Visiting Santa

We took Ellie to see Santa in the mall last week. She was very scared of him this year, which was not unexpected. I sat with Ellie and Santa and all was good. She loved to look at his beard and was in awe of the reindeer hat he made for her. We all had fun. Maybe next year she'll be ready to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas.

It's a.......

BOY!!

We had our ultrasound last week and found out that Ellie's got a little brother in there. I was going to try to scan the pictures as evidence, but everyone who has seen the pictures either couldn't tell what they were looking at or didn't really want to stare at his boy bits, so I figured just post the news and take our word on the pictures. He stretched way back with one arm behind his head and waved the goods at us for good measure. He's also a healthy guy and that's what's important. We're really excited and will let everyone know more when there's more news (aka a name for the kid).

Spaghetti Night!

She was going for a Braveheart kind of look I guess. :)

Ellie's First Birthday!!

We had Ellie's first birthday party on her birthday, November 8th, at our house that we'd moved into 4 days before. It was a little stressful, but we all had a great time, especially the little birthday girl.


Ellie ate a lot of foods she had never eaten before like pepperoni slices, crackers and spinach artichoke dip. She wolfed it all down in a hurry. I made her a birthday girl shirt to wear and a special tutu. She wore it all day until the mandatory outfit change after eating her cake.


She loves to pull that paper off the presents!


I made her birthday cakes. The little one was a cake just for Ellie to eat and smash.



We were pretty shocked that she ate almost half her small cake, but she really enjoyed it and her tummy was so distended afterwards. It was a really fun day and we were so happy to share it with our families.

Fall and Halloween!!

So I decided to forget even trying to catch everyone up for now, but here are some pictures from this fall. Ellie loved playing with the leaves on Mom and Dad's front porch.


She made the cutest little lamb for Halloween. I made the costume for her and may there be a curse on anyone who thinks she looks like a bunny. Seriously, what kind of bunny wears a bell around their neck!!?



Ellie was fascinated with the pumpkin. I was so afraid she was going to push it down the stairs.


We went to the NC State fair this year. Ellie's first fair she's been to and Josh's second time ever at a fair. We rode a few kiddo rides with her and we all had a great time even though it was freezing!!!



We're officially moved in the new house now and even though we can't park in the garage yet due to unpacked boxes that fill it. We're really enjoying the house and the dogs will really enjoy the yard once we get the fence up. Pictures forthcoming on Ellie's birthday and the house. It must be box free before pictures can be posted!

She's Mobile!

As a father's day gift to Josh, Ellie decided to start crawling. Yea for her and uh oh for us. So we've been very busy corralling her the last few weeks. She's having fun following us around and chasing the dogs. Ellie and the dogs are a funny dynamic. They used to annoy her when they could come up and smell her/lick her and she could only lie there. Now she annoys them by crawling up to "pat the puppy" or just plain steal their bone. However, they are smartening up and now move when they see her coming. Ellie also loves to climb on us and has been trying to stand. Sometimes she pulls herself up on whatever is nearby or she does a perfect downward dog.



Ellie also loves to help with laundry.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial Day Weekend, we went down to Sunset Beach, NC with my parents for the night. We all had a great time including a delicious Calabash shrimp supper. Ellie loved playing in the pool and had her first experience in the Atlantic Ocean.



She got a little tired from all the excitement and started to get cuddly and sleepy.



How is it that chubby thighs can look so good on babies?



Despite all predictions, Ellie did not try and eat sand. She was happy to explore it with her hands and was very intrigued by the waves going in and out.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.

I finally have a job- albeit temporary and part time. But it's a start. I am a Chiropractic assistant for a Doc in Apex, about 30 minutes away from Raleigh. He needed some office help, I needed some income, it worked. I am enjoying myself and learning some thing about running a chiropractic office.

I hear about my board results on June 26th, and if I get enough of a score, take the NC state exam the last week of July. So the earliest I can be licensed in NC is August. Between then and now I hope to find a full time gig or find someone who will give me a big bag of money. Any takers?

-Josh-

Life in Raleigh

Life in Raleigh is pretty simple for Ellie....

She tries new foods a couple of times a week. Carrots is a favorite, but is best eaten outside on the screened in back porch.




Outside eating sometimes leads to outside cleanup. Ellie loves her baths!



Hanging out in Pappy's cockpit



Under the wing of the plane


Loving on the dogs



Ellie loves the simple life!

When Olive Oil Isn't Olive Oil.....

Things are not always as they appear. A week or so after we arrived in Raleigh, I enlisted Josh's help in clean-up after dinner. I began washing the dishes and as I poured soap on the dishes, Josh asked me why I was washing them with olive oil. I was confused for a moment and replied that I was using dish soap. Josh pointed at the container above and asked what was in that container sitting by the sink. I replied that it was dish soap. Then I gasped and said, "You didn't fill this up with olive oil did you?" Josh didn't reply, but grabbed the bottle and quickly walked out to the living room to ask my mom what was in the bottle. I started laughing uncontrollably when I realized what had happened. Josh came back in the kitchen and looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. He incorrectly thought that they substance that looked like olive oil in the olive oil container was ... olive oil. However, it was in fact dish soap. Unfortunately, he used this to make eggs for both of us. He also said he thought it was really crappy oil and that it didn't coat well at all. Poor Josh!

Easter

So, the day after we arrived in Raleigh was Easter Sunday. Sadly, I'm just now adding those pictures to the blog. Ellie was really cute in her easter dress and showed very little interest in her easter basket. We didn't hunt any eggs this year, maybe next year she'll be interested.

So what's next?

Elisabeth has been kindly requesting and reminding me to add something useful to the blog. I thought I would give a brief update on where we stand. As of April 23rd, I have not yet begun to get some income. It will still take some time for my first paycheck to come in, this is why we are so thankful to stay with Tom and Ann. However, I have not just been sitting around watching Opra re-runs (I do watch a lot of Home Improvement though). I am now fully licensed in the state of South Carolina. I recieved my license in the mail last week and got my malpractice insurance set up. I am all ready to start working... 5 hours away... our life is complicated. I am concentrating on studying for my upcoming test on May 17th. I spend most of my days helping with Ellie, studying, going for long walks in the wonderful North Carolina sun, and... well that's it. I am really enjoying the time with Ellie, she has come so far in her development and I have been there to see her grow every step of the way.

We have several meetings scheduled for next week in South Carolina, so we will see what God has in store for us there.

Also the house has not yet closed escrow, the underwriter is being very thourough and requesting more documentation from the buyers. We sit and wait for that to close so we can start to look for housing in South Carolina.

So we are actively waiting, but we are so close we can taste it.

-Josh-

12 states in 7 days

Oregon to Idaho to Utah to Wyoming to Nebraska to Iowa to Missouri to Illinois to Kentucky to Tennessee to Virginia to North Carolina with 3 adults, one baby, two dogs and 2 ice chests full of frozen elk among many other things!! This was definitely the most complicated road trip I've ever done. First off, we started basically a day behind because we left Portland so late on Sunday.

Sunday, Day 1-

Our original goal for the first night was Twin Falls, Idaho. However, we decided to settle for Boise, but we hit a snag in the middle of nowhere Eastern Oregon. Ever heard of Duncan, Oregon? Neither had we. At around 11pm on Sunday, our passenger side trailer tire blew while we were going 60 mph. Josh pulled over to the side of the road and assessed the damage. It was not good. The tire was completely shredded and a good chunk of it was wrapped around the axle of the trailer. And the rim was no longer circular because the friction from the road had

flattened it to a half moon shape. We called AAA only to find out that our trailer wasn't covered for a tow. We called a tow place and asked for a tow, but the guy recommended just having a tire guy run us out a replacement tire and rim. The original quote for that was $400, but we said we'd pay cash (Thank you Dave Ramsey) and we ended up paying $240. This was a deal considering the guy had to drive nearly 30 miles to bring us the tire and they charge $90 a hour for after hours service. So after spending two hours on the side of the road, we were back on our way. But not before we had to call the tire guy back after he fixed the tire and drove away. We needed a jump. While sitting and waiting for him to show, we kept the dome light and the flashers on which ate up our battery. It's a good thing we gave the tire guy a tip the first time around. We gave up on getting to Boise and settled for Ontario, Oregon.

Monday, Day 2 -

We left late since we had to buy more dry ice for the elk meat and we were tired from getting to the hotel at 2 am. Our original goal was Cheyenne, Wyoming, but opted for a closer town in Wyoming, since we were 200 miles behind schedule and we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch in Boise (and everyone knows that CB is an integral part of any cross country road trip that I do). In fact, we used a Cracker Barrel map (and our GPS) to navigate our way to NC. Josh was pretty irritated that we didn't have a "real" map of the US, but excuse me the CB map has all 50 states and most major roads, so I didn't see an issue. We stopped in Twin Falls around dinner time to see the Shoshone Falls, which was fun. Then we pressed on and eventually made it to Evanston, Wyoming that night at around 2 am. While Idaho had been a nice 70 degrees, which meant Josh was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, Evanston had snow everywhere. Josh looked kind of funny in shorts checking into the hotel. :)

Josh, Ellie and I at Shoshone Falls

Tuesday, Day 3 -

We left Evanston with the original goal of Lincoln, Nebraska in mind. But we were several hundred miles off our goal by this time. Even though we left at a reasonable time in the morning and drove all day, we ended up stopping around 11 pm at North Platte, Nebraska. We were asked by a lot of people if we were driving through the Rocky Mountains, to which we replied "I don't know, where are the rockies?". You see the Rockies don't appear on the Cracker Barrel map and neither mapquest or the gps are forthcoming about mountain ranges. Most people looked disturbed that we didn't know if we were passing through the Rockies. We knew we driving I-84 to I-80 until the end of Nebraska and then taking some turns to get to TN. The funny part was we started asking people at gas stations and restaurants if the Rockies were nearby and if the highway went through them and THEY DIDN"T KNOW EITHER! :) I can now assure everyone that driving on I-84 or I-80 does not take you through the Rockies.

Wednesday, Day 4 -

We decided on Day 3 to stop early instead of driving until 2 am and trying to make Lincoln. It turned out to be a good decision and we left North Platte, Nebraska early, stopped in Lincoln at Cracker Barrel for lunch and then drove all the way to Saint Louis, Missouri, which was our original goal for Day 4. Yea! Our other daily goal for driving was take turns putting Ellie in the dreaded car seat. Josh tried to rename it "the happy seat", but he couldn't fool Ellie. She was tired of being in it, who could blame her. When she saw it she would start crying. We made it a point to drive as long as possible while she slept and was reasonably amiable. All in all, she was a great passsenger, as long as her needs were met and she had a least some time out of "the seat". To complicated things a bit more, she started on rice cereal a couple of days before we left Portland and we would get hot water at gas stations to mix with the rice cereal for her to feed her on the go. She was wonderful on the trip and very tolerant, but by day 3 she was getting stretched.

Thursday, Day 5 -

We had considerably less distance to cover on Thursday. We left Saint Louis and were going to my Grandma's house in Oak Ridge, TN that night for a short visit. We stopped off in Clarksville, TN to see my Uncle Jim, Aunt Judy and cousin-in-law, Robert and second cousin, Hunter. It was great to see everyone even though it was only for a few minutes. We made it to Oak Ridge around 7 or 8 pm. Grandma was excited to see us and Ellie! We had a nice visit and it was wonderful to sleep in the same bed for two nights in a row for a change. Of course, Josh was stoked to not have to load the car on Friday. Grandma couldn't get enough suger from Ellie and we look forward to seeing her much more often. We'll only be 3.5 hours away once we're in Greenville.

Four generations: Grandma Potter, Nana, Elisabeth and Ellie

Saturday, Day 7 - We left Oak Ridge in the morning and drove to Raleigh. It was the shortest distance we'd driven yet, so it was very relaxing. One last Cracker Barrel stop for lunch and we were in Raleigh by 6 pm.

It was a long trip and you probably heard way more about it than you wanted to, oh well. :)

Saying Goodbye to Portland

Well, we're officially gone from Portland. We miss our friends a lot and Portland will always have a special place in our hearts. Our last week or so was mostly filled with packing and signing escrow papers, but we did try to get out and enjoy a few uniquely Portland things.

We took Ellie to Mt. Tabor and pushed her in a swing for the first time. She loved it, but was even more fascinated by the tall trees all around her. We've discovered that she really loves the outdoors.

Packing and loading took several days. Thankfully many great friends from our small group stepped up and helped us have a garage sale one weekend and load the moving truck the next weekend. Thank you! In the end, all our possessions took 16' in the moving trailer.

On Sunday, April 5th we loaded up the car and our teeny trailer to pull behind it and left Portland. Unfortunately, we didn't get away until around 4pm, so we didn't get nearly as far as we wanted to, but that's another story...

Goodbye Portland!

Transition

I was waiting/hoping Josh would update the blog with all our news, but here it is:
- Josh got a job in South Carolina (Greenville).
- He'll be working for a company that runs fall prevention programs for elderly people.
- We'll be opening our own practice there in a few months.
- We move on April 5th!
- We're moving in with my parents in North Carolina for a few weeks while we hunt down a place to live. This is slightly more challenging with the dogs.
- We accepted an offer for our house last week and are currently in escrow!

- Josh heads off to Nashville for training later this week!

All of this fell into place in the last two weeks, so it's moving fast to say the least. I am so excited for warm summers and lightening bugs and sweet tea. The list just goes on and on. Greenville is 4 hours away from my parents and 3.5 hours away from my Grandma and 3 hours from my other grandparents, so I'm pretty excited. For me, that's really close. And Ellie rolled over for the first time on Sunday, 3/15! Whew.

It's so amazing to see when things work out so perfectly it has to be a God thing. Last month, we traveled to Greenville for Josh to interview for an associate position. It ended up not working out with that practice. However, just a few weeks later, Josh was offered another opportunity in South Carolina, in Greenville, the same town we visited the month before. Below are a couple of pictures from our original Greenville trip.

A cool park with a suspension bridge, a really cool children's area and in walking distance to the local zoo.

Are we mean parents or what?? We made Ellie sleep in a dresser drawer during part of our Greenville trip. I don't think she minded too much though.

We'll keep everyone posted as often as we can. We're packing and selling stuff around here as fast as we can and dealing with a growth spurt/teething with Ellie. Fun times!

The Easy Button

All I can say is a huge thank you to Nana for this magical toy!

Four Months old!!!

Time seems to fly so fast!!! Miss Ellie was four months old on Sunday. Here are some of the little vixen's traits.

• She has a beautiful gummy smile that she loves to show friends, family and strangers.
• She has enough hair for us to use a barrette.
• Ellie still refuses to roll over, but loves to turn on her side and now tolerates laying on her stomach for a few minutes.
• She tries really hard to sit up on her own and can balance for a minute when you put her in a sitting position.
• Ellie loves bath time and kicks in the water, which means Mommy usually ends up pretty wet.
• She has learned to screech and yell and gets excited when she raises her voice. She also has an extensive cooing repertoire and she loves to imitate sounds we make.
• Ellie loves to look around and watch what the people or dogs are doing around her. If you say her name then she usually swings her head around to make eye contact with you.
• She learned to bat at her rattles and chimes that we hang on her car seat and her baby gym, which entertains her for a few minutes.
• Ellie loves to hold onto things especially her burp cloth and will happily hold it when we carry her around.
• She now sleeps for 10 - 12 hours a night consistently and usually goes to sleep without crying. We love our schedule!!

In short, we think she's just the sweetest baby there is. Here are some recent pictures.