She's fun.

Away We Go

Tim has received and accepted an offer from Allegheny College!  We leave in early August to start a new chapter of our lives in Meadville, PA.  He is so excited to graduate from 27th grade, and to have the chance to do what he loves full time.  I could not be more proud of him.

With this great news comes a twist of sadness...

I have called many places "home" over the years, but Lansing might just be the hardest one to say goodbye to.  Here are some reasons why:

1. People
We have met some of the best people during our stay in Lansing.  People I hope to never, ever lose contact with.  You all know who you are, and I love you.  Not an "I love you, maaaan" love you...really, truly, care about you with my whole heart, love you.  I cannot express how much your friendships have meant to me during this chapter in our lives.  You have welcomed us, in spite of my crazy (maybe even because of it?), and made this time truly awesome.  Ok, enough of that.  I'm an ugly crier.

2. MSU
The busy and diverse community that comes with living by a LARGE college campus will be sorely missed.  I love East Lansing, and I loved the three years we spent living there.  I'm sure Allegheny resides in a great town as well, but something tells me that the general atmosphere will have a little less hustle to it.

3. ICS
I've had the good fortune to work at this marketing firm for close to 5 years now.  I have grown so much here, both in taking on a leadership role and my business savvy in general.  Many thanks to the company leaders for entrusting me with responsibilities that allowed me to rise to the challenge time and time again.  I have made some great friends here, and have appreciated this place more than I can say.

More details to come.
...

In other news, Addy is now 7 months old and has 8 teeth.  She yells alot, likes sweet potatoes and bananas, and was just voted 'Cutest Baby of All Time'...by me.
 

Time flies when you're having fun.

The past couple months have been a whirlwind.  We made it through our first holiday season with baby in tow.  It was exhausting, and it was fun.  It tooks Ads a week to recover.  2013 will undoubtedly bring a new set of challenges and triumphs for us to speed through. 

Addy and I have a resolution, which is to eat less sugar.  Notice my crafty, vague phrasing.  Less sugar than whom?  Seriously though, we're going to make a conscious effort.  If you are familiar with the loving relationship I have with candy, you can surely agree that it's a necessary step...if for no other reason than Addy NOT having a junkfood complex like her mother.

Tim recently returned from California, where he had a whopping 10 job interviews in just two days at the Econ job market conference.  He's feeling good about how they went...so now, we wait.  Wait for 2nd interviews, flyouts, job offers.  We'll go where the wind takes us, but we are really hoping it doesn't blow us too far.  Grand Rapids has a nice ring to it (come on, GVSU!).

Addy is now 4 months and 4 days old.  She has 2 teeth, can roll over from her stomach to her back, and enjoys speaking in her self-created language (composed primarily of the word "gggguh", which means Mom).

Two Months, Maternity Leave, and Back to Work

Wow.  That is all I can say...wow.  Wowowow.

My nine weeks on maternity leave flew by - I can't believe I am on my third day back to work already.

Our two month photo shoot went well. She finally fits in this sleeper! At last we can expand her wardrobe to include all her adorable 0-3 months outfits. Addy is going to be one stylish little girl soon!

Being a 'stay-at-home-mom' for nine weeks was one of the most difficult, lonely, boring, fun, happy, and rewarding chapters in my life.  This kid is WORK...much moreso than I anticipated.

I thought that I would feel one of two ways once my maternity leave ended: so excited to go back to work OR so sad that I had to leave her at daycare (maybe even so sad that I would quit my job).  I never thought that I would feel both simultaneously, and yet here I am...talking to vendors and working on complicated projects, all while wistfully counting the hours until I get to see her little face again.

I realized yesterday that I'll maybe get two good hours a day with her during the workweek.  This, to be honest, sucks big time.  An hour of smiles and giving her a bottle when she wakes up, and then another hour of quality time when we get home before she starts getting tired and cranky.
Two hours?!  What the heck?!  Isn't this MY kid?  Oy.

But that's what we do I guess...we let other people raise our kids so that we can better provide for them.  The day Addy calls one of the daycare workers 'Mom' I am going to flip my lid.

Awwww

Check out these photos!  Doesn't she look exactly like her dad?

Addy at one month - Tim at birth

Addy at one month - Tim at four months

One Month

First of all, let me just say that the 'One Month Photo Shoot' was a little rough.  She is a lot more squirmy than she was three weeks ago!  After over 20 shots, this is the best we've got.

This past month has been a whirlwind.  Among other things, Addy has gone to her first sporting event (an LCS soccer game), her first restaurant (City Limits), has had the pleasure of meeting some of her great-grandparents, and last night got to visit to her best friend, Sydney.

There have been more, less fun firsts as well: her first blowout, her first two-hour screaming session, etc.  It's a good thing the adorable, fun times are so much more memorable.

Leaving you with the best picture we've caught of Addy so far - smiling in her sleep.

Many Faces

The Cute:

The Cry:

The Crazy:

Due to low camera battery and the unruly behavior of the model, the rest of the shoot had to be postponed.

*Not pictured: The Pooping, The Confused, and The "Mom, is MY hair going to be that out of control?!"