We did it!

[insert big sigh of relief]

We made it through the "big move." It actually went very well.

It was very bittersweet to leave our little house in Minneapolis. The hardest part was when Claudia and Wilson were in the house for the last time. I had been trying to prepare them (well really just Claudia) for the fact that she was not going to be back at that house ever again, but I did not want to make it too overly-dramatic. The last time that they were in the house I told Claudia that she should say "goodbye" to the house. She went into her room and said, "Goodbye room. I will miss you." I hadn't cried until that point, but you can bet I did after I heard that.

I walked Wilson into his little blue room (that I had so lovingly decorated as a nursery before Claudia was born) and told him to say "goodbye" and he waved his hand. That just about broke me in two pieces.

Scott and I said goodbye the next day and that went without tears. I think I was just too excited to get into our new house.

The new house is better than I anticipated. We love it and it feels like we have already been here for awhile. We walked to the Chanhassen Library the other day. I love that we are within walking distance to "downtown Chan!" The kids are making themselves right at home. The only family members that seem to be having some adjustment problems our Martha and Frannie (our canine children). Who would have thought that I would have to comfort our dogs more than our kids?!? I think Martha has already lost a couple pounds of fur (she sheds when she's nervous, which is so much fun).

Have a Chantastic day!

There's always time for...

a princess dance!

Despite our crazy schedule lately with getting the house packed for our move, we found some time on Saturday night to enjoy a little party. It was the second annual daddy/daughter princess dance in Hastings. Claudia, Scott, cousin Brynne and uncle Eric were among the royalty in attendance.

Here are some photos of the beautiful princesses:








Meanwhile, the mommies spent the evening with a couple of hams:

March Madness

I have a new appreciation for that phrase. (Yep! I AM BACK!)

So, we put our house on the market late on a Thursday night. The following weekend we had 3 showings and lo and behold we got an offer on our house on that Sunday! Yippee!

Then it struck us that we needed to find a place to live. We were concentrating so hard on getting our house ready and enticing people to want to live there that I kind of forgot that we then needed to find a place. So, our house-hunting frenzy began--for about a week.

We found a wonderful house in Chanhassen. Chanhassen! Where is Chanhassen, you say?!? As my mother-in-law said, "I was looking at the map of the Twin Cities and I swear Chanhassen is almost to South Dakota!" Well, not quite. It is a wonderful little suburb on the west side of Minneapolis (just west of Eden Prairie). It is only a mere 15 to 20 minutes from our house now.

If you would like to check it out, click here. You will see that it was voted the best town to raise a family in by Family Circle magazine (one of the top 10 in the country!) and the best town to live in by Money Magazine in 2005.

We close on our little house on May 14. I have not really come to grips yet that we are going to be leaving this house forever. It has been a wonderful home for us for the past 11 years. We got engaged (in the living room), married while living here, raised our babies here. This house has been the backdrop to a lot of our history (and photos).

Now, it is time for packing.... ugh!

For Sale

Well avid readers, yes, this is a new post. I realize that I have left you hanging for a little while.

We have been hip deep in dry walling, painting, cleaning, and generally clearing out our house to get it ready for putting it on the market. What a month it has been! It officially went on the market today.

I firmly believe that all members of the family need to pitch in for this process, so here are Claudia's wonderful efforts to help out. Wilson's role has been more "supervisory."

Babies No More

I feel like it has just dawned on me in the last couple of days that we don't have a baby anymore. We are now the parents of a preschooler and a toddler. The kids seem to have grown up more in the past month than in the six months before that.

I am amazed that we are going to have to register Claudia for kindergarten one year from now. How is it possible that she is going to be in elementary school in a year and a half? I am so excited for her to start on that path--new friends, adventures, learning. I must admit that I am sad too that she isn't my little baby girl anymore. (Well, I tell her she will always be my baby girl, but you know what I mean.)

I have also found it very hard to know how I should be parenting her lately. She still is just 3, but she seems to be "maturing" well beyond what I expected her to be at 3. She still has the temper tantrums (almost daily) but she is also wanting to be more independent from me, which isn't all that different from before, but what is different is that she can actually do so much more independently than she used to.

I am trying to give her the independence that she craves. I am trying to step back and let her try things her way even if it isn't the way I would do it. It is hard. I keep questioning if I am guiding her enough or being to strict.

If anyone has any advice or wants to commiserate with me, leave me a comment. Please!

Let's Dance!

Claudia and Wilson LOVE to dance. Take a look! (Oh, and sorry for my annoying commentary.)

Wilson Is Officially a Walker

No, I didn't get any paternity results back. There really wasn't any need for that; the evidence was pretty clear when he was born and looked exactly like Claudia. But, our little guy is walking all the time now.

It is pretty amazing to think that just a year ago he was just basically still an eating/sleeping/pooping lump-a very cute lump, but still just a tiny lil' babe.

One peculiar habit that he is displaying is that he holds his arms very high out in front of him as he walks. I am assuming that it is for balance, but it does look just a little funny.

Way to go little monkey!