I'm Back, but Going Away Again!!

Hello friends!  I am here for a quick update and then we are headed to Tennessee to visit my family for a few days.  Then we head to Myrtle Beach for our annual 4th of July trip with the family.  Jemma and I are going to sneak to Charleston to visit our friends there!  We are so excited!

We have been busy moving in.  We had not one but two big trucks unload plus a big van!  How can we have this much junk?!?  I was going to be all sassy and organize and put everything away perfectly.  Yeah right.  For the first time ever we had the movers unpack us.  OH MY!  It looked like a bomb had gone off in every room!!!  I just started putting stuff away.  Organization will come in the fall when my baby goes to school all day ever day.  I. DREAD. THIS.  Why do they have to grow up????

Things are livable in the main rooms and I just plug along as I can!

It is stormy in Minnesota!!!  I have seen more hail and lightning in the last month than I have seen in the last 6 years!  It has been crazy!  We were all awakened abruptly when it sounded like a mac truck coming through our bedroom wall.  Turns out, it was the roof of a neighbor's play set!  I haven't been scared like that in a long time.  The day after the big storms, our neighbors found a baby bird in their yard.  He had been blown out and was a little guy.  I couldn't leave him so Carlos (yes he got a name and he was named after the baby bird my nieces cared for!) came home with us in a box.  We were terrified he wouldn't make it overnight but around 6:00 a.m. we heard lots of chirping!  I became quite adept at feeding him mushed blueberries with a baby spoon!  Jemma said I was very good with birds!  We took him to The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota where the informed us he was a Baltimore Oriole.  They whisked him back and put him in an incubator.  We didn't even get to say "goodbye".  I have to admit, I was a little bummed about that.  He was a cute little fellow!

Truck 1

I unpacked all these boxes while the guys worked on the rest of the house.  

The living room arrange the way the BHW wanted it.   I didn't love it so I flipped it.  We may flip it back so he can see how cramped it felt!  ;-)

Our first night that we stayed here, we were amazed to see this double rainbow out of the living room window.  I said it was a special welcome just for us!

We have some amazing sunsets!

Meet Carlos.
He is not happy with us as he figures out his new surroundings and he is a hungry boy!

This is our sweet boy when he is settled in and sleepy.  I called Petco to get the scoop and they said since it was nighttime, he wouldn't want to eat and would go to sleep.  That he did and slept all through the night!  The above picture was how he looked at 6 a.m. too!

This is a content and full Carlos after a few mushed blueberries.  Notice the mess on the side of the box.  It took us several attempts to get the blueberries in his mouth!  I love his little fuzz on his head.  He was not very old at all.

This is my sweet girl cooing over Carlos.  She cried herself to sleep worried the night before.  It is precious to see such empathy in her.  I also love her eyelashes!

Here we are delivering Carlos (doesn't he look tiny in the corner of the big box!) to the Rehab Center.  We can send an email and check on him in a few days.  As we drove off, Jemma said, " I miss Carlos and his chirping."  I did too.

I will be back after the 4th and blogging again!

I hope y'all are well and have a great Fourth of July!

Deleted comments

Okay peeps.  I just deleted the last 50 comments and I didn't mean to!  Is there a way to recover them?  Darn technology!

Let the Unpacking Begin!

Hello friends!!  The movers came on Monday and for the first time ever we had them take everything out of boxes.  OH MY WORD... it looks like a bomb has gone off!  We have been methodically working our way through the kitchen and bedrooms.   Much more to do, but we spent our first night in the house on Wednesday and I slept like a baby!!!  When I walked downstairs the next morning, it just felt like home. Such a great feeling after being so sad about leaving Charleston.

Help!!!!

Little bit better but still a lot to go!!

Today we took a break from unpacking and went to the Mall of America to see the Princess Diana exhibit.  It was a beautiful presentation of many of her personal treasures such as toys, photos, report cards and diaries along with a collection of her dresses.  The show stopper was her wedding dress and all 25 feet of its train!  I was a huge fan of Diana's and got very emotional while seeing all these pieces.  At one point while reading some info about her funeral to Jemma, she wiped tears off my face and said, "Let's go Mommy.  This makes you too sad,"  My sweet girl.  It was incredible and I am so glad we went!

I think I could win Mother of the Year with this photo!  Yes, I took my daughter to Hooters for lunch.  It was right across from the exhibit!

This was a photo outside.  They did not allow any cameras or phones out at all.  They didn't even allow gum chewing!  

We ended the day with a quick ride in the Nickelodeon Amusement park in the Mall.    She has been very adventurous lately and wanted to ride the log chute.  We did and as you can see... she isn't quite sure about it!  Once we were off, she didn't mind it so much, but this picture just cracked me up! She couldn't get over that don't strap you in and all you do is hold on to the rails.  She kept telling her daddy that it was crazy they didn't strap you to keep you safe!  She is so funny! 

This weekend we are going to be unpacking and I have a little antiquing trip planned with one of my neighbors.  If anyone wants to organize and unpack... come on over!!!!!

The Toothless Wonder!

Well, she lost another one!  We saw this one coming and videotaped it coming out!  Ha! 

 She is so funny with all these teeth gone.  The tooth fairy has been busy at our house!

My Baby

My baby is growing up on me and I can hardly stand it.  She has now lost four teeth.  I could deal with the bottom teeth, but today she lost the front tooth.  I am excited for her but so so so sad.  That, to me, is the end of babyhood.  Now we are entering the era of teeth that won't fit her face until she is in the 7th grade.  It breaks my heart that my baby's face is changing.  I wish I could turn back time and rock my newborn again, but I really do love seeing this sweet child of mine grow into a spunky little creature!  Oh my baby...

Greetings from... MINNESOTA!!! Finally!!!

Hello friends!  Thank you all for your sweet emails and messages as I have gone on this journey.  I am finally in Minnesota and we are settled in a townhouse for the next few weeks while they finish the basement in our new house.

I had a great visit with my best friend and so many other friends in the area!  It is nice to have a group of friends that you just pick right up with like no time has passed.

On Saturday, I headed out around 2 in the afternoon with every intention of driving 6 or 7 hours and then stopping at a hotel for the night.  The drive was so darn easy that I drove straight through!  It took me about 12 1/2 hours which seems like a long time, but was so darn easy that I just couldn't stop!! Jemma is such a trooper.  She talked my head off, watched movies, colored, and napped.  She was awesome.  It was so nice to be a family again and it allowed me to not have to drive on Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was awesome!  Jemma made me a sweet card and decorated a little terra cotta pot that I can't wait to put some flowers in!   Jemma and Tom also surprised me with this little something something...

Yes, my friends... that is a Louis Vuitton.  The real thing.  I was floored.

I am not normally a brand kind of person.  I shop at Walmart and Target.  I just don't need the expensive stuff, but I have always wanted a Louis Vuitton.  I love the smell of them.  I love the shape.  I love the monogram.  I have just always wanted one and my sweet sweet husband bought one for me.  He even said it was an investment as I tend to carry a purse forever.  Seriously.  I carry a purse I bought for $10 in Brazil in 1996.  I may trade the this Tivoli for a Palermo.  This sweet bag can really only be held by the handles or on your arm.  I am a shoulder slinging kind of gal so I may trade.  I don't know.  This is crazy, but it interfered with the BHW's and Jemma's hand holding while walking through the mall.  We are a hand holding kind of people!  I know I don't deserve a gift like this, but I am so lucky to have a man who spoils me when he can.  He said he knew how much this move was taking on me and he just wanted me to have it.   As much as I love this bag... I love my husband so much more and am so blessed to have this man in my life.  

We also ate at the Rainforest cafe.  Jemma loves it there and I wanted her to have a little something special since she was in a car for 12 1/2 hours!  We also rode The Fairly Odd Roller Coaster at the Nickolodean park in the Mall of America.  It was Jemma's first crazy roller coaster as it spins around.  She was so excited, but that quickly turned to absolute fear!  I didn't know if she was going to throw up or pass out.  Her little face was so petrified!  There was a slow spot in the ride and she said, "Is this ride almost over?" with this little pitiful voice.  Oh my poor baby!  We did get off and she said, "Let's do it again!".  She is so funny!!!!  

Soooo.... I am in Minnesota.  Time to explore!!!!

Greetings from Michigan!

Hello friends!  I am currently in Michigan visiting the BFFL!  We spent a great three days with my parents in Tennessee and then a quick one day visit with my MIL, SIL, nieces and nephew and then it was on to Michigan.  The BHW is now in Minnesota and will start his new job tomorrow!  I am excited for him!  I am visiting my favorite people and eating at my favorite places for a couple of days.  Jemma and I will then head to Minnesota!  I will hopefully be back in the blogging game soon!  I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to catch up!