we are coming along...

We have been coming along here in Cincy, kinda.  Originally we were suppose to move into our new house about a month ago and as can be seen by the lack of posts, that has not happened quite yet.  Even though the house is coming along pretty slowly, we have been pretty busy with life without moving into a new house!  Charlotte and Oliver are the best of friends.  She thinks he is the sweetest, "cuuuute witta brodda" and he thinks the world revolves around her.  Just tonight Jay and I both enjoyed watching them both giggle at each other for the longest time!  I have been settling into the swing of school and I think I am starting to get comfortable and with the swing of things with my new teaching position.  Jay is about to get really, really busy, so he has been holding the whole family together while I figure things out at school. This weekend we had a good time with a bit of relaxing, spending time with family and doing some planning for the future.

We went to the Cincinnati Zoo with Grandpa, Gibby and Ben to see some "aminals" and had a nice time!

Our little house has some major plans this week to get painted on the inside and get flooring, so we decided to put our first marks on the house this evening.  The four of us had a good time writing some great verses that we hope to remember throughout the years as we grow as a family.

We will keep everyone posted on the progress of everything growing and changing including kids and house.  I have been working diligently on gathering some fun antiques for the new house, artwork that I am pretty excited about and refurbishing an old dining room table.  Fingers crossed that everything comes together soon! -Melissa

a busy week with pools, ponies, potties and more!

We have really lived this week up.  Saturday through Friday was actually a bit ridiculous with everyone in our family somewhere different almost every day.  We did get to have a bunch of fun followed up with some training for the kids. Early in the week we went to my parent's, neighbors' house to play in their pool and both kids had a great time.  It was a cool morning and the pool was really warm.  Oliver got in his pool float and spent the whole morning there.  Charlotte spent most of the time practicing her kicking and floating on Jay's back like she was a dolphin.

We also got to meet 3/4 of the Smith Family at the Indianapolis Zoo.  It is a great little zoo and the shrieking coming out of all the kids as they were once again reunited was priceless.  Thanks to Gibby for taking Ollie for the day, he would not of enjoyed the zoo as much as the rest of us!

Wednesday was our nine year anniversary so we shipped Charlotte to Gibby's and left Ollie with Tiki.  We took a super simple trip to Lexington Kentucky to the horse park.  I really wanted Jay to get some shots of some barns for me to hang in our soon to be dining room.  We had a really nice time, got some good shots and stayed in a very interesting bed and breakfast!

To round off our crazy week we took our first visit to the local county fair.  It seems fairs, festivals and amusement parks are what C majors in lately.  She knew all the rides and was super comfortable on them.  She also knew to expect some animals to play with and of course a treat later on that night.  We had a great time and got to spend some time with Rachel, Ben, Grandpa, Gibby and Tim and Dee.  Jay and Oliver were super interested in the tractor pull that was happening that night, but that event didn't start until 7:30.  Way past the kids bedtime, especially after the busy week we had completed.  Maybe next year.

To slow things down a bit and yet go against what all parenting books tell you we decided to simultaneously sleep train Ollie this weekend and potty train Charlotte.  If we wait until we are not in a middle of a major life event and times have settled down a bit Oliver will be seven and Jay will still be rocking him to sleep and I will be changing Charlotte's diapers before she goes to elementary school.  We started yesterday morning and so far Oliver has caught on fairly quickly and slept his longest ever last night and Charlotte has had both success in the number one and two categories on the potty.

Here is a shot of Oliver after his first, "I refuse to submit" nap, he actually looks great compared to Charlotte's way back when and of course a shot of C in her "big girl panties", although they are actually big boy hand me downs from Ben!

We have blocked off our schedules until Wednesday to try to really help the kids master their new skills.  Here is hoping we continue to improve and parents do not go stir crazy!

one month later...

So, one month has passed since we have made the intial move to Cincy.  We are currently living with Dickie and Jenanne and I know that their house has never been so loud!  I am not sure if they have taken a walk in the past month without Charlotte tagging along and I am sure that their house will never get that new house clean or smell again after our family leaves! We have had a very busy month with moving me into my new office at school, finding a babysitter for the kids, planning a birthday party, finally getting to play with cousins, getting Ohio driver licenses, finding a new church home and watching our house being built.

Here are some pictures of how we have spent our days...

The house has come a long way and we are starting to get very excited...

With all of  this construction that has been happening it has really fueled Charlotte's love of diggers and all things construction.  She has enjoyed watching her house go up!

Digger trucks and construction have not completely filled our time in the past month we have also been lucky to have time to picnic, play at the lake, take some walks in tutu's and enjoy some pool time!

Of course, we have set time aside for cuddles with dad, trips to the reds game with the Smiths, fun at Parky's Farm and another trip to Coney Island with Aunt Paula.

As July comes to a close and August is coming so quickly we are starting to get used to enjoying time with family and settling into life in Cincinnati.  Before we know it, school will be starting and we will be into our new house!  What an exciting month, here comes yet another!

new traditions...4th of July

When we moved away from Richmond and back to Cincinnati we left a lot of good friends.  We also left all of our traditions there as well.  We have always been a big fourth of July family.  We just love everything about it.  So all week I have been scouring events and activities that we could try to incorporate into new family traditions here in Cincy. This year we headed out to Coney Island on the third of July for their balloon glow and firework display, we also got the benefit of having a complete thrill seeking toddler in the family and a baby that can go anywhere and be happy!  Grandpa and Gibby adventured to Coney Island with us and although I wanted to take the evening to sit down and read and discuss the Declaration of Independence with Charlotte and what it means I think everyone enjoyed Coney Island much more.  I think we have made our first new tradition.  Here are some pics of the day, enjoy!

Charlotte loved every single ride we put her on and when each ride was finished ask for more!  It was hard explaining to her that some rides she was too short for or deemed too small...she would of rode them with no problem!

While C was running around Coney Island living it up Grandpa, Gibby and Oliver had fun watching her and all was thankful when we planted it to hear a symphonic band and watch the balloons begin to inflate.

I don't think any of us had ever been that close to a hot air balloon when they had put one up or seen so many.  It was pretty amazing!

We filled our time before the firework show with some last minute rides and "ice-mmmmm" cones for all!  The lines were a bit longer at this point so we needed some daddy entertaining while we waited in line.

We ended our night with fireworks.  It is always like playing the lottery when you bring young kids to a firework show from year to year, but both enjoyed it and Charlotte could now announce every color that she saw in the sky at the top of her lungs!

Happy fourth of July, hope you also make some fun family memories!

-melissa