The Joys of Swinging

Today I got the urge to try out the park again. Since it was a overcast day and wasn't too terribly hot, I called up Erin to see if she and Liesel wanted to join us. Luckily both our girls had just woken up from their naps and would be in good moods for the park. This was Haylie's first time to try out the swings and oh my. Pure excitement!

She was so happy to be out with the wind in her hair and her feet pushing against something. Hopefully the weather won't keep us from going again soon.

Smiles

Haylie doesn't let me capture her smile too often on camera. She smiles up until I bring out the camera and then she puts on this contemplative look. Her new thing is to sit and watch Caramel and just erupt into giggles. Caramel isn't even doing anything funny - just sitting there being furry. She is going to grow up loving cats just like her mommy. Hopefully she won't be exactly like me in the way of checking out the same cat book in elementary school week after week just to look at pictures of cats. That just screams loser.

She has been awesome these last few days and has actually let me get a lot of packing done. She just sits and plays by herself - thank goodness! Here are a few smiles I caught these last few days.

I had to be super quick about this one - she was having soo much fun with Dog in her room. I just love this picture.

If Haylie were a plastic cup with a painted face, they could be twins.

Packing & Peeing

It has begun. Boxes, tape, stickers, notebooks & Sharpies are littered all over my house. I've tried to start with the miscellaneous crap that I just want to throw out but know that we could possibly want one day. I think I've got most of that packed away. So last night we tackled our china. Pictured above - 11 boxes! 11! We have a LOT of china and I am a nervous wreck when it comes to moving it. This was my Nana's china and I will be devastated if anything happens to it. Thanks to a tip from Michelle, she sent me to Reid's Printing where I loaded up on packing paper! If you know of anyone moving and needs some good paper to wrap china, plates, breakables, etc...I've got a few extra rolls!

And just to be random, I just had to document this. Haylie's first time to pee the bed.

Apparently we had too much to drink.

And this is her new summer look. She is all about being naked.

"I'm So Beautiful"

I forsee lots of time spent in front of the mirror playing dress-up and getting into Mommy's makeup (what little I have).

Whoops

It's amazing what a little daylight will show. Saturday we went back to the house that we put an offer on (in NE Edmond) with Justin's parents & my sister and nephew in tow. We felt like we saw a completely different house than we did the other day. It was terrible. I'm going to plead insanity. Or stupidity. This should be a lesson to everyone out there not to put an offer on a house the day your city gets 10 inches of rain in 6 hours and the lights aren't currently turned on.

We were relieved that our realtor hadn't cashed our earnest money and that we were still in the clear for "walking away with no reason." Whew. We then went to see another house in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood well within my 2 mile bubble radius and put an offer on it. It's a fantastic home and everything we have been looking for. It's clean. It's roomy. It has a driveway I can have a garage sale on. You know, the important things. We are closing the same day as our other house and couldn't be more excited. If you know anyone who has boxes or packing paper/newspaper they wouldn't mind giving us, let me know. Packing starts tomorrow. Welcome home, Cornell family, welcome home.

Hula-hoops & Hats

Maybe we should buy Haylie a hula-hoop...

...and a hat.

Home Update

After a weekend full of anxious moments of finding the right house, I just didn't think it would be possible. Justin and I can barely agree on the purchase of smaller things like plates, duvet covers or style of bedroom furniture...let alone a house. We ended up getting in a few "discussions" because he was looking for an "investment property" and I was looking for a home that would be good for Haylie! I didn't want to live in some ranky danky stanky house...so there in lies a problem between the hubby and I.

Monday morning we agreed on two more homes to go look at. One is in NE Edmond where I thought it was TOO far north to live. One was in a 2 mile radius of our current home - much more in my comfort bubble where I haven't moved from in the last 5+ years. I don't like change. Obviously.

We go see the home in NE Edmond...where two people named Cornell fell in love with it. It is a great home with good bones...and an acre of a wooded lot. It is a home that needs work, but a lot of that work is new carpet, new paint and a new bathroom or two. No problem there! It is a bank owned property so now that we submitted our offer...the waiting game is on. We will hopefully know something in a day or two...but it's killing us because neither of us are very patient. It would also depend on inspections - since we saw the house in the dark, we aren't sure what all works and what doesn't!

It may work out, it may not. If it doesn't, we will be so sad but we actually did like the other house we looked at that day and would be willing to put an offer on that. Not as cool as the first home, but still a great option.

Regardless of our decision, we will probably be moving in with my parents for a few weeks. I'm not sure Caramel and Kobe (their fat 22 lb cat) will get along, but it might be something we will just have to work out. Caramel has claws, Kobe doesn't. We'll see who wins.

Morning at the Zoo

Haylie and I met some friends at the zoo last Friday morning. It was hot & humid, but we both loved it. It was a lot of fun and Haylie was awake the entire time, taking it all in. I hope we have many more trips - I love seeing those animals. Haylie does too. I just know it.

"That's Not Duct Tape, it's Crepe Paper!"

Since we are now under contract for our house, Justin and I have hit the pavement running looking for new homes. There honestly aren't a lot out there right now that has everything we are looking for - but there are some great ones with potential. I feel like we are on HGTV's House Hunters and Suzanne Wang is going to sum up all our options - "Will the Cornells choose House #1 with the huge backyard, House #2 with the large living room and 4 bedrooms or House #3 - the fixer upper?" Then after a commerical break we will announce which of the three really great options we have picked.

If only it were as easy as a 30 minute TV show.

On one of our journeys to look at a home, we saw this lovely...a mailbox on a TV tray being held on by crepe paper and held down by a sandbag. Awe.Some.

No Strollers, Please!

Thanks to Aunt Janet and Uncle Paul's gift certificate, we got to take a trip to Sears today to get some pictures taken! I have been pretty excited about this because I haven't had pictures done of our family of 3 since...well, ever. So today was the day! We got all matchy-matchy, drove to Sears and posed with our best smiles. We were finally able to look at our pictures and we got some good ones! But...there was one of the three of us - Justin was holding Haylie and I'm smiling away. Noticing something awkward, I leaned in for a better look...Justin is flipping off the camera! *Groan* He was holding H, who was getting wiggly and he was using his middle finger (why just one finger??) to keep her arm down. I guess that won't be the one that we get enlarged...

Justin also had a gift certificate to JCPenney, so we had brought the stroller in for Haylie. We did some shopping and went down to the food court via elevator. On the way back, I didn't want to wait for it along with the 25 other strollers. The escalator has a sign that says "No Strollers Please" (which I pointed out) so Justin carried it up the flight of stairs. We had one more level to go and Justin told me, "Whatever, I'm taking it up the escalator." So he goes with the stroller backwards and I'm holding Haylie to the side. Not two steps into it, the stroller gets stuck between the escalator handrail walls. He is furiously trying to lift it out and get it unstuck and a line is forming behind Haylie and I to wait to use the escalator. Justin is somehow keeping his coordination in check and is walking backwards while trying to get the stroller unstuck from between the two escalator walls. He looks up and smiles at the people in the line and says, "I didn't see the sign." HA. Liar. Finally an older guy comes to help lift it out (I was just standing there laughing hysterically - what could I do? I had the baby in my arms!) and Justin lifts it over his head like Hercules for the rest of the trip up the escalator.

Poor Justin. I doubt we will be visiting the mall again any time soon.

Sold!

As of last night, we accepted an offer on our house! We couldn't be more excited...and a little nervous! We close on everything on July 16th and so now the clock is ticking. We haven't been looking at any houses because we wanted to wait to see if we even sold our house first - who knew how long it would take! I didn't want to fall in love with a house and then not be able to put an offer on it and then it be stolen away, leaving me heartbroken and sobbing. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little...but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

We are super excited about the couple that is buying it - I think it will be such a great fit for them! We love our house and hope they will too.

So today begins our house hunting journey. I'm so excited - I get to organize and pack our whole house! Normally that sounds like a huge undertaking...but this is what I love to do so I think it will be a lot of fun!! Boxes, tape, lists, organizing...ahhh.

A Day of Insanity

Yesterday Haylie got some shots at her six month appointment. Today was a reaction unlike we have ever had before. She slept straight through the night until 8:30 am. Yea! But before I could do my happy dance, around 11 am is when my day went downhill. The crying just wouldn't stop. In between crying she would pass out - exhausted. The moment I moved her, she would start crying again. Sleep again. Loss of the paci. Crying again. I couldn't put her down. At one point, I seriously contemplated getting in my car by myself and driving to Braums. Or Target. Or even Canada for all I cared. But I hiked up my shorts, tied my hair back even higher and plowed right through the tears. We also were supposed to have a showing at 5pm...they never showed. So all day long in between Haylie's outbursts, I was cleaning up the house. My attitude went south when it rolled around to 5:30 and they never came and I was still at home alone with an attitudinal baby.

Justin comes in from a meeting at church and lo and behold, my baby suddenly turns into a wonderful, happy bundle of joy. Excuse me??

Ahh. Tomorrow is a new day. Lucky for Haylie, I love her face. More than life itself. We will continue on and just pretend like our day of insanity never happened.

3 in 1

I am a day late but there is something I must say.

Happy 29th Birthday Justin!!

Yesterday was a pretty busy day and I just didn't have a chance to sit down and do a proper blog shoutout. I'd like to think that he had a good day - church, hanging out with friends, Qgroup, movie night with his awesome wife. He said it was great - so I'm just going to have to believe him. He is such a loving and amazing husband and father. I caught this picture of them a week ago when a major fight was going on with Haylie and sleep and sleep finally won - for everyone involved. Justin LOVES to snuggle with Baby H.

One of the reasons we were so busy this weekend is because this awesome couple and their two gorgeous girls came to stay with us! I'm so mad that I didn't get a pic of their family so I stole this from Facebook.

This is Chris & Casey Allison and they are missionaries in Cambodia. They are doing such good work over there and its amazing to me because they are so patient and kind with each other and their kids - they both are amazingly selfless. They have Maggie (4) and Melanie (2) and Marcus is on the way! They have taught their girls something brilliant. They can "appeal"! If the girls are doing something and Chris or Casey tell them to do something else, they can say, "May I appeal?" - first they have to show they are obeying and then they get to tell their side of the situation and how they feel and what they want to do. Then the parents decide. It's so cute to hear a 4 & 2 year old say such a big word like appeal. It's just not expected!

A week ago, we also celebrated Memorial Day with my immediate family and my other "family", the Collins! Sandy & Bill were up from Louisiana and so all of our families got together for a great cookout.

Sorry for the "panty" peek. We need to teach Haylie to cross her legs. I think her thunder thighs are too big for that.

Half a Year Old

My baby girl is 6 months today...I could say that I spent the day crying at how time has been flying by and I miss my tiny baby, but I love the fact that she is 6 months old already. I have been looking forward to this age since we first brought her home. I'm not much of a fan of teeny babies - I prefer her to be less dependant on me and to be able to do things like sit on her own, play with toys, eat solid foods, and enjoy life around her instead of just sleeping, eating and pooping all the time (which she still does like a champ).

She has changed so much since she was born.

(Photo by Peyton)

• She is moving all over - mostly in circles - but not yet crawling.
• She giggles & squeals all the time.
• Her tongue still sticks out 85% of the time.
• She is starting to eat solid foods, sweet potato is her favorite so far.
• She loves Caramel (cat) and wants to watch & pet her all the time.
• She can sit by herself, even if its bent in half.
• She still loves her exersaucer and can play for a long time in that if I let her!
• She loves watching TV & Baby Einstein movies.
• She is getting so much better at sleeping at night - food has helped with that.
• She is still quite the talker!
• She loves sucking on her toes and feels the need to also push, kick & touch things with them.
• The best way to calm her down is to take her outside. She loves fresh air.