Lately

Emma Grace and I have been in Jacksonville for 3 weeks now. I'm (hopefully) going to Georgia next week for the closing on our new house, but will be back in Jacksonville in a few days. There are several things in April that would otherwise have me driving or flying back and forth from Georgia to North Carolina so we decided that EG and I would stay put in Jacksonville, Jereme will come here for Easter, and then we all will go back to Georgia for good. Whew!

Since we've been here, Emma Grace has been spoiled with lots of grandparent attention, sugar in the form of various sweets, and an overall acceptance of her calling the shots. Needless to say, she will surely need a detox very soon.

I haven't pulled out the camera much, but I've snapped a few phone pictures that show a little of what we've been up to.

We shared our baby news with all of the grandparents.


Needless to say, they are excited.


I put EG's hair in pigtails for the first time and she cried and pulled them out. The next time she was fine. Which just goes to show, some fashion ideas are hard to adjust to the first time, but eventually we come around.


She has become obsessed with hats, specifically backwards hats.


She is loving her big girl bed her Papa made for her! She sleeps fine and doesn't get out. A miracle!


Granddaddy gives wheelbarrel rides in the evenings if the weather is nice.


Oh, there's been a tantrum or five.


We've enjoyed the sights and smells we don't always get in Raleigh. This was driving through Richlands one day (pigs and an old Ford truck).


I found out I was having triplets. Just kidding. It's the same picture three times.


We've done a little shopping here and there.


EG has enjoyed Papa's handmade swing, lots of golfcart rides, and visits to see the horses and chickens.


Yia Yia passed away four months after Papou. I sure do miss them.


Emma Grace continues to accessorize.


And probably what I am most happy about, we are a week into "Bye Bye Paci Project 2011."

Emma Grace's Announcement

Packing up and moving out

Let me start by saying that I'm so thankful our move was handled buy Jereme's employer.  They booked the movers and scheduled everything.  However, just because someone is packing and moving for you doesn't mean you get to sit back and sip cocktails.

I wasn't feeling well leading up to the move, so I didn't get as much done beforehand as I had hoped.  Obviously there are things you don't want the movers to pack for you (hello, underwear drawer!), and things you would be embarrassed for them to see (junk drawers, hidden closet under the stairs-yikes!), so I had to do some pre-packing and overall organizing.  In addition, there are things they won't handle, pack, or move (ammunition, bleach products, perishable food, batteries) and things we knew were better off in our possession (important documents, pictures) so we had to pack that ourselves and brought them home to Jacksonville.

Jereme wasn't supposed to come to Raleigh until that Wednesday when the packers arrived, but he surprised me and showed up 4 days early and we got to spend one last weekend together in our home.  He and Dee Dee were such a huge help with the entire process.  It was so surreal to see our rooms packed up on Wednesday and loaded up in the HUGE truck on Thursday.  By Thursday afternoon, we had packed up our little U-Haul of everything the movers wouldn't take and what Emma Grace and I would need for a month-long stay with my parents, and hit the road to Jacksonville.

Packing up the U-Haul

We put Emma Grace in her crib (sans sheets) with a movie on the I-pad just so we could contain her for a moment.

Emma Grace was obsessed with the ramp leading up to the truck.  The movers were sweet and didn't seem annoyed.

The head guy among the movers was so nice and showed us lots of pictures of his girls back home and was very sweet to Emma Grace.

A few lasts before the big move

I captured a few lasts before we moved out of our house in Raleigh.  It was a bittersweet time for me.  But I'm thankful we had fun during those last few days.

Last bath in Mommy and Daddy's tub

Playing with a few toys before they were packed up.

Rocking in her chair for the last time while it's in her nursery (we will probably transition to a big girl room when we get to Georgia)

Walking to the park on a beautiful day (I love my happy girl!)

Last trip to the park

Of course, we had lots of other lasts, like last night in our bed, last meal, and the last time we'll ever back out of that driveway.  I didn't expect to be sad, but it hit me how many memories we've made in that home.  I am thankful for our time there.

The unexpected blog break

Well, I didn't think I'd ever go this long with out an update.  The days started adding up and then I got overwhelmed with all of the life I had missed documenting and it just seemed too much!  But I feel motivated to get back to normal (as normal as life can be at the moment) and I have lots of updates (including some that I'm SUPER excited to share!) scheduled to post over the next few days.  Stay tuned...

Playing with Abby

We drove to Rocky Mount last week and picked up Abby so she and Emma Grace could play. Our first stop was McDonald's for lunch and play time.


















The girls must have schemed on the car ride home, because neither took a nap when we got home. But they played together the rest if the day until Heather came to pick up Abby. Emma Grace is still talking about Abby, so I think they had fun.

Funny note: Heather is my older cousin and I was the baby among several older cousins. I was the recipient of many jokes and schemes when we were all younger. I happened to tell Abby that her mommy used to play tricks on me when we were little. Well, Abby's Sunday School teacher called Heather and said that Abby was talking about how her mommy played tricks on people. THEN at dinner one night Abby told Heather to go to timeout for playing tricks on Ashlee! I couldn't believe she remembered that! Good thing I didn't give her details!

Miss Opinion

This morning I asked Emma Grace if we could go back to a time before she had so many opinions.

Her response?

No.

Visiting the park

We had some great weather this weekend.  So after church and naps on Sunday, we walked to the park.  Besides the swings, Emma Grace can do everything by herself, so I enjoyed the sun while sitting on the bench and she enjoyed climbing steps, sliding, and running.