Great Wolf Lodge

The weekend that we moved, we took a time out to go to Great Wolf Lodge with the Carlson's.  I know we are insane to go on such a crazy weekend, but I am so glad we did.  We had not really gone out as a family until then and it was a blast!

Travis, Adelyn and I drove up Saturday morning. The Carlson's were already there. We got to see the AWESOME room they stayed in. The kids had their own separate part of the room that looked like a tree house.  The boys went on a fun scavenger hunt that was set up throughout the lodge.

After they finished, we headed to the water park.  For the most part, Alison and I hung out with the babies while the big and little boys went on the slides.  Adelyn pretty much slept the whole time, so I did get to go on some of the slides with Travis while Alison watched her!  It was so much fun!  Travis has a way of making you feel like a kid again.  We made sure to scream and laugh the whole ride.

Alison let me borrow a swimsuit for Adelyn and I let Avonlea borrow our swim diaper.  Adelyn didn't go in the water all the way but she did get her feet and legs wet.  She seemed indifferent to it not really reacting when I put her in.  Avonlea LOVED it!  She just kicked her feet the whole time Alison held her.  

 It was so fun to watch the little boys in the water while the big boys talked.  They were so brave and happy.  I am so glad that we got to go!  Thank you Carlsons!!

Girl's Party

Adelyn had her first party back in March.  My friend's daughter, Cora, had her first birthday so they invited all the girls over that have been born in the past year.  We took a picture of the babies in order from oldest to youngest.  Metta (Leisy's daughter) was the oldest and Adelyn was the youngest.  There were ten babies there and several were unable to make it.  Tons of baby girls! (I love all the headbands!)

I loved seeing all the different developmental stages of the girls.  It was so fun to see the older ones interact with each other and fun to see how much changes each month with the younger ones.

Since it was Adelyn's first party, of course I had to dress her up.  I love having a girl!  Looking back at these pictures, I can't believe how much she has grown in a month!  She is so tiny here!

I think she is much more photogenic now!

VanTress Family

Last month, Adelyn got to meet some of her cousins for the first time.

My brother-in-law, Jeremy, is getting deployed to Afghanistan for 9-12 months.  That leaves Courtney at home to take care of their 4 kids and house by herself.  She decided to go spend time with her mother in Oregon while he is gone.  Since they will be staying there for some time, they drove out.

They started the trip in North Carolina where they are stationed.  I think we were their first stop.  While they were here, we went to the Air Force Museum and hung around the house.  I was very impressed by the kids at the museum.  They were very interested in seeing all the airplanes and never complained about walking around or getting tired.

Once we were back at the house, the kids played in the yard for a bit until Travis got home.  Travis claims to be the favorite uncle and now I know why.  He bought them all sorts of treats and loved playing with them.

The kids were so funny because they found joy in such little things.  We were still in our (small) previous home with half of the house packed up.  Willie found a ping pong paddle and thought it was the greatest toy.  The girls found a hiding spot between our couches that they loved to climb in.  It just made me realize that we need to teach our kids to appreciate everything.  They don't have to have toys to be happy as long as you teach them how to entertain themselves.  Courtney is a really great mom.

Before we left, we took some pictures of Adelyn with the little cousins.  She loved Lucy and would watch her any time she came by.  I think Lucy loved her just as much!

It was a short visit, but I am glad they got to come by!

Internet

We finally have Internet!  Wahoo!  This past week and a half has shown me how much I rely on internet for communication, information and entertainment.

Now that I have internet, I have TONS of catching up to do.  A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks that I need to write about.  In no particular order, here are some of the things:

1-Adelyn's birth story...I got the edited pictures back.
2-Moving in and some thoughts/suggestions about the process
3-Starting back to work.
4-Adelyn meeting my dad
5-Great Wolf Lodge
6-Meeting some Barlow cousins
7-Adelyn's first party

Until I get some posts done, here is a picture of my adorable baby! I can't tell you how much I love this little face! 

Moving

Holy Guacamole! I am exhausted! As of an hour ago, we are officially out of our rental house.

This past Friday after closing, Travis and I began moving stuff in and we are just finishing now. It took all evening to get all of the boxes we had packed moved over to the new house.

Saturday morning we spent the day at Great Wolf Lodge and had a blast! That evening, Travis had some buddies over to help move the big stuff.

Sunday we packed up the kitchen and brought a load over. Monday and Tuesday I spent the day packing the last stuff, loading it up and cleaning. It was exhausting!

My body finally rebelled against me today after working so hard, hardly eating and not getting much sleep. I woke up with a killer migraine! Travis took Adelyn for a couple hours before he left for work so I could get some sleep. It went away and I finished cleaning the old house.

I am so glad to be in one house and not driving back and forth. I am grateful for everyone that helped us move, watched Adelyn, or let us borrow their fridge space until ours arrives.

Now the unpacking here can begin...after I get a good nights sleep tonight!

Packing

Guess what I am about to go do?!?!?  That's right!  We are about to sign our life away and become homeowners!!  I will miss living debt free, but I am so excited for our new home!!  I have been packing the past couple of days while Adelyn is asleep and I just finished loading up my car and the trailer with boxes.  We are set to go!

I am meeting our PM at the house to check off some things that we requested to be fixed at our Pre-Settlement meeting and then meeting Travis over at NVR mortgage.  We will exchange them a huge check for our new keys!!  Then the fun begins! 

It will probably be a little while before I get the house decent enough to take pictures since I start back to work after next week.  Things will be painted and decorated slowly, but I promise to post some pictures when I am done. 

Count Downs

I have several count downs going on right now. Not because I am wishing my life away, but because life is about to get so much more exciting!

We are moving to our new house in 3 days! I am sooo excited if you couldn't tell from all my other posts. It will be great to have somewhere that we can call home and make our own.

We are going on our first real family outing in 4 days. We are going to Great Wolf Lodge, a huge indoor water park. I am super excited even though I have to get this post-prego body into a swimsuit. It will be a blast!

I go back to school in 13 days. This one is bitter sweet. I love my students and can't wait to see how they grew while I was gone, but I can't stand the thought of leaving my baby for 8 hours a day.

I have 16.5 school days until summer vacation! I may be most excited about this one. First, it means I will be back with my baby full time again. Second, I LOVE summer! It brings back tons of great memories. Something about summer just puts me in a good mood. Summer is so much fun and I can't wait to take Adelyn to do all sorts of fun things.

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