Another Day, Another Move

Oh February 27th, I have been dreading you and looking forward to you all at the same time.

That morning brought our "Back to Georgia" day. Dad and I woke up and were out of the house by 6:30 am. We were able to make pretty good time without having to worry about making stops. We were making excellent time until we got to Atlanta. Oh, Atlanta, you are so annoying at times. When we got to Atlanta, we met up with rush hour traffic and multiple car accidents. We got to our place in Fortson before 9 pm... which wasn't horrible timing but it wasn't amazing. We were so thankful to be there and to finally be closing that chapter in our lives. 

Dad and I got to work and got the rest of the house packed up. Mom and I had packed up about 75% of the house before we left for Illinois 3 weeks prior.  Dad and I worked until about 11:30 and then we headed to bed. This was my first night away from Sawyer and only my third time of being away from Charlotte at night. I felt a bit weird going to sleep knowing I could sleep through the night. Crazy. I slept like a rock. AMAZING.

We got up the next morning, the 28th, and we started busting our booties. The movers got to the house about 9:30 am. We used Two Men and A Truck this time. Our two guys got there. They were hysterical. The driver/lead mover, John, was quite the talker. The second guy, Mr. Flowers, was the strong silent type. They were quite a pair but so very nice and efficient. They looked at everything in our house and told me it would be NO PROBLEM  to get all of it in their truck. No problem at all :) 

We. Shall. See. 

They finally got started loading the truck around 10:30 am. I ran into Columbus one last time and ran a few errands. I got lunch for all of us from Zaxby's. I wish the North had Zaxby's. Man, I am going to miss that!!!!

The movers sat down and ate with us for a bit. They were shocked when I brought them lunch and even more shocked when Dad asked them to eat at the kitchen table WITH us.

I was a nervous wreck the entire time they were packing the truck. I kept praying that everything would fit. it was pretty awesome doing the move with just Dad as my helper. Dad and I are pretty chill in situations like this so we were all pretty relaxed. No one was high strung or worked up. It really made the day so much easier.

We finally got the entire truck loaded. As they were getting ready to shut the door, they noticed the rocking chair on the front porch. I basically said that I would rather leave something and take the rocking chair. We put our heads together and found a way to switch around the fire pit and the chair and it all fit!!!! The truck pulled out of the driveway at 2:45 pm. Excellent work!!

Dad and I cleaned finished the cleaning and the landlords came by. They really were amazing people. Tommy and Mary Properties in Columbus, GA is a great place to rent from. They apologized to me for my poor kitty dying. They apologized for not checking on me and helping me out more. I just said, "You know, everything happens for a reason. I am just glad to be going home."

Our empty house. The only thing left is Max's ashes...

After Tommy and Mary left, Dad and I showered quick and loaded the Tahoe to the brim. There was literally NO ROOM for even a cotton ball in the car at that point. But it was a successful day!

We had a beautiful home. I will really miss my huge kitchen, all of the upgrades, the TALL ceilings, the privacy in the yard, the big windows, the screened in porch, the red dirt, and my massive walk-in closet.

House, thank you for being so good to us!

Our massive pile of garbage. Thankfully garbage day was set to be the next morning!!

Dad and I hit the road at 4 pm. We decided to take backroad up to Rome Georgia and just skip ALL of Atlanta. It was kind of nice seeing more of the backwoods of Georgia :)

We drove until 4 am, CST. We made good time. I drove a pretty big chunk of the drive. I would like to give a massive shout out to a wonderful man in my life. Mr. Paul, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for always talking to me on the phone when I need someone. Mr. Paul talked to me for hours on the drive. It was amazing. One time he actually talked to me for four hours to help keep me awake. He is truly amazing. Mr. Paul, what would I do without you?????

Although I am not a big fan of snow, I can say that I am so glad to be home. After being gone for almost 8 years, I am so glad to call Illinois "home" again.

Georgia, it was real and it was fun but it wasn't real fun.

Here is to the first day of the rest of our lives....

Snow Date with Daddy

Alex finally got  a fun day of playing in the snow under his belt. He got to see what a REAL snowfall was like. The weather forecast told us it was going to be a big snow... another snowstorm. So, Alex spent the night at Mom and Dad's house with us and we got up and watched the snow fall. It was a pretty snow but it was A LOT of snow. Alex couldn't wait to get outside and play with Charlotte in the snow.

As soon as they got outside that afternoon, they made sure to get busy building a snowman right away.

Quite a beauty!! (This is what it looked like before Uncle Poop got ahold of the snowman :) )

Playing around in the snow!!!

So proud of their hard work!!

CHEESE!! 

Love this picture so much of these two.

They had so many fun things they did outside in the snow...with one of them being rolling down the hill together. So much fun.

They played outside together for a long time. Once they were frozen enough, they came inside. Then we all sat by the fabulously warm fire, drank chocolate milk, and watched tv. We ate delicious vegetable soup for dinner prepared by Mom. It was a great day with my amazing family!!

Now, it's time to get our move done... BRING ON THE STRESS!!

Best Friends Forever

Charlotte is obsessed with animal. She loves cats and dogs and horses and cows and squirrels and she likes to eat bees. She loves animals. 

Animals do NOT always loves her...especially Mom and Dad's cats. Their cats have never really been around small kids until Charlotte came around. They usually run from her and want to go outside away from her as soon as they hear her voice. So, naturally, us living with Mom and Dad for the time being, Sammy and Belle are just not themselves or used to this set up.

Charlotte tries everyday to make ammends with them and Belle is much more loving and patient with Charlotte. Well, on February 26, a blustery snowy day, Sammy finally gave in to his love for Charlotte.

He laid by her.

She had been asleep on the couch for an hour. Sammy likes to sleep on the couch or in the recliner. Both were taken so he snuggles right on up to her and went to sleep. First. Time. Ever.

The most hilarious part to this is that Sammy only weighs about 4 lbs less than Charlotte.

Best Friends Forever!!

Please Don't Stop The Music

Charlotte loves music. She loves singing. She loves how at bath time we sit and sing. She loves the piano at Gigi and Papa's house. She will sit and play and loves loves loves to sit and listen to other people play it. Mom plays the piano and Dad and Mom both play the guitar. Charlotte is crazy about this little fact. Charlotte and Papa started playing their own music together.

Check out her place for her juice cup :) She set it up there on her own. So funny.

I love this picture. I love it.

She thought she would try to play the guitar herself :)

I wonder if she will play an instrument in the future... :)

Charlotte Plays In The Snow

We woke up to a beautiful day on Friday, February 22. We woke up to lots and lots of snow but a beautiful day, nonetheless. 

Because of the weather and the blowing and what not, Melissa, Jake, and Katie's schools were all closed again. So, all of them came out to Grandma's house for the day. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Darrin also came down for the day. We had a delicious lunch and it was time to go outside and play.

Charlotte had never played in the snow so she was excited to get out there and play with "Sis" and "Tee".

First fall into the snow...

Katie teaching Charlotte how to do a snow angel.

Running into the snow.

Naturally she wanted to eat all of the snow.

I Love this picture of her.

Jaker finally got out there to play with Charlotte. He is like a big kid himself.

After we played in the front yard a bit, we decided to head down to the pasture for some sledding!!

Charlotte's first sled.

Melissa did some sledding down on her fake snowboard.

Love this farm.

The pasture looks beautiful.

Charlotte loves her "Jeeks".

Watch the progression of these next few pictures.

Melissa riding the "snow scooter"

Melissa flying into the snow :) SO funny.

When we got back to Grandma's house, this is what we found. Darrin and Smoke Joe hanging out.

Jake didn't want to come inside so he recruited Katie and they made a snow fort. Charlotte and Sawyer took naps so I was able to relax and watch a movie with Liss.

Jake took this fort VERY seriously.

He even added a roof.

The finished product.

A "W" for "Weber". Fancy :)

After we all checked out the fort, it was time for some hot chocolate. Charlotte enjoyed her first ever hot chocolate with Jake.

We had such a great day. We loved it. Charlotte was amazed by the snow. Sawyer loved getting to play with everyone. We are so happy we are back!

We Have A Crawler!

Since we had a snow day and stayed inside all day, Sawyer thought he would take up crawling and get us all worked up!!! At 6 months and 13 days old, why wouldn't he start crawling????

"Oh, I want that piece of paper!"

"Move my hand forward..."

"Stand up!!!!"

"Nope, knees down..."

"I can move my knees too!"

"Almost there!!"

I can crawl!!! 04/21/2013

"I rock."

"Now, I can really attack my sister!!"

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

We had our first BIG snow storm/winter weather conditions since we moved to Illinois. The news stations had been warning us how crazy the weather was going to get. We woke up early on Thursday morning at Grandma Ann's house.

Charlotte felt that she needed to wear her glasses (well, Grandma Ann's computer room reading glasses.)

We went up to see Ryan at his bakery... Caketastic, LLC. He had just burnt his hand on a cheesecake that sadly ended up on the floor but we were so happy that we could be there to help him clean it up. Charlotte made herself at home and started eating a cupcake :)

The bakery looks beautiful!!

We stopped by the grocery store and got all of our odds and ends that we might need.

We headed home to Grandma's house and waited for the snow. It started around 11 am. Charlotte was excited to see the big snow flakes starting to fall. Katie and Melissa came out to spend the day with us bc their school was cancelled.

They were admiring the beautiful snowflakes...and the cats.

Such a sweet boy...

The big snowflakes were really starting to fall.

A few hours later...

...you can't even see the barn and I was standing in the same spot as two pictures ago.

Charlotte enjoyed some snow in a cup. How excited does she look???

"Snow"

We had our doubts but the weather dudes were pretty right on. No going home for us today!!!

Katie and I went out and shoveled some snow. Then we realized a bunch of ice was supposed to be coming so I covered the driveway back up so that it would be easy to scoop the ice up the next day.

We had a great day of hot chocolate, good food, lots of family, lots of snow, lots of movies... it was a great snow day :)