5 for Friday

Today I am linking up over at The Good Life and with Joy for 5 things on Friday. Here we go:

1. I am loving that we have a pool to go to this summer. Its great even if we only go for 45 minutes. It doesn't hurt that Chloe looks so adorable in her swim suite! I still can't over that it's a little big on her. Who knew I would have such a small baby?

2. Today we close on our house in Richmond. While I am so grateful we sold it, and to be done with paperwork and all those annoying things that go into selling a house I can't help but be a little sad. This was such a great home for us.

3. I am recently obsessed with these Chobani greek yogurt flips. Key lime is my favorite, but they are all good. 

4. The other day at the grocery store I put Chloe in the shopping cart for the first time. That carseat is just too heavy now. She did really well and she loved being able to see everything better.

5. Since Chloe is really loving her solid food I decided to buy some at the store. I had been giving her just avocados or bananas or oatmeal. She loves this baby food, sometimes she gets angry when it's all gone!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!! 

New Things

Did anyone notice the top navigation bar? I finally added an about me page. I've had this blog for almost four years now and I've never had one. I guess I find it hard to sum up myself in just one page, but I decided to try! Oh, and I even figured out how to center it, pretty proud of myself. 

I also joined Bloglovin. Click here to Follow my blog with Bloglovin! I am also searching for other bloggers I know, so let me know if you use it too! :)

Life Here

Here is a random post about life here in Winston-Salem, a brain dump if you will.

I really really really love Harris Teeter. Clarke keeps laughing at me when I talk about how great it is because, I know, it's just a grocery store. But they seriously have all my favorite foods in one place! In Richmond I would have to go to 2 or 3 different stores to find my favorite tea, hummus, Kashi bars and  yogurt. But Harris Teeter has them all, and more. The best part is it's not too expensive like a lot of nicer grocery stores in Richmond. 

I love that Clarke gets off work an hour earlier than he used to. We've been able to go do stuff when he gets home from work which is so nice. We love the greenways here, which are basically trails. My favorite so far is Muddy Creek Greenway. Something about the views reminds me of Harrisonburg, it's so relaxing. I can't wait to go run here.

Speaking of running, yesterday I signed up for a half marathon training program here! I was searching online for running stores and races here and found Fleet Feet. It's a local running store (like Road Runners for all my Richmond running friends) and they have so many different training programs. From a beginner 5k program to marathon training. I asked them about the program and it seems very similar to the marathon training program I did in Richmond back in 2011 and absolutely loved. I figured I don't have any excuses since Clarke already said he would watch Chloe Saturday mornings for me to train. Originally I had planned on doing the half training team in Richmond with my favorite running buddy (Hi Emily!) and since we learned we would be moving I didn't know if I would still be able to do it. I knew I couldn't train on my own after my brief hiatus from running during pregnancy and commuting to Richmond to train every Saturday just seems like too much. But, the best part of it all: I'm still going to run The Richmond Half Marathon on November 16th!! I couldn't believe this training team was for my hometown! I love that I'm so familiar with the course already! 

Here is a picture of our fireplace. I'll post more house pics soon (for you Rachel!)  It's my favorite part about our new home. I've always wanted a fireplace, not to actually use, although that will be nice in the fall, but just to decorate! I love walking in and seeing this focal point. I would love to buy a nice big mirror to put over it but I'm waiting until we actually buy a house. We signed a 6 month lease here so since we won't be here too long I'm hesitant to make a purchase not knowing if I can reuse it in the next place. 

I am loving the radio station K Love. It's a contemporary Christian station that I've heard great things about. I always wondered when people moved to Richmond why they would complain about not getting K Love there, now I get it. 

Chloe has her own bathroom in this new place! First I will say I am having so much fun finding towels and things for it. (I figure I can take everything with us to the next house, especially since having 2 full baths is a deal breaker for us now).  I love that we can just leave all her toys out too. She loves bath time now, she has come a long way from those first few months of hating it. 

I started using our cloth diapers again. I just had to stop when we started selling our house. I had no way of knowing when someone was coming to see the house, and couldn't have the diapers out drying. Then with moving it was just too much. But now that life has settled back down I am glad to be using them again. I really love how much money they save and they really are cute.

In an effort to be honest I must say not everything is roses and sunshine. While I do think I will enjoy living here it still doesn't feel like home, I know that just takes time. I still don't know many people and that's hard. We tried a new church Sunday morning that we both really liked, but it was so different walking into church and not having tons of people to talk to and catch up with. I keep getting emails from my old mom group and I long for that community here. 

And to end on a happy note, here is Chloe wearing her first t-shirt!! I remember when my friend (Hi Emily Lang!) brought this to me in the hospital after I had her, it looked so big. I can't believe it fits her now! Oh, and to go off on another tangent this girl has been sleeping so much better! I am starting to wonder if it was something about our old house, a noise or where the vent was, that was keeping her from sleeping so well. She still wakes up but hasn't nursed at night in over a week! This is a  HUGE milestone for us!! I am finally hopeful that she will sleep though the night sooner than later.

Tanglewood

We keep saying it feels like we are on vacation. Although today it has started to sink in that we really have moved, but we have been having fun exploring this new city. Saturday we went to Tanglewood Park, about 10 minutes from us. 

We had heard great things about it, and we definitely weren't disappointed. This place was huge, with so many walking trails, playgrounds, golf courses, a pool, cottages you can rent, paddle boats and gardens. We really enjoyed exploring.

Chloe enjoyed her first picnic! 

We met some very friendly ducks who were disappointed we didn't have any food for them.

It was such a beautiful day too, the high was 82 so it wasn't too hot.

This place has some beautiful views, I don't think we even scratched the surface of all the different trails.

We can't wait to go back and try out the pool, and I'm excited about the par 3 golf course!

The Best Dad

Happy Father's Day Clarke!!

From the beginning he's been the best dad ever, it really seems to come naturally for him. Chloe is soooo blessed to have him for her daddy!

He is the type of dad that will get up with Chloe at night, put on his bathing suite and hop in the bath with her, loves playing with her and just being silly. When he comes home form work she smiles so big, she is always happy to see him.

We are so lucky to have you in our lives! Happy first father's day Clarke!!

The Moving Post

I feels like we have been moving for forever, really it's been about a week of transitioning to North Carolina. It's been emotional, harder than I thought, easier than I thought and one word sums it up perfectly: bittersweet. 

I spent a lot of time last week packing up our house, Chloe enjoyed the bubble wrap. Ha! I also got to see my close friends and family one last time before leaving. I was so happy to get in one last run with my favorite running buddy. (Hi Emily!!) Although after our run in the rain was the first of many waves of sadness about leaving. 

Our house started to look like this. Piles and piles of stuff packed up everywhere. 

The movers came on Sunday morning. They packed up the kitchen for us and started to load the truck. I don't think it really hit me until Monday morning. We had planned to come to Winston-Salem Sunday after the truck had been loaded but it took the movers longer than we had anticipated. We stopped by the house Monday to grab a few more things from the fridge before leaving town. (We spent that night at my in-laws since our beds were on the truck) Seeing our home so bare was really hard. How could that house be so empty yet so full of memories? So many wonderful things have happened for our family in that house, it was really hard leaving.

This past week we have been settling into our new house. Both my in-laws and my mom came to help move us in. They were such a big help, watching Chloe, unpacking and really doing anything I needed. We are so lucky to have them! 

We keep saying that it feels like we are on vacation. Exploring this new city, finding our way around, and trying new restaurants. Wednesday we went to the pool with both the grandmas. I just love this bathing suite on Chloe, adorable! 

When my mom left it hit me again. Sometimes I feel like such a big baby! The farthest I've ever lived from her was 2 hours in college, now I am 4, which still isn't bad. 

I know it will take some time making this place our new home. I am happy to say that we are done unpacking. Since we didn't unpack anything from our attic, guest room and shed it didn't take too long. I changed my city on Facebook to Winston-Salem, NC today and that felt so weird! 

Hello next chapter of our lives. 

7 months

Dear Chloe,
Last week you turned 7 months old. On that day we moved to  North Carolina and you became a Carolina girl!

You are so active now. You reach for everything in sight and most of it goes into your mouth. You love playing in your exersaucer now, especially the music on it. Your feet finally touch the ground too. You are very verbal too, you love saying "dadada" all the time. You can almost sit up on your own, sometimes you do but then eventually you fall over. This month we have brought you to the pool and you love it. You splash and kick your legs, and I will also add, look adorable in your bathing suite.

This month you have started eating solid foods. You are a really good eater. You eat a lot of avocados, oatmeal, and rice cereal but baby yogurt is probably your favorite. We just tried peas, broccoli and carrots and you seem to like them too. When I put on your bib now you kick your feet so hard and smile, I think you know food is coming and you get so excited! You now nurse 4 times a day instead of 5. You also love to drink water out of your sippy cup, or any water bottle really. You grab for it and pull it towards your mouth.

Since you started solids you have really grown. Your thighs are chunky and soooo cute. You wear 3-6 month clothing now. Your hair continues to get thicker, and your eyes are still a pretty blue. Still no teeth!

I am happy to say nighttime is getting better. The last 3 nights you have gone all night without nursing once. This is a HUGE milestone for you! You still wake up but if you are rocked or given your paci you go back down. This gives me hope that you will sleep through the night soon.

When we go out people still come up to me and say how beautiful you are. You are such a happy baby.  You love exploring this world around you and discovering new things. Whether its a sound or a new toy you just love to figure it out.

I love being your mommy. I love you so much sweet girl and I can't wait to see what this next month brings for you.
Love always,
 Mommy

Baltimore

One of the things we wanted to do before leaving Richmond was to visit my dad in Baltimore. Since it's north of here, we are definitely a lot closer now than we will be. Clarke took the day off work Friday and we headed up.

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants there, Chipparelli's. It's the best Italian food ever.

It was our first time in the harbor as a family of three!

It was also our first time at an Oriole's game as a family of three. I blogged last year about visiting Camden Yards when I was pregnant, it's so neat to see how things change, and so quickly it seems. 

Chloe got this cute certificate for her first time going to a game. When we came to pick up her stroller from where we had checked it they had it for us. (We always walk to the game since my dad lives so close and we don't have to worry about parking.) We loved it!


 So glad we got to visit one last time before we move south! 

Water Baby

We took Chloe to the pool for the first time yesterday. She really loved it, and I just can't get over how adorable she looked.

We mainly hung out in the baby pool area, which was great.

Water Sophie was a big hit at the pool too!

I got this bathing suite for her the day I found out she was a girl. That was almost a year ago, I can't believe she is old enough to actually wear it now!!

Glad we will have a pool to go to in North Carolina when we get there! 

God is Good!

I am so happy to be typing this:

We sold our house! Here is what the sign out front looks like now!

Of course nothing is official until we close on June 28th, but we are pretty excited.

This is such an answered prayer. The house was on the market for 7 weeks, which isn't too bad but we were definitely starting to wonder if there was something wrong with the house we weren't seeing. God is so good to come through and bring us the right buyers. 

We already signed a 6 month lease down there, which I actually think will be good for us. At first I really didn't want to rent but now I think having time to get to know the area will be good before making such a huge commitment like buying a house. We can find the right church, see which areas of town we actually enjoy spending the most time in and not be rushed. 

This time next week we will be in Winston-Salem. How did the time go by so fast?