Some progress

Moving in March...should be a piece of cake, right? Well, when ya add in a few inches of snow, Friday/Spring Break traffic and one cranky five month old, it's not as easy as planned!
The moving itself has gone just fine-I drove with Clem and Jack up to B'ham on Friday afternoon right when the snow really started dumping. It took 3 1/2 hours to drive less than 100 miles. ON THE FREEWAY! Clem slept the entire way thank goodness! Cam drove the U-Haul and it took him nearly as long.
Our super awesome friends Travis & Sheila and Kim & Scott came to help us unload. I mostly dictated and nursed a crabby baby. I thought the unloading went by pretty quickly, but then again, I mostly dictated and nursed.
Today, our plan was to wait for the cable guy to come set up our internet then to head on down to Issaquah to do the final cleaning and get the leftovers that didn't make it into the truck. No such luck! We woke up in a Winter Wonderland and the cable guy wasn't able to come here until 1:00. Issaquah will have to wait one more day.

The apartment is coming along quite well I think. We got an awful lot done today but I will have my work cut out for me for the next several days I think. I learned a lot about Cameron during this move: after nearly 5 years together, I did not know that he packs boxes so heavily and so full that no single person can lift, slide, scoot or push said box out of their way. AND he doesn't label boxes so opening the box is like Christmas morning--a big exciting surprise.

Here is what our love nest looks like so far:









Sorry, I don't know how to rotate pictures on here. You get the idea. Make sure to notice the 1980's kitchen we'll be rockin'. Pink countertops all the way!
How cute is that picture of Clementine sleeping on my jacket? We were just getting ready to leave Issaquah and there was nothing to put her down on. Such a goofball.

Happy Easter!

CHAOS

This is what our apartment looks like this weekend. It's chaotic. There are boxes everywhere. We have 5 days till the big move and are pretty much packed up at this point. Just a few things here and there and then the heavy duty cleaning can happen.This is just a snippet of what the apartment looks like. There are boxes EVERYWHERE.




Clem is trying out new things each day. Here she is with her new vibrating teether toy. She's not teething but she likes to make this bug buzz. And she likes to try to eat the whole thing all at once.




Here she is with my tea mug. She's not drinking tea but she likes to imitate what she sees us doing.




















And here is a picture of Ya-ya with Clem. My mom came up to help pack, clean and watch Clementine. Mostly to play with Clementine. I can't blame her.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This child looks a little like a wee Irish lad. It's not...it's a sweet baby Clementine in a boy's shirt.


Here's some proof that she really is a girly girl:

It doesn't get much girlier than this.

Happy St. Patrick's day!

BELLINGHAM BABY!

For years and years Cam and I have talked wistfully of one day making the move to Bellingham. Before Clementine, we used to make the trek up north almost monthly! Every time we left town our car ride conversation would turn toward getting out of the city/suburbs and getting up there. I think it's been four years of blabbing about it but doing nothing to set these wheels in motion. Clementine's arrival brought with it a swift kick in the pants to start making the changes we want for our little family, and Cam, my hero, has procured himself a new job in Bellingham ( and now I need to do the same).
Bellingham is where we both went to school for several years (although we didn't know each other then). We both love living close to the water, forests, lakes, parks and love the idea that Bellingham is a place where Clementine can grow up playing safely and being close to nature. We can see ourselves setting down roots there and hope to buy a house of our own in the next year.

We have to remind ourselves that living in Issaquah hasn't been a bad experience but it's growth has been overwhelming--even in just the last few years we've lived here. Condos, townhouses and apartments have sprung up everywhere you turn, taking away the views of the forested hillsides we loved when we moved here (from the ghetto). And don't even get me started on the home prices here! RIDICULOUS! And not being able to get our mail in a timely way has ruined all of Cameron's Netflix scheduling schemes.

So we are moving at the end of this month. It's a pretty sudden change but it's one that I know will bring us a lot of happiness. I am one happy mama, Cam is an excited papa and Clementine is looking forward to being a Bellingham Baby.

Now for some pictures...

Yes!

Our silly girl...

4 months already!

How quickly time flies when you're exhausted!

Clementine is growing and growing. She's a little over 13 pounds now and 23.5 inches long. She is learning new things just about every single day! She is laughing louder now, trying to sit up still, chewing on her lower lip and my personal favorite is her new *growling* technique. She does whatever she can to make us laugh-she will also fake cough and fake sneeze to make us smile. She's a total ham!
Clementine's hair is starting to grow in a bit thicker--it's still short but the blonde fuzz is growing in thick! She's so beautiful!