4 days to go

Only a few more days left here in Richmond. Cannot believe it is that time. It has been a LONG time coming and we are so ready to start the next phase of our life. Thursday we will be heading down to Charlotte - YAY!!! I have packed a pretty good amount, but still a lot left to do. Thankfully Mike's mom and Frank (grandma and Papa) will be taking the boys to Busch Gardens on Wednesday and then leaving from there to drive down to Charlotte on Thursday. This is such a HUGE help. We are so grateful to them for helping us out and the boys will have a great time! We are going to pack everything up and load the truck up Wednesday and get up and leave Thursday morning. Hopefully we can have a good amount unpacked by the time they get in on Thursday.

Today we purchased our first washer and dryer. The house we are renting had every other appliance but these, which I don't mind because we would need to buy them eventually and I kind of liking have our own, brand new set. I know I know, not very exciting.

Last weekend was Mike's graduation dinner. It was a fun night and we are all very proud of him. He is now officially an Oral Surgeon! He will start work with Uncle Pat July 6. No vacation time whatsoever! We'll get our vacation... someday!


Me and Mike at his graduation dinner

I can't think of anything else right now. A lot is going on all at once so it's hard to remember everthing. Our computer crashed last week so we were without computer access for 4 days! I was going crazy! :)

Next post will be from our new home in NC!!

I am behind on pictures, will catch up after the move!


Patrick always smiling


Me and my boys - picture was taken for Father's Day

First time for everything

This past weekend Mike says to me - I'm going to wash the cars. I said, "What?! By hand!?" In our almost 11 years together I have NEVER seen him wash a car, so of course I had to take some pictures. His reason is that he's never had a car worth washing. I guess I'll have to continue to wash the other car, since it's apparently not worthy!

Hosting our first play date

Today we had a play date at our house with our playgroup friends. Each week or every other week someone hosts at their house and I finally hosted our first, and last :( Jack and Patrick love playing with all their little friends and I enjoy having some grown up conversation! We are really going to miss our little group. It is hard to find people that you can relate to and truly enjoy being around and just when I find a great group we have to move. It is sad but I know we will stay in touch and we will also make new friends.
Here are some photos from today:


Patrick hanging out with Madelyn and Jackson


Jack and Kate


Jack grabbed all his "stuff" and ready for a nap during out play date

Another quick note I just had to share, Patrick has learned to climb OUT of his exersaucer! There is no containing him now! I think after we move I'll have to get the pack-n-play out. Here are pictures of him climbing out:

Patrick's surgery, day at the river and more

I have been meaning to update as things happened but keep forgetting and now I'm trying to remember all that has happened over the past few weeks.

Patrick's surgery a couple of weeks ago went very well. He's still not totally healed but he's doing fine. He goes back for a follow up appointment the end of this month. He did so well after the surgery we barely even needed to use children's Tylenol. He's a tough little guy.


Patrick before his surgery


Patrick right after getting some "relaxing" meds before they took him back

A few days after Patrick's surgery we went to a friend's place along the river in Deltaville. It was our playgroup friends and we had a great time. Although, Jack doesn't seem to be fond of sand (probably takes after me!). He would NOT touch the sand or go near the water. He was fine once we blew up a little baby pool. Poor Patrick wanted to get into everything, but because he just had his surgery a few days prior I didn't want him to get sandy and wet. So he had to hang out in the stroller most of the time. They both had fun playing inside after lunch and slept well on the car ride home. We are really going to miss our group of friends when we move :(


Jack at the river, NOT liking the sand!


Patrick hanging out at the river

Let's see what else... OH! we bought a new car! This was totally Mike's idea. I was fine driving the Pathfinder and figured he should get a nice new car for himself, since he deserves it. We bought a 2006 Lexus GX. It is now mostly my car and Mike drives the Pathfinder. We are selling the Galant. A woman actually came by this week to look at it with her son so just waiting for her to get the money together and it will be finalized. I will miss my Galant, since that was my car for so long. I won't miss it too long though after driving the Lexus! It has a built in DVD player which is great for the boys.

I'm trying to remember what else... This weekend I am running the Xterra 1oK Trail Run. I am excited and nervous. My friend and I are checking the course out tomorrow and just hoping I didn't get myself too over my head :|

It's getting down to wire and need to start packing too. I have done a few boxes here and there, but I just stare and everything and wonder what to do next!? Mike's mom will hopefully be taking the boys over night so we can get things packed up and ready to go. We'll be moving July 2!

Some random pictures:


Playing in the pool


Patrick getting something to eat


This is how he fell asleep... so sweet.

New teeth... Cruisin'... and more.

This is just a quick update, mainly to post new photos and some video!

Jack is getting his last set of molars. He's been complaining that his mouth hurts but has been pretty good about. Maybe once they're all in he will FINALLY stop drooling!

Patrick is now cruising around the furniture. He will stand for a second and sometimes try to take a step if you hold him up. It won't be long before he's walking and chasing after Jack!

Here's some videos of the boys:

This one is hilarious - it's Patrick sticking his tongue out and making funny faces, you can hear Jack laughing in the background and you can't help but laugh yourself!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIKV9ZE7RYI

This one is Jack jumping in the pool when we stayed at Virginia Beach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVOIB7f69UY

This one is Patrick "crawling" outside on the grass. He looks like a little crab because he won't let his knees touch the grass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xw2eFz2j5w


Some photos from our trip to Virginia Beach and just hanging out:


Mike's grandparents and the boys


Me and my boys on Mother's Day


Patrick worn out from swimming in the pool

Jack on the balcony at the hotel


Just hanging out

The search is over...

at least for the next year.

We have found a house, to rent, in Charlotte. We plan to rent for a year and save and look for a house that we really like and plan to stay in for awhile. It's a nice 3 BR, 2 story house. It's in a nice community with a pool and playground. The only thing I was disappointed in was that the yard was not fenced, but we were quite limited because a lot of places did not allow dogs. We are happy with the place though and it is finally starting to feel more "real". Just 7 1/2 weeks to go!!

The office that Mike will be working in, his uncle Pat's office, put an ad in one of the local magazines. You can check the online version here: (it takes awhile for the page to load, and then it's on page 65)
http://issuu.com/sparkpublications/docs/lnc_0509?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml

Jack and Patrick are doing well. It was a rough week in Charlotte, being in the car most of the days and not being able to play but they did well considering. Jack is a handful, and your typical 2 year old :) Patrick is "talking", saying BAH BAH BAH. I still need to download all the latest photos, so check back soon!

Today we had a very nice, relaxing Mother's Day. The boys got me breakfast, flowers, a gift certificate to a spa (can't wait to use that!), a newspaper and very nice cards, and we relaxed all morning. I took the boys for a nice long jog while Mike mowed the lawn and then we all played outside after. It was a perfect day. Although, I think Patrick got a little sunburn. BAD mommy for not putting sunblock on. I am ALWAYS so careful about doing that, except today!

Next up is Patrick's surgery, in 2 weeks, and I really should try to start packing things up!

So much to do, so little time

I am trying to remember all that has happened since the last post. The main event was going to Charlotte for a week. Mike went into his "new" office to do some more paperwork and pretty much the rest of the time we spent driving around looking at houses. We have now decided to rent and save for a down payment. I hate the idea of renting still and even more having to move AGAIN! But it makes the best sense and gives us more time to really find something we like and plan to stay in for awhile.
While we were in Charlotte we took Jack to his first NHL game! He had a blast! He LOVES hockey now! Mike has already looked into hockey programs for when we move to Charlotte.

We had a busy weekend when we returned home from Charlotte. GG and George stopped to visit. Jack was in a grouchy mood, again, but it was to be expected since we had JUST got home about an hour before they arrived. None of us got much sleep the week in Charlotte with all 4 of us sleeping in 1 room and nobody getting any naps. Well, Patrick still napped :)
Mike's mom, Frank and granparents stopped to visit the next day. It was his grandparent's first time meeting Patrick. It was a HOT day but a nice visit.

Yesterday was Mike's birthday and we just celebrated at home. Today we went to the zoo and now just relaxing and doing lots of laundry so I can pack everything up for our next trip this coming week. Monday we are going to Virginia Beach for the day/night and then head to Charlotte on Tuesday for the rest of the week. It's suppose to rain at the beach but hopefully we can get some beach time in and the hotel we're staying in has a big indoor pool with a lazy river and a waterfall, so that should be fun!

Here's a few pictures from the past week, I have downloaded everything from my camera yet so will have more next time.


Jack up close at his first NHL game.


Trying not to touch the grass


GG and Patrick