Our New Home!

It has been a long time since my last post but we have been busy! I have a news flash for you (especially my military friends), moving with kids is HARD!! Thankfully we had movers that brought our boxes and furniture into the house for us. Unpacking those boxes has been quite a chore, especially with two little ones getting into everything. We still have boxes to unpack but 90% of them are gone.
We have also been working on getting our backyard done. We started with an open dirt lot. Now we have fencing, grass and trees!! YAY! We got a peach tree, a 4 in 1 pear tree and a maple tree for shade. We also had our landscapers outline a playground area for the kids with a concrete curb. The yard looks much better now (see pics below) but for the first 2 weeks, no one can go on the grass. The third week it is okay for the kids to get on it but no adults, if possible. For the first 2 weeks the grass was watered 4x a day everyday to encourage the roots to grow into the soil. So it's been torture for the kids to look out the back and see the inviting backyard but not be able to use it yet!

Sprinklers being placed

Fence being installed

More fence & window well covers

Sod being installed

Avery watching 

GRASS!!

View from playground area

When we first moved into the house, the playgrounds and parks were still closed so it was challenging to entertain the kids. We did a lot of playing in the backyard when it was just dirt and rocks. After a couple weeks, the playgrounds opened up again so we have been able to go to some of those to play and get our wiggles out. Gavin is really wanting to make new friends but it's hard when there aren't a lot of kids out and it still doesn't seem safe to have a lot of interaction. I was hoping to get him into some classes here or the library, but all of those options are still shut down. Poor kid. We have gone on neighborhood walks several times but haven't come across very many kids his age yet. Hopefully we will find him at least one friend soon!

Backyard playtime before grass

Avery is getting more mobile, very adept at going up and down the stairs, and has been caught standing unsupported several times now! I am sure she will be walking soon. She loves her walker and loves to dance! She also had her big 1 year birthday!! We had an angel food cake with chocolate whipped topping which she devoured. We had paper on the floor, thinking she was going to make a huge mess, but instead she ate the whole piece of cake!

Here's a video of Avery using her walker:

Here they are enjoying a nearby playground!

And here is Ms. Avery playing peek a boo!

Avery standing by herself!

Carlton has been enjoying his job although he isn't really doing what he was hired for just yet. He is a foreman for a Lithium processing plant but the plant hasn't been built yet. So right now they are focusing on setting up policies and procedures, not to mention figuring out the best way to process the lithium. So he is definitely being kept busy with some long days at work and sometimes working on weekends. Luckily he has a new hybrid car for his 40 mile (one way) commute!

That's about all going on here. We hope you are all staying healthy and happy during this crazy time!