House Progress

Evan flew down to Greenville Thursday night for a pre-drywall inpsection on Friday morning. The house is fully framed, sided, roofed, plumbed, and has all the electrical wiring done! He took a ton of pictures, mostly of where vents, wiring, and pipes are so that once the walls go up we will know what is where. On a cool note, we had opted not have the house pre-wored for a security system, and we both had second thoughts about it later. Well, they "accidentally" wired for it, so we got a free upgrade! We are shooting for a mid to late March closing. We are SO EXCITED!!

A final visit with our Connecticut friends

Our good friends Jesse, Kim, and Rosie came for a visit from CT this weekend. It will be our last visit with them before we move. We had a great weekend. The girls played, the grown-ups talked and ate (a lot); Jesse even caught a quick nap in the chair!

We have so enjoyed being near them for the past couple of years and having Southern Hokie camraderie here in the Northeast. Perhaps warmer weather and sweet tea will lure them south in the next few years!

(And, yes, Ella is sitting in the baby swing. Talk to my husband ...)

Some more daily life ...

So life goes on in 2008. Every day is a new adventure with little ones around. Ella is becoming very adept with utensils; she even eats yogurt on her own with a spoon these days! That's a good thing, because you will see below that Easton had his first taste of rice cereal today. He wasn't thrilled, but I think he'll get used to it soon enough. Evan and I both hate the baby food stage, but it is exciting to see Easton growing up and being ready for new things.

The rocking horse continues to be a hit. Ella can get it to "travel" across the room, so everyone's toes beware! We may have a future jockey on our hands.

Evan and Ella have a routine each morning when he leaves for work. She climbs up onto a window seat and watches him leave -- Macy usually joins her. Evan always stops before he gets in the car and does something silly, which she usually imitates. Then she knocks on the window and say, "Bye-bye Dada. Bye-bye Dada." Very sweet.

Just had to show off one of Easton's epic poops. Isn't my life glamorous? (No worries, Renee -- it washed right out of Anthony's shirt!) :)

(Another) Snow day!

We woke up Monday morning to 9 inches of new snow. We hadn't been watching the news at all, so it was a big surprise to us! Evan spent over an hour in our side yard outside digging a sledding trail. What a blast! After Ella got tired of being cold, she headed inside to stay warm with Nana, and Evan and I played in the snow by ourselves. It was a brief reminder of life before kids!

A New Year's visit from Pops and Nana

Pops and Nana rolled into town Saturday afternoon, and they came with more Christmas presents! Ella got a great Fisher Price doll house, complete with a Daddy and Mama. We spent the weekend reading books, playing games, and just making each smile. They left this morning, and we were sad. The good news is, we will live less than an hour from them in less than 3 months!

And isn't it always the box?

The day after Christmas is always a bit of a downer, but we still had Uncle Hayden for the morning, and we had the BIG box the wagon came in. Daddy and Ella found some way to pass the time ... and, as always, Macy got in on the fun.

This box feels kind of squirmy!

Oooh! Can I come in, too?

U-turn ...

Break for extreme close-up!

Just about there ...

Just right!