North Carolina

Well, we're here, moved in and so far we're loving it. Moving here was pretty epic, we got here, and the apartment we had originally found was awful...not at all what it looked like on the website. Now, I'm not trying to sound picky or snobby, but this place was bad. I think one of my apartments I had in college was bigger! The kitchen was tiny, and for those of you back in BV, smaller than the kitchens in Treemont. One of the bedrooms didn't have a closet, the bathtub was dirty, the toilet was the smallest toilet I had ever seen and it was super low to the ground, the door to the patio was in bad shape, the patio itself was Splinter City (forget about being barefoot out there), and there were a ton of trees in front of it. The bedrooms were really small and had we moved in, it would have been so crowded, like sardines. There was no way we were going to stay there, so we went down to the office (of course we had already moved our stuff in) and said that we didn't want to stay, it was not what we had expected and we felt very misled. So we got our deposit back, went to get the truck back, which we had already returned, and the people there were so nice and understanding and helped us out SO MUCH with the truck, and we were out 2 hours later. We were stuck in limbo. My mom and Grant were so nice to let us stay there until we found a place. Luckily, it only took us a couple days to find another apartment, so we only had to crash there for a week. It was worth the wait to get a first floor apartment. So, we moved in, again, and we absolutely love it here. The staff was so helpful and friendly, the apartment is big and spacious and perfect for us. All of the amenities here are great. There's a pool, a walking trail around a pond, which is so pretty, a playground and a gym. We love living in NC. It's so beautiful here, we live close to my mom, there's a lot to do, and even though we live in the city, it's so quiet around the apartments. Cameron transferred to a Radio Shack down here and the store he's at right now is kind of far, his commute could be anywhere from 30-45 minutes, so we are anxiously waiting for his new store, which will hopefully be closer. The apartment isn't quite camera ready, there are still a few things lying around that I haven't decided where to put yet, and we are leaving on vacation tomorrow, so I promise I will put pictures up as soon as I can. See you in 10 days!

My Little Man

Can I say that I have the most adorable, handsome little boy ever?! I can not get enough of him. He amazes me every day, always makes me smile, and has the most adorable laugh I've ever heard. A few things about Ammon

• He loves to eat! Some of his favorite foods are yogurt, bananas, Cheerios, graham crackers, squash, sweet potatoes, mac&cheese, spaghetti, peaches, applesauce, pears, green beans and oatmeal.


• He loves to play. He's always on the floor with his toys and he loves to knock things over. I can barely get started on building a tower for him before he knocks it over.


• If it's neat and clean and organized, Ammon puts it in it's proper place on the floor.


• He loves to be outside. We always try to go for a walk or play on the swings when it's nice out.


• He's a greaat cuddler when he's in the mood.


• He can say "ma-ma", "da-da", "ba-ba" and "a-na-na". We think it's banana, my mom thinks it's Grammy.


• He really loves his Grammy :)


• He knows how to wave bye-bye.


• He loves to be tickled and have raspberries blown on his tummy.


• He has six teeth, four on the top, two on the bottom.


• I've lost count of how many times I put DVDs back or sweep Cheerios off the floor.


• He is very active. He crawls everywhere, pulls himself up, and can walk while holding on to something.


• His smile is contagious. I could be having the worst day and all it takes is one smile to make my day.


• He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


• No matter how many toys he has, his favorite thing to play with is almost always something that isn't a toy.


• He loves it when Daddy gets home from work.

I tried to upload a video of him laughing, but it won't work and it takes forever! So, I guess some pictures will have to do. Here are a few of the cuteness I get to play with every day :)

Always into everything!

First fudgesicle

Can't get enough of that smile!

Toofies!

Oh, and I forgot to mention...he LOVES bath time!

Our Little Boy is 1!!!

It's so hard to believe that a year ago, our little boy was born! It's been quite a year for us, but it's been amazing, and it's gone by way too fast. It doesn't seem possible that Ammon was born the tiniest little peanut and has gotten to be so big and so healthy. We are so blessed to be parents to this wonderful baby! When Ammon was born, he weighed 2 lbs 8 oz, was 15 3/4 in long, and his head was only 10 inches. At his 12 month appointment, he weighed 18 lbs 9 oz (10th %), was 29 inches long(25th %), and his head was 18 1/4 inches (40th%). The doctor said that not counting for prematurity, he is doing great! And he is definitely a handful! He is crawling, pulling himself up, and walking while holding onto things. He is into EVERYTHING and he has so much energy...he definitely keeps us busy! We love him so much and we are so grateful for him and that he is healthy and happy!

Daddy with the birthday boy!

Ammon at his birthday party with friends before we moved.

Presents!

Ammon's cake. Clearly my cake decorating skills need some work. To be fair, I didn't have all the right tools.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Turns out Ammon's not a huge fan of cake.

Our friend Tyler and his and Elizabeth's baby Elanor

My friend Sarah and her baby Georgia (such a cute little peach!)

My friend Mackenzie's baby Blythe. Love that smile!

Mommy and the birthday boy!

Family :)

These pictures are from his actual birthday...we want to start a tradition of going out to breakfast on a birthday. Since we hadn't showered or anything, we just went through the drive-thru at Dunkin' Donuts...but Ammon loved it!

Doughnuts for the birthday boy!

We tried cake again at Grammys...

still not a fan.

We thought that maybe the reason he didn't like his cake at his party was because he was a little overwhelmed because of all the people there...and that cake had a TON of frosting on it. Nope, Ammon just doesn't like cake. Oh well. It was still a good day spent with family.

What to look for...

Here's a list of everything that I need to blog about so I don't forget!

• Ammon's 1st birthday


• moving to NC


• new apartment


• Cam's new job


• random Ammon cuteness


• VACATION (in about 2 weeks)

Update

Well, we made it to North Carolina. We got here Friday afternoon, had boiled dinner (thanks Mom!) and finally got a decent night's sleep. We were looking forward to moving into our new place.

The keyword here, is "were".

This morning we drove to the apartment and went to get the keys. It all looked a little ghetto at first, but it didn't seem that bad, especially after we looked around a little bit and we talked to the manager. We went in and it was not at all what we had pictured. We had to rent it based on pictures and reviewsbecause we weren't able to go see it...this goes without saying, DON'T EVER, EVER, EVER DO THAT! Huge mistake. It was small, one of the bedrooms didn't have a closet, the windows were so old, it had been painted so many times, the sliding door to the balcony was not on right, the balcony wasn't finished...there were so many things we didn't like. There were cigarette butts all over the ground, people didn't clean up after their pets...it was bad. So, we started to unload the truck, and Cameron and I were so upset, we couldn't believe how it turned out and we felt so mislead and sad because we thought we were stuck there. But after we unloaded the truck and returned it, we talked and realized we couldn't live there, so we went to the office and asked if we could just forget it and get our money back. At that point, it was 2:30, and the truck rental office and the apartment office were both closing at 5, and if we could get everything out by 5:00, we could forget the whole thing. So, we rushed to re-rent the truck while everyone took our stuff out of the apartment. Luckily we were able to load everything and return the keys by 5:00.

So now we're living at my mom's house and we're looking for a place to live. We've found a few that we like and we're going to go look at them tomorrow, hopefully we can find one that we like and can afford, and hopefully we can find it quickly!

Being a Mommy

I wasn't planning on doing any blogging amidst all the cleaning and packing and getting ready to move. two nights ago I was in bed thinking about how fast the year of Ammon's life has gone by. I've watched him grow and learn new things and been so amazed at this little boy and everything that he's been through, and despite having the odds against him, he has thrived and been such a wonderful blessing. He always makes me smile, and I am so lucky to have been blessed with such a beautiful baby. Time goes by too fast and it reminds me to slow down and treasure every little moment with him, because time isn't going to slow down. I love being a mommy and I love everything that comes with it.

I saw this on a friends blog and had to re-post it.


When you're a mother...

Nothing is yours.

Your clothes aren't yours-They're a drying towel, a washcloth, a kleenex.

Your furniture isn't yours-It is a trampoline, a bed, a fort, a tent, a mess.

Your TV isn't yours-It's an on-demand movie theater filled with Sesame Street, Veggie-Tales, etc...

Your Personal Time isn't yours-It's Snuggle time, it's on-demand snack time, it's "Mommy, I need MORE attention!" time.

Your body isn't yours-It's a carrying device, a personal walker, two hands and two feet for getting whatever needs they have.

Your lips aren't yours-They're boo-boo kissers.

But most importantly:

Your HEART isn't yours-It fully belongs to them. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

Being a MOTHER isn't always easy, and it can seem at times like nothing is as it used to be, or never will be yours again. But it is, and always will be, the most rewarding job, life, that you can ever have. Yes, I miss my personal space at times. But NO, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Heading South...

...for North Carolina!

Yep, it's official. We are moving to North Carolina in March. Since Ammon was born we anticipated staying in Virginia (and in our current apartment) for a while. We thought Cameron would finish school at SVU, we thought another baby would possibly be born here (NO, I'm not pregnant) and we thought we would just enjoy life and settle down for a while. Well, when I was in the hospital, I was an hour away from home, Cameron was working full time and going to school and traveling back and forth an hour each way to see me and then Ammon after he was born, was a lot on our plate, Cameron's especially. He had a tough first year with SVU, and due to an administrative error and miscommunication from the school, it would not have been easy for Cameron to go back to school here. So, we played with the idea of going somewhere else...we just weren't sure where. We thought and prayed about it for a while and decided that NC was the place we needed to be. It was close enough that it wouldn't be too stressful of a move, and my mom lives there, which is a plus. Cameron will be transferring to Radio Shack there (fingers crossed that a position opens up!), he will most likely start school at North Carolina State University in the fall and we will be living close to my mom. We've really loved living in Virginia, and we have made so many friends that we will definitely miss. We're excited for this new chapter in our lives and we're looking forward to a new start.