Hey! Check out my new bed!!!

As we prepare for the arrival of Baby Deux, we realized we basically needed to set up another baby room. Abel is nowhere near being in a toddler bed as he moves around all over the place while he sleeps and often sleeps up against the side of the bed. SO, we bought a new crib for the baby. Baby will use Abel's bedding and Abel gets new bedding...which of course means he needs a new carpet too! This weekend, Ryan and I made it to Pottery Barn Kids while we were in Indy to get the carpet and sheets to match the bumper I bought online. Tonight, we set up his room. He LOVED the carpet. He rolled all around on it. When we put him in his crib, he giggled with absolute delight and played "'night 'night". It was quite cute!

Helping in the Kitchen

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to cook. When I come home at night and start to make dinner, Abel is often in the kitchen with me either playing with the Tupperware drawer or clinging to my leg. The other night, I pulled up a chair and told him he could participate. This was a VERY fun moment for him as he grabbed the spoon and said, "Help, help." He stirred and helped me add ingredients to the turkey burgers. He was so enthusiastic, he tried to add the whole jar of garlic...I told him that yes, it's my favorite ingredient too, but we don't need the WHOLE jar!

Our New House

We were so incredibly lucky. First, we sold our house in record time. Then, after a few weekends in Indianapolis searching for the perfect house, we found this one! We had to give up some of our ideals (seriously, you simply can't have it all!), but we are so excited! It's in a beautiful neighborhood, 10 minutes from downtown, we can walk everywhere, and the house is full of tons of charm. It's 88 years old and in great condition. The wood throughout the house is amazing and the fireplace (with an actual mantel for stockings!) will be so cozy in the winter! We'll make some changes to the walls and window coverings just to make it ours, but it's definitely livable! Today, we got the start of out title work, so it is seeming very real! As of July 1, we'll be official homeowners in Indy!

In the Box

When we put our house on the market, it became time to organize EVERYTHING. So, I got a bunch of plastic tubs and put all of Abel's toys in them. These tubs quickly became THE toy. Abel loves to get in them and get piled high with blocks and legos! A couple of weekends ago (I know, I'm super behind on posts) our friends came over with their three kids. Katelyn, who is almost 3, wanted to get in too! This picture was simply too cute to pass up!

My Favorite Things

As our time in Madison starts to kind of come to a close, we are really reflecting on what we love most about it. Last week, I took my students on a field trip to Madison. Many of them have never been, so we try to make it very special for the fourth graders. We always tour the capitol building which I think is just a positively beautiful building both inside and out, and this year, we took them to Camp Randall where the Badger football team plays. They let us go on the field and the kids ran and ran. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. SO, I took some pics and just wanted to share!

Mama - It's Your Birthday!

Abel definitely likes to play a role in our family. When he found out there were presents to deliver to Mama for her birthday, he decided he was the man for the task. At first it was fun, then it was a struggle, then he solved the problem - just push! Happy, happy birthday, Mama!

Early springtime play

Ok, I realize it's been a very long time since we have posted. We're only selling our house, looking for a new house, writing a dissertation, applying for jobs, parenting a toddler, and baking a baby. Needless to say, we are on the go pretty much all the time! This past week, we had our first official spring weather...it actually reached 40 degrees or more here in Wisconsin! I came home one afternoon to find Bonnie and Abel playing...OUTSIDE! Yesterday, we took Abes back out and he had tons of fun with bubbles, his bike, running around, and playing in the dirt. He likes to dig in the dirt, but he does NOT like it on his hands, so he decided to try to eat it. Oh what fun for us!

Abel runs everywhere and is talking a ton. He loves to play and is always looking at us saying, "Play! Play!" He knows where to find everything and I have recently renamed him as Mr. Buttons, Cabinets, and Drawers. He's into everything! But we are really having a ball. He LOVES babies and is really going to be a great big brother!