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On a recent trip to my parents' in Oklahoma, my mom took us to Lakeshore Learning so Scarlett could pick out some new toys. I had never been there before even though we apparently also have one in Dallas. It's a neat little store full of educational games and toys. She wound up getting Scarlett a slew of stuff for painting. We went home, set it all up outside, and let her have at it. Of course she loved it, and I loved watching her try something new and fun.

My heart...

belongs to these two.

Moving is a Dirty Word

For the record, I hate moving. And I will never ever live on the second floor or higher of any building again unless it involves a door man, an elevator, and a live in maid. Our house is only about 5 miles away from our old apartment so we did a lot of the moving ourselves which actually made things a lot harder and dragged the moving process on and on. Just to move one box down to the car required us to climb six flights of stairs, so we were exhausted going back and forth.

Now that the moving part is over, we're just dealing with the tornado of finding a place for everything again. I thrive on order and organization in my house so all the boxes we are still unpacking and my long to-do list (hang that picture, mount that mirror, find a spot for those blankets, and so on) are driving me batty. I don't think I've sat down in three weeks.

When we first moved in, Scarlett and the cats were all thrown off. Scarlett didn't want to sleep in her new room, and the cats howled all night long. Vito got stuck out in the garage one night by accident with no food or litter box and he decided to relieve himself on a recliner that the owners of the house are leaving there for awhile. Lovely! Needless to say, things have been a little crazier than my liking.

However.

I am so happy with our house, the neighborhood, and the extra space. The cats and Scarlett are finally settling in. I have a kitchen vegetable squirter again! (Seriously, try living without one on your kitchen sink for a year and you'll see why I'm so happy to have it back!) We finally get to grill out again! Park our cars in a garage! Be as loud as we want inside! Hooray!

Scarlett gets to go outside more & she's very happy about that. She loves checking the mailbox, watching daddy mow, waiting for the garbage truck to come, and of course playing out in the backyard---these are all very new to her since we've been in the apartment for awhile. She also loves the garage and running around on the driveway...can you see her?

And both Scarlett and Peanut enjoy the new window seats...(This is now one of my all time favorite pictures too)

All in all, I'm just relieved we survived the move, that we were even able to move, and that things are getting back to normal.

If Chris gets a principal position in Oklahoma next year and we decided to move again, I might just lose my mind. At least that gives me 12 months to forget just how awful moving actually is.

2 Year Photo Session

A few weeks ago we went to OKC so that a fabulous photographer, Angel Porch, (some of you know her) could take Scarlett's 2 year photos.  Angel is a dream photographer! She is young, hip, educated, professional, and just has that photographer's eye. Her editing skills are to die for! I am so happy to have finally found a photographer I will use again and again.  Angel worked wonders with our spunky little girl, and Scarlett was eager to do just about any pose Angel wanted. I HIGHLY recommend her!!  Angel posted a collage of some of the photos on her blog:  Angel Porch Photography The entire gallery of photos she took is so good; we will have a hard time deciding which to order!