Moving, Part 2

We sold our Minnetonka place! It has been a busy couple of weeks trying to get all the details finalized but we will be closing September 13th. We were concerned about a couple of things that could cause the deal to go through but so far things are moving along smoothly. The inspection found what we had expected that the roof over the addition needed replacing but thankfully that was the only thing they asked to have done. Dan spent yesterday afternoon and evening tearing off the old roof and laying new water barriers so that the Richters could come next week and put down the new shingles. Scott came and helped which was great to have someone with experience in roofing, plus to keep Dan going after a long tiring day!

We're now in the midst of packing as we left the house pretty much fully furnished for showings. Dan and his parents moved everything for the nursery into the baby's room last weekend and everytime we stop at the house we pick up a few things to hopefully make the move next weekend go as smoothly and quickly as possible. I'll post some pictures of the baby's room as soon as I take some - it turned out great! I love the Harvest Brown color on the walls (thanks Monica for painting the rooms upstairs!) and with the sloped ceilings it is such a cute little nursery.

The weather has been perfect for packing and Dan's roofing project and I hope it stays nice through next weekend too. June was cold and rainy, July was HOT but so far August has been pleasant which has been so wonderful being pregnant. Even though I've had a few bad back pain days, this week I'm feeling a lot better and actually have been getting some things checked off my to-do list. Amber came with Charlie and helped me organize the baby's room and get her clothes washed and put away... so nice! It would be great if I can last a few more weeks, not only for the baby's sake, but also to get through the move and hopefully feel a bit more organized and ready.

A couple more things on my to-do list:
PICK A BABY NAME!!! We are down to three first names, but need to agree on the middle
Buy a baby book, 2nd video monitor, noise maker (love the sleep sheep) and a few more things on my registery
Find rugs and toy storage for Bethany's room - I'm thinking shelves with baskets to keep things hidden but cute
Pack my hospital bag - Bethany was born at 35 weeks, 5 days which is next Monday.. what will this baby do?

Lots of other things to do related to organizing and unpacking, but that is what winter months are for, right? I still want to enjoy the summer as much as possible and give Bethany lots of 1:1 attention. She had a hard time seeing the crib get setup and her baby toys be put in the room. We kept making a big deal of her big girl bed, fun new room and toys but I'm sure she is remembering when she had the baby things not that long ago and it is yet another transition. She has been a trooper though and really good about everything all things considered.

I'll need another post to talk about all of her new words, but her vocabulary has just exploded the last few weeks! She came in from a walk with Grandma last week and said she saw a "Derr!" and that the boat "beeped" at her when she waved. She repeats everything we say (better be careful!) and we can understand so much more of what she says which is fun. At almost 22 months, she is growing up so fast and will tell you she's "one" with her pointer finger... good thing she caught on to that before we have to start teaching her "two" in October!

Summer, summer, where art thou?

I haven't posted since the middle of May, whoops! It has been a little crazy around here, mostly due to our move on June 11th, and after a break from blogging I realize that the thought of trying to catch-up on everything is a bit overwhelming so I think I'll just give you little snippets of what has been going on with us.

At the end of May we went on a family vacation to Riviera Maya, Mexico! It was HOT, HOT, HOT and when we arrived the first room had no a/c so I was feeling a little nervous and debating looking up the next flight home. Dan was trying so hard to try and make his emotional, pregnant wife happy while resolving the situation and we finally found a slightly cooler room that turned out great for the week :) Bethany did great and loved swimming in the pools and the ocean and we all enjoyed our last vacation as a family of 3.

Once we got home we quickly got ready for the move and on Saturday, June 11th moved the cabin things from storage and the things we needed from our current place into our new home! It turned out to be a great day and we had family and friends along with 2 movers to make things going smoothly. Even though I was only allowed to carry my purse, it was a tiring day trying to decide where to tell people to put things and make little decisions while walking around. We all slept so well that night.... in fact Bethany spent her first night in a twin bed! We had borrowed a bed rail from Joel and Erin and decided one big transition from a crib to a twin bed in a new house sounded easier than a few smaller transitions. She did great! She has since figured out that she can actually get out of her bed but when she's tired she goes right to sleep and on average sleeps from 8:30-6:30. Bethany has also decided that one nap is just fine for her so that is another big adjustment (more so for us I think!). My mom helped us find some big girl bedding so her temporary room while we get her room upstairs finished is all for her.

We're finally starting to feel a little settled, thanks to lots of help from Dan's mom the first week after we moved. She came over almost every day that week while we were at work and put things away, cleaned and did laundry which was so helpful! My mom helped sort through things one day too and things always go faster with help :)

My grandparents and the rest of our family came over to celebrate Father's Day. I think we're going to enjoy hosting get togethers here even more than the cabin because we can be here all week, not just the weekends!

Let's see... other news worthy items include Bethany's first hair cut this weekend! She did great during the hair cut but didn't enjoy the blow dryer all that much. She looks so grown up now with her baby hair trimmed, and yes, I did keep some for her baby book!

A few big purchases have also occured: Dan's dad found a riding lawn mower at a garage sale and so we bought it after we (ok, Dan) realized mowing our larger lawn with a push mower wasn't so fun. We also got a treadmill and the boat lift is being installed tomorrow. Boat lift is essential so we can start enjoying the boat - it hasn't been out yet this summer; and the treadmill will be key for my maternity leave this fall after the complications and caring for a toddler this pregnancy have left my workouts non-existent.

If I think of anything else I'll post again, otherwise I think we're pretty caught up! My aunt and cousin are coming from AZ next weekend over the 4th of July so we'll have lots of family time and other get togethers with friends to look forward to. I can't believe how cool and rainy this summer has been though this far, hence the title of my post. This week is supposed to be in the 90's and I say bring it on!