Pretty Please??

Thank you Lord for the beautiful sunshine we had yesterday.

And thank you x 1,000,000 for this ray of sunshine in my life.......

So now I ask....pretty please, can I win the lottery so I can spend everyday, all day outdoors with my girl???

Sincerely,

Ashley

Sassy at SIX months!

Dear sweet girl,

You are six months old today (a very fun age I must say!) Your dad and I are having a hard time wrapping our minds around that. You are doing so many new things everyday. Watching you discover the world around you have been the greatest pleasure. You have made a big transition this past week and I am very proud of you. I think you are just happy to have gotten a bigger room out of the deal. Mom's gonna try really, really hard to remember all of the discoveries you have made over this crazy month that's gone by so quickly...

I can tell you one thing for sure. Your cute little rolls do not go unnoticed. They must have sprung up like the Michelon Man in this past month because that seems to be the usual comment when someone sees you for the first time. "LOOK AT THOSE ROLLS!" Just remember girl, us Fannings are shorties and it may take awhile to iron out all the rolls. Just keep doing your squats. But for now, I love every single one of those chubby rolls! You couldn't be more perfect in my eyes! The second thing that people notice is your lack of hair. Your Great Aunt Sharon has offered to buy you some Rogaine. Not so fast though, I see more hair growing in every day on the top of that bald head. ;) Oh Hallie, your hair that's growing in is so beautiful...a golden blonde. Pair that with those blue gray eyes and you get one gorgeous face. Oh and I forgot to add on a toothless grin that would stop anyone in their tracks.

Rolls + baldness + grin = cuteness overload

Girl, I'm here to tell you...you love to play! When you aren't sleeping or eating, that's what you are doing. But let me be clear and define "playing" for you. Your playing involves eating whatever object is within reach 99% of the time. The other 1% is spent actually using the toys appropriately. But for now, everything is a chew toy. Some days I think you are teething and others I think you just love to put everything in your mouth. I don't feel any munchers coming up through your gums but one could pop up anyday I'm sure. And I'm armed and ready with teething rings, teething gel and Tylenol. But if teeth grow anything like you hair, then we probably have awhile. Oh and one more thing....you prove that white girls can jump. You are finally tall enough to jump in your jumper! Woohoo!!

Little girl, you are growing out of all your clothes. Well I guess I should say you are right on track as far as clothes sizes go but I was so used to dressing you in 0-3 and newborn clothes well into your fourth month that I'm not used to the sudden growth spurts. I dress you in all 3-6 month onesies and outfits but some are becoming snug on your behind. God blessed you with a lot of insulation for the winter! ;0 That must be why you would rather go without clothes and spend your time being nakey. With a diaper on of course. Speaking of diapers, you have grown out of your size 2 Pampers but mommy is still clinging to using up those last two boxes before we move on to size 3s. Nanny is using 3s and I think it is saving her from cleaning up a lot of blowouts! Two more boxes to go and we will accommodate your growing behind. Baby girl, you have your dainty moments....but you sure can poop! It has gotten to where I have started throwing some outfits away after your frequent diaper blowouts because it's easier than cleaning up the mess. Nanny has me convinced that size 3s are the answer.

Who needs lightbulbs when you can just smile and light up a room? It is the most contagious smile I've ever seen (of course, I'm biased). I find myself being very creepy when people are holding you these days. I want to see every face you make and see your reaction to their voice. I am obsessed with watching you interact with others. I watch you and daddy talking all the time. There is rarely a time when you aren't smiling or giggling. My favorite thing that you do is when you laugh at the puppets on your dvd...when they pop up on the screen you just burst out in laughter like it's the funniest thing ever! Another easy way to make you laugh is toss you up in the air. Your dad and I are still too scared to really throw you up high. But you don't mind hanging out in the lower stratospheres. You smile so big every time dad gives you kisses behind you ear and you love to feel Gman's beard with your hand. I have been noticing that you like male voices. You spent a good 30 minutes doing some serious flirting with the Dish Network man the other day...he had this very deep voice that captivated your attention and you wouldn't stop smiling. You better stop that flirting!

It's a rough life...

Baby Einstein is your obsession. You are an Einstein junkie! We have watched the videos in English so many times that now I have switched them to French. Lol! And now you have even converted Emmi....

"See Em, I told you that you'd love it!"

Kickin' back after a long day to watch some Einstein

You don't mess around when it comes to nap time. Lately you have made it very clear when it's sleepy time. That's not saying that it's always easy to put you down for a nap but at least you warn me. You start rubbing your eyes with balled up fists and get extra, extra squirmy. Your naps vary so much as far as length and time that we just go with the flow. Your morning cat nap is a little more consistent that your afternoon snooze...you usually fight to go down in the morning and cry, cry, cry until you just give in which is usually around 9:30 or 10:00. You nights have definitely improved since last month. You still aren't sleeping through the night like you used to but I think you have at least developed a pattern. For some reason you love getting up at either 1:30 or 3:00. Mommy prefers 3:00 so if you could take that into account that'd be great my love! At least you don't want to party for anything...you are all business....eat and back to sleep. You are VERY consistent with your wake up time. 6:00 on the dot most of the time. What age will you be when you understand the wonderful qualities of being able to sleep in? What is that you say? 13 years? Oh no!

Sleepy eyes

"Check out my new crib"

Aunt Sharon didn't want to put her down

You are all over the place! Gone are the days of you lying in one place like a blob. You are never still. Well except for Tuesday night when you were in a trance while watching the State of the Union address. You must get that from your dad and Gman! Your little limbs go flapping everytime you see a friendly face, a toy or a bottle. You know what bottles are and you definitely are able to tell me that you want one when you see one! Sometimes I forget just how astute you are when it comes to bottles and I hold one in your view...then the flapping begins! What a silly girl. You love to reach for food or drink when we are out eating. If you can't reach that you will settle for a chopstick, straw, or silverware...all very safe options. Lol! I have started packing toys for dinner so that you steer clear of the more dangerous objects. And I'm just waiting for the day that you pull over a drink on someone's lap because you are reaching for a sip. ;) As long as it's not me it'll be fine baby. Still no crawling but I think creeping could happen any day now. Crawling doesn't seem to be something you are interested in because you spend most of your time kicking your legs instead of trying to get up on them. You have perfected sitting and rarely topple over onto your face...but when you do you have figured out how to do it gracefully. It's almost like when someone falls and they don't want anybody to see so they get back up really fast and walk away like nothing happened. Well that's you with sitting and falling...you transition from a face plant into a roll onto you belly very quick to avoid embarrassment I guess. :) When you aren't kicking on your belly,squirming on your side or sitting up, you love sitting on dad's lap or being thrown in the air by me. Giggles galore! And it almost seems like you would rather roll everywhere instead of crawling...and you may be onto something there because you are pretty fast at it! I finally caught you in one of your rolling sprees this morning. You rolled so much that you showed up at my feet looking like a breakfast burrito!

"Mom, I still have bed head. No pictures this early!"

 

"I didn't do it mom, I swear"

So where do all of those rolls come from?? A diet of breast milk, formula and organic baby food. I would say you eat about 40% momma milk and 60% formula. The day came about three weeks ago that I had to give up my goal of strictly breastfeeding for one year. It just wasn't going to happen and I knew I needed to start you on formula when I couldn't keep up with your demand anymore. I cried about it, whined about it, and really gave myself a hard time about it...but after about a week of feeding you formula along with nursing, it seemed okay. I told myself as long as you were still getting that allergy-fighting good milk at least twice a day then you were benefiting. Little girl, I hated every second of giving you formula...and I'm pretty sure everyone around me at the time hated hearing me whine and agonize about the decision...but it was either that or your rolls were going to disappear quickly. ;0 I was so upset about it at first that I couldn't for the life of me figure out a good feeding routine for you. I kept praying and hoping that I would suddenly produce a wealth of milk for you...but it didn't happen. You don't seem to mind the change in diet so I guess I'm okay with it too. But something has really caused you to start packing on the pounds lately.....

Fat Booth fun on our phones

You are doing new "big girl" activities everyday it seems. Yesterday was one I'd been looking forward to for awhile. I was so excited to use your floppy seat in the shopping cart. You loved it just as much as I did. It was so much easier than lugging around the bulky baby carrier. It allows you easy access to nearby objects on the aisles and you aren't shy about grabbing for something that catches your eye. I get so much joy watching you do your big girl things and discovering new things!

Shoppin' in style

There are a few others fun facts about you that I don't want to go unmentioned.....

• You LOVE to read your books (and by read I mean chew of course)

Making a selection for mom to read

• You and Emmi's bond grows stronger everyday. Your PIC (partner in crime). Sometimes I think you and I are the only two people in this world who actually like Emmi! Let's all three be BFFs, ok? Can I join the club?

"Mom, you're crampin' our style!"

Played out

• Your mouth must be a magnet for feet. You must have been doing your stretches because you finally got those feet in your mouth yesterday. Way to go sis! We can't keep socks on you anymore because you end up shoving them in your mouth...hello choking hazard!

"Yum!"

Just in case you didn't get the memo, you won't be seeing Miss Mindy anymore. You said goodbye to her and your daycare friends last week. I am pretty sure they are going to miss their "Hallie Girl" very much. We have found you a new daycare though. Miss Tina will be caring for you two days a week at First Christian Church Children's House. Your dad and I checked out the place to make sure you would fit in there and we loved it. It's not a home daycare like what I was searching for but it is only temporary as they are fitting you in until a new itty bitty baby shows up in a couple months. For now I feel very blessed that we found you a great place to stay during the week. You will still have your Nanny days so don't you worry! And guess what......you will get a mommy day now! Yep, two days at daycare, one day with mommy and two days with nanny! You will be loved!

I can't even describe the pleasure your dad and I get watching you grow. Somehow we created something so beautiful and perfect. Not sure how that happened. Lol. How is it that you are such a perfect creature? I've even convinced myself that you are perfect when you cry and scream. I am struggling with the fact that you are moving through your first year so quickly...but I also can't wait for the wonderful life we have ahead of us with you. I often sit and imagine trips to the zoo, cuddling with you on the couch to watch Disney movies, and watching you make friends and start school and play sports and so on and so on. Bottom line is...your dad and I love you more than words can say. You make our world go 'round. I say prayers for you every night. I think some of my prayers are jumping the gun a little bit but I want to make sure I cover all of the bases. I pray that God will bless you with health. I pray that he will bless you with a giving and loving personality. I pray that this sometimes cruel world won't ever rob you of that precious smile and infectious laugh. So far he has definitely been answering prayers about your health. As always, I am very apprehensive about writing that you have been illness-free for six whole months! (knocking on wood) But it's been an answered prayer for sure. :) And so far, the only thing robbing you of that smile and laugh is when I have to change your clothes. Which brings me to your dislikes: putting shirts on, taking shirts off, having your face cleaned, and waiting for a bite of food. Things you like: having your belly and back rubbed, being tossed in the air, hearing people sing, petting Emmi, chewing on anything in reach, spending time with your grandparents and aunts/uncles, doing chores with mom, and listening to daddy talk. Keep on growing and learning. We can't get enough of it! Until next month baby girl. <3

I love you. Always and forever.

Drivers Ed Course: Gman Style

I am pretty sure Gman was thrilled about our move today because it meant he could sneak in a little mid-week play session with his favorite (and only) granddaughter. He happens to make stops every now and then at the Atwoods store in Woodward. Today was one of those days so we picked him up for a quick visit. Hallie gave him the short tour of our living quarters, we stopped by Sonic to get a drink and attempted to go visit my dad's cousin who owns a realty business in Woodward. Seeing as how that will come in handy when the time is right, I was thrilled to have help on my side. He was kinda bummed that his girl slept most of the time he was with us. Gman made sure to wake her up though for some talk time. And he threw in some driving lessons while he was at it....

"Look out, student driver comin' through!"

"Breaker, breaker, this is Hallie G. Bear"

"Gman, I think I'm getting the hang of this"

"Gotta have my caffeine to stay awake on the road"

Showing off her tough driving look with Gman

Proud Grandpa

Come visit us again Gman!

Love, Hallie

Our Life in a New Town

Disclaimer: the length of this blog should probably be against the law. Just sayin'. If you plan on reading the entire thing then you may as well grab a drink and a blanket and plan to camp out for awhile. ;)

I'm starting this blog in our new town. At Nanny and Papa's house. Because I don't have internet. But I will on Monday. And cable. It's funny how when I have cable I rarely watch TV but when it's not there I almost go crazy! The little girl and I rode into town around 7 pm on Wednesday evening and just had to make a stop by Nanny's work so she could see her girl. We definitely got the reaction we were looking for when she saw Hallie coming through the door. We stayed for a short time and then headed towards our new/temporary home. I had been picturing the duplex in my head as I still hadn't been lucky enough to get Riley to send me a picture of it....I think he was scared of what my reaction would be. After being greeted by Riley and him snatching up his girl, I got the grand tour around what I will refer to as "the living quarters." When he got done showing me around (which took about 30 seconds) he marveled at the fact that I wasn't crying or yelling yet. In fact, not one tear fell that night surprisingly enough. It is what it is, and it's a roof over our heads. And honestly, having a mortgage to pay as well I wouldn't want to get anything nicer anyways. God bless him, he worked hard to gets things ready for our arrival. My favorite part of his work...the lovely shower curtain hooks that he fashioned out of cut pieces of wire hanger. I love to watch The Brady Bunch and it's a good thing because I felt like a part of the cast when I first saw the kitchen. Hello yellow! I would post pics of the refrigerator but I don't want to blind anyone with it's hideousness. Same goes for the countertops!

Our living quarters

I am picking up where I last left off which was quite a while ago in my blog world. I think it's been a good week since I sat down at a computer...I've been itching for some blogging time and here I am on Monday night at my makeshift desk while Riley watches some very missed TV and Hallie snoozes in her temporary crib. The word temporary means a lot to me these days. ;)

I feel like the last month has been a whirlwind of change at a fast-moving pace. The good news is I feel like we are on the cusp of a sense of calmness. Not yet though. We are still dealing with our fair share of craziness. And here I begin my organized, bullet point list of current events...I like to think that by using bullet points it will make life seem organized when that is the last word I would use to describe it right now...

• Hallie and I spent Monday evening hanging with Gman. We gave going out to eat with Hallie another shot and she did loads better this time around. I think it was the entertainment brought about by Gman's beard or the fact that I let her play with a breadstick. Either way, she was a good girl. And as a reward we took a trip to BabiesRus. My second favorite store in the world....AFTER Hobby Lobby of course. The good girl got a lot of goodies and a new Baby Einstein video. AND her first ride on the toy at the front of the store. I was caught off guard when I found Hallie riding the Elmo car with some help from Gman. She loved it! What a cool grandpa...guess that's why he chose the name Gman.

"Let's do it again!"

• A goodbye kinda day. The week leading up to our big move was eventful to say the least. I said goodbye to my coworkers on Tuesday, picked up Hallie from Miss Mindy's for the last time, and spent the afternoon at the hospital waiting for my mom to get out of a last minute surgery. Very last minute surgery. My dad got a call around 11:00 saying that she was going to have a pacemaker put in at 12:30. That gave him just enough time to get to OKC! And that gave me just enough time to enjoy my surprise "going away" lunch with my coworkers. They all chipped in for an Italian feast and didn't fail to make me cry with a sweet card and gift. I sure will miss them (tear, tear). I had warned Mindy that I may be picking up Hal a little late that day as my mom still remained in ICU and after work was my only time I could go visit her. So back to the surgery...it went great! I spent a good deal of the afternoon at the hospital and amazingly enough mom spent most of that time chatting with me despite being post-op...she's one tough lady! I said my goodbyes and drove toward home dreading what I was about to do. I didn't want to say goodbye to Miss Mindy. So I went in repeating these words in my head..."do not cry, do not cry, do not cry...." And I didn't. Mostly because Hallie was being so gosh darn funny that all we could do was laugh. I spent some extra time hanging out with Mindy because we had a couple viewing our house across the street. Yeah, as if the day wasn't crazy enough, I had to make sure the house was spotless for these potential buyers. No offer on our house despite my efforts. :( So after a very emotional day I was spent. It would have been more appropriate to kick my feet up and relax. Um, NO. Instead I welcomed Aunt Lana, my sister Bailey, Cousin Dara and Uncle Spencer with pizza, packing tape and plenty of boxes to go around. No rest for the weary....it was time to get to work! Thank you Lord for these four people. They basically were my slaves for the evening and I think we even had a little fun doing it. Aunt Lana was the organizer as I was too concerned with my baby girl who spent the evening projectile vomiting all over the place...yes, I am adding another stressful dimension to the end of this day. We will call this TERRIBLE TUESDAY. Thankfully this vomiting episode disappeared three hours later. Oh my goodness, talk about a paranoid momma. The last thing we needed was to have a poor, sick kiddo in the midst of an already chaotic world. We ended the night with a garage full of full boxes instead of empty ones. :) :) :) :)! The bed was calling my name...it was saying "hey, you better enjoy me because this is the last night you will spend with me for awhile." ;)

• SMILE. After recruiting my "packers" to help me load up my car I was ready to go in the morning. BUT we had one more piece of business to take care of before we left on Wednesday. 6 month pictures with our favorite photographer Mandy! She is so full of spunk and lots of fun! We spent the morning taking multiple baths, staying in our pjs and playing on the floor. The multiple baths were a result of a couple blowouts and a lot of spitup which didn't pair well with pictures that afternoon. A relaxing morning with just us girls was the perfect way to spend our last day at the house together...we were missing one piece to the puzzle though. We were finally dressed and on our way to smile for pics. Hallie started out with her huge gummie grin which soon turned to tears and screams. For future reference I need to remember that she is patient with photos for approximately five minutes and then she prefers to be a self-poser. She is sort of like her momma in that she doesn't like to take direction...she just prefers to do it her own way. And her way was posing on her tummy for every picture. With a little help from a fellow photog and a lot of funny noises, we pulled some of those priceless smiles out of her. Here is the link to view her 6 month photos (passcode is hallie2)....
• http://temp-dinsmorestudio.pickpic.net/gallery/ashley-fanning-hallie-6months-179065

Lounging in our pjs

Happy girl

"Who's that pretty girl?"

:)

• On the road again. With a car that resembled a gypsy wagon, we set out for our new home. But not before one last visit to the hospital to see Grammy in her regular room. Hallie was a hit on the floor and flirted with everyone who came in the room. She made sure to share plenty of smiles with Gman and Grammy before she left. Once we finally arrived in Woodward, it took awhile for it to really sink in. Part of me was sad, part of me was relieved. My first order of business was to prepare Hallie's room. My main concern during this transition is that Hallie is unaffected by the change. I was at first concerned that she would be sleeping in her pack'n'play for awhile but she proved me wrong by sleeping through the night on Tuesday. Hallie's room was surprisingly near complete by the time we put her down for bed that night. Riley and I went to bed surrounded by piles of clothes and stacked boxes but felt comfort knowing that we were tackling the next day together.

A silly duo

• I spent my first day alone sniffing out my surroundings on Thursday. I had planned to return to Mustang to grab another load of stuff. Mainly because I had only packed one change of clothes since the car was FULL of Hallie's stuff. The weather had other plans for me though. After checking Facebook early that morning I realized it was in my best interest to stay in town and focus on other tasks that day. Like every Thursday, Nanny watched Hallie. I must say it was so convenient to drive 1/2 mile to drop off my girl. And I know that Nanny is overjoyed to have Hallie so close. I stopped by my work to sign some papers and just check in since it had been awhile since I'd talked with my boss Aaron. I ran out of things to unpack very quickly so I did something I haven't done in quite awhile. I took a nap. And it was everything I'd imagined it would be. And more. :) Throughout my travels around town that day, I learned a lot....
• There is a speed limit and it's a lot less than most roads in OKC. I think I will probably get the message when I get my first ticket.
• No long lines at Walmart. Enough said.
• It is amazing the satisfaction I felt driving only 1 mile to the place I will work. ONE MILE!!! We can definitely add that to the plus column.

• Full bellies, clean clothes and two free hands. Thanks to Nanny we were fed well the first two days we arrived. She also did some laundry for us since we didn't have our washer here yet. And best of all...she spent time with Hallie while I worked on getting the house in order. Thank you Nanny! Hallie stays very entertained at her house with some of the kid's old toys from back in the day. She also helps cook and do laundry...quite the little helper. Aunt Katie has also lended a hand and watched Hallie a couple of times already....her and Uncle Luke just love spending time with Hallie.

Learning to cook

Playing peek-a-boo with Katie and Luke nephew, Tristan

Lovin' Aunt Katie's house

• Medical Marvel. That's my mom for ya. I finally did get back to Mustang on Friday to pick up another load of stuff. My first priority was to stop by the hospital before Grammy was discharged from the hospital. She was patiently waiting to be released. I guess after that many hospitalizations she would be prepared to wait forever to be discharged. No one is in a hurry around that place. It makes me cringe to type when she finally got to go home on Friday....11:30 p.m. CRAZY, I know! This was after a day full of IV meds that had to be administered over an extended period of time. I got to the hospital just in time to hear Dr. Nelson's explanation of what caused this crazy episode. Apparently Grammy has something called "transplant vasculopathy." According to the doc, this is one of the leading causes of death in the first year following a transplant. This is where the medical marvel part comes into play. She defies all the odds. And always has. Just when we feel like things are going south. Just when we think she can't dig her way out of some hole. Just when we think she's down for the count. Uh uh....not Grammy. That lady is made of steel. Indestructible. My hero. And I hope Hallie's hero someday. After getting my medical vocab lesson for the day, I sat with my mouth hanging open....Dr. Nelson had just mentioned a second heart transplant. Excuse me???? So all I could ask was "WHY?" And I did. His answer was not too straightforward as he usually talks so fast that huge words seem to be falling out of his mouth and not getting into my head fast enough to be processed. So basically this could be something in the future if she doesn't respond to his treatment plan. She still needs to lose the extra fluid building up around her abdomen. Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart for all of your concern and prayers for my mother. God is so good! And he was definitely working in her this past week! She is already itching to get back to work. Take your time Grammy. Hallie says so.

• Locked out. We decided to take a house-hunting trip around town Saturday morning since Hallie was getting restless and ready for a nap. The car still puts her right to sleep and without fail it did that morning too. The little stinker slept for an hour and a half while we roamed the countryside in search of a suitable place to call home. No such luck. I'm convinced that we need to start building a house. But I think it will take a lot more convincing of Riley though before that happens. So anways, we returned back to the house just in time to get ready for a party we had that afternoon. The problem with our setup now is that we have a two car garage but no garage door opener so we have to go through the house to open it. And we only have one set of keys for the front door. AND you can only lock the bottom lock because we don't have a key to open the deadbolt. Difficult, I realize. Riley was worrying so much about me locking us out that he did just that. The other problem is that you have to jump two fences just to get into our backyard. Difficult, I realize. After trying to slide the backdoor open he gave up. I really felt a little stranded waiting out front in my bed hair and slippers with a hungry and wet baby with no bottles or diapers. I finally convinced him to call a locksmith. So after thirty more minutes of frantically finding ways to keep Hallie girl from getting angry, the wonderful locksmith opened the door. This was after he had given up and told us he couldn't get it open after which I began crying out in the cold with my baby wrapped in her daddy's big coat. Now we do a triple check each time we walk out the door. "Do you have the keys? Did you lock the top lock? Do you have the keys?"

• "80 is the new 60!", to quote my Aunt Sharon. We celebrated Hallie's great-grandpa's 80th birthday this past Saturday in Shattuck. Riley and I loved being able to jump in the car and be at our destination in 30 short minutes. It was so wonderful to see grandpa so happy with his long-time friends and most of his family surrounding him. When I asked grandpa what it felt like to be 80 he responded by saying "I'm not sure because I feel like I'm 100!" Hallie met some people for the first time that day. Her first new face was her Great Aunt Pauline. Pauline has been keeping track of Hallie through the blog and Facebook and couldn't wait to get her hands on her. Despite getting home late, late the prior evening, Grammy and Gman made an appearance at the party! She looked wonderful for just being released from a traumatic week long stay at the hospital. Hallie was a hit at the party as usual. She spent much of the afternoon munching on anything she could get her hands or mouth on and giving out smiles left and right. The Detrixhe siblings took advantage of all being present at the same place, same time and had the grandkids take a family pic....

Finally meeting Great Aunt Pauline

The twins

The Detrixhe Clan

Missing five grandchilden...they are off in CA, FL and MO.

Spencer and Aunt B with their new baby

Great, great love

• Oh!! My back!!! We took a lovely family trip to Mustang to pick up a load of stuff on Sunday. I feel like I've typed that sentence a million times and I really can't wait til I can stop saying that I "went to Mustang to pick up a load of stuff." ugh. Riley was just as thrilled as Hal and I were to be making the trip. We worked fast though and loaded up the trailer and both vehicles all the while keeping an eye on Hallie while she mostly entertained herself with some toys and Baby Einstein. She seriously is an Einstein junkie! Lol! She sits in a trance and then will suddenly break out in laughter and giggles! The self-entertainment thing went well except for a couple times that we found her lying on top of the laptop pressing on the keys. That girl! Only after we had left did Miss Mindy text and offer to keep an eye on her while we packed. It would have definitely saved the laptop trauma but all in all it could not have gone smoother with a 6 month old. Once we got back to town with our load of stuff luckily we did have a babysitter lined up. We dropped her by Nanny and Papa's house and we went to work. They must have seen right through my "we can do it ourselves" tough act because they came over an hour later to help us unpack some of our big items. Thank goodness because I was on the verge of hiding so that I didn't have to unpack anymore. Kylie and her fiance Bret stopped by to take a peek at the living quarters and said my favorite quote of the week...."it's not that bad." She's right. It really isn't. And it could always be worse. The disappointment of the evening gave when we attempted to put the washer and dryer into the tiny space provided. Well, I can tell you that they needed to PROVIDE MORE SPACE! So as of now we have a working washing machine with a dryer approx 1/2 mile away at Nanny's house. She is an excellent folder though. ;)

Right before she rolled onto the computer

• The Stang. It's up and running. And I finally got to take a ride in it. A very short ride but long enough to see the difference that having the engine rebuilt made. It rode nice! Riley had a local friend/car expert do some fine tuning on the motor. Next on the list: a new alternator. I think we have enough on our plates at the moment so it might be awhile before he spends significant time on the ol' Stang. For now, it is chillin' in our storage shed along with all of our other "stuff."

• Space is something of the past. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I have to shove our lives into 700 sq ft of space. I have to realize that I now have one tiny closet instead of a master walk-in closet with an abundance of space. Right now my clothes are lying in a very scary pile on Hallie's bedroom floor. This being because Hallie's room seems almost twice the size of ours. Part of me wants to just say "to heck with it" and leave my clothes in a pile for a few months but the other part of me that craves organization and order is telling me that I won't be able to look at it everyday. And I want Hallie's room to be a clean, big space for her to play. Especially because it's looking like we will have a crawler by the time we leave our living quarters. Days are passing and clothes aren't moving. Who wants to come help?

• Time on my hands. I start work a week from today. I am more than ready to get life back into a routine. A new routine. With my extra time I have I've been unpacking and most importantly trying to find a babysitter. Yes. I said it. I don't have a babysitter. I am desperate after making several phone calls and getting no answer or just the answer "no." I so badly do not want to put her in a daycare setting. I will probably do whatever I can to find her a home daycare. I really think that the main reason she has yet to be sick is because she hasn't been around a huge group of kids.

Riley and I attended the Chamber of Commerce banquet last night and it was very eye-opening for me. Not the actual banquet but the conversations I had with his coworkers and their spouses. Each of them had made moves themselves to come work for the hospital. We were swapping moving stories and it seemed like I was hearing my own thoughts. Low and behold, all of our moving woes are not so uncommon. I was finally able to laugh about it all. So I've decided to trade my tears for laughs. And continue to pray that our house sells so we can breath a sigh of relief.

Ok, so I bet you are thinking "woah, when is this lady going to shutup?" Well, I am done. That's our lives lately in a nutshell. A wordy nutshell. But I've left out some juicy info about our little one who is the reason I write this blog in the first place. But the munchkin will be 6 months old in two days so I don't want to repeat myself when I write her 6 month update. So stay tuned to find out what new things she has been up to.....