One down

A zillion and seven to go.  Boxes that is.  Oye, do I hate packing.  We're set to close on our house and move out and I've packed one box.  One large box.  Of about 1/4 of my closet.  Eh, I'm probably being generous.  It's about 1/8 of my closet.

Now, to be fair, I do have a 5x10 storage shed full of boxes already packed.  But we have lots of stuff.  I mean, lots and lots.  Have I mentioned I hate packing?

But it's all going to be worth it.  I can't wait to have a huge kitchen.  And a game room.  And one large master closet instead of two very small ones.  And a laundry room, a real laundry room.  And a dining room.  And, and, and.  I'm so excited to be moving!

But I'm sure I'll cry as we leave this house for the last time.  Our first house together.  The place where Elayna will have spent her first 6 months.  The place where Loki lived and died.  So many memories.  I just hope the future owners create as many happy memories here.

Elayna's tutu

I've been wanting to get Elayna a tutu, but I saw a how-to video on youtube and decided to make one instead.  Took longer than I thought it would, but it was easy.  Probably the hardest part was cutting the strips of tulle because I had to lay the tulle flat and the cats tried to help :)

Finished product:

 I used white, pink, and purple and love how it turned out.  Got home this evening and put it on Ellie, over her clothes.

It swallows her up!  Next I'm going to try making bows.

Busy week

Seriously, it's been a very very busy week.  Got an offer on our house on Tuesday.  Correction - got a good offer on our house Tuesday.  So we accepted it!  Set to close on April 29th, which happens to be our 5 year wedding anniversary.  What a great anniversary present.  Can't believe it's been almost 5 years.

So we started our serious house shopping.  We looked at 7 houses on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday. Narrowed it down to 4 we really like and looked at those Friday (yesterday).  Put in offers on two of them today. 

House #1:
2 story, 3 car garage, great location.  Biggest pro - extremely low taxes.  Biggest problem - short sale held by Bank of America.  Ugh.

House #2:
1 story, 3 car garage, detail work is great.  Bigges pro - amazing storage space and around the corner from my parents.  Biggest problem - very very very small backyard.  And, we found out today when we went to sign the paperwork, it's also a short sale.

House #3:
2 story, new construction.  Biggest pro - brand new!  Biggest problem - still lots of houses to build around it, so there will be construction for the next few months?  years?

House #4:
2 story, great backyard.  Biggest pro - on a cul-de-sac.  Biggest problem - 2.  1st, there's a contract on it that they're thinking will fall through, but we won't know until April 8th.  2nd, the master closet is extremely small.  And I'm not a close horse, so you know for me to say that, it's really small.  I don't think it will fit all of our clothes/shoes.  Hence it being our last choice.

We gave the two short sales until the 6th to get back with us or the offer is withdrawn.  It's definitely been tough, each house has its own amazing features but also a major drawback.  So, who knows what will happen.

There's a field by Ellie's daycare that has blue bonnets in it.  We went this morning and took pictures.  I'll post some later.  After that was my company picnic which was a blast!  Signed the paperwork after that.  It's been an exhausting day.

Zoo tomorrow!  Ellie's first time, I can't wait!

WE GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!!!

Yes, I'm yelling in excitement :)  We'll have been on the market 5 weeks tomorrow.  Got notice yesterday that we would have a showing todat between 1 and 2.  2:15 today our realtor asked for our disclosure, before 3 we had the offer.  And it's a great offer.

So we'll be looking at houses the next couple of days.  I'm super excited, but a little sad.  Change is always hard and this has been a great home.  But I also know we've outgrown it and it's time to move on.  Time for this to be a good home for another family.

Fun day

We had a blast today!  Stayed in bed late (not sleeping, just lazing around).  Tried to go to Judge's for lunch, sit outside overlooking the water, watch the birds, but they're still closed for winter!  What??  It's Texas.  It's spring.  Another 2 weeks and it'll be summer.  They need to open already!

So we ended up at La Brisa (on 146).  First time sitting outside on their patio.  Boy, did they do it right.  Even though it's right on the highway, there wasn't really any noise.  The decorations are awesome and the mural really makes you feel like you're somewhere tropical.

Ellie wishing she could enjoy the chips and salsa with us!

After that we went to the park and enjoyed the nice weather.  Ellie went down the slide for the first time!

Sunday dinner at Nana and Papa's.  New food - bananas!!  I think she really liked them.  And as a reward for being such a good girl, Papa heated up the hot tub.  Ellie loves her bathtime, this was like super bath!

She is definitely going to be a fish.  She was splashing around, kicking her legs, putting her face in the water.  Daniel even dunked her a few times and she didn't fuss.  Such a great girl.  Looking forward to the pool this summer.

Rodeo and 5 months old!

We went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo yesterday and had a BLAST!  Once we got there, that is.  Drive down wasn't bad but trying to park was a nightmare.  1 hour drive-time (pretty normal to get to that area) but it took a full hour after that to find parking.  Miserable.

It was so hot!  The carnival is in the parking lot of Reliant Stadium and all that blacktop really radiates the heat.  It was not too bad crowd-wise.  The kids rode several rides including the big slide, which they loved.

All 5 of us went up on the ferris wheel, we could see so far.  Ellie really seemed to like it, the breeze helped us all cool down.

Went inside and watched most of the rodeo (standing room only).  Brad Paisley put on a good show after that.  Very high energy.  Got home EXHAUSTED at 11:00 last night, it's been awhile since I've stayed up so late.

And Elayna's 5 months old today!  It's hard to believe.  What's going on right now:

She's sitting up unassisted quite a bit.  Still not completely stable on her bum but if I sit her there just right she can hold it. 
She loves standing up. 
She crosses the first two fingers of her right hand a lot, which drives Daniel crazy. 
She sticks her tongue out, mostly on the right side of her mouth.
She loves oatmeal!  While we're eating, she opens and clothes her mouth like a little bird. 
No doctor appointment this month so I'm not sure of weight or height.
When I waved at her this morning she waved back.
Still loves bathtime
Working on sleeping in the pack-n-play, some nights are better than others.
Loves daycare and tries to play with the big (9 and 10 month old) kids.
Still wearing size 1 shoes and size 3 month clothes. 
Wearing size 1 diapers but will soon go up to size 2.
Is very aware of her surroundings.
Still loves to nurse.

I tried to take nice 5 month pictures of her today but it didn't go well.  Between the camera (I just don't love the one we have) and my impatience and Elayna's fussiness, I didn't get the best shots.  But she's still a cutie!

Sorry the pics are all so small, when I make them large they get really grainy. 

Tongue and kick

Ellie has found her tongue!  It seems to be driving her crazy, as she keeps chewing on it and sticking it out.  It's really quite cute. 

She's always had a good kick (trust me, my ribs still bear bruises).  Just a few minutes ago, I'm peacefully propped up in bed, surfing the internet, with Ellie in her boppy between me and Daniel.  Instead of facing toward the headboard, I had her facing in my direction.

BIG MISTAKE.  My laptop almost lost its life.

One good kick and it went over the bed.  I managed to grab it before it hit the floor.  I hurt my pinkie finger in the process, too.  But it was all worth it to see Daniel's reaction.  He was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.  Good times!