5 on Friday

1. Last Sunday we had the honor of celebrating our Godson's baptism into the Catholic Church. Liam had a great turnout for his special day and we had lots of fun.

2. Ellie has started in the next room up at day-care. She get to play outside 2 times a day and loves it! As a result, she has come home very tired lately an a little grumpy.

3. She has also started hitting more at home. And a few bites at home (none at school). We are working on this.

4. House decisions are pretty much done. Now we just wait for the builder to work on the house.

5. Liam (and Megan) sent Ellie (and me) a video over the phone the other night. She LOVED it and wanted to watch it over and over again. We tried to send one back, but Ellie was more concerned with being behind the camera so she could watch Liam's video again (and again and again) than being in front of the camera to make a video. She was very quick to point out the baby, book and Baxter in the video. She was a little concerned when Baxter left the screen.

5 on Friday

1. This week was filled with more house decisions. Design layout on Monday. Siding on Wednesday. Flooring yesterday... next week: appliances and lighting.

2. While 'building' a house should be a ton of fun, I just want it to be done. I think the thought of moving everything from one house to another house doesn't excite me. Lots to do within 6 weeks.

3. Tuesday we went to the Iowa State Fair. My mom's side of the family was awarded a Centennial Farm award which was very neat. We also ran into my Godfather, Joe, while at the Fair!

4. Ellie is getting her eye teeth in. It has not been fun.

5. We spent Saturday visiting both Grandparents in Ames. It was a fun day and we were exhausted by the time we got home.

5 on Friday

1. Last Saturday we got together with Nick’s extended family for a picnic in Ames. What fun it is to see all the little kids together! Thanks for organizing it, Emily!

2. The house went on the market last Friday. No pictures, just the data sheet. We got a call that someone wanted to look at it Saturday afternoon. We were very excited and it worked out perfectly since we were going to be in Ames (otherwise it would have been right in the middle of nap time). Saturday night our realtor called us. We had an offer!!!! We countered, thinking they would counter back. But no, they accepted! And pending the outcome of the inspection, we are set to close on September 30^th.

3. The house was on the market a day. We had spent the prior two months getting it ready, and the months before that studying. So we had not actually looked at houses, other than on-line. Guess what we did Sunday--- looked at houses. About 15 of them. With Ellie. Originally we were going to look at 5, so we figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to bring her. Then we kept looking. We came home and Nick said none of them would work because the yards were too small (valid reason but still stressful). The idea of moving into an apartment for a few months with an almost 2 year old did not sound like fun.

4. Nick went out with the realtor on Tuesday night and looked at another 15. Then Wednesday over lunch we looked at 5 houses that Nick had seen the night before and liked (with yards that would fit his requirements). When Nick was going through the houses with me Tuesday night he pointed to one of them and said that would be the one I liked the best. Sure enough, it was! We put an offer in yesterday and it was accepted! Here is our new house (no worries, they said it could be done by the end of September):

Waukee--- here we come!!!

5. In the meantime, we have been really busy at night with Ellie’s swimming lessons. While they are not as structured as I would like, it gets us to the pool and Ellie loves them! We are also able to take her down the big slide, which is something we would not normally be allowed to do. I am hoping to take some pictures tonight.

What a crazy, but exciting week! In recap: Ellie loves swimming lessons. We put out house on the market, and within 6 days we sold it and purchased a new one. That is a lot for me. Cross your fingers that everything goes well with the inspection.

5 on Friday

1. I cannot believe I keep forgetting to include this very important update: Ellie is officially in a forward facing car seat. While I would still like to have her rear facing, as it is so much safer, her legs were getting pretty squished and she did not like being in her car seat. She does much better now that she is forward facing. So 20 months it is, 4 month before her 2 year mark (which would have been our goal had she not been in the top percentiles for her age).

2. The house is officially on the market. Now we just wait.

3. And as we wait, we start the search for our next house. We will be living there for a long, long time so it is a big decision with lots of things to consider. Wish us luck.

4. Remember how I got strep about 6 weeks ago? Yeah, I got it again this weekend. After 2+ hours at urgent care it was confirmed. Not a fun way to spend the weekend.

5. On the positive side, Ellie did not get sick!