After just three months in our new house, Lily is completely comfortable in her surroundings and tears around the neighborhood with glee! It didn’t take long for most of our neighbors to meet her, as she’s apparently more interested in running down the sidewalk and into people’s yards than she is listening to mommy and daddy call out to her. What a monkey.

It’s also a load off our mind to finally find a child-care provider for Lily during the coming school year! Her babysitter from last year, Lyndsay, was blessed with the recent arrival of her own second child – so isn’t able to continue watching Lily. Fortunately, we found some availability with another local provider who came highly recommended, and we look forward to getting back into the routine come September. We’ll certainly miss the incredible care Miss Lyndsay provided, though, and wish her tremendous happiness with the new addition to their family!

We’ve taken a ton of photos and videos lately which I still need to get online – stay tuned!

Last week, just days before leaving for the beach, I was slowly driving down the parking lot of a small retail area looking for a spot. I noticed one to my left and prepared to park. Of course, this was as a pickup backed suddenly out of his spot to my right. Argh. Incredibly, he hit some kind of perfect spot on my front fender, because there’s only a small visible dent remaining. No other damage. I still need to go through the claims process, though, and lose my car for a while for repairs. In the meantime, my car is drivable, so we continued with our beach plans.

With this (and the need to yet replace Stephanie’s wheels) still swirling through my head, we left for vacation. The trip was uneventful – for a holiday weekend – and we arrived without incident. As we left to grab some lunch in the middle of the week, though, the “check engine” light came on. I don’t remember much about the next minute or so, because I’m pretty sure I blacked out into a blinding fury. I then went through all the usual diagnostics (gas cap on, stop and restart, etc.), but to no avail. So I found the nearest beach mechanic (only 45 minutes away!) and he replaced some jointed filter bearing framis overnight. I had my car the next day, my wallet only slightly lighter.

I’m done whining and complaining for now. Sorry. Just don’t let me near your own car.

As in years past, we’ve just returned from family beach week in Corolla, North Carolina. It was another great time, and although Lily only really enjoyed the water on the first day, she was completely content playing in the sand for hours at a time. Luckily, she was also okay with being hosed down afterwards. Check out Lily’s latest album for other beach shots.

Besides beach time, we didn’t do a whole lot. We’ve done most of the touristy things already, so this trip was all about relaxation, family time, and a bit of beach shopping for mom and Lily. We did get a chance to sneak out for an incredible date night, though, at a great place called the Fin and Claw. The menu was way more pricey than we would typically go for, but the opportunity was there and the food was delicious. Not to mention, we don’t really get a lot of occasions to fill Stephanie with over-priced cocktails these days.

Incredibly, she wasn’t hurt at all, and thankfully she was alone since Lily was still at the babysitter.

Unfortunately, we just got word that her beloved Mazda 3 (a car I have hilariously wrecked twice before) has finally been declared as a total loss. Sigh. So once we hear back from insurance it will be time to do some car shopping – our bank is a really big fan of us right now.

Just over seven years later we were back at it, and everything was a tad more “real.” It’s not to say it wasn’t exciting – we are truly and absolutely ecstatic about our new house! We’re just older, wiser, and not as quick to giggle about signatures and dollar signs. Regardless, settlement(s) day went off better than we could have hoped. Sure there were little hiccups here and there, but our agent smiled about how nice it is when things go so smoothly. It was a big day, though, and one we’ll certainly never forget.

And we must give a very heart-felt thanks to both sets of parents! While Lily is a load of fun every minute of the day, her antics weren’t going to pack boxes. Having her out of the house and well-cared-for for those three days was essential to us getting through closing and completing the move. We are truly grateful.

So now the slow and steady process of unpacking and settling in begins. Lost and broken items, putting everything away, hooking up televisions, computers, and stereos. It’s fun and annoying, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

And speaking of moving, this is it. In two days we go to settlement, then will move over the weekend. The stress of the entire process, plus a baby, plus both of us working long hours lately has really worn us down. But many thanks to our family and friends who have helped out in so many ways over the recent weeks! We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a smooth weekend, and should be enjoying our new house before we know it!

And this comes at a good time – Little Miss Opinions is starting to get very bored with her limited menu. Perhaps now more food will go into the mouth than thrown onto the floor.

Or perhaps not.

Luckily, after only two weeks, we received a great offer! There was only a little bit of back and forth, and we’re now into patching up a few findings from the home inspection. The offer isn’t fully ratified yet, but was more than enough for Stephanie and I to turn our attentions to placing an offer of our own. We ultimately had to sit down and make a very tough decision between two great properties, but were very happy to present an offer on a great place off route 7100 just a few miles down the road. Incredibly, we were lucky to hear our offer was accepted with only a few very small changes!

At this point, everything truly is happening all at once. Since neither the buyer’s nor our own offer is fully ratified yet, there are several contingencies in place and we can’t really call it a done deal just yet. Hearing a “congratulations” from our agent made us feel good, though. Lots more paperwork to go, but it’s sounding like May 28^th will be the big day (coinciding settlements will make for a long one).

Time to start packing!

We couldn’t believe how much more carefully we needed to watch her once she started recklessly crawling, so I’m not sure we can fully appreciate how crazy it will be once she really starts running around. Yikes.

Walking has also coincided with another fun milestone this week. She’s been babbling like crazy for months, but has only recently been articulating genuine words (with real meaning). Well rather than waking up each morning with her usual nonsensical discussions, we’ve heard a loud and sing-song “DAAAD! DAAAD!” for the past few days. Ug. Why not mommy? Daddy’s not ready to wake up yet.