Upstate Life

Its been awhile. Our life has dramatically changed in the past few months! I'll do my best to catch you up on our life.

We moved from Lubbock, TX to upstate NY (over 2,200 miles!!!) during the first two weeks of August. David finished his coursework for his PhD at Texas Tech and is now teaching at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. His teaching appointment at Colgate is only for 9 months so we will only be here that long. Our house in Lubbock was under contract to be sold when we left, but after we arrived in NY we found out that the buyer backed out in the 11th hour. We still DESPERATELY need to sell or rent it.
Here are a few photos from our voyage from TX to NY. We drove a 23 ft. Penske truck with our car in tow. The three of us were in the bench seat in the truck. George did SO well. He only had a few meltdowns. We were able to stay with our families along the way and spread out the trip over a few weeks. We even got to introduce George to our old stomping grounds in Charlottesville.

Our truck in Little Rock

Visiting Grandma

Visiting Grand-Betsy and Dada 

Visiting Grandpa

Hanging out with Dada

Little Rock 

Meeting up with Bethany and Avalynn in Memphis

Watching sports in Chattanooga 

Lookouts game in Chattanooga

George and Grandaddy 

George with Aunt Julie and Mimi 

UVA grounds

Charlottesville Downtown Mall with George

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We live in a little town called Earlville which is 5 miles south of Hamilton. We have downsized to a 2br apartment in the downstairs of a Victorian house built circa 1820. It has lots of character, but totally different from anywhere we've lived before. Luckily, the apartment above ours is empty and will remain vacant since our landlord uses it as a retreat and seldom visits. Our friend Evan was so sweet to visit us from Brooklyn to help us unload our truck. We were surprised to learn that we don't have air conditioning! We've only had a few truly hot days, so it's really not that bad. Our heat is a bit strange (to us). We have a huge fuel oil tank in the basement and it's a little scary. I am learning to live without a disposal and dishwasher. Also, our washing machine flooded our first night here! It's certainly an adventure. The neighbors are super friendly and have told us that they're really into snow mobiling. I'm so excited to introduce George to snow and drag him around on a sled. They don't pick up trash or deliver mail here either (so weird!). However, George and I enjoy our daily trek to the post office which is just around the corner from our house. We usually stop by the library and play with hand puppets and puzzles. The church situation is very different from Texas. We don't know of any churches in our area that have childcare or have attendance over 50 or so. I'm so eager to meet other women and moms, I just don't know where to start if we don't get plugged into a church. I've asked around about playgroups, but haven't heard of anything. My mom visited us last week and helped us out so much. David and I were even able to go out on a date to Utica! We saw Contagion and really enjoyed it. My mom dyed my hair (verrrry) dark brown and I really like it! We went to the Farmer's Market, explored surrounding towns, went to H&M and Target in Utica, cooked (PW's fried chicken), and baked. What a blessing it was having her around!

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George! He is growing so quickly. He is 10 months old and so active. George has been saying "Dada" for awhile, but TODAY he said "Mama"!!! My mom bought him an early birthday gift and gave him a walker. He is "walking" all over the house in it and it is so funny seeing his independence. He has been standing unassisted for awhile, but lately he has improved his duration and even flirted with taking a step. We are so in love with this little man.

These videos were taken today:

Latest Georgeisms:

• He is really into pointing at object around the house, us, and pictures in books.
• He can identify us by pointing and say our names.
• He is still obsessed with ceiling fans and can spot them a mile away.
• He gives us the biggest, sweetest, wettest kisses.
• He is a good little waver and even waves at strangers.
• He eats table food and stage 3 baby food.
• He is wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• He has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on the bottom)
• He typically sleeps from 8pm-6am without waking up (this a very big deal!)
• I still breastfeed him 3 times a day (mid morning, mid afternoon, and bedtime)

A few recent photos:

David and George strolling on Colgate's campus

George and I hiking near the Chittenango Falls

View from David's office

We have really enjoyed exploring surrounding towns. They are all very unique and charming. It is so fun to shop and eat in Syracuse, which is an hour away. We love Dinosaur BBQ and have eaten there twice already. David really loves his job and has had lots of time to write. I am enjoying being a stay at home mommy and spending time with my little man. David will be applying to poetry teaching positions and fellowships this fall for jobs starting next fall.

To sum it up, we're enjoying upstate NY and are finally feeling settled! Sorry for the long update. It's been a wild ride!

Our new address:

P.O. Box 383

Earlville, NY 13332

Home Again, Home Again--Jiggity Jig!

I'm back on the blog wagon. The past few months have been extremely crazy, but wonderful! I'll attempt catch you up on our life since the last post. 

We took our little one on the road to visit our families, taking advantage of my maternity leave and David's time off of school. We left Lubbock on December 16 and returned on January 10. In that period we drove to Little Rock, Jackson, Nashville, and Chattanooga. He did so well in the car! Between Lubbock and Little Rock (12 hr. drive) he woke up TWICE! 

My view from the backseat during our trip:

In Little Rock, George met his Papa (my dad) and Uncle Jonathan for the first time and got to see Grandma (my mom) again. He also met his great-grandparents! 

George and Grandma

George meets Uncle Jonathan and his girlfriend Kathleen

"Papa" meets George

George meets his great-grandfather "Dada" and grandfather "Papa"

George with his great-grandmother "GrandBetsy"

George with his great-grandpa and great-grandma Lula

George celebrated his first Christmas in Little Rock. Here are a few photos from Christmas:

Trying to get him to pull the tissue paper out.

Not too sure about this...

The day after Christmas, we went to a "Sip 'n See" in George's honor. What fun it was to catch up with my high school friends and their moms! 

Reunited!

Babes checking out the babe.

Love these ladies.

While in Little Rock, my Dad captured some great photos of George smiling at his daddy.

After leaving Little Rock, we drove to Nashville to stay the night with our friends, Chad, Shana, and their son Callum. Some of my Zeta sisters from college met up with us for the evening. It was so great to catch up and meet some of their babies.

After leaving Nashville, we drove to Chattanooga to see David's family. While in Chattanooga, George was able to meet his great-grandmother "Mema" and his great-aunts/uncles Kathy, Tom, Lamar, and Lyn. He loved seeing his Mimi and Granddaddy (David's parents) and aunts and uncles again, too.

George celebrating the New Year!

Cuddling with Granddaddy

Bathtime with Mimi

 So cozy.

George with his Aunt Sugarbear. 

Can't believe we don't have any pictures of Aunt Julie and Uncle Luke with George.

George and Uncle Andrew

After leaving Chattanooga, we stopped to visit our friends (the Hussungs, Haydens, and Vailes) along the way. We also stopped to see my parents one last time before heading back to Lubbock. We stopped in Dallas and got to see David's Uncle Steve and Cousin Drew.

...

Since we've been back in Lubbock, David has started teaching and I've returned to work. Thankfully, David (aka Mr. Mom) is able to stay at home with George most of the time and we have a wonderful babysitter who is watching George while David teaches. George is very blessed to get to spend so much time with his Daddy. David is awesome with him. 

Thankful

The past few weeks have been really busy for us. I turned 25 on Nov. 19, we closed on our new house on Nov. 20,  and flew to Little Rock on Nov. 21. We went to Little Rock to visit my family for a week and we were able to see the Razorbacks beat Miss. State at War Memorial (thanks to my dear friend, Lindsay Townsend, from Starkville, MS). My mom has been very ill with H1N1 flu and double pneumonia and finally arrived in Little Rock after being in the ICU in New Jersey. She's been resting and is slowly regaining strength. It was so good to see her. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Once we returned to Lubbock, we got the keys to our new house and moved our belongings in over the weekend. David and I moved everything ourselves so needless to say we're sore and completely pooped! I wanted to share some pictures of the house in the snow. I'll post more pictures of the house as we continue to settle in.

Our new address:

404 Kewanee Avenue

Lubbock, TX 79416

Our house this morning.

Our view from our front door when we woke up.

My kitchen!

Razorbacks

My daddy, husband and I

I got to see Hannah while in LR