Settling in

Seems hard to believe, but we're now in our fourth week here in Michigan. It's been a busy few weeks, but slowly but surely, we're settling in and making this our home. So far we love the area and adore our new home; in fact, the only thing we're missing is our family and friends.

The drive itself from Minnesota to Michigan went really well. We couldn't have asked for more from the girls; both of them did awesome in the car. I think we all enjoyed our "layover" at Uncle Jim & Aunt Karen's, but we were definitely anxious to get to our new house. It's all that we remembered and we're loving all the space. We're still trying to figure out how all our stuff fit in our Minnesota house as our big kitchen is relatively full and we're working on filling up several of our storage areas.

We had a lot of help with the settling in process. Aaron's parents were here for the first week to help with the initial unpacking, mowing, cleaning, etc. They were a huge help, and then my parents and Wally & Dena came the next weekend to continue the work. By the time everyone left, nearly all of the boxes were unpacked, the house was semi-child proofed and some pictures were hung. Having others here also meant that Aaron & I could go and look at furniture without having the two little ones in tow. We didn't realize what a big deal that was until we tried taking them with us once.

Aaron had to work out a big kink with the whole working from home. During our first days here, his hard drive crashed. This meant figuring out who to call for help and waiting for others to get him what he needed, but he's now back up and running. He commented the other day that he's able to get so much more done from home. Plus I think he likes being able to listen to his Minnesota sports radio shows on-line while he works.

The girls had a little bit of a hard time with the transition. Alyssa struggled with not having any routine during the first week or so and Lauren, poor Lauren, didn't know what was going on and was craving attention. Now that we've got a routine in place, both of them are happier. Lauren has morphed from a fussy little girl into a smiley, hungry, quite pleasant baby. The proof is in the pictures :)Just this week she has started sleeping in her crib in her own room. The first night she woke up at her normal 2:00 or so, but since then she's been sleeping until around 5 am. And this morning, we had to wake her at 7 - we may have turned a corner. Alyssa loves all the steps (Aaron & I hated them during the unpacking phase) and enjoys both her BIG bedroom and her playroom. She also likes to go out and swing and go down the slide. She's also adding new words to her vocabulary - beep, bee, bubbles and bottle. One of my favorites is when you ask her a question she often starts her response with "um". For example, if you ask, "Alyssa how did this get here," she might say "Umm...." It's so funny. She's also started to "sing" along with songs; she may not say the words, but she's making noise to the tune - too cute! Over the course of the summer she has definitely discovered the joys of ice cream, water sprinklers, making music and dancing - oh can she dance (just ask Aunt Karen & Uncle Jim!).



Watching the two girls together is so much fun. Alyssa can't leave Lauren alone, she just absolutely adores her. If she's crying, she wants to giver her a bottle or her pacifier; if she's getting her diaper changed, she wants to get the wipe and diaper; if we're singing a song, she wants to help Lauren do the motions. They took a bath together the other night and both of them enjoyed it. Lauren is starting to respond to Alyssa's antics, which is so great since Alyssa loves her so much. Soon I'm sure they'll be the best of buds.

They both started day care last week and seem to be doing well. Alyssa has a hard time when we leave her there in the mornings, but the day care provider assures us that she enjoys her time while she's there. We've been so blessed to find a kind individual to care for the girls who is located so close to the house.

We have managed to cross almost everything off our list - we bought new living room furniture (to be delivered in another 6 weeks or so), a new patio set, and a new desk. We also set up a new bank account (Wells Fargo doesn't have banks here), found a pediatrician, and changed our driver's licenses and our license plates...so I guess we're officially Michiganders! We've also made several trips to Meijer, started saving our cans and bottles to get our cash refund, visited the zoo, and attended free outdoor concerts in downtown Ada. Walking at night on the trails around our house has also become part of our evening routine.

Our neighbors are very friendly. Most of the families who circle the cul-de-sac have come over and introduced themselves and some even brought us flowers and breads. We decided that we know more of our neighbors here then we did after several years at our house in Bloomington. We're probably the youngest family on the cul-de-sac, but from what we understand the houses on either side of us will be going on the market in the near future (We're keeping our fingers crossed for a family with young kids!) It's nice to be able to greet the neighbors and say hello when everyone is outside. We look forward to hosting a neighborhood picnic soon.

There's so much we've come to love already about the house and the area:
*the vegetation. Everything is so green and full. It's beautiful.
*the wildlife. We have so many birds around the house that are always singing and they're so pretty to look at - there are cardinals, blue jays, and more. There are lots of bunnies and squirrels, but I've also seen a ground hog. One of the neighbors told us to watch out for snapping turtles because they can be big and nasty. Aaron has also seen some wild turkeys in the patch of trees behind our house and we saw two deer cross in front of us on one of our evening walks.
*all the natural light in the house. The windows are all big and there are skylights, all of which let in lots of light. In the mornings, I like to see the patterns on the wall in our bedroom made by the sun filtering through the trees, and I love to see the sun shining in while I shower.
*the walk-in closet! It's so big that we can have all of our hanging clothes in there with room for more. Guess this means I get to go shopping :)
*the local pizza parlor - Vitale's. It's in downtown Ada and they have some yummy pizza!
*the proximity of everything to our house. There are so many stores around, it's super cool. 28th Street is known for having the most stores of any one street in the country, and we're only 3 miles or so from it. Plus there's a mall nearby.

There's still along way for us to go before we call Michigan home, but we're making progress. We're figuring out how to get around and make Michigan lefts. We haven't quite figured out though why people come to the door into the house from the garage if the garage is open though (this has happened on one occasion). Guess that's all for the moment, I better get cracking on my work. The school year will be starting before I know it.

Hugs and love to all of you!