Thursday, May 23, 2013

April Self Portrait

Again, I realize that I am ridiculously late in posting this, but we really thought we'd be in a very different position right now than we are.  We thought that we would be in the process of moving, not in this annoying limbo state that we're living in.  Mike has been verbally told that he has a job at Hershey Medical Center, but we are STILL waiting for the offer letter due to multiple hoops that must be jumped through in order to approve a new position.  We were unaware (as were those that assured Mike that he had the job) that the whole process of approving a new position would take as long as it does.  Mike's interview was almost two months ago!  And he was told the day after his interview that he had the job.  So we got in gear and made this house ready to sell.  We decluttered.  We cleaned.  We landscaped.  We staged.

But here we are.  Still in North Carolina.  Still waiting.  Now we're just in this annoying holding pattern, because our house is ready, we are ready, and we can't do anything yet.  We just have to sit here and watch the interest rates for mortgages start climbing.  We have to force ourselves to turn off Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc, because we see houses that we love get sold.  It's frustrating.  And that is an understatement.

But, way back when, in April, we still thought we'd be moving any day, so I spent the month tirelessly getting this house ready.  I took down most of our personal stuff, and we filled an entire 15x5 storage unit.

Here I am working on Addy's room: (And, yes, this was taken in April.)


I finally took down the Baby Hetrick banner that my sister made me for my baby shower.  The one that Tina and Mike laughed at me for ever putting up in the first place.  I loved it.  And I cried when I took it down.  I cried because Addy is not a baby anymore, and pretty soon Emma won't be either.  I cried because everything felt so final as I was packing up my little girl's room.  We really are leaving.  This state that we love.  This house that we love.  We brought both of our babies home to this house.  And no matter how you spin it, I am sad that we are leaving.  This house, this great state of North Carolina, this past ten years of our lives, will always hold a special place in my heart.  It has been an amazing ride so far, and I can only hope that our next ten years will bring as much joy as the past ten have!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

First Field Day!

Last week Addy's preschool put on a field day for all of the kids and everyone had such an awesome time! It was well organized and the kids and parents alike loved it!

Addy and Lacey walking hand in hand to the events


Addy was (of course) scared of the big bouncy slide


Played a little ball game


.... and a big ball game!


Attempted some hula hooping


Played with a parachute


These buckets were supposed to be used to throw beach balls into.  Addy decided to cart them away....


...so that they could be used as giant hats!


Snack time!!!


Addy and the newest member of the clan, Copeland


A good old fashioned sliding board


Fun with water!  Took Addy a long time to participate in the water events.  And even when she did, she did so cautiously.  This girl was NOT interested in getting wet.


See everyone else playing with the squirt guns?  And there's Addy in the background.  It was right about then that she decided to go and sit by herself under a tree.  No joke.


Look at these Little Rascals!  (We were only missing Greer in this picture.  She was off with her mom somewhere.)


Every kids got a High Five ribbon at the end and they were so proud of themselves!  What a fun day and a true testament to how much all of those teachers love their kids.  They went above and beyond to put this on and it's just another reason that I LOVE Addy's school!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Spring Fun!

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to so far this spring!


Taking rides around the house in the laundry basket


Pretending to cruise in Grandpa's old T-bird


Experimenting with new hairstyles


Hanging out with our sisters


Trying new foods


Playing outside


Hanging out with the neighbors (whom Addy refers to as "My Jenna and My Sophie")


Enjoying play dates with friends


Proudly displaying our inner diva



Learning how to sit up


Discovering Nature


Swinging for the very first time


Desperately trying to have one successful photo shoot with both girls (I have yet to accomplish that)

Here are some out takes:



Gnawing on our toes


Strutting around in Daddy's hat and Mommy's slippers


And last, but definitely not least, picking strawberries!


Happy Spring everyone! 


Thursday, May 2, 2013

Emma: 7 Months!

Dear Lou Sue,

How are you?  That is how we start off every morning.  I come into your "room", you look up at me and smile, and I ask, "Lou Sue, how are you?"  It's our little routine :)

Now, I use the term "room" loosely, because well, you've been booted little lady.  Booted out of your room/guest room and into the little cubby hole of a room in the hallway.  We did this to make our house show better for whenever we put in on the market, and let's face it, you don't care where you sleep as long as you have a nice, safe crib with a comfy blanket to snuggle into.  And you certainly have both of those things :)

Here is your new abode:

Yup, it's tiny.  And yes, that changing mat is ridiculously low to the floor.  But hey, it's probably for the best since your sister has already caused you to fall off of it.....  But that's a story for another time ;)

Your crib fits nicely into that little space :)  And now we can say that our house has 3 bedrooms, plus a nursery.  See where we were going with all of this?

And see that purple blanket in your crib?  It's definitely your favorite.  That beautiful blanket was made just for you by Dani (Pap's dental hygienist), and it is an absolute staple in your crib.  You love to weave your little fingers through it, pull it over your head, and wrap yourself up in it :)  This is the month that you have finally stopped liking to be swaddled... you prefer to do it yourself :)


Love those little fingers in the blanket :)

Night night Emmy :)

This has been a big month for you in that you have FINALLY rolled over, and you have started sitting up!  




Rolling has been a LONG time coming.  It took you many, many months to decide that it was worth your time, but you finally did it.  However, you only roll from your back to your belly.  You haven't figured out how to get back onto your back.  But we're making progress!  And of course, I barely ever work, but the first time your rolling was captured on video, Mommy was at work.  Figures ;)  I had to include two videos here because the first one is hilarious, even though you don't roll over in it.  Addy is trying so hard to get you to roll and it makes me laugh every time!





So along with your physical changes, you have started "talking" too!  Just syllables, but us parents like to believe that you know what you're saying :)  You started with Da da (like babies seem to love to do), but you have started saying Ma ma too!  And we could swear that you look right at us and say it with purpose, but I'm sure that's our own delusions ;)





You have also started eating solids this past month!!!  We started with baby oatmeal.  (Apparently rice cereal has trace amounts of arsenic in it, and there is some controversy over whether or not it is recommended as baby's first food.  We figured we'd just be safe and do oatmeal instead.)  And boy do you love oatmeal!  The first few tastes were comical, but by day two you were loving it!




Your second food was avocado, and watching you eat that was nothing short of hilarious.  You shuddered with every bite, but kept going back for more!





OK, I know I'm going a little bit video crazy in this post, so I'll tone it down.

Anyway, so far you have had peas, sweet potato, applesauce, butternut squash, and banana.  There is nothing that you wouldn't eat, but oddly enough, the two fruits were your least favorite.  

You are starting to really participate in music class now (as opposed to contentedly watching from your infant seat), and you love to just chew on some instruments and watch the big kids play.



Your daily routine is similar to last month, but with some foods added in.  You sleep 12 hours straight at night and then get up around 7:30.  You nurse 4 times a day and have solids twice.  You take two naps and you are still a napping queen!  Morning nap is 2-3 hours and afternoon nap is usually 2 hours.  In the evening you get a bath with your sister, then we read you both a book, I nurse you, and you're off to bed.  We have a good little routine with you and you are a happy little lady :)




As you are getting older and moving closer to being mobile, your monthly pictures are getting harder to obtain.  You love to just roll around and gnaw on your toes (no teeth for you yet!).


But I managed to get a few:





Emma, you are such a little doll baby, and I LOVE this stage.  It's all smiles and learning new things.  Life with you is nothing short of amazing, and I feel blessed every day to be your mama :)  I love you sweet girl!



 Love,

Mommy