Squeaky Clean

Boys update

We have been so proud of our boys (always) but especially lately.

Elliott has been potty-training and doing GREAT.  He has way surpassed our expectations and is just doing so well.  He is starting preschool next week for 2 half-days!  I can't believe I'm saying this, but so far 3 has been mostly great!

Winston started taking his first steps last week and is slowly catching on, one little single step at a time.  He is also doing great with finger foods, and learned to crawl backwards down our stairs which is a huge victory!

 

Also, don't miss our nerdy column addition on the right ~ recent celebrity sightings!  We play it cool in person, but are really freaking out inside (and in the car afterward).  If you're going to live in LA, you might as well brush shoulders with celebrities, right?

New Kitchen

Well, looks like Christmas came LATE to our house this year (good thing Winsty is still in Christmas jammies!))!  We found a good deal on a used kitchen for the boys and they woke up to it this morning!  So far, it's a hit, though Elliott doesn't seem to quite understand the pretend-ness of the food.  Small melt down that he couldn't have the pretend cereal for breakfast :)!!!

Winston: 9 months

Winston is 9 months!  He had a great first Christmas and was determined to eat lots of wrapping paper. He is trying lots of new solid foods and is actually sleeping all night most nights ... woohoo!  No steps yet but he pulls up and stands without holding on for several seconds at a time which is fun!  He also had his first little haircut at Lovee's house over Christmas.  Big boy!

1 week:

1 month:

2 months:

3 months:

4 months:

5 months:

6 months:

7 months:

8 months:

9 months:

You can see Elliott's progression here if you want to compare!

Finally ... house pics!

We had a super great trip home for Christmas .. mostly because I didn't have to work too much and we got to be with our families lots.  But it was also fun coming home to what feels mostly like our home.  We are really looking forward to the next few months as we aren't traveling much, I'm not working much, and we are going to function like a normal family and cook meals and watch tv and do all the normal things families do when mom isn't drowning in work!  Woohoo!! Adam is going to work on writing stuff which is the whole reason we are here.  I love my job, but it can be pretty all-consuming during some seasons. 

I am finally getting around to posting some pics of our house.  These were taken a few weeks ago (e.g. Christmas decor), and as you can see, we are still getting settled, unpacking the last boxes, organizing, etc.   Finding this place was .. er ... interesting.  Housing just works different in a big city, much less the fact that we were trying to find a place while in Nashville, and not able to see places in person.  It. was. crazy.  Special thanks to Adam's brothers and our friends the Godfreys who were so amazing to do drive-by's for us, tour houses we didn't even rent, talk us through neighborhoods, etc., etc.  We are so grateful!

We found houses we loved but didn't rent them soon enough, found houses that seemed more practical but just didn't seem "right", found PLENTY that we adored but could never afford, and after all the run around, we couldn't be happier that this is where we landed.

Adam flew out a week before me and the boys and did a blitz of apartment visits and everything just fell into place with this one.  I approved it from iphone pics and google street views, (!?!), and Adam and his amazing brothers moved all of our stuff in all before we even came.  It was definitely an odd night for Adam to come pick us up at LAX and drive us through unfamiliar streets, neighborhoods, and houses to "our" house.  Here's my instagram from when we pulled up to the front door:

It is a duplex and we live in the downstairs unit, which I think is fun because there are enough people around that we feel very safe, but not so many that it's a problem. Most of the people on our street have lived here for years, so it feels very established.  It was built in the mid 20's, so it has amazing charm which I LONGED for while living in Orange County.  We miss our friends there so much but couldn't miss the cookie-cutter houses any less!!

I actually meant this to be a short post ... ha.  So without any further ado, here are a few pics.  We are putting some time and energy into really making the space ours so can't wait to show you the "after" pics soon as we get everything really set up!

From the street:

 

Arched wooden front door ... what a great start!

Living room:

Elliott's "office" as we call it ... aka a place for all of the junk!  Hallelujah!

 
 

Found this crazy man while trying to take pics ...

Dining room. That's right ~ a big upgrade ... we actually have a kitchen table now! And we eat on it!

Kitchen ... never enough space here but who actually DOES think they have enough?

My very own office that isn't on a kitchen table and isn't in the living room!  This photo is deceiving ~ it's not very big ~ but it's wonderful!

I skipped photos of bedrooms and baths ... not too exciting there.  But we do have a little courtyard/garden that we share with the house next door which is really great!

Thanks to everyone for being so encouraging during this process and asking about our new life!  So far so good!