SE to NW in 1 Week

In 1 week we will be moving.  I am very sad to be leaving our neighborhood.  We have wonderful neighbors and it is a great area.  On the backside of our house our neighbors are a co-worker of mine whom I love!  I don't know what I would have done without her when Allison was born.  They have a little boy who is 1 year older than Allison and I called her all the time.  She always seemed to show up at the right time and was able to calm me down.  I remember one time she came over to bring a present from someone at work and I answered the door in tears!  She came in and talked to me and I felt 100x better!!!!  Not only that, it has been so fun to watch Allie and Soren grow together the last 2 years.  I will miss being neighbors to them terribly!  But I know we will continue to be friends and support persons to each other!!  Our other neighbors have a swing set that they repainted and put new sand in the sand box JUST for Soren and Allison!!  Their kids have outgrown it, but they did that for us!!  We are so lucky!  Now we will have to invest in our own...YIKES!!  They also have mowed our lawn, mulched it and bagged our leaves in the fall for us!  (Hmmm, I think I am changing my mind on this moving thing!). 

But, I am pretty excited to move into our new house.  I am NOT into this whole packing thing, in fact, I have a long way to go!!!  But luckily we aren't going that far.  We are moving from SE Willmar, to NW Willmar.  Our new address will be 509 36th Street NW, Willmar, 56201.  (We will have the same ph. numbers).  I am going to try to get Christmas cards out early to everyone so they have the new address (and via email and FB...of course!).  So, one week from tonight we will be busy un-packing.  I may have to take a hiatus from the blog next week. 

But we had one more get together in our current house before the move.  It was fun.  We got to enjoy our neighbors hospitality again, as we used their fire pit!!  THANK YOU TO THEM!!!!!!  Here are a few pics.

Allie and Ava digging in the sand.  I wish I would have gotten a pic of the 3 girls (Allie, Ava, and Audrey together!)  Once again, I failed miserably in the photo taking dept.  It is hard to be the host, take care of a kiddo, AND take pics!  Oh, well.

Allie smiling for mommy!

Allie and Auntie Katie!  Tried to get Allie smiling, but this was the best I got.

Bye, Bye Paci!

So, I know a while back I posted that we were going to get rid of Allison's paci Sept. 1...well, that didn't exactly happen.  I chose to wait until today because we had family pics scheduled for Sept. 2 and wanted her well rested and in good spirits for the pics.  Jesse was home with Allison today, so he got the privelege of being the one to take them away.  I had bought her a new blankee to kind of "replace" her paci's.  So, she got to open a present then they put all her paci's in the box to give to other babies who need them, because "Allie is a big girl and doesn't need one anymore!"  I guess nap time went pretty good.  She went down good, but didn't sleep quite as long as usual (1 1/2 hours, usually 2-3 hours).  BUT...of course tonight when I had to be home alone with her (Jesse went fishing, I think he knew it wouldn't be easy!!) she cried, and cried, and cried.  I wanted so badly to just give in and give her one.  She sounded so pitifully sad!!  But I know the longer we wait it won't get any easier and even though I am sure dental work is in her future (Jesse and I both had braces, ugh!!) I want to do what I can to prevent it, not make it worse.

She is now sleeping peacefully.  I hope this lasts all night, but I won't be surprised if she wakes up.  I am sure if we can make it 3 days/nights we will be paci free!  She does not use one at daycare, so I don't think the naps will be as big a deal as bedtime.  So, I have my fingers and toes crossed this goes well!!! 

Weekend Pics

It was sooo gorgeous out!!!  This was the first night we were there.

Putt-putt Mini-Golf!

Had to take this pic for Jesse's Dad!!

5 Years of Wedded Bliss

Last Friday Jesse and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  We have been married 5 years, but we have been together for over 10 years!!!  WOW!!  We started dating January of my senior year of high school.  Despite the fact that just the summer before as I was watching the seniors in the class ahead of us go off to college I had sworn to my best friend that I would NOT have a boyfriend when I went to college!  Think of all the "people" to meet there!!  Ha!  Turns out God had another plan for me.  I wish I had a scanner (which we might, but I have NEVER used it) to scan in a pic from then and now.  Although as I was looking at the scant amount of pics we have from our weekend we don't have a SINGLE pic of the 2 of us together!!!  Not even a "self-portrait"!  Sad.  We have pics of each of us seperately and pics of the scenery.  Oh, well.  It was still a fun and relaxing weekend.

For those that don't know, Jesse and I celebrated our anniversary by going to Breezy Point last weekend.  Not really any specific plans in mind other than to go and spend some quality time together and relax.  It was nice to sleep in and just hang out.  We played mini golf on Sat.  Which I almost beat Jesse!  I was pretty pumped considering HE golfs and I do not!!  YEAH!  We ran into one of my good friends and former roommates from college there.  It was funny b/c we were just saying to each other that we were surprised we hadn't seen anyone we know!  Next time we decided it would be fun to take the pontoon and go with friends.  They have some ncie cabins that would be fun and easy to share with a sweet outdoor hot tub.  The weather was GORGEOUS, so it sure would have been nice to have an outdoor hot tub. 

Anyway, I can't believe tomorrow is Sept. 1!!  Yikes!  Where did summer go?? 

Fun at the Fair!

Allie got to go to the Renville County Fair 2x this year!  We were going to take her to Kandiyohi Co. Fair but the weather was really crappy and we just never did.  Anyway, Grandma Nancy wanted to take her last Wed. (I got to go too) and Jesse and I took her on Friday.  It is so fun to take her now.  She LOVES seeing the animals (although Wed. she was kind of scared of them up close and not interested in petting them, Friday she did better).  She mostly enjoyed the rides, especially the pony rides, even though she looked super serious while they were happening.  I think her favorite ride was the slide...go figure! 

Laura, Laura!!Pony ride with Grandma Nancy, she wanted to be by Grandma the whole time!  Sat by Grandma on her 1st Ferris Wheel ride!  What a brave little girl!

I can't believe the fair is over, summer is almost over!  I am SOOOO not ready for fall!

Work Shmerk

Ugh, I am looking at a FULL week.  12 hour days Mon. through Thurs.  It's really not the work that I am dreading so much as it is the fact that I will hardly see Allison those days!  Then on Friday Jesse and I have the home inspection on the house we are buying (yup, countdown is on!!  More on that to come!) and after that we are leaving for Breezy Point for the weekend.  A trip for our 5 year anniversary.  We planned it JUST before we sold our house, now kinda wishing we had the weekend to pack!  Oh, well, we need the vacation too.  I already  miss Allison though!

Pics to come from the County Fair from last week.  We had a great weekend.  Sat. Allie and I went to the lake and spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa B, my brother, Emma, and Kerri Ann and her kids.  Lots of fun!  Today we had a baby shower for my dear friend, Jodi!!  Yeah, we are so excited for the Triplett's!  Then I got to go to Eat, Pray, Love with another dear Friend, Holli!!  Thanks hon, love ya!!  When do we get to take a year vacation??

On a bummer of a note, got a call this morning that my credit card had fraudulent charges, I confirmed that, yes, indeed they were fraudulent!  SCARY!  You feel so vulnerable when that happens!  I just hope nothing else bad happens!!! I am thankful the CC company caught them and called me!  Anyway, have a good week everyone!

Day at the Pool

Today I took Allie to the pool.  Jesse won us 2 free passes from Q102, so we will get to go one more time this year yet since I am the only one who has to pay (2 and under are free).  We have a lot going on right now, with selling our house and trying to secure everything with the one we are buying.  It has been VERY hectic!  But I decided to take the afternoon for us.  She went with me all morning while we ran errands and has been (mostly) patient with me while I am on the phone with the bank or realtor.  Anyway, she ABSOLUTELY loves the water.  I had to wake her from her nap so we could get there, and usually she is a bear when I have to wake her (which I try to never do!) but I told her we were going to the pool.  She was so excited, "suit ON!". 

This is what she does when I ask her to smile for me now.  Kinda cute that she understands me now.  What a goof ball!

Going down the "Froggy" slide.  She went down that thing 100x.  She loves it.  She was upset when I told her we had to leave.  "Froggy 'lide, one more TIIIMMEE".  She says that over and over!