The Calm Before the Storm

It sure has been a while. I have been really busy and it is getting warmer and warmer upstairs where the computer is so I am not as excited about spending time online, although I have missed hearing from people.

Yesterday was the BIG DAY. We met with the title company and the sellers and we now own a house--woohoo! Annelise was flirting with the Title Company man ( I don't know what else to call him). I have never seen her do that before. She was staring at him and flashing huge smiles at him while raising her shoulders and pulling up the front of her onsie/dress. He was trying really hard to pay attention to what he was supposed to be doing and I was trying really hard not to laugh, although a few giggles escaped anyway. After I had signed the first round that included me, I took her out to (you guessed it) walk walk walk walk walk walk walk...and walk some more. After about 20 minutes, the seller left and I took Annelise back in where she sat quietly on the floor distroying a magazine and eating Goldfish. The meeting went smoothly for the most part and now we just need to finish packing and move. We are very excited.

The seller moves out on Wednesday, June 13th. We plan to remove the wallpaper and paint on the 14th & 15th. We have reserved a Budget truck that we will pick up Friday and return Saturday. My parents will be joining us to help us move. I am so thankful for them. It would be so hard to move it all by ourselves while taking care of Annelise.

So that is the plan. We are very excited about our new place. Removing the wallpaper is what I am dreading the most, but it will be so nice when it is finished. *sigh*

If you want to look at more pictures of the house, they are in the photo album at the top of the blue column. I have not added any new ones. If you want to see the house in person, just let us know. We'd love to have you over.

Bye Daddy!

Annelise has been getting closer and closer to actually speaking words. She says "mamama" all the time and has recently started to say "ba" to John when he leaves for work in the morning. It sounds like a real southern "bye". She is usually cruising around in her walker when he leaves in the morning. She follows him to the door and yells "ba (bye)" to him repeatedly and waves. It usually takes John a little longer to leave now because he returns her goodbye and waves a lot too. She stays there waving and saying bye until his car is gone. It is really fun to watch. It is interesting to see how much she loves her daddy. She gets very happy when he comes home from work too. Big smiles and arms raised always greet him when he arrives. We will be spending next week at my parents' house while John attends a kayak training. I am not sure if we will have internet access. Here is a fun picture of a quick bath Annelise got after flooding the changing table! What was your first word?

Fun Times

We took a break yesterday and went to a park called Sherando Lake. Complete with campsites, trails and a swimming area, this place will be a dream--especially on those hot summer days. Isn't every summer day a hot one? I guess we will be spending a lot of time at the lake. John helped Annelise walk in the sand and put her feet in the cool water. Then she enjoyed walking on the nice grass for a while. Her day ended with a nice helping of dandelions for a snack. It has been a rough week for her (and us) so it was nice to have a long afternoon of happy baby. There are more pictures of her at the park in the photo album at the top of the blue section on the right.

We enrolled Annelise in a swim class in January. It finished at the end of March. Although it was good for her to see and be around other babies, it really wasn't a very fun experience. The class was right after church and Annelise was usually tired and we were always in a rush. We are thankful that it is over, but did get a few good lessons from it.

A Sad Time

It is hard to be so close to something so terrible. I don't know anyone at Virginia Tech nor have I seen the campus. So many people here in Charlottesville have connections to that university. It is hard to understand a situation like this. It seems as though it is a movie, not reality.

There was a young man on tv who survived the columbine shooting, but lost his sister in it. He commented that the media always makes tragedies into a record. This tragedy is the worst shooting in the US or something like that. The young man said, "Records can be broken". Sadly, this one will be broken some day. It almost encourages others to want that title or record.

More focus should be placed on the victims. MSNBC has victims stories, but on the right column, photos of the shooter pointing his gun at the camera. How insensitive can the media get? Who cares about morals or ethics-- just make it a good story.