Pictures of our House!

I've finally finished most of the decorating and now have pictures of our new house for you to see! We couldn't be happier with our house and feel so lucky to be here.


Here are pics of the outside of our home:



This is our living room:

Here is our kitchen:

Our main floor bath (we also have a master bath, not pictured):

Our master bedroom:


Here's Nash's room (thanks, Nancy, for the blanket and pillows you gave me so long ago!):

And Ava's room:

And finally, our basement (notice the cute little house Nash and I made out of a box):

Closing postponed and family in town

Well, our closing was postponed until this upcoming Monday instead of last Monday. It is actually good, though, because it has meant that the sellers are doing some minor repairs before closing so we don't have to!

A couple weeks ago, my sister and her family were in town and we are so glad that they came to visit. I am so grateful to her--she is one of my best friends! It was fun to have our families together. We packed a lot of things into the week: Mall of America, shopping at IKEA, BBQ and swimming at Lake George, swimming at the YMCA "waterpark", Chutes and Ladders Park, Como Zoo, foil dinners in the fire pit out front, games, and more.

Here are some pics of their visit:

New House

I just realized that a lot of people don't know this -- WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE! We are very excited. Our closing is on Monday. I'll put up a pic or two after we move in!

It's in a good neighborhood, it's a split with three bedrooms on the main level and a finished basement. We feel so blessed because the timing of everything has worked out so well and we think this house will be perfect for us.

Smiles, Duluth, and Twins!

Ava is smiling! She's been showing off her adorable grin for a few weeks now and we love it. Here are some cute shots we've taken:

We all are smiling lately, though, because of Steve's new job! As I said before, we are very excited. He beat out over 100 other applicants to be offered the position, so it is definitely a big confidence-booster that we needed. Our next step is to find affordable housing in the Twin Cities area. As much as we have loved and benefited living with Steve's family here, we are very eager to get our own place again. We'll keep you all updated on that point.

Even during the excruciating wait period while we had yet to know if he got the job, we did some fun things. We went to Duluth, where Steve's brother, Michael, ran his first marathon (way to go, Michael!). And we also made it to a Twins game which was a blast. For Steve's birthday present I bought tickets for us to go and Steve's mom and Joseph and Michael got to come along, too. Nash was all decked out in his baseball t-shirt and hat and decided that his favorite player is the pitcher. He also enjoyed getting a hot dog to eat and dancing to the music over the loudspeaker. Ava slept through almost the entire game, believe it or not (and it was loud in there!).

Here are some pics from Duluth:

And here are pics from the Twins game:

(did I fool anyone with my post title into thinking I was announcing that I was having Twins?)

Steve got a job!!!!

Today, Steve was offered a job at Graywolf Press in Minneapolis! Yay! And he accepted!

Congratulations, Steve--you are the best and you totally deserve this!

Happy Birthday, Nash!

I can't believe my little boy is 2 years old! I love so many things about him! To me, he is the most amazing and adorable little boy I have ever known.

He loves playing outside, especially on playgrounds, he loves climbing and figuring out how to do things that other kids or people can do. He loves toy cars and trucks and he always wants to "drive" when we get in the car. He loves sucking on his two middle fingers of his left hand and cuddling his blanket and toy monkey for comfort. He loves to run around and he likes being chased by the tickle monster. Speaking of monsters, he loves cookie monster and Sesame Street. He loves to listen to books and can stay entertained by it for quite awhile. He loves baths and playing in water. He loves to help me with anything and everything I'm doing, especially cooking or washing dishes. He likes to build things with blocks and duplos, especially shuttles and tunnels. He really loves tunnels and gets excited about going under any archway or overpass, because it is a tunnel to him. He loves playing with friends and going to Nursery. He likes kicking soccer balls and going on walks. He loves giving Ava hugs and kisses. He likes to eat pickles, olives, yogurt, cheese, butter (with or without bread), pizza, raisins, noodles, watermelon and more, depending on the day. He loves to dip his food in any kind of sauce. He likes to pretend to mow the lawn and dig in the dirt and help me water the plants. He likes to put the flag up when we put mail in the mailbox. He likes to play the drums and the piano. He loves to dance and has got lots of moves. He is an incredible talker and has amazing vocablulary and annunciation for his age.

Nash, I love you--these past two years have been two of the most fulfilling of my life. I am incredibly blessed to be your mom!

You are such a good, fun, happy boy! Happy 2nd Birthday, Nash!

Has it really been a month already?

I can't believe my little girl is already a month old! But we're still alive and things are going well in for us with all the adjustments. Nash loves Ava and finally calls her by her name instead of calling her "baby." Ava's doing great and growing so quickly! She weighed 10 lbs 5 oz at 3 weeks old, so she's probably well over 11 pounds by now. She's wearing some 3-6 month size clothes already! And I think we're finally starting to sort out her days and nights. Last night she slept for a 5 hour stretch, which is pretty monumental.

My parents came to visit after Ava was born and of course Steve's parents are here (because we're living with them!). Here's a photo of from the visit:

Here are pictures of Ava all dressed up (girls are so fun!):

Aunt Amber made the first one, Aunt Kelly W. gave her the second, and Aunt Janet gave her the third.

She has so many cute clothes and dresses the she's been given, as well as other items which we are so grateful for. So thanks to all those who have given such wonderful gifts!

Ava's blessing day was on Mother's Day which was pretty special (I think she has a thing for holidays...). She wore the same blessing dress that both my sisters and I wore as well as all the girl nieces in the family. It was first given to my mom from my Grandma Troutman for my sister Nancy. Here are some pictures of the blessing day:

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to a family friend's house in southern Minnesota. They run a 900-acre farm. It was beautiful down there and we had a lot of fun. Nash and I got to go on our first tractor ride. Nash absolutely loved all the tractors and barns and fresh air. He just loves being outside in general. We went to Lake George last Saturday and he had a blast playing with the sand and water. Ava is so portable now, and has just been an angel as we've gone on all sorts of excursions. I must say that pacifiers are a lifesaver for car rides--I am so glad she loves her pacifier!

Nash having fun at the farm and the lake.