Let the crawling begin!

Well it happened, she has finally learned to crawl.  I wouldn't quite say she is every where yet, but she sure can get around.  Her favorite things to crawl for are: cell phones, cords to the lamps, picture frames on the floor (lots of those since nothing has gotten hung up yet!), and her diaper basket (you would NOT believe how fast she can empty it!). I have had to baby proof one room so far (living room).  It is amazing how different this parenting game is now that she can move, she immediately goes for things she is not supposed to have!  Why can't she just crawl towards toys!  And when I say baby proof I just mean put everything up on the couch.....I still need to do outlet covers and all that stuff, don't judge me.  

Here is a video of her making her way towards some candles, this was taken yesterday (6/20), and already today she is better at it!  My sister-in-law, Audrey, put it perfectly, "She looks like she is crawling on a slip and slide!"

Josie has no idea what she is in for, there have been a couple times where Brie has surprised her from behind. And in this picture below Josie is wolfing down her food because Brie started crawling towards it. 

I am including a few other pictures here, she is just growing up so fast.  I KNOW everyone always says that about their babies/kids, but wow.  I truly can't believe it, she has such a personality and opinion!  

Oddly she has not been loving bath time very much, she has been crying and screaming when I have to pour water over her and wash her up.  

Classic "why did you set me down?!" cry.  I get this face a lot.....lots of protesting.  She is heavy though and I can't carry her all the time!

She isn't pulling herself up yet, I set her up here.  She was able to hold this position for a LONG time though before falling back on her butt.  She thought she was soooo cool doing this!

She loves pulling things out of the toy bin, or any bin for that matter!

She has been doing more and more copying, which is so fun!  She sticks her tongue out when you do, and she is catching on to if you say "where is your slicker?!"  she will stick out her tongue.  Such a ham!

We go and walk down to the mailbox at the end of our road, it is completely downhill walking to the box and walking back I can hardly make it without taking a break!  It is a huge hill!  Although that isn't saying much because I am in terrible shape.....haha.

Pool Ownership

Pool ownership has proved to be tricky tricky business.  Who knew there were so many different chemicals that go into a pool?!  I literally (until about 5 days ago) thought you just put in chlorine and there ya go.....so very wrong I was.I now know how to do a water test, which requires using this chemistry looking kit.  You have to test for chlorine levels, pH, and alkalinity (yep, that's right, I know stuff!!).  So once you get your test results, then you have to determine if you need to add anything to the pool.  Some of this we are still working out, but overall I think we got it!

This is what the pool looked like to start with, right after we took off the cover:

And now this is our beautiful specimen!  This is the first day it was swim-able: 

This is Alec hooking up the vacuum, which is one task I have not mastered.  It just seems so complicated, you have to detach hoses and reconnect things.....we would probably end up with pool water in the basement if I did it.  

First evening swimming in the pool!  Brie liked it for the most part, it was maybe a little chilly for her but she didn't seem to mind.

We have already had some pool guests which has been fun!  We hope to be able to use it all summer long and share it with our family and friends :)  So, come on over whenever you are in the mood to take a little dip!

Moving Day!

We were finally able to move into our house June 15!  Such a crazy day!  Alec met a few people at the storage locker where all our stuff was stored and loaded up a truck first thing in the morning.  Then headed over to the house where everyone was ready to unload!  We unloaded that truck so fast I couldn't believe it. I like to think for the most part I was very organized with labeling, almost everything was labeled with which room it went into.  I stood right inside the front door where all the traffic was and directed people and identified any mystery items.  Soon everything was placed into the proper rooms and the house looked like a complete disaster!  Soooooo many boxes.  Thank heavens we have such awesome family and friends, some even were able to stay for a while after lunch and help unpack boxes!  We got WAY more done that day than I ever thought possible, so a HUGE thank you to everyone.  

We had so many people helping our lawn looked like a parking lot:

Waiting for the truck to arrive, starting on round 1:

Let the madness begin:

 Even Josie got in on the action, actually here she was so freaked out with all the craziness she was trying to get to Alec:

My mother in law was so helpful with watching Brie most of the day, and of course still able to take pictures:

For lunch I ordered Subway trays of sandwiches:

Commence organization:

We are slowly feeling more settled.  Still a few random boxes here and there, mostly of stuff I'm not sure where I want it yet.  I have to do some more organization in the kitchen, it is SO close, but there is a few cupboards that are busting full and a few others that are empty.  Alec had to travel the majority of this week for work, so that put a huge slow down on productivity.  But Brie and I have been able to manage ok, couple little things that we needed to call for help with but we are getting into the swing of things again!

Pictures of our time in Grant

I was going through some pictures, and found a few random ones I thought I would post!  I can't believe how much Brie has changed in the almost 6wks we have been in Michigan!

I bought a new carrier for her.  It is a really nice one that supports the weight of the baby much better than my previous one.  I have used it so much and plan to keep using it for a long long time.  It is called the Beco Gemini, and can be used in 4 different positions! 

She has discovered how fun the tupperware cupboard can be!  So fun to pull everything out and make a big 'ol mess!

She has had TWO colds since we have been here!  So annoying.  The Nose Frida Snot Sucker (yes, that is actually what it is called!) has been our best friend.  I would highly recommend it to anyone!

I have found some great toys at garage sales, here she is playing with a see-and-say with Alec, it makes farm noises!  Appropriate for living in Grant :)

Brie loves swinging in the hammock, and snuggling with her Aunt Emily!

She keeps getting closer and closer to crawling!  Being nude helps, nothing to slow you down!

She gives very slobbery kisses!

Attacking Uncle Jordan!  Pinned!

Big girl eating Cheerios now!

 When you have to get laundry done and the baby is being fussy, put her in the bucket!

Bumma has taken her for lots of stroller rides!

Here is a video of her being completely silly.  I just LOVE her laugh!

First time to our house = FAIL

The time as finally come for us to start moving into our house!  The sellers asked to be in the house until June 15, which we agreed too. But they contacted us and said they would be done moving and cleaning June 9, and we could get in early.  We decided to leave our original move date (June 15) the same since that is when we have help to move all our stuff, but thought it would be nice to be able to get in and do any last minute cleaning and take a couple loads of stuff.  The way we left it with the sellers was that they were going to be finishing cleaning up Sunday and would let us know when they were almost done and we would meet them at the house.  Well as the hours ticked by on Sunday (yesterday) we had no word from them and two trailer loads of stuff ready to be hauled over, with of course a chance of rain later in the day.  So we were anxious to get going!  Finally we contacted them, and they said they thought they would be done within an hour and a half.  So since it is an hour drive from Grant, we headed that way.

Well they ended up being there for like 3 more hours, so it was SUPER awkward since we were trying to unload our two trailers and they were trying to finish up.  And they are in the middle of the divorce, which is so sad, but they were screaming and yelling at each other.....it was just horrible awkward. Mike and Lauren (Alec's sister and her husband) were SO nice to come and help us unload and watch Brie, and they too had to endure the awkwardness.  Well we got it all unloaded and stuff in the garage and house.  Alec talked with the seller about some pool stuff for a while, which was helpful since we will have to try and open the pool soon!

Josie loved sniffing everything and was having a grand ol' time.  We were ready to head out and decided to go walk around in our woods behind the house and check it out.  Well Mike, Alec, and Josie walked out further than Lauren, Brie, and I did (too many mosquitoes!).  Then the incident happened.....

There are neighbors kiddie-corner behind our property, their dog came charging onto our land straight towards Josie.  He attacked her, grabbed her with his teeth and shook her.  Alec and Mike saw the whole thing, I heard the awful sounds of Josie yelping.  So I went tearing off into the woods.  Sure enough that awful dog bit our dog, I went straight to Josie who was bleeding.  The evil dog was being held by the owner, Alec and Mike went to talk to the owner while I took Josie back to the house.  She was shaking like a leaf.  Thankfully one of the boxes I had brought had old towels, so I opened that and used them to hold against the bleeding wound on her hind end.

Alec and Mike talked with the dog's owners, who saw the whole thing.  They were a bit defensive at first, saying this has never happened before and maybe the dog thought Josie was a woodchuck.  But they were very sorry, and agreed to pay whatever vet bill came out of this.  Alec and Mike came back to the house, we decided we really should call this in and file a police report so that it is documented.  Then we decided since Josie was still bleeding we should find an emergency vet clinic.

The vet determined that she needed minor surgery since the puncture wound was so deep.  So they sedated her and stitched her wound from the inside out.  Then sent her home with antibiotics and two different pain meds. They had to shave off a large area of fur, which you can see in the pictures.  So she looks pretty rough with the 2 injury spots (stitches only on one, the other is shallow puncture marks).

It was a good thing we had driven two cars, I went back to Grant with Briana and Alec stayed with Josie.  Ended up being a late night for Alec though!  Josie was still pretty drugged out when they got home, Dozer (Alec's parents dog) was very concerned about her!

She is doing ok today (6/10).  She has pretty much just been lying on her towel on the couch all day.  I got her to eat a little bit by mixing yogurt in with some doggie food.  I think it hurts for her to go potty, she has to use that punctured muscle to squat when she goes.  So she hasn't been out much today.  She likes when I sit with her, she just snuggles with me.  Poor dog.  

Well, moving forward I am certainly concerned about this dog that apparently isn't tied up.  The previous owners did say that the dog has been known to come into their property at times.  The dog's owners assure us this has never happened before, which really doesn't matter to me.  Alec plans to continue to be in contact with them to assure there is a concrete plan in place for containing the dog.

It is such a bummer.  It has put such a damper on our moving excitement.  And I don't want to have to always be on red alert for this stupid neighbor dog!  We are trying to stay positive, and trusting that the neighbors are taking the situation seriously (which I truly think they are) and will come up with a good solution.

I am going to the house again on Wednesday to get some groceries and put a couple things away.  Then Alec is taking off on Friday and we are going to move a few more things in and prepare for the big move Saturday!  It will be SO weird to be in our house with our stuff.  I still feel like we are on an extended visit sometimes.  I keep wondering when it is all going to sink in!