Big Move

Most of you who are reading this probably already knew that. :)  But, to make it "blog official," we are moving to Ohio in January!  Matt interviewed for a position (External Wholesaler) the week of Halloween, and we have been waiting ever since to hear the final decision.  Matt officially accepted the offer this week.  It's an answer to prayer in many ways, and I am so proud of him!

When we moved to Florida, Matt's main goal was to work as an Internal Wholesaler for a couple of years and then apply for an External Wholesaling position.  We had no idea what regions of the country would open up for this position.  We moved to Florida because that is where we felt like God was leading us, so we figured He would work out the rest when the time was right.  My biggest fear?  Well, I had total confidence that Matt would be able to achieve his goal.  But, my biggest worry was that we would end up moving to a random city that felt totally foreign to me...with no family around...and, my husband travelling during the week while I stay at home with our infant.  This fear haunted me.  But, I was finally able to surrender it to the Lord and trust Matt that he wouldn't lead our family some place we shouldn't go.  After all, moving to Florida was a pretty drastic change for us and God provided for all of our needs--not only that, but we have really enjoyed our time here too! 

All that to say, we are very thankful we get to move to Ohio.  It's in the Midwest, where we want to raise our family, and it's in driving distance to both of our families.  (We will be living equidistant from both families!).  We will still be moving to a new city and won't have family in our town.  So, yes, there will be some challenges and room for adjustment too.  But, I suppose that is the case with any big move!


I had no role in giving the Ohio State paci to Quinn.  If you have concerns please take them up with Matt!

At this point, we have some ideas of the areas where we want to look for a place to live.  We plan to make a mini trip to Ohio while we are visiting my family for Christmas.  We got connected with a realtor through one of my sister's friends, and will meet with him to get some help.  Since we will be moving shortly after Christmas we will just be renting for now.  I am actually really excited to explore a new city, try new local restaurants, hear Midwestern accents everywhere I go, and experience the four seasons again.  I have been pulling out all of my winter gear from the boxes in our garage.  I am excited for a change in wardrobe.  I never really mastered how to put together an "outfit" in Florida.

There is plenty to worry about, but I am so over worrying.  We are just trusting that the Lord will work out all of the details, and are excited for this new chapter!  Oh, and Christmas?  Yeah, the timing could be a little better.  Between Quinn teething and this move, I have been very distracted.  It doesn't quite feel like Christmas time to me.  We will be visiting my family next week, so I am banking on that trip to get me in the Christmas spirit (ie. my mother's traditional tin filled with a wild assortment of baked goods, seeing friends and family, going to the Nutcracker, Christmas Eve and Day with my family, snow, hmmm--I'm sure there will be more!)

Thanksgiving 2013

I'm feeling pretty blogged out these days.  But, I had to make sure to post these pictures from Thanksgiving up north with the McCauleys.  Thanks, Aunt Katherine for about 90% of these pictures!

Quinn did really well with the traveling.  We had very early morning flights because we figured it would be easier with Quinn, plus the fact that we were traveling with the rest of America.  We actually only had 38 people on our flight to NY!  Quinn did very well on both flights!

We had the whole clan at Matt's parents' house!

 

 

Did I mention how much snow they had??!  I hadn't seen that much snow since we moved to Florida two years ago!  Matt and I did some shoveling Thanksgiving night...we were feeling a little stir crazy/fat.  ;)

 

 Quinn was asleep when everyone arrived to eat on Thanksgiving day.  This was her reaction to everyone after she woke up...love her sweet post nap face!

 Oh, and Quinn had some stranger anxiety while we were there.  This was a first! She would start to cry when we handed her off to someone else, or just simply stepped out of the room for a mere 10 seconds!  The only way she would let people hold her was if they told her "they were looking for the kitty."  (Sorry, Molly!)  She started to warm up after a couple of days.  I guess she really knows all of the people we interact with in Florida, and needs to spend more time with her extended family!  The square lip...everyone said Matt had the exact same look when he was a baby... :)

 The first grandchild getting a lot of attention. 

 It was definitely a fun and freezing trip!  I also enjoyed getting away one night with Matt to go see the Hunger Games!  I didn't really enjoy our last night when Quinn was up about every 1.5 hours and would only sleep on me...followed by a 4 am wake up to go to the airport...and more crying in the car.  I guess that is just how it goes!  But, Quinn now has two top teeth that are emerging quite nicely as a result! :)

 

ten months

We are in the double digits!  Quinn turned 10 months old this week!

 

 

  

Quinn has changed so much in the past month.  This is what she has been up to...

Pulling herself up from sitting to standing.  It was quite a surprise to look in the monitor one day to see her standing up, while banging her hand on the side of the crib and squealing.  Recently, she found the monitor and pulled it off the side of the crib.  It was pretty funny to watch her staring into it.

Eating three meals a day.  One day, Quinn seemed very interested in finger foods.  So, I gave her more of a variety, and ever since she has been eating primarily whatever we eat--just cut up into smaller pieces.  She also transitioned to three 8 oz. bottles at each meal time, with snacks and water in between. 

She still only has her bottom two teeth, but we can see the top two are coming in!

Speaking of water, Quinn also learned how to drink from a sippy cup.  She used to just naw on it.  One day I drank from the sippy cup to show her how to use it--not really expecting her to understand--then she took it from me and started to drink from it on her own!

Quinn continues to sleep through the night.  The time change this month didn't throw us off too bad.  We tried to prep her a week before by holding her evening bottle off a little later each night.  After about a week, she started to sleep a little later.  But, it has still taken some time to get her totally adjusted to the time change. 

Quinn takes two naps a day.  She consistently takes a nap at 9am.  Although, the length of her morning nap seems to be getting shorter.  Then she takes another nap around 1 pm.  This nap has been all over the place lately.  Sometimes she plays in her crib for 30 minutes before going to sleep, and other times she goes right down. 

We had fun dressing Q up as a little indian princess for Halloween.  We trick or treated for about 15 minutes just for the sake of it.  She totally rocked her costume! :)

Quinn continues to come alive around other kids.  Every time she sees another kid at the store or when we are with friends, she starts squealing and smiling like crazy!  You can't really see her bubbliness from these pictures, but it definitely comes out in person. 

Now that Quinn is on the move (and also aware of the stairs...), we try to get out a lot more during the day to keep her entertained.  We are always looking for little things to do between and after naps.     It's been a lot of fun!  Quinn brings so much JOY to our lives!

RUFFLED ZIPPER POUCHES

I just added these zipper pouches to Lemon Bee.  Check them out!