Monday, July 27, 2009

Moving and Niagara video 2009

This is our dining room view...or it was a few days ago. About 4 more boxes have been added to this pile. Our extra room in the basement is also about half full (an 8x8 room). Hmm...and this isn't our furniture!! I think we have a long road ahead of us. I'm thankful I've had such great relaxing weekends away from the moving craziness!



I don't remember the falls being that loud as we were next to them...I guess they were pretty loud after all!

Hershey Park

Wow, what another great weekend!

We only took a few photos, but Q had a good time!

We're back until Wed and then off to Orlando!

Photos to post later as Q is refusing to nap again today (only a short nap yesterday).

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Twenty Months

What?!

Where did that time go, anyway?

We've been busy here packing, and unpacking, and packing...for all our mini-vacations of the summer! Despite the MAJOR packing and moving we are preparing for, we've still managed to pack in 3 vacations in 3 weeks!

We are heading to Hershey, PA tomorrow through Sunday.

On Wednesday night Q and I are leaving to meet my family in Disney World for a few days (they're there all week).

Then Mike's off to DC for a week for work.

Then a few days and we're off to MSP for closing.

Then a week and my parents will be out to help us move out of Brooklyn!

Then the real summer begins, right?!?! :)

As far as Q update: she's a chatterbox beyond belief. It's taking me DAYS to figure out what some of her words mean. For 3 days now she's been saying what has sounded like "happy"...I FINALLY figured out today it's "help me". "spider" sounds like "water" (she wants to sing itsty bitsy). Her vocabulary in general and comprehension is incredible. One of her favorite words now is "baby" and of course "cookie" and "kiekie" (blankie).

She loves to be on the go and likes to point out things as we walk and drive by. Mostly people who pass by get kisses and waves and "hi-eeeee"s.

She's queen of the stairs and queen of not following simple direction "don't climb" "hot, don't touch" "not on the table" -- but most of her stubborn moments means she's overtired or overhungry...both easily solved.

Hope all is well in everyone's worlds. We'll try to post photos from Hershey Park during the weekend...if not...keep posted for early next week!!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH Canada....

So, Friday morning, we decided we were leaving for Niagara on Sunday morning!











And I thought Iowa and Kansas were flat....this part of Canada is flat! The buildings ahead are Niagara Falls Ontario...oooh, 4 tall buildings!!!





Buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY. And I didn't get a photo of the wings!! Well, Q enjoyed the spaghetti, at least!




Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Great Grandpa

Great Grandpa Born had his surgery scheduled for today and we hope he is doing well! We are waiting to hear any news, and we wish a quick recovery!

The house is slowly becoming "decluttered" yet more cluttered as boxes are being packed and moving supplies are stacked around the house. We are still debating whether to move closing weekend, or at the end of the month as originally planned. Wish us luck with that decision! :) It is definitely a bittersweet move; as it's been great being here for two years, but being closer to friends and family is so exciting for us! My few weeks in Mn made me realize what great friends we have there and how my life here is considered boring in comparison! Maybe it's the fact that 90% of my time there was house related and now 90% of my time is packing? Overall, thanks a million again to everyone in Mn for a great time ... ready to help unpack us?! :)

Q misses everyone too...she's just a little bear around here. The park is no longer as exciting as it was before, we are not enrolled in any classes, and I'm not sure where the neighbors are...we only seem to hear them after dark. She was happy to be "hoooommmmmmmmme" and loves her kitties.

I guess it's not nearly as much fun as having 2 mommies, 2 daddies and a baby brother living with you! Even today, "dada cott? bet? TED TED TED TED TED. yEEEESSSSssss." She has a long drawn-out 'yes'...especially if it's something she's really excited about--like chocolate, candy, cookies, nursing, blueberries, or Ted Ted (apparently).

No new photos....just keeping busy doing not much! :)

Monday, July 13, 2009

Photos Part One

Feeding the "pretty goats" at the zoo. She had a blast. Thanks for buying the food, Nathan!




If Grammy J knew what Q was doing in her backyard...I'm not sure she would've let it go on for as long as we all did! Q played in the leftover food and drinks from the "kids" table for a good 10 minutes. It was an awesome mess...and it kept her VERY quiet and entertained! WOOHOO!




"rock, rock, rock, rock" -ing horse. She LOVED this rocking horse.



TED TED! When asked now where daddy is, she asks back, "dada cott? bet? ted ted?"
"no, just dada. did you have fun with scott, beth and ted?" "yeeesssss" with her vigorous head nod. She's going so crazy, I love it!
Overall, splash pad fun...by far a favorite from my 2 weeks in Minnesota.



And Q also enjoyed the water! They were both shivering and blue when we got them out after about 10-15 minutes of playing. It was as if we were asking to pull their nails out getting them to finally leave!



These are just a few favorite shots from our 2 weeks in Mn. We will be packing full-force here, as well as trips to Niagra Falls and Hershey, PA coming up the next two weekends!!! We will get to see Chuck and Judy for both trips so I'm sure they'll enjoy yet some more time with Q (as we managed to see them a few times over our visit).

SOOOOO, we have a practically full schedule through moving!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Home!

Well, Mike, Q and I flew back to NYC on Friday. Mike and Q took a flight to LGA and I flew to JFK. Yes, that's right. 8 hours without Q and a flight alone! It was close to heaven. Too bad the intestinal issues Q had hit me about 1/2 way through the flight. I'm glad I opted out of the drinking at the MSP airport, or else that would have made for a really long night!

We found our house while in MSP, too. A nice home in Minnetonka, close to Purgatory Park. In fact, just a few houses down is the entrance to one of the many paths through the park! SO, we're on a nice, low traffic road. Huge yard and gorgeous split level. A few minor things to do here and there, but overall large yet very comfortable and cozy.

So, as of August 14th, we'll be homeowners again!

Lots of photos to catch up on...another day. Today and yesterday have been spent doing laundry and gathering lists of things to accomplish in the next few weeks. Many boxes to pack and stuff to get done!

As far as Q goes, we've had a vocabulary explosion! My favorites are "pretty please"
and "freeeee! (three)"!! Every number is "free" when she's counting out her blocks, books, pieces of food, etc. Adorable.
Time to catch up on other blog life!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Top 5 at 5

After a longer conversation than expected, Mike and I decided on Five Favorite Houses, of ones I've seen the last week. It was a good conversation and I feel bad that it meant he had to start packing at midnight last night! However, in order to get to see the houses on Sunday and Monday, our realtor needed to know which ones to try to get us into by this morning (as offices close early today and are closed for the weekend).

We also have a list of 6-8 that are potential candidates, but not quite as awesome (in my eyes) as the top 5. There is still a possibility Mike won't like any of them! Some of them can use some love from us as far as paint, wallpaper, and counters. Some of them need some landscaping love or destruction. Some of them need new appliances and roofs. And some of them need a lot of time each fall to rake! Some of them have amazing yards with lots of running room, some of the yards are smaller but the decks and patios are built and ready to dine and entertain. Almost all of them are close to parks and seem to have lots of young kids and families close by. And all of them are places I could call home. Some of them we agreed to disagree...he may see them if he doesn't like our final selection based on photos and what I've told him.

Again, I'm excited to see what Mike thinks of the final contenders. But not until we head to Burnsville to meet Baby Grace and then head to Mankato to spend some 4th of July celebration time with family! Our days of house hunting will begin Sunday at 2pm. Until then...organization of notes on the final houses!

We just dined with Robin for lunch at the Indian buffet on Minnetonka. Yummy. And Q was lovable and giving everyone kisses and kept maneuvering her way out of her high chair and stroller! YES SHE WAS BUCKLED IN! How she can do that and still be a c-section birth....I'll never know.

Mike gets in at 5...Q and I are very excited to see him and fill him in more on our week's adventures!

I do have photos from the week...will try to get them posted when we get to Eagle Lake.

Happy 4th everyone!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

If I see another house...

I may puke.

:)

So, Nathan and Nikki were going to Quinn-sit today as I had a day of 13 houses to look at scheduled from 11am-5pm.

At 5am today, Nathan and Nikki went to the hospital to have their second daughter and I couldn't be happier for them!

Quinn realized the situation and said, sure Mom, I realize today will be a long day so I will take a little nap in the morning and only start to get cranky at house 12! She was a FABULOUS sport...and ruled out a few houses due to Quinn-safety reasons! She fell asleep before we even got to EP Center (about 3 minutes from our last viewing). I just detached the car seat and she's crashed in her car seat in the kitchen here at Beth and Scott's!

Speaking of which, could we be any more grateful for Beth and Scott this week?! They have been a ton of fun to hang out with, Q and Teddy love each other, and Beth has been so very incredibly helpful by cleaning our dishes, cooking us dinners, and Quinn-sitting while I've been out and about house looking. Thanks a million to them and I hope their trip to Seattle is a great family vacation for them!!!

As I look at my list now, I have 20 houses that I like! All for a different reason. How exactly can I like 20 houses? Well...each one has different features slightly different layouts and different years built and updated....but ultimately they all have bathrooms, kitchens,bedrooms, and family rooms. Home is where the heart is...and some stuff too!

So, I'm really not knowing what to look for in a house anymore and there are a million of them out there. So, Mike will hopefully be able to veto houses off the list fairly quickly as he sees them...and maybe we'll even see some new ones we're both seeing for the first time! Overall, that's a very solid 2 days of looking at homes...I hope we can handle it and maybe even have an accepted offer by the end of next week!!