I love my MI fam!

After surviving the move and the most hectic month at work, I was so ready for a long weekend getaway so I headed to MI to make it for Jessica's baby shower :))

Nate had a lot going on with work, so he stayed behind (don't feel too bad for him -he went to Vegas & Utah the next week without me, eh-hem).

First stop - little Miss Alaina! Brenden picked me up from the airport with her in the back and I immediately had a lump in my throat after seeing how big she got since the last time I saw her. I truly fought back tears every time I was with her all weekend because I knew she would be bigger and even more different the next time I see her. Sappy, I know, but hey it's me and I just love her to pieces. She's such a beautiful baby and her personality is hilarious and keeps growing! Check out her latest trick with her Daddy....

Watching Brenden and my sister-in-law Amber with her was a lot of fun too. She loves her parents so much :) I especially liked seeing how much MSU gear she has :) GO GREEN!

She's so close to crawling!

YUM!

Cracking up at her uncles, Cam & Casey

Amazed at the thought that her toy could fly...

Playing with Uncle Casey

Camren was so funny with deciding how he was going to hold her because she doesn't like to lay down anymore to drink her bottle. She wasn't so sure about it, but it worked!

Nothing but Love!

So Amber and I decided to put together the diaper cake for Jessica's baby shower. Um, yeah, I am NOT a creative person so I was a little intimidated by the process. But Amber and I created a vision and went to Aunt Nancy's to put it all together. Thank goodness Beth, Kenny, and Marie took over and started to make our vision come alive ... Amber and I sat back with Aunt Nancy and the three of us just drank our wine and gave opinions, it was great! Even Uncle Steve and Brenden helped out with their expertise of "how are we going to create a sail?"

So we wanted a sail (baby shower was sailor themed) but we wanted to make it completely out of the supplies we bought which were all small items off Jessica's registry. So we decided it could be done out of the many baby hangers we bought her. Sounds a lot easier than it turned out to be! I am so sad I don't have a picture of what it looked like before we put the receiving blanket over it, but it was about 12 small hangers all intertwined to create the best shape of a sail we could come up with. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! That night was so much fun! Here's a picture of the finished project...

...and yes that is a onesie that says "Poop on Michigan" because Jessica's husband, Jason, is a UofM fan. He's lucky he makes her as happy as he does otherwise our family wouldn't tolerate a UofM fan very well :) So I saw the onesie and thought, well it's a sailboat diaper cake, it needs a name. No better one than Poop on Michigan! GO GREEN!

I loved seeing Jessica and her baby belly. She is so beautiful and so stinking cute with her baby bump! I wish she would have allowed more pictures, eh-hem! I am so happy for her and Jason and can't wait to meet their little man, expected to arrive Thanksgiving Day!

I also got to meet Nicole and Jesse's baby girl Taylor. She is the cutest thing! She makes these little squeaks like "hello, I'm here, don't forget about me". They're the funniest thing and kept me giggling the entire baby shower.

No early fall trip to MI would be complete without a bonfire, a big thanks to Kenny & Uncle Steve! It made me feel so at home and more relaxed than I have been since I left MI!

The trip was too short and sweet as it always is and I still didn't get to see certain friends. I miss everyone so much and wish we could all be together more often. I miss my family, my friends and the calmer lifestyle. I think when you leave though you gain a greater appreciation for the things and people that you miss. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? I would never take that back and I never want that to go away, so for that I am very thankful.

Luckily Nate and I are headed back to MI in just a few weeks to go to the MSU vs. Wisconsin game. We need some tailgating and all things MSU time :)

Getting Settled

Very delayed posting with lots to talk about! We were barely able to keep up with the To-Do list before and after the move but somehow it managed to all come together and we have enjoyed getting settled in. Here's what's been happening over the last two months....

The day we closed on the house is one we will remember forever. The mix of excitement, nervousness, and a little panic made the day memorable :)

Poppin' champagne to celebrate!

Nate had to hook up his new tv first...

...and then second came the grill.

We may not have had furniture in the house yet, but we were determined to have a cookout our first night as homeowners with our new neighbors, the Jackson's :)

With the amazing help of some really great friends, our move went smoothly. Andrew, Brandon, Jonathan, Tara and Terry all came to our rescue and helped move the heavy stuff over to the house.

Jonathan & Julie's girls spent the morning of the move with me at the house while the guys loaded up the UHaul. Andelyn was a HUGE help in cleaning the kitchen and we had a lot of fun getting things ready.

Tara, Terry and their adorable little man Calan showed up just in time to help unload the UHaul. Poor Terry had just landed that morning after returning from a business trip and they rushed from the airport to come help us. LOVE YOU GUYS!! Andi & Lexi loved playing with Calan and we barely noticed children were in the house while moving everything in they were so good.

But I think we wiped little Calan out...

I thought the guys would be exhausted from loading the UHaul (and because it was scorching hot & humid that day) but they refused to take a break and rallied through to get it all unloaded. As with any townhouse, the moving-in was difficult with a set of stairs nearly everywhere you turn. Needless to say we all got quite the "stairmaster" workout in that day! Everyone worked so hard and we couldn't be more thankful! The mini-keg of Oberon definitely helped relax and cool us off.

And we even figured out that Calan does not like the feel of a beard!

The house immediately felt like home to both of us. There really wasn't the strange time it takes to get acclimated - it just felt like home from day one. We've started taking small steps in making the house our own and Nate has enjoyed all of the "handyman" jobs we keep finding.

Labor Day weekend Megan flew in from MI and brought us our first and one of the best possible housewarming gifts - an MSU flag! We hang it loud and proud off the front of the house every gameday! GO GREEN!

That weekend we also decided to paint the kitchen. I forget how time consuming painting can be but the painting party was fun!

The fumes started to get to Meg ;)

Even the girls joined in on the fun

Thanks Meg! Nothing like trying to get tape out of my hair!

I was a little worried with where he was going with this...

...but was pleasantly surprised :)

Shauncey became bored pretty quickly

But we got it done :)

Megan also helped us furniture shop. We set off to all the furniture stores in the area looking for a new living room couch and master bedroom bedframe. We stopped into Marlo and wouldn't you know it, Nate worked his way into shooting a commercial for Marlo. No joke, here are some pictures of him in action...

I'm not sure how this stuff falls into his lap, but it's very entertaining when it does. Several of our friends have seen the commercial, but we have yet to see it. His resume just keeps building... oy!

Yes, in between all of this was the 5.8 earthquake that shook a lot of stuff in the house and even shook our backdoor open, but we did not have any damage thankfully. Just a few short days after that we braced ourselves for Hurricane Irene and truly lucked out. The only tree that fell near the house was past our property line and into the woods. We didn't even loose any power and no flooding. It was scary to listen to as the worst of it hit us at 2am, but we couldn't have been luckier!

So needless to say we had quite the whirlwind of a first month as homeowners, but we wouldn't trade it for the world :) We are so happy and can't wait to keep tackling more projects!