Well, she is sure growing up fast, isn't she! I can't begin to even tell you how freakin' cute she is. She is a total riot, so smart and tough and curious. We are insane about her.
She just turned 7 months old, but we're not taking her 7 month picture until a few weeks from now because there will be one small change to the photo series...WE'RE MOVING!!!
Yes, after 7 long years of living in the house that is a shoe, we have finally bit the bullet and found a bigger place. We are leaving the lovely town of Redmond, and heading up into the hills to North Bend. We are just a few days away from starting the move, as we have to be all moved out before the end of this month...which means for the 3rd year in a row, we'll be doing something that makes celebrating Halloween a low priority. Boo. :D
But, the new place is awesome, it's a 3 story townhouse with a 2 car garage, but it's on a independent property, not in a development, which is pretty neat. We have a big yard, but it's not "attached," which means I have to actually leash Drake up to take him to the potty. That's the only negative. The positives are countless. Big Studio for me again, check! Guest Room, check! Extra bathrooms, check! Bigger Kitchen, check! Bigger Living Room, check! Window, Natural Light, Bigger and Better Everything, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!
I will miss the shoe. The shoe has been good to us. It was our love nest, where we started our married life and made a family. So many happy memories here, but also so many difficult ones, as we have faced a lot of challenges in our young married life. I think we are both really ready to have a fresh start in our new home.
Aside from the move, our other big adventure over the past few months was a big family trip to Maui to celebrate John's parents 40th wedding anniversary. I still have yet to go through all the photos and edit them down, but I am sure that a project will be in the works soon so I can share them with you. I loved Maui more than I can put into words, and if I was living a different life, I would pick up and move there in a heartbeat. I swam touching distance from a group of 5 eagle rays in Napili Bay. It was magical. I cannot wait to go back. Hopefully John and I will find a way to make another trip sooner, rather than waiting until OUR 40th wedding anniversary. :D Maggie was a complete angel on the trip as well. We have great baby advice for anyone thinking about travelling with an infant, so if you ever need it, don't hesitate to ask.
The other thing that has kept me super busy lately is a graphic design project for my dear friend Autumn. She is chairing the annual fundraiser gala for the Seattle chapter of the Preeclampsia Foundation, and asked me to help produce the graphics for the event. Last week my mom stayed over to watch Maggie while I finished designing 9 huge informative posters highlighting the work of the Doctors and Researcher Scientists who have won grants for their work with preeclampsia. The gala is November 6th and I am so excited to see the posters all completed. I think when I finally see them up, along with the other pieces I designed together as a finished body of work, I might be able to officially put myself out there as a designer. *gulp*
Aside from all of that life has been pretty low key. We've done a lot of car travelling this summer, we made a trip to Canada for my family reunion and stayed a night in Whistler, which was so fun to experience outside of the dead of winter. We saw bears while we were in the gondola going up the mountain. We also took Maggie to Bend, OR in June, our first long car trip...we learned a lot on that adventure. We learned to keep future car trips under 3 hours.
So, I just wanted to pop back in and leave a quick post to catch up on things. I probably won't post again until after we are moved into our new home...and then I will probably post a lot because I will have a new office and a new nursery space for Maggie and lots and lots of home decorating projects to take on which I am SOOOOO excited about! Anyone who has followed my ranting and raving over the years knows I LOOOOOVE me some home decorating! Christmas is coming early to for Jennifer!
That's all folks! I will be back soon, new and improved!
:D
ETA: OH, I forgot to tell you, I started a Tumblr photo blog: http://littleprettystudio.tumblr.com/
I like to websurf, so if you feel inclined to follow me, I would be tickled.
And if you have a Tumblr, and want to tell me how to find you, I will happily check yours out!
