Changes

I've been meaning to write this post for awhile now, but I've been so busy because....

we are moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina!

Clarke came home from work a little over 3 weeks ago and said he got a promotion at work, but it was in North Carolina. Our first thoughts were we are not moving! Then the more we talked about it, the more we researched North Carolina, the more we entertained this as a possibility, it really became something that could be good for our family. I said "I can't believe that we are even having this conversation." Both are families and friends are here in Richmond, we never thought we would leave this city we both love. 

We spent 4 days down there a little over 2 weeks ago trying to figure out if this was a good fit for our family.We looked at houses, saw the city and at the end we both had a peace about moving. We both really love Winston-Salem! 

It is scary to think about leaving Richmond. We have such a strong support network here of family and friends, which is so nice when you have a baby. It will definitely be an adjustment. I love the verse in Philippians that talks about the peace that surpasses all understanding, because that is really how I feel about this. It's crazy that I am excited about this new adventure for our family, but I really am! 

Fun Stuff

So many fun and exciting things have been going on around here lately. Here are a few.......

One of my best friends just got engaged, and it was so much fun to celebrate. I am also invested because my husband and I set them up almost 2 years ago. It's been so much fun seeing their relationship grow and now I can't wait for the wedding!!

I just can't get over how cute Chloe looks in a onesie! I am loving this warm weather where her little legs get to be bare.

This past weekend my friend Emily and I ran the Color Me Rad 5k. I've been wanting to do this race for awhile, and I'm glad I finally did. It was so much fun, they throw colored cornstarch all over you as you run. As you can see we got lots of color on us!

Embracing the Camera

I've decided to participate in embrace the camera this Thursday. 

I think this is such a wonderful concept, it's true that most of the time I'm the one taking the pictures, so I definitely need to remind myself to snap one of me and my baby girl every now and then. For more about this go here. 

Here's my photo, I think Chloe looks so big! Loving this idea and hoping to do it more!

Monument Avenue 10k 2013

Yesterday I got to run my first race post baby, and it was fabulous! The Monument Avenue 10k is such a big deal around here, over 40 thousand, yes thousand people participate every year. This is the race that got me addicted to running 2 years ago. 

I ran with my favorite running buddy Emily, we did really great this year! Chloe did not run with us, I couldn't get her to look at the camera either, she was just interested in eating then. (She has decided no more bottle, I pumped before the race and she wanted to hold out until afterwards for me, oh well.)

I did get her a 10k onesie at the expo, I couldn't resist. So cute!

My family came out to cheer me on, which is always great. Afterwards we all went to Tarrant's for brunch, which is always yummy. Today I am definitely feeling like I ran a race though, I didn't train like I normally do. But it was so much fun the soreness is so worth it! 

5 months!

Dear Chloe,
Two days ago you turned 5 months old. Where has the time gone? This month you have changed so much. You love to play with your toes. It's been warmer this past week and when you see them you are all about playing with them, it's really quite adorable! You smile so much now. If I laugh you usually laugh right along. You love playing on your play mat still. You grab for the toys dangling above really well now. You love your pink ball and ring rattle toys a lot. You also love to put your toys or anything in your mouth.

I am happy to say you are sleeping better at night. We definitely went through a rough patch where you wanted to wake up every 1-3 hours. I was so tired, and I guess you caught on because now you wake up a few times and if I put the pacifier back in your mouth you usually go back down. You went from nursing 2-3 times a night to nursing once at night now.

You still eat every 3 hours during the day. Your naps are more random now. Some days you nap really well and others not so much. I am finding you still like to sleep in your carseat, but not as well as before. Maybe that season is ending?

You are still in 0-3 month clothes and size 1 disposable diapers. You have grown though, according to my scale at home you weigh about 11 pounds now. You have lots of hair still, and you always get compliments about your pretty blue eyes.

Bath time is getting better now, you actually enjoy it. You splash your legs around and as I said earlier, love playing with your toes.

Your dad and I both love you so much and can't imagine our lives without you in it. You really are a great baby and adjust well when you have to be taken off your schedule. You really only get fussy when you are over tired, hungry or have a dirty diaper. Otherwise it's all smiles!
I love you baby girl,
 Mommy

Updates

I can't believe we are already a week into April, it seems like I had been waiting for this month to get here for forever and now it's going by so fast! So much has happened since the start of this month, I'll update more later but for now here is what has been going on.

We celebrated our 4 year anniversary by going to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was sooo good.

And the chocolate might have been the best part.

Chloe is so into this ball toy I got her at Target. She is quite adorable, of course I am just a little biased. 

I finally got around to spray painting our doorknobs upstairs. I used Rustoleum's oil rubbed bronze paint and primer spray paint. 

It took me about 3 weeks to finish them, from taking the hardware off to putting them back on. I must say having a baby makes it much harder to accomplish projects like this. I used Young House Love's method and I definitely agree with them, it was really easy to do! Go here if you want to see their post about exactly how it's done. 

Here is a before and after shot of the doorknobs. Love them now, wish I hadn't waited so long to do this. 

I do need to write another post soon about something big that is happening in our lives (no I am not preggo, will just throw that out there now) but I'm not quite ready yet.  April has been a really busy month so far and I don't think it's going to slow down. I will say I can't wait for the Monument Avenue 10k next weekend, it's been way too long since my last race day! Okay, this post was all over the place, I'll stop now! 

4 Years

4 years ago today I was getting married. It was one of the best days of my life, and I can't imagine what these past 4 years would have looked like without Clarke.

We have been through so much in the past 4 years, from pregnancy to complications during birth. Traveling and buying our house to lazy weekends at home. The loss of our pet to watching Chloe laugh for the first time. Through good and bad I can say I'm glad to have him by my side.

Happy Anniversary Clarke, I love you!! 

Easter 2013

We all had a great Easter yesterday, celebrating by going to church and eating at my mom's. It was actually special because this was our last holiday at my mom's house (the house I grew up in) because she has sold it. I'm glad we got to have one last holiday there. 

Here we are before leaving for church. I got Chloe's Easter dress like 2 months ago, and I couldn't wait for her to wear it. 

At church we got a picture with one of my best friend's and her little girl. This is the first picture we have of us and our girls, don't know how it took almost 5 months! 

Love this family picture as well! 

Chloe's first Easter was a success!!