Way behind

That describes how I'm feeling about most everything in life right now- unpacking, keeping in touch with friends, journaling...and blogging! Sorry loyal readers for keeping you hanging for so long. We're still trying to get unpacked, which doesn't happen quickly when you're working/taking classes and hanging out with a delightfully fun and active 8-month old. We're all loving our new place, though- especially the room to walk/crawl around, and the forest right out back. There's also a street nearby where we go walking- it has beautiful houses and woods on either side.

This post isn't going to be that long (I'll try to post some pictures soon!), but in the meantime here's a video of Lucy "commando scooching" as we call it.

Lucy's the only one in our family who doesn't seem to be feeling stressed or overwhelmed- ah to be a carefree baby.

Home at Last

Hooray and hallelujah! We've finally moved into our new home! We had a wonderful time with my grandparents, but are looking forward to settling into our new place. Below is the view from the back deck.

And here is my mom in our kitchen- she's been a real trooper, helping us move in. I'll try to take and post more pictures once we've gotten things somewhat organized.

In the meantime, here are some recent pictures. Matt and Lucy, in my grandparents' backyard.

My dad visited us last week, before going on to see other family. Here he and Lucy are playing with his ring.

Our little cowgirl. Our cutie in her pjs with Mimi.

Another day in limbo...

So we're still at my grandparents (4 weeks and counting...). We were going to close on the new place last week but there was a last minute snag, so it will be probably another week or so. I have some choice words regarding building developers and the construction industry as a whole, but I'll spare you the venting. Instead, we'll proceed on a more positive note with our usual picture fest.

Here's our little chick, in a cool outfit Jake and Emily got for her.

Lucy and my grandparents have been having a great time together. We'll really miss the bonus entertainment for her, and I'm sure they'll miss seeing her grow and develop every day. Even though we didn't expect to stay here so long, it's really been a blessing overall. Matt and I have been thrilled to be able to go out in the evenings while Lucy sleeps and they man the fort. We've also gone swimming a few times in the afternoon while they watch her. It's also so special to be spending more time with them. We're glad we're only moving about 10 minutes down the road! Here is Grandma, my cousin Alma, and Lucy playing a board game.


And Grandpa playing with Lucy on her own level.

We started solids a few weeks ago (banana with rice cereal, carrots with rice cereal, etc). It went well for about a week, but then came to a screeching halt (lips closed, twisting head from side to side). She seems to want to feed herself, so we're going to try some finger foods and the mesh feeder next. Tonight she had a great time playing with Cheerios, though none made it in her mouth.

Lucy LOVES her exersaucer. She loves standing up and being able to twist around and play with different toys.

I'm reading a book to Lucy here- the page I was on said "can you stick your tongue out like a gecko?"

Lucy loves her Papa.
I couldn't resist putting this one in as well- such a cute outfit!

ps- does anyone know the song reference in the post title? (I'll bet Papa Jack does)

The glories of nature

I thought I'd take some pictures in my grandparents' backyard tonight (inspired by some of my mom's detailed nature posts), and present them here for your viewing enjoyment- isn't God an awesome artist?

Hydrangia

Peaches!
Hill of flowers.
The lettuce patch- we have fresh lettuce every night, which is such a treat.

Here are my humble attempts at capturing the delicate and twirling tendrils of the grape vine (I got very frustrated with my automatic camera's capabilities, but some of them came out okay).

Road trip to DC and Becka's wedding!

We had quite a roadtrip to DC for Rebecca's wedding. The first night we stayed with my grandfather and with Trudy, Abdi, Johara, Anise, Layla, and Kamal in New Jersey. It was the first time they had met Lucy. It just happened that Cathy, Raysh and Heidi were there too, so Lucy got to meet them as well. My grandfather was cute with Lucy, making funny noises and playing with her.

We spent a lot of time in the car, but Lucy did great, only fussing a few times (we did most of the driving at night while she was asleep). I love this series of pictures.


We spent a delightful second night with our friends Shawn and Allison and their daughter Ellie in the Shenandoah valley.

And here we are at Rebecca's wedding- we've been friends since junior high! Rebecca looked so beautiful and it was a special time to celebrate with her and Ian, and was fun to reconnect with her family and some other friends from high school who were there.

Wedding #2 and Lucy's Chicago "cousins"

Here's the first of my catch-up posts; we'll see how far I get tonight. Matt's friend Steve (they've been friends since elementary school!) and Alison got married in Chicago. It was a beautiful wedding, and we enjoyed two nights out on the town (rehearsal dinner and then wedding), while my aunt and uncle babysat Lucy. Here is the happy couple.

Here we are with our friends John and Sandy- their two girls were at home with grandparents.

The wedding was black tie- it was fun to get dressed up (the first time Matt had worn his tux since our own wedding)!

The wedding was so fun, with a delicious meal, a great band, and lots of dancing. The table centerpieces were orchids suspended in water, topped with floating candles.

The ceremony was beautiful- it was the first Jewish wedding I had been to, and I loved the chanted blessings and the rich symbolism.

And moving from glamour to guck, we spent Sunday at a mud volleyball tournament that 4 of my cousins were in (Kari, Scott, Erik and Marin). They did great, making it to the semi-finals.

A very muddy family portrait (missing Gabriella)- from left to right, Jonathan, Kari, Michaela and Eliana.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so fun to spend the day outside.

My aunt Mitzie was a natural with Lucy (not surprising, with 4 kids and 7 grandkids of her own!).

At the arboretum with Eliana and Michaela.

At breakfast with Jude and Asher. Their little sister, Sofie, is just 1 month older than Lucy. Jude was very cute, bragging about "his baby".

Lucy loved their exersaucer- we've now got one at home for her.

Nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills...

I have a few posts to catch up on which hopefully I'll get to soon (wedding #2 in Chicago and visits with our relatives there, moving out of our apt, road-trip to DC for my dear friend Rebecca's wedding). In the meantime, here's a quick one with a few pictures of Lucy and, related to the title of the post, a video of Lucy's newest skill as of last Monday- rolling from her back to her tummy! The funny thing is she rolls to her tummy and then eventually gets frustrated there, but doesn't roll back, even though she learned that at least a month or so ago- I guess the new skill has bumped out the old one.

We're settled in at my grandparents' place now, enjoying their company, as well as delicious home-cooked meals, a gorgeous backyard/garden, and extra help with Lucy throughout the day. All in all, a pretty nice way to spend the few weeks of limbo. We'll probably be here at least until the 3rd week in August, though we're not holding our breath.

Here's our little peanut at our old apartment- amazing how much she's grown in even just a few weeks (see the pictures below for a comparison).


I love this one- she seems to like being in control.

Her "beached turtle" impression. She alternates doing this and then putting down her hands and feet to prop herself up.


A picture from today in her beautiful dress which her Grandma Judy gave to her (thank you, Grandma Judy!).