Life in Colorado

It's hard to believe, but we arrived in Colorado one month ago!  In some ways it feels like we have been here forever because things feel so natural and normal, but in other ways, it feels like just yesterday we were packing up the moving truck and preparing to drive across the county. 

 

Taking a wagon ride to our neighborhood park.

I am sure part of the reason time is flying is because of all the chaos that comes along with moving--unpacking, getting settled, long "to-do" lists, etc.--but time is also passing quickly because we are having so much fun!  Living near family has been every bit as wonderful as I imagined, and more!  My family has been so welcoming, hospitable, and accommodating as we get settled--we have, without a doubt, eaten more dinners at one of my sister's or Dad's house this past month than at home. 

My niece and I are the Scottish Festival, where she twirled her baton.

 

Augustine and his cousin, Tavian, fight like brothers, but they are quick to forgive and ask to see each other everyday.  Our kiddos have six (soon to be seven) cousins right here in town and another three just a couple hours away, so they have a lot of playmates.  I am one happy girl to be living SO close to my sisters.  We are literally less than three miles from both Sarah and Caitlin, and it is awesome!  Especially with Luke's mornings away from the house with soccer practice, it's nice to be able to meet up with my sisters at a moment's notice.

 

Me and my sisters Sarah's baby shower--can't wait to have another baby girl in the family soon!!

We are getting settled nicely.  Neither Luke or myself can stand to have unpacked boxes sitting around, so we had everything unpacked and put away within a couple days.  Our goal is to have our garage clutter free--aside from things that truly belong in the garage--so that we can both park our cars in there, especially in the winter.  We have a big, unfinished basement, so we just chose a small area down there to store things like Christmas decorations, baby clothes, and special memories (and like a gazillion photo albums!).  After living for a couple of weeks with empty living and dining rooms, we purchased couches and a formal dining room table last week, and our house is truly starting to look, and feel, like our home.  Pretty much all we have left to do on our "urgent list" is purchase a couple more window treatments and hang a few more pictures.  I am also working on the kids' playroom, but I am not in a rush to finish that. 

Having fun, and eating ridiculously good food, at Chris and Sarah's annual Egg Fest (i.e. grill cookoff).

 

Luke has really been flexing his handy man skills this past month.  They are coming out of the wood works, I tell you--I had no idea he could be so handy, putting in shelves, building a stand for our tv, painting the pantry door, assembling furniture, taking care of the yard.  He also has an opinion on all things decorating, which I find cute and attractive, if not annoying when we are arguing over what our accent color in the kitchen should be.  (We are going with red, by the way.  It was Luke's idea, and it looks great, if I do say so myself :)).  

 

As wonderful as life is here, it has been a lot of changes for all of us.  The transition has been the easiest on me--after all, I did spend the majority of my first 24 years here, and I am familiar with the city and my family (quirks and all).  It was hard to leave Richmond so suddenly and not to be able to say goodbye to some of my close friends in person, but I am thankful that I can stay in touch with them through Facebook...and I welcome anyone to come visit! :) 

 

Gemma and her BFF cousins. :)

Overall, the kids are doing great, but we have run into a few issues.  Gemma has been sleeping (and I use that word loosely) poorly since the move.  With teething and diet changes on my part and separation anxiety and moving across the county, there are a number of things that could be contributing to her sleeping woes.  Perhaps most significantly, we transitioned her out of her rock n' play and into her crib when we moved, and we think she really dislikes sleeping in her crib.  The past couple nights we have brought her in bed with us after she wakes up for the first time.  She is sleeping much better that way, so we are going to keep that up for a week or two and then try the crib again.  Since the move my sweet baby girl has started crawling and pulling herself up--it is all happening too fast--yet she still violently rejects food, other than good old breastmilk. 

 

Gemma being her sassy self.  Oh, she is sososo cute!

Augustine is doing really, really well given all the changes.  He is struggling with separation anxiety, but I think that is totally normal considering that he is surrounded by new faces all around.  It can, however, be quite disconcerting to onlookers when he suddenly starts screaming bloody murder when I disappear out of his view.  He is as cute and cuddly as ever and makes Luke and I laugh everyday.  He is talking non-stop, singing his ABC's, counting, and spending a lot of time running and jumping with Tavian. 

 

Augustine and his super tall tower he built.

Luke is enjoying Colorado life--"just living the dream," as he says--but the move has been difficult for him emotionally.  He has a lot on his plate with helping to manage the business in Richmond, trying to grow Mighty Kicks, and practicing with the Rapids (which entails two hours of driving each day).  And then, of course, it takes some getting used to being with my family all the time after spending all six years of our relationship thus far not living near any family.  It was a huge relief for me when Luke announced that he loved our house, as he didn't get to see it before we bought it and he was just going off of the pictures online and my recommendation.  We eat dinner outside on our back patio as often as possible to take advantage of the great weather and the glorious yard that pretty much sold the house for him.  I couldn't ask for a better or more patient husband.  Seriously, he puts up with me without complaint, and I give him plenty to complain about. :)

 

Love these girls!!

God has blessed us so much with this move and with our home and with everything going so smoothly.  For weeks I felt like Luke and I were either just playing house or that we were on vacation because I don't feel grown up enough to have a big house with a big backyard.  Yet, here we are, and we couldn't be happier. 

 

Sorry this update is lengthy, but I have been totally mia on the interweb for the past month and needed to catch you all up on our lives! 

 

Happy October!!  Yeah for fall! :)