Hellooooo! How are you? I'm good... exhausted, but good. The baby and dog are asleep, my tummy is full of dark chocolate coconut ice cream, and I'm laying in bed happy as a clam that I actually have a few minutes to spend on my poor deserted blog. Here's the gist of what's been going on lately...
We put our house on the market... and were under contract in less than 48 hours! It was a whirlwind, and we feel very very fortunate to have fared so well in this economy. More details coming soon, including loads of before and after pics.
Our sweet Emma turned 1 year old last week! I can't believe how quickly this first year flew by, and how much she's changed and grown. Our tiny screaming newborn has turned into this happy little toddler... so curious about her world and with a smile and laugh that melt away even the worst days. I know I'm biased, but she's pretty much the best baby ever. Oh, and we did throw a little 1st birthday bash for her... I'll have more on that soon, too. (Are you noticing a pattern yet?)
Jared left for Maryland last week. Before he left we knocked a bunch of stuff off of our "Before we leave Portland bucket list." It'll get it's own post, too, but one of my favorite things we did was to go back to the place where we got married and take a family photo in the same spot where we said our vows nearly 3 years ago. It was such a special day (Father's Day, actually) and I'm so glad we were able to get up to the mountain one last time.
Life without him here has been a tough adjustment... parenting is just flat-out easier with 2 people, especially when that 2nd person is as hands-on (and awesome) as Jared is, but I'm doing my best and (knock on wood) have yet to have any major parenting fails. As tired as I am, in a weird way it's the time I'm getting one-on-one with Emma that's pulling me through. I live for the moment I walk into her classroom after work and she comes bounding toward me, arms outstretched and grinning from ear to ear... there's no amount of exhaustion that makes that feel any less awesome. That being said, we're heading to Maryland this weekend to look at houses, and I'll be very very glad to be a family of 3 again - even if it's just for a few days.
In other news, I've actually been making progress on my Life List! Again, a post is in the works... but to give you a preview, I've dyed my hair it's natural color (and 3 months later am now happily back to blonde), we're up to #91 on AFI's Top 100 movie list, I had a photo shoot with my mom and sister and our babies, and - miracle of all miracles - I've kept a plant alive for more than 3 months! And now that we're moving back east I have a whole bunch more things I want to add to the list... like having a girls theater weekend in NYC (Newsies, anyone??), and taking a little getaway with Jared to Savannah.
So, let's see... that's at least 4 blog posts I owe you. Guess I better get cracking - er, typing.
XO,
