We have a house!

Our house is up!! It really and truly looks like a house! It is amazing how fast it went up! The workers really know what they are doing!! Walking around the house and in the house we realized how big the house is going to be! It is really exciting to see our future house being built and to realize how many wonderful memories we will create in our new home! Each step we see being completed gets us more and more excited!!

West Chester Fun!

Today we went to the West Chester Restaurant Festival! Wow...it was so crowded! We hadn't been there in two or so years and I didn't remember it being so crowded...maybe people were coming before the Eagles game began! The festival is a big deal for lots of people!! Morgan wasn't too happy of a camper being stuck in her stroller or not being able to run around! I think she is teething and wasn't feeling great! The food we sampled was very yummy from the ribs to the mac-n-cheese to freshly made donuts! YUM!

Seeing double!

Bob, Dad, Morgan, and I picked out our granite countertops today! So many choices...I again hope we like what we picked when it is installed! It has golds, creams and browns in it! Dad said it was a good choice in case it gets a spill, burn, etc...it won't show the problem area as easily! So hopefully it all works out!

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Today was also the twins birthday party! It is hard to believe they are two! The time seems to be flying by! They got a lot of neat presents and actually had fun ripping open the wrapping paper! They are both so much taller than Morgan! Morgan will never get their height...but she still had a blast playing with them! Their uncle Rich gave them a toy keyboard that all the kids loved playing with including Uncle Rich! It was a blast to see them all playing together! The other hit was an easel that had one side for chalk! Morgan really enjoyed writing and Hannah enjoyed erasing! They made a good pair!

MAJOR PROGRESS!

Our house is going up by leaps and bounds!! Bob and my Dad went to look at the house on Tuesday night and the crew was still working on the framing at 7:00pm! On Tuesday the second floor was being put up and from the men's point of view the construction looked good! I can't believe how fast the house is being 'put together'! Bob said he stopped over last night and the entire house is now framed! From Tuesday night until Thursday night...that is fast work! Tonight we are going to pick the hardwood colors, the ceramic tile color, and I think the carpet colors...then tomorrow we are picking the granite for the kitchen counter tops! We are flying with all these decisions! Hope we still like our choices in March!! :)

Bumber at Work

One week to go and NO replacement for me yet at work! Yickes! That is very scary! We interviewed a candidate on Tuesday and we as a team thought she had great potential! We called her back literally within the hour after she left to offer her the job and she told us she would have to think about it for a day or two! WHAT?! Ouch! We thought she seemed very interested and would say yes right away! Then today...the bad, terrible, horrible news...she said she accepted a position somewhere else! What...we weren't good enough?!?!?! We are back to square one! The worst part about it...there are no other candidates right now AND no agencies in the area have therapists to send our way! I am really hoping that their is a miracle coming our way!! We really need one!!

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Onto a different topic...I can't remember if I wrote this before...but...Morgan can officially put her shoes on the correct feet now without any instruction! Yipee! I don't know how she learned that, but somehow she did! She is really growing up!!

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She was given a new toy (well a yard sale toy that just wasn't given to her before) of a turtle with shapes on it's back. You push down all the shapes, then push the turtle's neck into his shell and the shapes pop up again...over and over and over...loads of fun! Morgan figured out how it worked all by herself!! No one showed her how to do it, it is AMAZING how inquisitive these little kiddos are and what they figure out and how they learn about the world!

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She has added a word or two to her repertoire...wish I could say she has added ten...but she is still creeping along with her word usage... Her newest addition is 'El' for Noel (MeMom's poodle).

Patten Leathers

MeMom bought Morgan a pair of (generic) patten leather shoes today! After we tried them on her she refused to take them off! We put socks on and her shoes...but I guess she didn't like the idea of socks b/c she went out of sight, took off her socks and put the shoes back on the correct feet! Smart little cookie! It was a sight for sore eyes...a little naked baby running around with cute little shoes on!

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I think she is entering into the tantrum phase! At times now she is starting to lay down on the floor and scream b/c she can't have something her way! Too bad kiddo...Momma is in charge!! As soon as she realizes she isn't getting any attention she is up, happy, and running around again! Hopefully she won't fall into the habit of being fussy! She never has been and I'd like to keep it that way!!

ALL DAY SOCCER!

Wow! Today was definitely hot! Morgan and I went to see Leah play soccer in their final day of competition. It was an all day affair starting early and going late into the afternoon. Morgan and I made it for the middle section and saw Leah and her team win their third game! Go Leah!! It made me think about what my life will be like in 5 years! Imagine...sitting at the field watching Morgan playing some sport while watching Baby Lee x2 run around getting into mischief! It was nice that when Morgan got antsy today I could leave...but that won't be possible when it is Morgan playing and number two causing a fuss!

Baby thoughts

These pictures are of Morgan soon after she was born!

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Here we are a week and a half away from my due date and we are still at a loss for a girl's name! We have a list of about 25 names that have been randomly written down that someone has mentioned at some point, however Bob's and my top 5 do not match up at all! Hmm...what to do! I remember we had the same situation with Morgan. Bob really liked the name Morgan (primarily b/c it meant seashore) and no matter what other name I came up with it wasn't as good as Morgan for him! This time I want more of a say! If this little one is a girl I am just praying that we can come to a consensus by the time she is born! If it is a little boy we are set on that name due to his family name that needs to be passed down.

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This weekend I need to get all the baby stuff in order! I still can't believe it is time already! I remember getting all the gadgets and gizmos together when we were anxiously anticipating Morgan's arrival! The bassinet, the swing, the pack-n-play, the receiving blankets, the footie sleepers, the baby tub...I just can't believe I am doing it all again for baby number 2!!

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My emotions are definitely coming out! It is hard to think this little creature in my belly will soon be making an appearance to the rest of the world! I love being pregnant and I am not sure I am ready to part with the emotions and the special attachment only I have with this little one! The kick and the twist that lets me know s/he is still around, the hiccups that come at random times during the day, the butt move that makes a jut out in my belly...little things that I love about being pregnant! I am being selfish I know, but I'm allowed for a little bit longer!

Orange Plaid

I never thought I would say I liked plaid...but MeMom bought Morgan a few new end of summer clothes and my favorite outfit is her orange plaid shorts! Something about orange plaid on my Peanut tickles my heart! Every time I looked at her today I had to smile! I always smile anyway...but today I was grinning!

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Morgan's Daddy said she slept until 9:25 this morning and headed to the sitter a bit later than I had anticipated. Guess she needed the sleep! On a dreary morning it is hard for anyone to get out of bed! When I picked her up from the sitter she was in rare form! She is going to learn a hard lesson soon...little dogs do not like to be pulled, pushed, kicked, squeezed, sat on, shaked, shoved, or chased! MeMom's dogs are all around the 10 pound mark and are getting to the end of their patience with Morgan! Our 50 pound dogs deal with all the aforementioned verbs, but these little (old) dogs have short tempers...I have a feeling before too long I will be writing on here that Morgan has five teeth marks on her cheek (unless the toothless dog gets her). How do you make her understand?! Time out doesn't seem to work...so I guess we will just have to wait until she gets bitten and maybe that will teach her a lesson.

A tooth!

YES! We have another tooth making it's way in! I almost didn't even notice...but I found it! On the top...I think it may be an eye tooth! Slowly but surely she will get all her teeth! I guess I better start trying to brush her teeth on a more regular basis!

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Today was an ok day! MeMom watched Morgan throughout the day and she seemed to be in a pretty good mood! She slept in until after 9am! She is a good sleeper...let's hope that doesn't change! I am blessed...we'll see about this new little one very soon!

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Morgan loved eating the stirfry rice/celery/carrot/broccoli/meat concoction that MeMom made, however did not eat the meat part! She still isn't very fond of meat...we will keep trying...until then we will get protein in her some other way! She makes me so happy when she is actually eating and not just picking!

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MeMom finished trying on all her 12 month clothes from last cold weather season and I can happily say most of them do not fit! She actually grew!! Yipee!! We are moving onto 18 month clothes...better than 12 month clothes at almost 22 months!

Tears and shades

Today was the first day I had to drop Morgan off at the sitter since last June! Wow...forgot how hard it was! She wanted to stay on my lap and didn't want me to leave...through real tears and a lot of "Momma's" I pulled myself away and literally ran out of the house. As I drove to work grabbing the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white repeating to myself out loud..."She likes the sitter, she likes the sitter" I managed not to let a tear slide down my face! As soon as I got to work I got busy and tried not to think about Morgan...just hoping she had settled down and was having a good time like I envisioned!

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I couldn't wait to pick her up after school and as I walked towards the house I could hear her little voice saying, "Momma, Momma". When I entered the house she grabbed onto my legs and I picked up my peanut and gave her a big hug and kiss! Then she wanted down to go play with a toy...guess she adjusted better than I did today!

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Still organizing her things and came across her sunglasses that she insisted she wear around the house...too cute not to snap a picture!

School in session

Today was the first day for students to arrive. It went very smoothly and the day went by without too many interuptions. I got a lot of paperwork done...the one nice thing about being a Speech/Language Pathologist is that you have the first two weeks of school to complete paperwork and get your schedule in order!

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When I went to school this morning Morgan was still sleeping soundly...Bob said she didn't wake up until 9am! I am glad she got a good night sleep! She had a good day with her DaDa!

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I saw both my private clients and didn't get home until 7pm! Long day...and I was hungry and Morgan deprived! I missed my Peanut all day!! We ate supper and I played with her for a little bit before it was time for bed...although she could have stayed up longer and I wanted to play longer...my head couldn't have hit the pillow any later...I was pooped!

Concrete Footers

Checked out our house and we have the concrete footers in! Our house has been started! It is so neat to watch a house being built from the bottom up! We were lucky enough to build our first house and now we are watching as the house we will live in forever is being built! It is so exciting! And mark my words...we are not moving for AT LEAST 30 years!!!!! Although building a new house is very exciting, the work of moving is not worth it in my eyes!

Uncle Bobby and Auntie Nikki

Today was a nice day! Bobby and Nikki came home for the weekend and spent Saturday afternoon and evening with our family. We chatted about pregnancy and I took them to see where my house to be will be located. That was the first time they saw where the land was. It was nice to show it off! Since it will make me house poor for the rest of my life I need to feel good about showing it to people! It is just land and foundation right now, but it is my land and foundation!!

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We headed to Olive Garden for an early supper as soon as Morgan woke up from her nap and ate lots and lots of yummy food. I absolutely love their bread sticks and salad. Of course, I filled up on them and only ate a bit of my food...but I enjoyed my favorite part! Morgan was very well behaved as always at restaurants! After supper we hit Babies-R-Us and came home. Bobby and Nikki hung around and played with Morgan until it was time for her to go to bed. It seemed like everyone had a good time! It was so nice to spend time with my brother and sister-n-law...they don't take the expensive trip back to PA that often! We all must savor our minutes with them!

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I attached a shot we took of the three of them at the shore! It turned out really nice and I never got it up here yet!

Awesome Shoes!

Thanks Aunt Meggie for the awesome shoes!! Too cute! Do they come in adult sizes? Morgan modeled for the website!!

SURPRISE TO BETH!

Wow! What a wonderful day I have had! Although it still feels old to be turning 30...even though I don't turn 30 until between 11-12 tonight...I had a wonderful day! I started out by heading to get a prenatal massage that I was given a gift card to (Thank you Bobby and Nikki!) in the morning! Nice and relaxing!! I decided I wasn't going to unpack anything for the day, so after I got home I relaxed and watched some brainless TV! Mom said she had made reservations for an Italian family style supper for 4 o'clock so I dressed up and we headed out! Figured some good 'home' cooked Italian food is always a win-win deal! When we showed up, SURPRISE! I was completely shocked to see Mom had put together a big table of friends and family for me! I had no clue! All I really wanted was to have a cook out for my birthday so needless to say I was completely shocked and overwhelmed with emotion! I was actually speechless...for a few seconds...not too long! It was so wonderful to see all of my friends that had come close and far to celebrate with me! It again made me feel so loved! Morgan was well behaved after she was allowed to sit between Bob and I! What a wonderful time we had both with company and food!

Settlement Friday

SETTLEMENT TODAY!

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The house is no longer ours! It went smoothly, we only had to sign a few papers! Nice being on the selling side...we are not the ones signing our lives away!!

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We had stopped one last time at "our" house to say good bye! That was hard!! Bob pointed out that I had forgotten my wind chimes...so we grabbed them before we left. We had some wonderful moments in our house! It was the first house we ever owned together...our first big investment we made as a married couple...the first place we really furnished with new things, the first place we became parents to our first babies, our English Springers, the place we brought Morgan home to...and the list could go on, but I won't bore you!

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After settlement we headed back to Jo and Sean's house who had been watching Morgan. Jo and I went out to the nail salon to get our toes and fingernails done in celebration of my birthday...I think we should do that more often just for fun!! The men watched the kids, even better!!

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We had a nice supper together and then headed home. Long, sad but exciting day! Overall idea...the house is not "OURS" anymore and for the moment we are nomads living with my parents!

Waste of Time Thursday

Morgan and I had to sit at our house from 12-5 to wait for the PECO guy to come and turn off our gas...so we waited and waited...

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In the meantime the cleaning service called back (after I put in 2 more calls) and with a bit of attitude said they would be back on Friday to finish up the missed sections...for the price I paid they were either going to come back or I was going to cancel their check!!

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About 3 o'clock I decided to call PECO and see what time the guy anticipated on getting to the house...my parent-n-laws had very generously come over and taken some more stuff/trash out of our garage, but also took the last chair I had...so I was getting uncomfortable sitting on the ground...when I finally got a customer service person she explained that I didn't need to be there after all because the new owners had called to have the gas turned on so the guy would only have to take a reading outside versus turning the gas off and back on inside...thanks for the HEADS UP PECO!

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Packed the car up to the brim and headed back to my parents. Before leaving we went around the house one last time to make sure I had gotten everything. When we went into Morgan's room I told her to say Bye to her room, as she responded, "Bye Bye oom" and then blew a kiss and said again "Bye". This was the last straw...some tears somehow managed to roll down my cheeks! I worked so hard to create that room and I loved it...so for her to say good bye (even though she has NO understanding) it was very hard!

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Continuing to unpack at our temporary home!

DONE!

It is done! The movers came yesterday and took everything out of the house! After six hours my wonderful home only looks like a house now! It doesn't even smell like home anymore! I am exhausted! Several nights of 3-4 hours sleep isn't cutting it! Morgan and I got up bright and early this morning to get back to the house for the cleaners! I was not about to start scrubbing the house...if you have never moved...the mess that comes with moving is disgusting! Not only dust and grim...but with two English Springers...mounds of dog hair was piled under every single piece of furniture and appliance. Maybe even cat hair from the cats we haven't had in two years!! The emotions are starting to come now! This was our first house we bought together and we really enjoyed it! We had a lot of firsts in the house!

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When the cleaners finally finished...we were quoted 3-4 workers, 2-3 hours...it turned out to be 2 workers and 5+ hours...needless to say I hadn't taken lunch for Morgan or I...or the most important bottle of milk...so when they asked me to look through the house Morgan was fussing (she hadn't had a nap either) and I looked real quick...I should have looked better...after they left and I did a full look through the cleaners had not done the job I had anticipated! There was still grime in the shower, the trim still looked dirty, the oven wasn't cleaned out...I could go on, but I won't! I put in a message, so hopefully I will get a return call! I wanted to see a house I would want to move into...but that is not what I found! For the amount of money I paid and for the comment on my cleaning slip 'Deep Clean' I guess I expected more! We'll see...

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Now it is time to unpack and settle into my parents house. Lots to get organized before starting back to school next Tuesday!

Crunch Time!

It is count down time...a bit more than 24 hours and the movers come to take it all away! It will be a great feeling and a sad feeling all at the same time! I will write more during the week after everything is over with...b/c of course with being pregnant my emotions are crazy! . The following pictures are here for Aunt Meggie's viewing pleasure! (She was sad no shore pictures of her were posted...here you go!) More beach pictures!

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!

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Our new house

I am putting up a picture of a house that will look very similar to ours! Our house will have an added front porch! We are thinking about the same color siding/stone as this house but maybe a different color shutter...possibly maroon?