New Digs

Hello again!

night before preschool at TeddyBear's--9/20ish/12

As you likely know, we are now fully ensconced into Michigan. O yes, the peninsular state. Here for opportunity, schools, and family! And a home.

last view before we locked the apartment

We have a home. Wow, after over 15 years renting in Chicago in many many addresses, and renting in this state prior to that for about 5 years, it's a hard one to wrap my simple little mind around.
The girls are loving the weekly, if not more, visits with the grands, and that is priceless. No joke, we love that too of course. The hardest part is making new friends for us, the big kids. Work is full of friendly people for both of us, but for D there is a distance thing and for me there is the varied-job-location thing. We know this won't be for long before we meet more lovely people (we have made a few friends of course) and feel like we really belong. I think summer will do it.

Emelia drew us in our living room. those are the windows and stairs

Both girls are now in the same daycare, a wonderful in-home place where they play together and with all ages, as well as still get their learnin' on. It's a special home and walkable distance. I LOVE seeing folks from the daycare in and about, like when E was on her bike in a brief bout of warmer weather last weekend and miss C drove by and stopped to say hello.

our yard!

 Whenever it snows, D meets up with the neighborhood fellows, all snow-remodeling and bonding and discussing future BBQ events. We really got in a nice hood, we think.

our new home, xmas time. Moved in 12-23ish

Emelia is just super fab at everything these days--her writing and story-telling skills know no bounds! She paints and draws and collaborates and...it's pretty cool. Just last week, a "big girl" at the daycare taught her how to do somersaults, so she spent the evening doing like a million of em around the first floor! We didn't sign her up for anything yet, as she had the change so soon from our mid-move daycare, and didn't want to make her HAVE to do anything yet. Kindergarten starts in just a few months, and for the rest of her foreseeable life, she'll HAVE to do a lot of things! We have to make a family decision on dance v. swimming v. tumble-something. She'll rock at anything she puts her mind to do. Miss E has come a far way on confidence, with some daily struggles of "I can't do-its" but that is pretty much to be expected, I think. I am the first one to get ticked off, but we work through it and she does great.

hot dog and mustard

sadly, Alexia was sick so much of the winter, we rarely let her play out. Pneumonia wot?!

Granny Bunny for Alexia

Pasta!

harassing geese at Milford park

just around Thanksgiving 2012

bath time living at the Grands

Ah, yes. "coffee" with me :)

the Hair Begins.

suburbia: benefits at Krogers

daily kisses as Pop-pop sends us off to work and school
 during our 3 months' living there. Priceless.

Halloween--super cold. E went as the Ice Princess. Her idea! 9-2012

park on Spencer

Alexia is amazing, if she would just STOP GETTING SICK. Since our family nasty-gross experience, and scary too, of all of us getting a super horrid flu, A has decided that breast-is-best. Sure, honey, but not at a year! So to celebrate her 1st year, she gave up solids completely for a couple weeks. She's gone up and down, having had pneumonia in January, and a current/recent bad ear infection (any good ones? didn't think so), she's not the best eater any more. A has shown a preference for protein when she DOES eat, so between her and her sister, they can share a plate at any meal! A is of course doing what all 15 monthers should, which is surprising us daily.
She has about 7 words, with a new one every couple days that floats up and then is ignored (current: ow/owie, mama/dada, peek [a boo], HI HI HI HI HI, hewo/hello, done/all done, baby~!, and today UP). She climbs like a monkey (drunk one, however, that falls a lot), runs/wobbles, does stairs inconsistently (forgets, stops, and tries to turn around standing), and even fell into the tub last month when dad turned around for a millisecond! I think our wee A is going to be a swimmer, given her LOVE for water and bubbles (opposite of E). Given her many colds this season, A has mastered wiping her own nose. Tonight she even HELPED me to do the nose/brain sucker! whoa, kid, you're scaring me. Big fan of the baby-massage too haha. Trying to teach her to do my feet. Give me time...

our sleep arrangements at the Grands

For now, the sleeping has reversed: E is in bed at bedtime and OUT, whilst A is currently playing and jabbering to herself while she is flinging toys out of the picnic basket. And I'm typing. So there.
Time will tell what comes next!!

(note--this is so belatedly posted, my apologies to anyone/all. Had to add photos and forgot.--KAS 9-15-13)