Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Mama, the fact that you let me climb around in the dishwasher is just one of the reasons I love you! Here are some others: You taught me how to rub noses when I want to say I love you, you make me delicious meals, you have another baby for me to play with growing in your belly, and - most importantly - you're the sweetest mama a kid could have. I'm so happy to call you mine!

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!