New House!

Well, we are finally in the new house! We had our stuff delivered last Friday, and we are still going through boxes and figuring out what goes where. We didn't have internet until yesterday, but now we are all set. We spent last weekend unpacking and getting settled. We had friends over for dinner (that they cooked and brought for housewarming). Very nice! They even brought cupcakes, which Natalie and especially Owen really enjoyed! On Sunday, we took a break from the house and went to see Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes. Natalie was ecstatic! Owen slept through the first half, although he woke for Ariel and loved the "fish" skaters during the "Under the Sea" routine. He's destined to be an island/Caribbean lover like Mom and Dad! Natalie couldn't pick a favorite, she enjoyed them all, and we were all impressed by the fire-blowing dragon (Maleficent transformed) during Sleeping Beauty. We are settling into a routine in the new house. Owen has had no trouble getting back into his bedtime routine (you don't have to tell him twice to go to sleep!), and Natalie is getting used to being upstairs with Mom and Dad downstairs. We are looking forward to finishing unpacking and getting the rest of the boxes out of here.

Easter

We had a nice Easter, although it was a little chilly and wet (compared to temps earlier in the week!). Natalie and Owen have settled into their new school very well. It's great - they have a lot of outside time (especially Natalie - she eats outside just about everyday in addition to regular play time), and Owen has moved up into doing more structured things like circle time and music (which he LOVES!). We can't wait to be in the new house because we will be 3 blocks from school! They both had an Easter egg hunt at school on Thursday, and they both came home with tons of eggs and treats in their cute handmade baskets. Dad, Nat, and Owen were off on Friday (Mom was not), but we managed to get out of the apartment in the afternoon to go look at new furniture (and fun stuff like that that the kids really enjoy), get some new clothes, and go to dinner. The kids also got some goodies from Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Tom, and they have been enjoying their new books and animals. There are now more animals on Natalie's bed than there is room for her! The weather deteriorated on Friday night. We went to the Houston Children's Museum on Saturday and Natalie and Owen had a blast!!! Mom forgot the camera, so there are no pics, but we got a family membership, so we will definitely be back and get pics then. We had a really hard time getting the kids to leave. On Sunday morning, we had an indoor egg hunt, and the Easter Bunny left some goodies for everybody. Natalie was a more efficient egg hunter than Owen (he was still waking up), but he had some help from Dad. Mom and Dad also dragged Nat and Owen to get a new washer and dryer (more fun for them!).

It was back to the new routine on Monday, although yesterday the package finally arrived (after a whole ordeal with UPS) from Grandma Laura and Grandpa Roger with more Easter goodies. So those should keep the kids entertained until we move into the new house this weekend. We close tomorrow, and our stuff will be delivered on Friday. Yay!!!

Houston

Well, we left for Houston on Saturday, the 24th. We had a full week - packers at the house for four days, and getting everything in order for our move. Everything was out of the house by Friday evening, so we slept on the floor on Friday night (except Owen slept in the travel crib/pack & play). Aunt Karen came out to have a slumber party with us and to see us off in the morning. It was a hard week for Mom - the last time to do all those routine things. It was a sad last pickup from school. We miss everybody already! And of course, it was hard to say bye to Aunt Karen on Sat morning. We were in the car for 15 hours on Saturday (we stayed in Chattanooga) and 14 hours on Sunday. Natalie and Owen were real troopers! We were all very excited to arrive in Houston and be done with our road trip. Now we are in the corporate apartment, waiting to close on our new house. Apartment living with two kids is challenging - last week we had cabin fever. Natalie tried to keep herself entertained and Owen was sick with rotovirus all week - very fun for Mom (lots of puke and nasty diapers), but he is better now and he and Natalie started at their new preschool today. They seemed to like it when we visited last week. We tried to get them out of the house (apt) when we could last week. We made a trip to our new neighborhood playground (and couldn't get them to leave!), and we drove by the new house almost everyday. We went out for Mexican (we've missed good mexican food!) on Saturday night, and we went to a fun children's festival yesterday. We saw Dora, and danced with her, and had some fun food, and Natalie went in a princess castle play area that she was very excited about. So we are settling in, and ready to get into the new house!