Oh, Cute!

In the last month Lilly has grown up so much. I dont know if it was the big move and having to fend for herself for like the last month or what. But she is acting way older than she was last month. She has started saying more words like "Cute". Everything to do with clothing, shoes, hair stuff is "cute". I will put on her outfit for the day and she will look at herself and say, "Oh Cute!" She is such a little girly. Today she picked up her dad's socks and said, "Dad's socks". That was big for her. I hope she just wakes up tomorrow and starts speaking full sentences, or maybe just saying more than 10 words. It would make things so much easier!

Though she has been acting so grown up she has also been super clingy, and only to me. It really bugs me. Dont get me wrong, I love my little girl so much. I just dont like super clingy children. I need my space. I hate it when she cries on my leg while I make dinner because she wants to be held. It bugs. She has always been super independent, which I loved. She is probably just going through a phase since her world has been turned upside down. I am starting to feel bad now. But when she whines on my leg tommorow I wont feel bad.

I have been trying to find things to do around here. Lilly used to be really content to just play with her toys all day with maybe one outing. But now she wants to live outside. Its really hard because it is so hot and humid outside. So I am now having to find REALLY fun things to do inside to keep her mind off the outside. Help!

We bought Lilly this bike after looking for it for about 4 months! It was so hard to find. It has no peddles, which is great since she cant use them yet. She absolutely loves it! In the mornings when it is cooler she rides all around the complex. She can go for hours! She has had a couple of spills because she goes SO fast. But she just gets back up like it never happened and keeps going and going and going......

Home Sweet Home Part 2

Things are getting back to normal around here. Gus's mom, Susan, left yesterday. We loved having her here, but now that she is gone, life must go on. Lilly is back to her normal schedule, hopefully for good, she woke up at 8:30 this morning instead of 6:30. She ran straight for the couch to look for grandma, who wasnt there. She was devastated. It was so sad.

We decided to go to the pool since it is about 1,000 degrees outside. Actually it is only 90 but with this humidity it feels like alot more. We stepped out the door this morning and I almost gagged because the air is so thick. We only stayed at the pool for about 20 minutes becuase Lilly kept jumping out of my arms and trying to drown herself. She absolutely loves swimming but doesnt understand that she cant touch the bottom. She kept jumping off the stairs, side of the pool, and out of my arms and then inhaling water. She wanted to do it herself so bad. I need to go to Target and buy her a floating thing or maybe a life jacket so she can do it herself.

So, I have never been that great with directions. Out here I am horrible with directions. It is just WAY too confusing! We even have a GPS and I still get lost! On the way home from the airport yesterday I kept taking the wrong rode and going through Toll roads. It took us 40 min to get home instead of 20 min. It gives me so much anxiety!

Here are pics of our new place. I pretty much photographed every single room. I mean there is only like 5 of them! Oh, and out here they dont have lights in the main rooms, like the family room and bedrooms. So weird! So we have to have lots of lamps. I love lamps but the rooms just never get as bright. Anyways, here are the pics....

The Family Room. This room is actually a really good size. There is a patio off in the corner.

The Kitchen and Dining Room. We still have cute decorations for the Dining Room but have yet to put them up.

The Kitchen. There is not a whole lot of space to put things so most things are out on the countertops which doesnt leave alot of space for me to cook.

The Laundry Room. The Washer and dryer are SO small. I laughed and then almost cried when I saw them. It fits like 1/5 of a normal load. Hey, at least I have them. Right?

The one and only bathroom. Enough said.

The Master Bedroom. This room needs a little work. We have nothing on the walls and we still have about 6 unpacked boxes on the floor. I just dont know where to put everything!

Lilly's Bedroom. We have put up some things on walls so it looks alright. I just wish we could paint the walls! It also totally freaks me out that her room is off the patio! We still need some sort of storage system for Lills toys against the wall. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Another pic of Lills room. Notice the paper towels and water under the crib. I hate doing things like this where people can see them. But, desperate times call for desperate measures!

Home Sweet Home

Well we are finally here in green, green Virgina. Well we actually got here last Wednesday, but we didnt get the internet until today. I have been going out of my mind without it. I said before that we were moving to Washington DC and we are kindof. It would be just too darn expensive to live right in DC so we live about 30 min out.

I havent blogged for so long I dont even know where to start, so it may just be a big jumble of facts.

We moved all of our posessions into a moving truck on the 10th. Then we moved in with Gus's parents for a week. During that week I tried to say goodbye to everyone, run last minute errands, and clean our townhouse for our renters who are moving in on July 1st. I was expecting it to be a great relaxing week before the big move but it was actually a super busy week. I was also sick with some nasty stomach bug/sore throat thing for about 3 of those day.

On the 18th we flew from Salt Lake to the Baltimore Airport. I was SO nervous about flying with Lilly, but she surprised us. She fell asleep during takeoff and slept for one hour before I made Gus shove a bottle in her mouth so her ears wouldnt hurt. She freaked out and woke up. Gus was mad at me but he has obviously never experienced the pain that airplanes can cause to your ears. After she woke up, the millions of toys we bought her especially for the plane ride kept her entertained for the rest of the ride. We were very proud of her.

We stayed in a hotel the first night and then headed over to our house the next morning after the movers delivered our truck. We started unloading and the nightmare began. Pretty much everything had some damage. I dont know if the drivers were out of control or it wasnt packed right but it was devastating. Lilly's adorable rocking chair has a hole in it, her changing table was flattened to the ground, her crib has dents and nicks all over it, our dining room chairs are thrashed, and everything else has black marks and dents. We had big sturdy tupperware bins that were flattened. It was actually pretty incredible. I had a good cry and then tried to move on with life. Its just stuff, right? Its just frustrating to save and buy nice things to then have them ruined. It makes you sick.

It took us about 4 days to get everything put away and in its place. It took that long not because we have such a big place but because we have such a small place. It was a little tricky trying to fit all of our stuff into a 920 sq/ft apartment(we even sold and gave away a TON of stuff before we came out here). Its hard to go from a townhouse with a mortgage payment of $750/month to a tiny apartment that costs $1500/month. Its just a good thing we only have one child. The complex does have a pool, tennis courts, and lots of other fun things to do. So we will stay busy. The area is georgous. I just figured out why it is so green out here. It is because it rains a ton. Since we have been here it has rained like 8 times. Not just rained, but poured bucketfuls. It really is amazing. I like it here so far, it doesnt really feel like we left. I still talk to everyone on the phone but never see them, like I did before.

Gus's mom, Susan has been here for the last 4 days helping us get settled. She has bought us tons of stuff and taken care of Lilly. She has been a great help and we really appreciate it.

Gus started work on Monday. I was afraid he would hate it and then we would be stuck here. But he LOVES it. So thats a plus.

Here are a few pics that have been taken since we have been here. I will post pics of my apartment when I get it cleaned up.

Humidity can do amazing things to your hair

Swimming with Grandma

Lilly has been waking up at 7:00 AM and eating icecream before bed. Those are two bad habits we need to kick now that we are settled

Chasing pigeons in DC (I dont know who had more fun)

Looking Longingly into the swimming pool

Lilly is drawn to water

Family picture on Gus's first day of work

Playing in the volleyball pits

Again, she is drawn to water

butter knives and apples

The other day I gave Lilly a WHOLE apple instead of cutting it up for her. She was so excited that she ran and got a butter knife out of the drawer and stuck it in her apple. So it was kinda like a carameled apple. She just sat in her chair holding her knife and taking bites out of her apple. And YES, I know her hair is out of control.

Cousin Pics

On Sunday night the cousins had thier pictures taken before they all move away. Sydell, Taige, and Sedra are moving to Idaho and Lilly is moving to DC. I never have high expectations for Lilly when taking pictures. Actually, my favorite pictures of Lilly happen to be the ones when she isnt looking at that the camera. That is good because she rarely looks. 180 pictures were taken and Lilly is in about 20 of them because she kept running out of the picture. The ones that she is in are pretty bad. I had to laugh when I went through them. Here are some of my favorites.

She seems to do better when she is alone in a picture....

Lilly just found out how to make this face, and uses it often

Looking anywhere but at the camera

Goodbye Utah!

Over 650 applied, 70 were interviewed, 10 got the job, and Gus was one of them. He accepted a job offer with the government that starts June 23rd in Washington DC. So in the next 4 weeks we have to pack up our house and move across the country. I am freaking out! First of all we havent found a place to live. Everything is really small, super expensive, and doesnt have many of the things I would expect in a home. Such as a washer and dryer. Thinking about not having a washer and dryer in my house makes me want to have a panic attack. I am trying not to be such a baby about everything for Gus's sake, but I sometimes wonder if he should just move out there by himself. No, not really. It is just really hard to move away from everything I know. Washington DC is going to be alot different than Utah and Idaho. Lilly's childhood will definately be alot different than mine was. Everyone keeps telling me what a great experience it will be. And I know that it will be once I find a decent place to live and get settled out there. I am just not looking forward to packing up my house, saying goodbye, and flying on a plane with Lilly.

Rexburg Trip

Last Wednesday Lilly and I took a big long trip to Rexburg. We had so much fun there! Lilly had a great time on the farm. There are so many fun animals there right now like the baby ducks, baby chickens, 4 baby goats that have to be bottle fed. Lilly loved helping to feed the goats their bottles and throwing feed into the baby chickens. She was also in love with the two cats and loved giving them hugs. She loved Rexburg so much that she cried when she woke up the morning after we came home. She came home with lots of scrapes and scratches up and down her arms and legs. But it was well worth it! I took 302 pictures while I was in rexburg so here are about 13 of them. Sorry there is sooooo many!

Lilly, Brinley, and Grandma
Lilly and Limey

Lilly trying to take a nap with Grandpa

Lilly and Great-Gran

Playing Rock Band with James

Mowing the lawn with Brayden

Lilly and Brinley hugging Sassy the cat

Hugging Pongo the cat

Jumping on the trampoline with Brinley