"All Good Things. All Good Things."

We watch Frozen, often. Please imagine Olaf reporting, "All good things. All good things."

Friday morning we closed on a new house. Effectively ending the current transition chapter of our lives. It's been five months since we moved. We've settled on a church, neighborhood, and preschool. Cole is already friends with five of the children that will be in her class next year! I know my way around town enough not to need the GPS. And we have friends. Friends that offered to watch the girls when we moved. Friends that popped-in on the day we closed just to say, "Hi" and offer help. It's overwhelming and, yet, not surprising. This is exactly where we are supposed to be, even on the days my heart aches to be back in Tennessee.

Even finding our new home was a testament to the people we have met here. Many of the best houses in Newark are sold by owner or even just through word of mouth. I'd been looking diligently for months with no success when two of my friends mentioned the same white house for sale by owner in their neighborhood.  The day I drove by was the day we told the owners we hoped to work out a deal.

Our new house sits on half of an acre, has four bedrooms, a playroom, dreamy hardwood floors, and lots of wallpaper. It'll keep us busy. Nearly every surface of the home needs paint, the bathrooms need updating, and one day, in the distance future, the kitchen needs a makeover. But all of it is very livable for right now. We're so excited to make this new house a home. Hopefully, our long-term home.

I made sure to take pictures of the empty house so that we can track the progress as it becomes our home. Even if it happens at a snail's pace. We have time. And I have ideas.

Playroom

Kitchen

Living Room

Office

Easter

My brother who lives in Florida  flew into Baltimore for Easter weekend. Since we had plans to go to the beach for Easter, we made a quick trip to Baltimore on Friday to visit him. Naturally, I have no pictures of our visit with him.

Easter at the beach meant lots of time with my grandparents and more than enough Easter egg hunts for Cole.  We went to a little Easter festival in Lewes where Cole proved to be the most skeptical face paint recipient there ever was.

 We walked the beach and boardwalk on Saturday afternoon, around snack time. Cole spotted a few quarter rides and had a ball whipping her head back and worth while riding them. I have no idea where she gets this stuff.

My grandmother made us dinner Saturday night which was very kind and convenient for us. Cole served as a little helper in the kitchen while Ib motored around the house.

After the girls were in bed Saturday night, my dad arrived. Sunday morning we did a little egg hunt at the house for Cole. She was so excited to share her eggs, stickers and goldfish with PopPop! Around lunchtime we met my grandparents at their country club for yet another egg hunt and brunch.

After brunch, we packed up and headed out. And a short 90 minutes later we were home. Peter and I spent the rest of Sunday dumbfounded by how close we are to the beach. It's not that we didn't know, it just hadn't settled in yet.

Ibbie :: 7 months

What a happy baby Ibbie is! With some of the bluest eyes I've ever seen!

This month Ib has tried more and more food with a distinct preference for meat. Chicken and apples. Sweet potatoes and turkey. It grosses me out but she loves it.  She goes through waves of hunger. Sometimes she'll eat less than half a jar per meal and other times she'll eat as much as two jars in a sitting.

Ibbie isn't sitting up yet, but she motors around the room and stands with support. Her Aunt Nancy suggested that there is just too much to do to spend anytime sitting around. I think she's probably right.

Ib has one bottom tooth with another about to break through. She's handling teething pretty well, just gumming every toy in sight.

month one, two, four, five, six

Cole at seven months