We made the move!

We officially reside in Charlotte! Unfortunately, I have to modify a statement in my last blog about things falling into place. The sell of our house in PA fell through so it's on the market. That aside, we're settling in nicely. The kids enjoy their new daycare. Justin started his job the Monday after we moved in. I've been very busy at work.

This post is going to be short and sweet... I promise I'll post more pictures at a later date!

One last picture before we leave our house in PA.

The drive from PA to NC (somewhere in the Virginia mountains).

This is the view from our backyard in Charlotte (just before sunrise).

I'm sorry the lighting in this video is so dark. Hopefully you can see what a darling little dragon and beautiful little princess my kiddos were for Halloween!

Things are falling into place...

Well, I'm excited to say that things are falling into place with our move! We are finalizing the paperwork for a lease to own on our house. We found a good daycare in Charlotte and the kids are both enrolled. Justin got a job offer - at the place we hoped for. And we put a deposit down on a house in Charlotte that's just five minutes from daycare and less than 15 minutes from my work and Justin's work.

I'm sad to move, but so excited that I won't have to travel anymore. It's been hard on all of us. For Justin basically being a single Dad when I'm gone, for the kids to not have their Mom there consistently and for me to leave the kids every other week.

This last weekend we went for a drive in the country. Sadly, it's probably the last one we'll take in PA. We stopped in Lititz and enjoyed ice-cream cones at a little shop and took some cute pictures. Carson had his first ice-cream and boy did he love it!

Averie is usually bugged when I try to take her picture, but for some reason she loved modeling for the camera!

Since it's been a while since I last posted the next few pictures are a bit outdated.

In August we went to Washington DC for the ward temple trip.

This is my binky baby... this boy loves his binky or should I say binkies.

When I was little my family would as "Vivi, where's your chin?" and I'd point to my chin. Then they'd ask "Where's your other chin?" and I'd point to my double chin. I guess we know where Carson gets his.

Averie started soccer this fall. She really enjoys it. Her team is 2 - 2.

Help us sell our house!

We've been torn about whether we should lease or sell our house when we move to Charlotte. We've decided to sell. We're starting as a For Sale by Owner and will see how that goes. We've created a blog of our home www.314AmandaCourt.blogspot.com. If you know anyone in the market for a charming home in this area please send them this link!

Happy Birthday Bugga!

Happy Birthday Mom! Averie was excited to sing you a special Birthday song. And as an extra treat she agreed to do the Z-snap... this girl's got attitude. I was hoping Carson would "talk" but he was pre-occupied with his graham cracker.

I know you aren't terribly excited about your birthday, but we want you to know how much you mean to us. And whether you like it or not, we want to celebrate this day. If it weren't for your Birthday you wouldn't be our Mom and Bugga. You are the greatest Mom and we hope this year brings good fortune and happiness.

We love you and miss you.

P.S. Pause the music so you can hear the singing.

Catching up on the last month...

I've been terrible at keeping our blog up to date so this is going to be filled with updates...

Update #1 - I quit RRD! YAY! My last day was 8/8/08. No more spending 3 hours a day in the car and no more filling the gas tank 3 times a week!

Update #2 - I started a new job with Shutterfly on 8/11/08. Shutterfly is an Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service that enables consumers to share, print and preserve their memories. Check out the site, it's a really cool company with awesome product! http://www.shutterfly.com/. So far so good, I'm really enjoying the company and the people.

Update #3 - We're moving to Charlotte. I know this is a complete 180 from our original plan to move west. We're excited about it and we still plan to move west long term, this is just a minor detour.

Update #4 - Carson is on the go! He's gone from scooting to crawling to pulling himself up. Now that this kid is mobile he hates being confined anywhere. The crib has now become a prison that he hates unless he's sleeping. He loves exploring his new world. In fact he's trying to climb the stairs right now (Of course, Justin is monitoring and diverting). His favorite thing to do is to splash in Sadie's water dish. We have to her dish up while he's "loose". He's also quite the eater. He loves meal-time. However, he now wakes during the night for a bottle. I think he's going through a growth spurt.

This is Carson stuck between the couch and the wall. He scooted himself in then got stuck. I had to pull the couch out slightly to free him.

Carson loves splashing around on the slip-n-slide.

Redneck swimming pool... Who needs a good slip-n-slide when you can frolic in the garbage can? Justin was cleaning out the trash can and Averie just couldn't resist. You can imagine the looks of passers by.

More pictures of our Niagara Falls trip...

We did a lot of walking and Averie was tired. This is her pouting because she decided she didn't want to walk.

We decided the kids could share the stroller.

This is Horseshoe Falls. We don't have many pictures where you can actually see the falls because it was so misty.

These are the rapids leading to the American Falls.

That's the Canadian side in the background.

American Falls directly behind us and Horseshoe Falls in the distance.

A few pictures from the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

Carson was in heaven crawling around on the blanket at the pageant. He kept himself occupied most of the night until he fell asleep. Averie loved the pageant and was absolutely captivated the whole time.

We had a great trip!

Busy week...

Monday Carson had his six month check up (he's actually seven months old but we've been a month behind ever since his hospital visit). Here are his stats: 16lbs 11oz and 26 7/8". The Dr. was impressed that he was able to reach for his pacifier and put it in his mouth. He is soooo close to crawling... he gets in the crawling position, scoots and pushes off from his toes. Any day now... He had his immunizations and was terribly fussy for two days. This little guy is the most mild-mannered, happy baby so having a fussy and needy baby for two days was different. Luckily, today he's back to his happy self!

Last week we had a fun "mini" vacation. We drove up to Palmyra, NY and went to the Hill Cumorah pageant. It was a lot of fun, but both Justin and I were exhausted. We both ended up falling asleep toward the end of the pageant. Averie had a nap on the way up and was refreshed and thrilled to be in New York. She kept telling us that when we get to NY she's going to see Jesus. I told her that it will not be the real Jesus because Jesus is in Heaven and she said "Uh-uh, Jesus is in my heart".

We also went to Niagara Falls. I'm so glad we did, it was amazing! The drive from Palmyra to Niagara Falls was 1 1/2 hours. We had a package of Oreo cookies to snack on during our drive. I found myself mindlessly eating cookies and decided I should put them on the back seat to get them away. We arrived at Niagara Falls and Justin and I jumped out of the car to get the stroller ready and the kids out. As I reached in to unbuckle Averie I saw the cookie package and reached in to find ALL but four cookies were missing the cream! When I looked at Averie and asked why she ate only the cream out of the cookies she very matter of factly replied "Because I don't like the black part."

We took a lot of pictures but I haven't downloaded them from the camera yet. Watch for another post to come soon with pictures.

Amish Country in the Summer

This picture is for Mom and Bama. This view should be familiar, it was the same road we took on our Amish Buggy Ride in February... I wanted you to see the same country in the summer when everything is green.

June Vacation

Well, I'm sad to say our "summer vacation" has come to an end. Mom & Dad Johnson and Cameron visited us for a couple weeks in June. Cameron left on the 11th and Mom & Dad yesterday. Each time our visitors leave the house is quiet and it leaves us feeling slightly down. Averie avoids saying goodbye, she wouldn't get out of the car to give Grandma and Grandpa a hug and tell them goodbye (she avoided saying goodbye to Rosie, Bama and Bugga a few months ago too). Averie is sick... I thought she was being dramatic because she was sad about everyone leaving, but she's had a fever and I can tell she doesn't feel well. Today was a sick day so I didn't go back to work as originally planned.

We did a lot of fun things while everyone was here. Hershey Park, Mt. Gretna, picnic in the park, Gettysburg, Intercourse Pretzel Factory and shops, Amish Buggy Ride, playing in the sprinklers and hanging out & watching movies.

Carson and Averie also received a "baby" blessing. Yes, Averie is slightly older than a baby, but she never received one as an infant so we took this opportunity to do so. They were both blessed by Grandpa Johnson. Averie was very excited to have her blessing. I was slightly concerned that Carson might squirm or fuss, but he was perfect. Afterward, we had lunch at the house with some close friends in the ward. Cameron got to be here for the blessings, but unfortunately, we were rushed to head home for lunch and didn't get a picture at church while he was here. This picture was taken the following weekend on Father's Day.

We finally have updated pictures of Cameron! The kids had so much fun together! Averie tagged along with Cameron just as little sisters do. Cameron enjoyed it for the most part, but every once in a while was annoyed with her, just as older brothers are!

Happy Birthday Papa Moni!

What good looking kids!

This is a recent picture of Cameron. He's so grown up and such a good looking kid! We are soooo excited for him to visit in June. Mom & Dad Johnson are coming as well and we are looking forward to spending time together.

Averie is such a good big sister. This morning I awoke when I heard the music on Carson's mobile playing. I heard Averie in Carson's room talking to him. I layed in bed for probably 10 minutes listening to Averie babble to Carson... It was something like this (all in a sing-song baby voice): "This is Elmo and this is Cookie Monster... (a few minutes of playing with a musical Sesame Street toy) ...Cameron's coming in June and we're going to Chocolate World! We're going to Chocolate World, yes we are. Don't you love Chocolate World? Yes, we are!" Then after a few minutes he began fussing, so she came into our room and said very matter-of-factly, "Mom, Carson's hungry." Such a sweet girl.

Carson is such a good baby. He sleeps so well in his crib, in fact, sometimes I have to wake him up in the morning. He smiles all the time. It's difficult to get pictures of him smiling because as soon as the flash on the camera goes off he gives a puzzled or startled look. This picture is without flash. It's difficult to see, but if you look closely you can see his spiky orangutan hair... it's so cute!

I love this picture! I took this before she realized I had the camera. As soon as she realized I was taking pictures she wanted to pose.

Look at these darling, little, chubby feet!

This is Carson's startled look... I swear he was smiling right up to the point the flash went off.