Sorry it has been a few weeks. I know I've said it before, but sometimes I just don't know where the days go! We have been busy the past few weekends trying to get a lot of our stuff organized - boxing up what we are taking with us when we move and either donating or throwing away what we are not. Ryan's mom has been talking about having a yard sale for quite some time, so we are hoping that our trash might be someone else's treasure, but in reality it will probably be a whole lot of work for the $43.18 we will make and might just end up skipping the sale and asking the American Rescue Workers to come get it. And leave a receipt, preferably blank, for the tax deduction next year.
Ryan and I were talking last weekend and we sort of came to the conclusion that we really need to move sooner rather than later. Those of you who know us know that we don't exactly move at lightning speed on anything, so "sooner rather than later" could mean anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months, but now that we have to put our house back on the market, we think we will have a better chance of selling it if we're not actually living there. Plus, it is a pain in the butt to get a phone call at 6pm telling me there is a showing at 9am the following morning and having to quickly clean up the tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling across the hardwood floors, not to mention the fact that we have to leave the dogs outside when we go to work and then at some point after a showing I have to leave work to go let them back in. So, we met with Bill on the Friday before Easter to let him know that we are interested in moving in before our house sells. We will obviously have to rent it until we sell our house (and possibly longer, depending on what kind of down payment we will need), and it will probably be a little bit of a financial stretch but it just seems to make the most sense right now. We are really excited to get the show on the road! My goal is to be moved in enough to have Connor's first birthday party there. I have big plans for this party - I have been trolling Pinterest to get ideas - I even have a "theme," which Ryan thinks is ludicrous, probably because he knows that I talk a big game but have zero creativity and poor Connor will end up with a few balloons and a Fudgy the Whale cake from Carvel to ring in his first birthday.
Last weekend was Easter. Connor was a lucky little boy! My mom came up the weekend before Easter and brought Connor this adorable basket.
She had filled it with a book and a few outfits for summer. I did not find any baskets I had liked better, and had even debated using the Easter basket from when I was growing up (honestly, I knew it was a little too girly for Connor, but I figured he wouldn't know and it would eliminate us having 148 Easter baskets) so I just unpacked all his gifts from Nana and filled it with treats from the Easter Bunny.
What do you really get a 10 month old for Easter??? Connor got a bathing suit and rash guard (the one with the fish on the right), two little outfits, a puzzle, a ball that "giggles" (so annoying, but he loves it), a book, and plastic eggs filled with Puffs and yogurt melts. Ryan's mom also got him a basket with a neat Peter Rabbit liner with his name embroidered on it. It had an adorable pair of jammies, a stuffed bunny, and some baby shampoo. He made out pretty good for a little guy!
We decided to make pancakes on Easter morning. I have been trying to get Connor to experiment with more finger foods (he loves the puffs and yogurt melts, but is not terribly interested in anything else) so I had Ryan make a small one for him.
At first he seemed excited about the prospect of something new....
But quickly lost interest and, frankly, was a little pissed when he figured out that HIS pancakes didn't come with butter and syrup.
We hosted dinner at our house on Easter Sunday. It was small, just Debbie, Court, Alex, Jackson, and Evie, but it was nice. It is no secret that ham is not my favorite meal, and Easter is not my favorite holiday, but Ryan did a great job cooking a ham and then we made sandwiches with it and had potato salad and baked beans with it. We had an obscene amount of leftovers, and I feel like we have been eating ham for at least one meal a day since.
In other news, it has finally started getting a little nicer here. I have been trying to get out and take advantage of the nice weather.
(Yes, that is a beer in my stroller's cup holder)
I think it is soon going to be time to invest in a better stroller. Right now I am just using a really nice umbrella stroller for our walks. The stroller is great for quick trips to the mall or Target, or would be great to travel with, and Connor seems fairly comfortable, but it is not exactly a smooth ride for him. I need something with bigger tires, especially since our walking route will be through the Christmas tree farms when we move. I have spent countless hours reading reviews of different strollers and comparing prices and I'm about ready to pull the trigger. Hopefully Connor will be riding in style soon!
