Homeowners.

There's something to be said about people who make the decision to buy a home...good for you. John and I have both owned our first home, seperately. We've both gone through the entire process, but perhaps with a blind eye. Recently we began searching for our first home, together....one that we have to pick out, together. Fortunately we were able to agree about the amount of space required versus the amount of space desired. We kept ourselves on budget because like all of us, who wants to be house poor? Location was always back and forth, back and forth. One day we were in Woodbury, the next Eagan, until finally we came back to Savage. Oddly enough, a suburb that neither of us if asked several years ago, would be a place we would call home. Out of chance and a great deal on a brand new townhome did I end up there and 5 years later- a marriage and a baby happened- and then we decided it was time for single family homeownership. We always talked about missing Savage. The community, the people, the amenities and overall layout was attractive to us. The school district and the fact it just feels safe- a great perk when you have a family!
So, with a fantastic opportunity for a nice chunk of money from our current President, we decided to take advantage and buy a house before the end of the month. After viewing roughly 25 homes over the last couple weeks we knew when we walked in the door that we were "home". So as of May 21st we will be the proud owners of a propery nestled in the subdivision of Dufferin Park in Savage. A perfect home for our family to grow up and for us to grow old in. A home that when we walked in we knew right where our Christmas tree would go each year and where we would watch our children run down the stairs Christmas morning to find presents from Santa, where our piano would go so we could have mini concerts together when the kids learn a new song, where John's man cave would be so all juvenile male (and sometimes female) activites could be contained to the lower level, a yard, while modest, for the kids to run free and have fun, etc, etc, etc...the list really could go on.
Let the work begin....as we get started on this adventure we'll put out before and after photos so you can watch our progress.
The best part, we'll be settle before baby2 arrives! That makes this momma HAPPY.
Wish us luck.
Love,
Us.

Florida in Photos.

At the clubhouse pool.

Nana and Papa's Pool. Where Madeline went, Sophie went.

"C" is for Cookie....

On the way to the beach!

On a rainy day in Florida, we shop...Madeline shopped for hats and sunglasses.....

...and we bought the blue one.

Easter Egg hunt!

(wow. nice face madeline.)

Innocence. And blue eyes.

Florida was 2 weeks of fun. We were sad to leave, but happy to come home to Madeline's daddy.

2 days into the trip.

Hi everyone....unfortunately when I decided it was time to upload photos from our trip so far I realized I forgot the plug to do it. SO.....photos won't be uploaded to the blog until I get settled after we return April 6th.....bummer.

We've been to the pool 2 times, for the entire day, and we've just been here three days. The girl just doesn't ever slow down! She's having a blast and that alone is a blast for me to see.

She did develop some allergies which put her in a funk yesterday...she slept alot, which was fine for me! But she's quickly rebounding.

We're walking, swimming, eating, playing and having all kinds of Florida fun. Next week is the beach....I can't wait!

Heading back to Florida.

My previous entry listed me as "deflated". What better way to "inflate" than to go to Florida for some R&R with Nana and Papa? Madeline and I are saying good bye to Minnesota for 2 weeks and heading south. It's bittersweet in that John is staying home. Madeline and I will miss our dada!
Madeline will have an opportunity to hit the beach, as seen below from our trip in December, and also go to the pool every day if she wants! I can't wait!
We leave Wednesday. My next post will be from the sunshine state! Talk to you later!

Deflated.

Ray Charles or Corey Hart? (For those of you who are not 80's buffs...Corey Hart sang the song, I wear my sunglasses at night)

As you know, we're expecting baby #2 this fall and that will put Madeline at 2 years old and one month if baby comes on time October 1. This makes me nervous. Madeline is a handful all on her own, so let's just add an infant to the mix. Years from now I'll know it's the best decision we made having them so close, but I keep hearing from other mom's that it's TOUGH, HARD, STRESSFUL, TIRING for at least the first 1 or 2 years. Wow. I'm not scared at all.

Recently though, I feel deflated. The joy of pregnancy has been anything but. I'm queasy most hours of the day and tired everywhere in between. It's as though Madeline knows how much mommy wants to sleep because she sleeps less. Naps that used to be very routine and about 2 hours are not routine and an hour if I'm lucky, that doesn't include the hour she takes to fall asleep. And at night.....she goes down fine, but an hour later she's up.....she'll go down fine again, but at 3, 4 and 5am she simply doesn't want to be sleeping in her crib. She'd rather be in our arms rocking the night away. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We're working through this little hiccup in our routine, and some nights are better than others. But at the end of the day, or the start of the day, when she wakes up smiling it makes it all okay....that and photo ops like these.

Happy Spring!

Our Little Leprechaun.

Out for a walk this morning wearing green! And....her beads. We rarely go anywhere without them these days.

I will be trying my hand at a Corned Beef today so we can make Ruben's tonight! YUM YUM!
I hope you'll have a beer for me, if everyone that reads this has a beer for me, I'll be nice and toasted :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

We're Letting You In On A Little Secret

Sometimes there's just no easy way to say it....

...arriving on 10.01.10