A Lot Has Happened In Just 2 Months ...

I must apologize for not keeping this updated the past 2 months. I've been a bit busy though. Here's what's happened (the condensed version):

• We put our house on the market
• We went to the Outer Banks for a week vacation
• We sold our house while on vacation
• We made several trips to Raleigh, NC to look for a new house and jobs
• We put an offer on a house
• We put in our 2 weeks notice at our jobs
• We retracted our offer on the first house and put an offer on another house
• We quit our jobs
• We got the contract on the 2nd house
• We got new jobs and a temporary apartment in Raleigh
• We packed up a few things and moved to Raleigh
• We closed the sale on our VA house
• We started our new jobs

Pretty fast for major life changes, huh? Actually we've been thinking about moving for a few years - just didn't decide on Raleigh until we were pregnant. The timing wasn't right then but once we got settled in with Sam, we knew it was time to make a change. We really want to live and raise our kids in an area that has less traffic, less crime, lower cost of living and a slower pace of life. Since Raleigh has all of that, plenty of IT jobs, good schools, good shopping, good food and is only 2-3 hours from some really nice NC beaches; then we decided that this would be the place for us.

We still have quite a bit going on for the rest of the year since we aren't officially finished moving. We still have to close on the sale of the new house and move into it - which will be on November 15th. So that will require more packing - but only of the stuff that we brought to the apartment - and LOTS of unpacking - which will include everything the movers have in storage from the VA house and all the stuff from the apartment. That will probably suck - but at least we'll have Thanksgiving off to try to get a little settled in.

If you would like my new contact info - just send me an email at jennybbrown@gmail.com and I'll get it to you. I don't think it's very smart to post it on a blog.

Hope you are all doing well and I can get to see some of you more often now that I'm back in NC!

6 Months And Cute As Ever ...

We got Sam's 6 month pictures taken on June 11 - but it takes a few weeks to get them back and another few weeks for mommy to get her butt in gear and scan them in to post on the blog. I want to apologize for the quality - the scanner at work is old and in obvious need of a tune-up - but you get the idea:

Don't you just love those dimples? I sure do!!

Compare & Contrast ...

I hear a lot of people stating that they think my son Sam looks a lot like me. I beg to differ. Yes, he appears to have my hair color and my eye color - although his eye color can still change. But the boy is just like his daddy! He's got his crooked smile (which is adorable on both of them!), his nose, his hands, his feet, his big legs, and his silly sense of humor. So I thought I would post some pics and let y'all compare for yourselves.

Sam at 7 months

Jenny at 10 months

Ok, so we are both fat babies - but really, what's going on with my melon? It's huge! Thank goodness Sam is much better looking!!

The Happy Family ...

I meant to post these pics back in April, but have been pretty busy. Anyway, here are pics that were taken in March - when Sam was 3 months old.

We'll do 6 month pictures in June - so hopefully I'll get those up before the end of the summer.

My 1st Mother's Day ...

This past weekend was my first Mother's Day. We didn't celebrate last year because Sam was just another kidney bean in my belly. I must say that my first Mother's Day was pretty great. I got breakfast at Krispy Kreme (which we've been staying away from since I can't seem to shake these last 20-30 lbs.). Then we came home and gave Sam a bath - which he loves. He really enjoys splashing around and making his own bubbles! Then we played for a while and just enjoyed the day at the house waiting for when Sam's grandparents came to visit.
Sam gave me some wonderful gifts for our first Mother's Day. They included some beautiful flowers, a funny book about how bad parenting advice was in the 50s and an electric toothbrush that I've been wanting. He is such a sweet little boy!

And as an added bonus, he did really well when we tried to feed him some rice cereal with a spoon that evening. He didn't like it very much the first time, but this time he seemed to enjoy himself. He would even grab the spoon of cereal and cram it into his mouth to help me. It was so cute. We took some good pictures and a little video.

Notice how much is on his face and bib. He still needs some practice keeping it in the mouth and swallowing - but the fact that he's trying to help and didn't start crying really makes me proud.

Here are some recent pics of Sam - one with his grandparents and one with his daddy - they look cute sleeping don't they?