Monthly Update

I'm afraid I'm not a very good bloggist. Finding the time to actually update on our lives is proving more difficult that I thought it would.
In the past month:
I've started Zumba! I'm taking classes once a week at the YMCA with a friend that works in my building. It's AWESOME and the perfect introduction in to exercising for me.
I'm also doing fairly well on lessening my sugar intake and I've completely stopped drinking regular Coke. My new favorite friend is Coke Zero, but I try not to drink too much either. I've lost 7 pounds.
I told Abbey a joke:
Me: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Abbey: Why?
Me: To get to the other side!
Abbey: Don't you understand?!?! HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BARN!
We experienced the "Scare Cut of 2011": Abbey begged me to cut her hair so that her bangs were out of her eyes. I'd been trying to grow her bangs out for about 2 years, and I don't know what made me agree to cut them, but I did. And I cried about it. Ok, more like I *sobbed* about it. It really isn't that horrible, honestly, but I still regret doing it. And I have since vowed never to cut my child's hair again. I'm leaving it to professionals.

We welcomed sweet Bennett June into our world on February 3. My sweet little step-neice! I can't wait to see her again!

We have also ALL (with the exception of Natalie *knock on wood*) have been sick! Abbey got sick first, and then me, and now Matt. We're all still recovering, but it's a horrible cold that just won't go away!

Valentine's Day was fun. Matt and I put together treats for the girls, and Matt got me flowers and Ferreo Rocher chocolates (my favorite!). We also had breakfast for dinner which is always a welcome treat!

We've had a couple more house-viewings, but no nibbles yet. The last person who looked really did love the house, but not the particular location. Oh well. It will happen when it's supposed to!

Next up: Abbey's FOURTH birthday!!

Holy Moly it's 2011

I  didn't realize how long it had been since I posted. Seriously. But with a giant sigh of relief, I can say that the hectic holiday season is over. Yes, it was wonderful. Yes, I had some restful moments. And yes, any stress was worth it. Still, I'm glad it's done til  next time.
With Christmas, we enjoyed snow, time with family, hot chocolate, movies, and playing with new toys.

And now it's a new year!

Some friends have done a Top Ten of 2010, and I suppose I'll give it a try.

1. Putting our house on the market. Granted, nothing much has happened with it so far, but it was a big step.
2. Taking the girls to the beach for the first time. Our trip to Folley in September was wonderful. It was so nice to finally take an Olmstead family beach trip again after many years of having to skip it. Hopefully, it become a yearly tradition again!
3. Celebrating 5 years of marriage. It's amazing to think of all the has happened to our lives in the past 5 years. And here's to MANY more!
4. Celebrating TWO weddings. Seeing my step-sister get married was a happy moment, as was being MOH for one of my very best friends. I'm so happy for them both!
5. Heading a bachelorette party in DC! That was sooo much fun!
6. Having my other step-sister tell me she's pregnant! This news was surprising, but received with nothing but support and love. I simply cannot wait until she welcomes her daughter into our family in the next month!
7. Seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Ok, so I'm a nerd. Whatever. I just can't tell you how much I love the books and the movies, and I was highly impressed with this one. Yay for Part 2 in July!
8. Watching the girls grow. Every day.
9. All the times we were able to do things with friends and family: Weddings, birthday parties, holidays, Beer Olympics, and all things celebratory. These things are just fun, and are the highlight to all years. Also, reuniting with old friends. Always wonderful.
10. Participating in Hokie Idol and singing in front of people. WHAT? That was just crazy for me to do. So I feel accomplished.

That was harder than I thought it would be. And now something harder (maybe).

My 11 Goals for 2011 (I won't call them resolutions)

1. Sell our house and buy a new one. Need I say more?
2. Have Natalie completely weaned from breastfeeding by June. She is only night-time nursing as it is, and it's just time for me.
3. Lose 15 pounds by the end of the year. Honestly, I just want to be healthier. I don't care so much about the number on the scale, but...
4. Go to the dentist. I haven't been since I was pregnant with Natalie.
5. Get an eye exam and new glasses. I can tell my vision is slightly worse off, and I just want new frames!
6. Cut back on sugar intake. I suppose this goes along with the weight loss goal, but I know I eat too many sweets and drink WAY to much Coke.
7. Floss every day. Right now, I don't. Almost ever.
8. Plan a trip to Georgia with Jenni. We went to Mass. and stayed at Lizzie Borden's house back in 2008. Our next destination will probably be the Marshall House in GA. Another reason I want Natalie weaned, so that Jenni and I can take a weekend trip!
9. See Deathly Hallows Part 2. I know this goal will be easily accomplished. ;)
10. Get the cats to the vet. They haven't been in years. This is just poor pet-parenting, and I need to remedy it.
11. Practice patience. 'Nuff said.

Happy New Year everyone!

ABBEY

Here I am, Proud Mama, and I just have to show off the fact that my little 3 1/2 year old girl can write her name.

She wrote this for me yesterday. I am so proud of this big accomplishment! Soon she'll be writing novels, right?

More Thanksgiving

There has been some bad news going around lately. I hate that. None of it is specifically happening to me, but it's happening to people I care about. Life doesn't seem fair sometimes.
I know we're all supposed to believe that all things happen for a reason. And I do in fact believe that. But it's hard to accept it as true all the time. How can it be that some things happen to help us learn a certain lesson, or to make us stronger, or to help us become better people? And when bad news is happening to you, I think it's nearly impossible to always say, "What positive thing can I take from this experience?" I suppose that thought process comes much later, at least for some people. If it's one of the first things you think about when bad news happens to  you, then you are a saint.
I've titled this post "More Thanksgiving". Why? Because out of all the bad news, I'm trying to remind myself that no matter what is happening to me, someone else has a much bigger plate of bad news. You know that saying, if we all put our problems in a big pile, and saw what everyone else had, we'd be taking ours back in a heartbeat (or something like that). It's quite true. So I am telling myself to give MORE thanks. To be sincerely thankful for ALL that I have. Unlike some people, I can say I have a job, and so does my husband. We can comfortably afford to live in a home, feed and clothe our family. We are surrounded by family and friends who love us.
I wish life could be easy-breezy for all my family and friends (and everybody else really), but I suppose it can't be. What kind of people would we be if everything went smoothly all the time? Would we really be happier? If everything were just good news all the time, how would we know it was good?
Still, it pains me to see people I know getting bad news. So I'm looking for the silver lining. I'm hoping those around me that are struggling through bad times get some positive news soon.
More often during this year we talk about the Thanksgiving spread. Lots of food right? Maybe we should take more time to Spread Thanksgiving.

Halloween Pictures & HOW is it NOVEMBER?!

Firstly, enjoy these pictures from  Halloween.

 Natalie says HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

 Trick or Treating

 Abbey as Belle from Beauty and the Beast

 At one of the many  houses we stopped at

 Me and Matt <3

 The whole family

Our pumpkins

I seriously don't know where the time is going. Wasn't it just September? How can Halloween have already come and gone? My favorite holiday, and I don't feel like it happened at all. But there are pictures, so it must have.

Christmas is mere 46 days away. I know I shouldn't skip right over Thanksgiving. I'm not trying to. That's another one of my favorite holidays. Mainly because there is so much EATING. I love eating. LOL Also, I am trying to be very conscious of things I am thankful for. Everyone always says family and friends. But with good reason. They really are the things we should be most thankful for, and that is very true with me. I have been extremely blessed with some of the best family members anyone could ask for. Step family and in-laws included! I can't tell you in words how thankful I am for my amazing husband (flaws and all). He does more for me and our daughters than we deserve and takes care of us in ways I never would have thought possible. So, among MANY other things (I could never list them all here), I am thankful for my husband who:

• Takes out the trash EVERY Monday
• Changes the oil in my car
• Takes care of paying all our bills on time
• Makes dinner nearly EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and takes care of most of our lunches on weekends too
• Does the grocery shopping
• Mows the lawn
• Handles our finances
• Helps give the girls baths every other night
• Gets Abbey into bed most nights and reads to her
• Does the dishes
• Cleans around the house (I am especially thankful that he cleans the bathtubs!!!)
• Takes the girls to daycare in the morning so I can get ready for work
• Takes my car to the shop when it needs to go
• Makes me laugh when I need it (or when I don't)
• Always makes sure to kiss me in the morning before I leave and in the evening when I get home and before we go to sleep at night
• Still holds my hand
• Pays attention to what I say (most of the time haha)
• Listens when I really need him to
• Still makes me giddy
• Is an AMAZING father

I feel like I have so much to do in the next couple months, but I need to remind myself to slow down and really soak up these holiday moments with my family. I'm looking to come up with some our own holiday traditions, but I'm hard-pressed to think of any. I'm sure they will come to me.

In other news, we had another person view our house this weekend. No news yet as to what they thought about it, but a viewing is always welcome. This weekend, Matt had just finished saying how he would love for someone else to come look at the house, and that his biggest Christmas Wish was for someone to buy our house. Then the phone rang not 2 minutes later, and it was the realtor saying someone wanted to see our house the next day. How's that for service? I do sincerely hope we're able to get the house sold in the next few months. It really would be something incredible to be in a new house by Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath for that one to happen. As always, I believe that this will all work out and happen as it is supposed to happen. There's no use in stressing about it.

I suppose Matt and I really do balance each other out in so many ways. One of them being, I stress about the little things and he stresses about the big things.

Just keep crossing those fingers that someone out there likes our house as much as we did when we bought it. And it isn't that it's not still a great home! We've just outgrown it a bit.

And that's all for today.

House Hunting: Round 1

Yesterday, Matt and I looked at houses with our realtor. Yesterday was also the first time anyone had looked at OUR house. Before you get too excited, we haven't gotten any feedback about our house as of yet, so I can't tell you anything. Keep your fingers crossed though! (See bottom for update!)
Our adventure started in a newer development in Cburg, off of 114. We saw 2 houses there. We liked both floorplans (probably because they were virtually identical!). The first house didn't have much yard, and what yard was there had a dramatic drop off into some ravine-like thing, and I just thought "No way. Natalie will be down in that ditch in 2 seconds". The second house would have been nearly perfect. The yard was nice, fenced in, the basement wasn't finished and we were totally ok with that. BUT good thing it was windy yesterday because it sounded like tons of trees scraping the side and roof of the house, but there were no trees. ??? Not sure what was up with that, but I know I couldn't sleep with that going on.
We headed to Windmill Hills and Vista Via areas next. Most of these were absolute NO has soon as we got inside. Some had potential, but honestly, we're not up for complete remodeling work. A little TLC is ok with me, but to have to overhaul a kitchen? That doesn't appeal to me. There was one we were so happy to go see. The outside was so wonderful, even from the pics online of the inside it looked pretty good, but as soon as we opened the door it was -BAM- a huge let-down. The carpets were PINK, every room needed updating and painting, it SMELLED awful and the basement was mildewy. No thanks.
There was one that had A LOT of potential, if you have the money and time to put into it. The house itself was built in the '60s and had been very well taken care of (only one owner). But it was EXTREMELY outdated and needed a LOT of work done. Once someone who has the time and money to re-do it works on it, it is going to make someone a VERY VERY beautiful home. It's size is amazing and the neighborhood was superb. If Matt and I didn't have two small children, I'd be game to tackle it. But the truth is, we just can't go without an entire kitchen/bathroom/basement for months on end.
We looked at a brand new development, where the houses were very nice, the neighborhood nice, but the backyards are literally RIGHT NEXT to 460. I mean, Abbey could kick a ball into 460. Plus, the yard was crappy. I would have given it more of a chance if you couldn't hear so much noise from 460.
Then we ended up in a brand new development close to the new Christiansburg Middle School. These homes are being built by the same people that built the first two homes we looked at so they had the same if not better floorplans. We went inside one that had just been completed and liked some things about it, but not others. Its floorplan was a bit different and we didn't like it as much, and the layout of the basement seemed odd to us.  But we LOVE the neighborhood. The views of Montgomery County are beautiful up there. And we could potentially buy a BRAND NEW house, with a layout we absolutely LOVE for cheaper than the first 2 homes we looked at, which are 3-4 years old, with loads more yard. :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
So that's where we are right now.
Continue to wish us luck on this new chapter in our lives! I'm really hoping things go super smooth! We just need someone to buy our house!

**UPDATE**
Turns out the people that viewed our house yesterday liked it, didn't love it, but still have it on their "maybe" list. The things they didn't like about it are things we cannot change, so I feel good about that. A showing is a showing and I'm just keeping my hopes high!

Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend, we headed out to the Pumpkin Festival in Riner, VA. It was such a beautiful day (almost hot!) and there were a TON of people there. This is our 2nd year meeting up with the Williams' and spending time together there. When we first arrived, the Williams' were waiting in line for the Pumpkin Chunkin with some other friends. Apparently, if you made a pumpkin into one of the baskets, you got free ice cream, but I think this feat was nearly impossible!

Burke and some friends watching the Pumpkin Chunkin

Burke

Matt & Abbey headed down to the pond

Looking at the ducks in the pond

After that, everyone except for me and Natalie took the hayride to the pumpkin patch. Natalie and I were waiting for my mom to arrive. This was the first time she had come out with us and I'm so glad she did!

While we waited for the hayride to return, Natalie played around in the Toddler Maze.

Once everyone returned from the hayride, we took Abbey over to the pony-rides. She had been DYING to ride a horse from the moment we got there. She LOVED it. I love how excited she gets about things.

After that, we all headed over to the animals. Abbey loved seeing the rabbits, ducklings, and chicks! Natalie seemed to really like the sheep and goats.

We didn't buy any pumpkins this year, but that's ok! They had some pretty interesting ones though. There were even some grayish ones that my mom and I decided were Zombie Pumpkins.

Then we decided we were hungry! So we headed to dinner with with Williams' and my mom. Yummy Mexican at Gran Rodeo.

I love Fall. And although I tend to get stressed out easily when we go out as a family (I'm trying really hard to control that), I did have a wonderful time, and I'm glad the girls got to get out in the Autumn sunshine!