Where Have You Been?!

Hello! It's been a while since I updated this space. Last year felt so crazy that I needed to take a break from regular posting, which turned into a much longer break than I expected. Recently I came back to reference an old post and remembered how much I loved having this space to record all of our family memories. All of our photos are buried in folders on my computer, it's so much better to have them neatly complied with captions to remember the special moments we've shared as a family. So here I am! Back at it. I'm excited to utilize this space again.

So without further ado, here is a massive update of everything that's happened in the past six months!

Nora became an official toddler! I held on to the baby stage as long as I could but there's no denying it anymore. She's a big sassy toddler. She likes to dance (specifically on tables), play with blocks, do puzzles, sing songs (it's incredibly cute) and probably watches too much Paw Patrol for her own good. Her hair is long enough to be put in pigtails. She can count to 10, and sometimes throws in 11, 12 and 16. She's going to be 2 in April and we can already see the terrible twos coming. She's definitely opinionated and stubborn, but maybe we should have expected that give who her parents are... Regardless, she's the sweetest little girl ever and when she gives you a hug all of your troubles melt away.

Adorable 16 month old Nora. She's so sweet.

Here she is in her makeshift reading nook. It's just a pile of extra pillows and blankets but she loved it. 

Flash forward- 17 month old Nora! Looking at these pictures is making me miss Summer so much.

We had a moment where Nora didn't want to nap so Madison thought if he snuggled her in her crib, she'd fall asleep.

It didn't work. 

This is probably one of the cutest picture I've ever taken of Nora. She was a little Native American for Halloween. We didn't go trick or treating, because Mama does not want to deal with that sugar high, and stayed in to hand out candy instead. She was super confused at first, then got really excited about it. She would run up to the door and watch us hand out the candy, and as soon as the trick or treaters left, she'd says "tricky? tricky?" and look for more down the street.

In October, we went on our first family vacation ever! Madison and I have actually never taken a trip together before this, so it was a long time in the making. We flew out to Sacramento, California to visit Madison's dad, step mother, and sister. I'm going to write a separate post about that trip soon. It was so much fun and we want to go back soon. 

Probably the biggest update of all is that we moved back to Massachusetts, got a new car, I went back to work and Madison got a job at my company! While we were on vacation we decided to make the move back, so within 2 weeks of coming home we leased a new car, rented an apartment, and got our old jobs back. I definitely appreciate the time I had at home with Nora, I really think part of the reason she is so smart and wonderful is because she got so much one on one time with me at an integral state of her development. While I love working, at times I do miss being able to play with her all day and taking our daily walk to the park. I have tons of great memories from our time in Connecticut that I will cherish forever.

Our new car! We leased a 2013 Toyota Camry. After being carless for 10 months, it was so nice to finally have a new vehicle again. Freedom!!!

We celebrated Thanksgiving in our new apartment with just the 3 of us. Usually we go and have dinner with family on Thanksgiving, but we decided to have a quiet day in this year. It was really nice. We relaxed and decorated our Christmas tree, and didn't have to get stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike. The year before this, it took us 3 hours on the Mass Pike to get to my family's house, when they only live 1 hour away. Yikes. So glad we didn't have to deal with that this year.

Wearing a super cute sweater dress her Auntie Merrill got her for Christmas last year. She's still so small.

Excited about something.

Nora was very interested in decorating the tree this year. She was my little helper and would hand me ornaments to put up.

He loves her so much. 

Decorating trees is hard work.

Nora's second Christmas was such a success! She finally understands presents, and that if you unwrap them- there are nice things inside! Christmas morning we spent at home opening gifts from Santa, watching movies and having a nice big breakfast. In the afternoon, we headed out to Western Mass to my cousin's house to celebrate with my family. 

Santa came!

 

This kitten was her favorite gift. She carried it around with her everywhere we went for a week. Now it sleeps in her crib with her every night.

Close second for favorite gift was this tiny Paw Patrol chair. 

This was Nora's Christmas outfit. We got this dress so long ago and it finally fits her, even though the tag says 6-12 months. Santa brought her the sparkly silver shoes. We finally got a bow in her hair. She looked great. We got to my cousin's house, and what is the first thing she did? Found a full cup of coffee on a side table, grabbed it, and dumped it all over herself. She spent the rest of Christmas in the pajamas we brought to take her home in. 

Feeding her new baby doll that her great grandmother got her for Christmas.

And then it started snowing. And hasn't stopped.

Her first braid! I can't believe how long her hair is now.

Part of the reason I have neglected this space was because of how busy life has been since our move. Madison and I are both working full time Monday-Friday jobs. This is the first time in our relationship that we have had nights and weekends to spend together, so we have been relishing that, as well as trying to fill our days with lots of fun activities to do as a family.

We're still in the process of filling our home with things we love, so I don't have any photos of our new apartment just yet. We are hoping this is our last year renting and are looking to buy our first home in the near future.

Nora is in day care now and she loves it. She's learning even more now and comes home almost everyday singing new songs they taught her. Probably the cutest thing was their Valentine's Day party. I have never cared for Valentine's Day, but when it came to making Valentines for all of her friends at school I was so excited. Holidays are 1000 times more fun with kids around. Here's her outfit for the party, picked out by her Daddy. He's better at dressing her than I am.

As for personal updates, I started Whole 30 last month! If you don't know about the program, you can read about it on their website, www.whole30.com. Since having Nora, and honestly for a long time before that, I stopped taking care of myself the way that I should be. This program is basically a very strict Paleo diet that you follow for 30 days. It is tough, I still have cravings for unapproved foods, but I feel so amazing that it outweighs that feeling. My first week was rough because it was the week of Valentine's Day and I was offered cupcakes and cookies on 5 different occasions. It is so hard to say no when you have as big of a sweet tooth as I do! But I did it, I resisted the sweets and lived to tell the tale. I'll post results and my feelings on the program once my 30 days are up. I'm really excited I finally found something that works and I can stick to!

If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading! I'm looking forward to updating here more often. One last baby picture for the road:

Covered in Meat in the Vegetarian's House

We moved to Connecticut! All of our things are in the house mand that is about it. Madison managed to put the crib and our bed together last night and that's as far as we got before everyone was too exhausted to do anymore. It was quite an adventure to even get to this point. Here's the rundown of events.

Wednesday night I was on my way to dinner with a friend when I was blindsided by another car. It happened so fast I didn't even see him driving towards me. The accident was really bad, my airbags deployed and the whole front of my car was torn off. The other driver came over to ask me if I was okay but I could immediately tell something was wrong because I couldn't move my arm. I called 911 and was taken to the hospital where I found out my arm was broken and my wrist had been dislocated. Madison's car was already in Connecticut so he had to wait until my mom and dad could drive up to watch the baby before he could come meet me at the hospital. Once he got there the doctor informed him that I would need to be knocked out and have my arm reset, then wrapped up. We needed to wait for the swelling to go down before I could get a cast. I was put under and apparently was the entertainment of the night with all of the things I said. I called one of the nurses Kenneth because he looked like the page from 30 Rock. Also, I tried to explain to Madison the my body had melted and I was now at a theme park called Molecule Land that had rides such as "ups, downs, and triangles." So it seems like everyone was pretty well entertained while I got my arm straightened out. We left the hospital around 11:00 PM that night.

The next day my parents came back up to help us finish packing as my arm was in a sling and I was pretty useless. During this time my cousin's wife called to inform me that my cousin, who was planning on helping us move, had broken his ankle. Really?! At this point I was convinced our move was cursed. Madison decided hiring a moving company was the only way we could get everything into the truck. He finished packing as much as possible so we would be ready to go the next day.

Friday morning rolled around and our moving team called to inform us that they would be arriving at 1:30, instead of 11:00 as promised. Way to add more stress onto an already stressed out family. Once they showed up they were actually really great and got everything packed up super quick. The only thing that had me worried at this point was that we would be on the road and getting to Hartford at 5:30, rush hour, on a Friday. Surprisingly the traffic was not bad at all and we made great time. Thankfully we had friends on this end to help us unload and that went quickly. 

This morning we planned to do a lot of unpacking after a quick trip to the doctor about my arm. That quick trip turned into 8 hours of waiting at the hospital. The doctors finally determined that I would need surgery to correct the fracture in my arm. We left the hospital exhausted and starving so we went against our new pledge to eat healthy and stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. Trying to eat with one hand is a little harder than expected so I got it all over myself, hence the title of this post. 

All in all this has been a stressful move but we are ready to unpack and get on with this new part of our lives. Last year we moved in a blizzard while I was 7 months pregnant so we clearly don't have the best luck with moving. Hopefully we can get unpacked quickly and start the good parts of this adventure!

We're Moving!

It's the big day, folks! Moving day has finally arrived. We are packing up our apartment in Massachusetts and setting out for a new adventure in Connecticut. I'm so excited. Moving is so fun to me. There is always a sense of excitement in unpacking and reorganizing. Maybe that's just me, but I am all about organization and as I continue to move around (this will be the 5th year in a row I have moved) my homes just keep getting better decorated and more organized. Things might be a little slower around here as we settle into our new place, but I will keep you updated on all of the progress as it happens! 

Update: On Wednesday before we moved I was in a car accident and ended up breaking my arm. It was just me in the car, so Madison and Nora are fine. Consequently, our unpacking process may take longer than expected but I will still be posting about our progress. 

Moving On

Today is my last day of work before our big move down to Conneticuit and I get to become a stay at home mom. As much as I am excited for all of these changes, it is a little bittersweet. I have made so many good friends here that I will miss seeing each and every day. The opportunity to work for a company that truly values their employees has been wonderful. I know that not every office is as fun, relaxed and exciting as this one, and I do not take the experience for granted. So long to all of my good friends at TJX Companies. I will miss you dearly.