Taking Advantage of the Warm Days

Hard to believe that March is just about over but I think I can speak on behalf of all the East Coasters out there that we're ready for the cold weather to move on and the warm weather to move in. We've been so anxious for warmer weather that we've taken advantage of every sunny day that we can and extra points to the outings that don't require a jacket or coat! Although we were wrapping ourselves in winter jackets and sledding down snowy hills at the beginning of March, by mid March, we were wearing short sleeves and leaving the windows open to enjoy the warm air! We stole a couple of day trips out and about, including a trip to the the zoo, to show our appreciation to mother nature! Ella loves it too, now that she's walking, she's in full exploration mode and can't seem to get enough of the environment around her. Here's a perfect example, let's say you go for a "walk" with her outside. It could very well take you a full five minutes to walk the equivalent of lets say, 20 feet. It's not because she's slow on her feet, quite the contrary! She gets so distracted with every little thing around her; it could be a new stick, a patch of gravel, a bird (oh how she loves birds!), a change in pavement texture, fallen leaves, and so much more. We just love watching her and it's so obvious that all her curiosity is encouraging her learning and development. She's so quick to notice little differences and changes that it's really quite hard to get anything past her!

Ok, Ella is USUALLY a happy baby unless she is forced to wear a birthday hat....At Ethan's 1st Birthday party.

All lined up by age - Ella, Claire, the birthday boy, Hayden, and Teagan. The birthday hat is off, but you can see that Ella's holding a grudge by not smiling for the camera.

Mommy and Ella time at the Town Center...enjoying some free time and a chance for Ella to stretch those legs! Afterwards, Ella was treated to her first yogurt smoothie....yummmmm.

At the zoo walking around and go figure, she actually liked to wear her sunglasses that day!

Ella and her daddy looking at the lion!

In Williamsburg getting ready to go to dinner.....

Ella (very shly), shows off her new spring dress from Grandma. She was too cute for words!

At dinner - Monica and Tim

Ella and her grandma share some down time with a story

Wearing another cute new spring outfit and posing in her grandfather's rocking chair!

Life's little pleasures....

.....sometimes have absolutely nothing to do with the usual charms of the day (like Ella, or finishing a lengthy paper, or spending time with friends) but rather just knowing that the house can be left a MESS! Sounds silly yes, but after six months of having our condo on the market and sacrificing precious minutes before scrambling out the door to leave it immaculate (just in case a realtor comes to show it) or constantly picking up, it sure is nice to know that it's a-okay to leave it just how it is every now again. Ah. Sigh. Relief. Gratitude. Joy. Seriously. We can live in our house again....if only briefly.

Our condo has finally sold and we're beginning the ever so fun process of packing up and moving. No major complaints here, though, since we've been looking forward to this moment for a very long time!

Big News from the Carlsons

So we've been absent from the blogging scene for about a month now but for the first time in the Carlson's " we're running late" life, we think we have a really good excuse, or two. Really!

Where to start? Maybe sticking to a chronological time line will make the most sense. So, backing up to January... No, let's take it back another month to December. Here it is in a nutshell:

December: Another little Carlson baby is conceived.

December: Tim and Erika don't know it.

January: Tim and Erika still don't know it. I mean, really.

January (later on): Erika gets suspicious. Tim flies to Vegas.

January (continuation): Suspicions are confirmed. Tim is still in Vegas. Erika wonders if he'll come home now?

January: Yeah! Tim comes home and we celebrate! We are thrilled (and stunned and shocked and thinking "how did this happen?" By the way, this is a rhetorical question, we know HOW it happened thank-you very much).

February: Realities of our living situation set-in. We need to move!

February: We see a house. We fall in love with the house. We buy the house!

March: Settling into our new home March 27th! Yeah!

So, we indeed have alot going on right now, which of course is pretty typical of us, I think. Just when things start to get "normal," we have to go mix things up a bit. Erika is almost 14 weeks and we're all so excited about our next little addition. Our two "babies" will be a mere 23 months apart but we anticipate them to be close friends as they grow up together and we're so excited that they'll be so close in age! Chinese calendar predicts this next one is a boy so we'll just have to wait and see until the big day (yes, we're waiting until the birth to find out the sex)!

Here are a couple of pictures from the past few weeks.....!

Sharing our big news #1 with our family: Ella dons her new "Big Sister" shirt

No, this is not the case of Benjamin Button. But look at the difference! Ella LAST Valentines Day.....

.....and Ella THIS Valentines Day! Amazing, isn't it?

Our little Valentines sweetheart. This smile says it all.

Yeah! Finally a REAL snow day! Daddy, Ella, and Coop get ready for the snow! Bundle up!

Ella's first sled ride and loving it. Just out the video, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JUWm6cs-OQ

Close up.
Whoa! This snow is pretty deep!