left, we had a few snow flurries. Zoe and I were going to go out for Chinese food but after looking outside, we decided to stay in, snuggle up, and watch TV in bed until we fell asleep. I love sleeping with Zoe when Shelli is out of town. It’s something we’ve always done and it’s ‘our thing’. The best part is waking up in the morning and rolling over to see my baby still asleep from staying up late having girl talk.

Thursday we woke up (late) and took our time getting our BIG Thanksgiving feast together. Zoe was a great help in the kitchen and we enjoyed getting everything together. The menu included, a cute 5-pound turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli & cheese, stuffing, gravy, and of course cranberry sauce followed by pumpkin pie. When we finished eating, we made all the dogs a plate too. They loved it!

Cleaning up is always the worst part but overall we had a great dinner. We had lots of great conversations and as much as I can’t stand the fact my baby is growing up, I love that Zoe’s at an age where we can talk about real life topics. 

Friday, Zoe had her hair appointment with Ms. Barb, who is always so happy to see Zoe.  But all the fun and games are over as soon as Barb starts brushing out Zoe’s hair.  Poor Zoe spends the next several hours tearing up because she cannot stand getting her hair done. I feel so bad for her each and every time but it’s just something she has to embrace. I spent the hour and a half chatting with the ‘girls’. Shelli is the one who usually takes Zoe so I had lots to catch up on.

After Z’s hair, we grabbed a quick lunch and attempted to go shopping. We only went to a few places and believe it or not, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be considering it was Black Friday! Zoe wanted to get Mimi a few things since she was out of town and wouldn’t see what she got. This is the first year that Z was really into looking around for stuff she thought Mimi would like. I think she did a great job!

Friday night we started the next holiday and decorated gingerbread houses with Jaylyn. I love everything that has to do with holidays and the girls had a blast. They were totally into it and at the end both houses were adorable. Driving home, Zoe barely spoke a word. We called Mimi to fill her in and say goodnight but Zoe was already half asleep. We’ve had a great couple days together and we are ready for Mimi to get home tomorrow!

 'Tis the season!!!

Hair Day

Today was CRAZY HAIR DAY at school and if that's not cool enough, it’s also a half-day. Zoe officially starts her Thanksgiving break today at 12:45! I know she is excited but mommy is just as excited. We have lots of fun stuff planned over her break. 

Burrrr....

This weekend was freezing!!! I don't think it got out of the high 20's HOWEVER, that didn't stop Zoe (or the other kids in the neighborhood) from playing outside. 

Fire!

Tonight we decided to try out one of the fireplaces. Shelli bought a few ‘crackle logs’ just so we could make sure everything was working properly. Not to mention it’s pretty chilly outside so it only made sense! Low and behold, the fireplace not only worked but it was beautiful. We could hear the wood snap, crackle, and pop. Zoe sat near the fire and read a little while Shelli and I continued to get stuff put away.

We are almost completely moved in (and by that I mean that we have everything out of boxes and out away). We are very much looking forward to just relaxing and enjoy the house. The plan is to have our housewarming party in January.

The process wasn’t fun by any stretch of the imagination however; we are feeling very blessed and happy. There isn’t much to frown about these days. Life is pretty fantastic.

Tonight!

Tonight we ate Mexican for dinner and they had a mariachi band playing. Zoe loved every second!!!

Air Hockey

Who knew we could have so much fun playing air hockey ... AT HOME!
Zoe has become quite the player.

Jill's new boots

Zoe loves to take Jill shopping with us and I love how she makes sure Jill is dressed according to the weather outside. I can't help but to smile when people stop her while we are out and ask her questions about her baby. She gets so giddy and feels so proud to show Jill off.  Jill not only gets buckled in all the shopping carts but Zoe makes sure she straps her in the car too. Safety first! The only down fall to taking Jill is when Zoe leaves me to look at something in a different aisle and people are looking at me all crazy as I'm pushing a baby doll in the cart. I'm beginning to think Zoe does it to me on purpose!  Either way, I love when Jill joins us for shopping. Just us girls.

Cheers!

We did it! We officially moved everything out of the old house into the new house and turned in our 'old' keys. It was a long and exhausting weekend but it sure feels good to be out of one place and into the new place.

Over the next couples weeks we will slowly get unpacked in the new house and make it feel more like home. We have boxes in every corner of the house. The thing I'm looking forward to most is cooking meals. We've been eating out for about 2 weeks and not only is it expensive but nothing seems to taste good anymore. We are ready for some yummy winter meals - cooked at home! We are also looking forward to having a social life again. We've been so consumed with moving that we haven't had time for much of anything else.

Last night the next door neighbors invited us over for a 'meet and greet'. Mind you, we hadn't had a shower and were running back and forth most of the day from house to house. We didn't look very pretty to say the least but we went over for just a quick 'Hi!'. Everyone was very nice but honestly we were too tired to stay longer than about 30 min. Zoe played with all the kids and the adults just chatted.

This morning, I made our first breakfast in the house. It wasn't too cold out so we decided to sit on the deck and enjoy the pretty changing of the leaves. We can't believe we made it through such a draining process. We are very excited and proud of what we've accomplished and are looking forward to planning a house warming party in the near future.

Quick Update

The past week has been a whirl-wind! Between Shelli and I working, trying to get everything out of one house and moved into another, and making what seems like a million trips to Home Depot a day, I’d say things are starting to look almost normal.

We should be out of the ‘old’ place by this weekend – fingers crossed! We have been slowly meeting all the new neighbors. We’ve received lots of “Welcome to the neighborhood” goodies. Everyone has been so kind. I didn’t think things like this really existed. Today, the folks from across the street walked over to introduce themselves and brought homemade cookies. It’s such a warm feeling to have people stop by just to say “Hi!”

Yesterday, the kids had ½ day of school so when Zoe got home she couldn't drop her book bag inside fast enough to get next door to play with Stephen & William. Their mom made them all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with fruit while Shelli and I did our best to get stuff done. It’s like we’ve lived here for years. I’m looking forward to getting things DONE so we can enjoy the neighbors and the neighborhood.

LONG Weekend

It's been a long weekend of non-stop moving!!! The best part of the whole weekend was making our last run of the night and coming home to a bottle of wine on the porch from a new neighbor.