On the road

Well it is official, we are on the road. They packed out house on Monday, loaded the van today, and we will be driving up to IL tomorrow. Tonight we are staying at my dad's house. My dad has a 8 month old puppy name Gus. So Gus and Jake have been having so much fun this evening--running around in the back yard and chasing each other in the house. It is getting late and we have a 7 hr drive ahead of us in the morning, so i am off to bed. This will probably be the last post until we get internet service which should be Saturday. Wish us safe travels and we will see you in Bloomington!

Gymboree Party

On Saturday I took Chandler to a birthday party at Gymboree. We had never been there before. Chandler had a ball. I think she had more fun than the birthday boy!

Not a great photo. But riding in the boat with the birthday boy.

Walking the balance beam by herself. The first time she held my hand and then the second time she did this.


What would be a party without bubbles?

Chandler really enjoyed herself, she even cried when we left. I think we are going to have to check out a place like this in Bloomington. She looks like such a big girl in these photos, i can hardly believe it.

See you later dinner

Tonight i went out to eat dinner with 5 sweet girlfriends. We decided that it would not be a goodbye dinner but a see you later dinner. We met at my favorite Mexican restaurant. The food was yummy but the company even better.

Sweet Julianne

Loving Rainer. Isn't her top so cute?

The group: Rainer, Paula, Amy, Julianne, myself and Joanne.

I adore & admire all these women for different reasons.

Rainer--One of my newest friends. I am proud that i made a new friend at this age! You have a kind heart. You are an awesome, super mom and have raised 2 sweet, giving, polite children. I admire you in the fact that you always are so positive and encouraging.

Paula--An old friend, almost 7 yrs now. I am totally comfortable with you. I can be myself 100% with you. You have taught me a lot about marriage and being a strong woman. Thank you for pushing me to see Dr. Weitzman! Best pushyness ever from a friend!!

Amy--You are my longest friend, going on almost 15 yrs now. You are my shopping buddy. You have known me through so many phases of my life and still love me. You are the most loyal friend i have.

Julianne--An old friend of 5 yrs. You are my cooking/baking guru. You encourage me to try anything in the kitchen. You have been there for me a lot this past yr. You have helped me through some dark days. I have loved every minute of watching Chandler and Ella Grace play together.

Joanne--Also a new friend from this past yr. I have loved living in WH with you. You are so easy to talk to. You are so outgoing and giving. I have enjoyed watching Chandler and Mia grow up this past yr. Thank you for being an awesome neighbor and even better friend.

I savored every moment this evening. I am proud to call all these women my friends. I will miss you all dearly in IL.

Going Offline

Tomorrow is the beginning of the chaos for us. The movers are coming to pack up tomorrow and Tuesday and load the truck on Wed. Chandler is going to FL tomorrow to spend 8 days with Sparky, Pops and Aunt Mo Mo. I am missing her already. I have never been away from her for that long before. But it will be a huge help to us as Jeremy and I have to drive with Jake the 7 hrs to Bloomington on Wed. We close on the house Thursday and the movers unload us on Friday. Jeremy and i are such pros at this moving thing that we plan to unpack all weekend and have the house all set up when Chandler re-joins us the following Tuesday. A big thank you to Sparky and Pops in advance for watching our sweet girl for us. I don't think i will have access to a computer again until the end of the week. So I'll catch you on the other side.


One of my all time favorite photos of both my babies. They are watching some Mickey. Don't they just look so cute?!

Sing-a-long with Grandad

Grandad came over for a bit on Thursday evening. Mother Nature was nice and made it stop raining for a bit, so we headed to the park for some swinging and sliding. Then we came back and Grandad and Chandler sang a bunch of songs. Good thing neither of them is interested in being on American Idol!

Monkeys treehouse

Like most of the South, we have had rain for 12 straight days. And i am talking about raining all day, not just a rain shower. So on Monday Karyn and i decided to take the girls to an indoor play center, called the Monkey's Treehouse. It was awesome! I am bummed that i only discovered it a week before we moved.

Hailey and Chandler had so much fun. they were such busy girls too. Digging in the cool blue, rubber mulch. They would fill the wheelbarrow to the top, dump it out and fill it again.

Chandler loves animals, so she was pretty excited when she discovered a whole house full of them. Here she is patiently trying to stand them all up.

She was also in heaven when she discovered the huge dollhouse. She enjoyed making the barbies sit on the couches and the beds.


Just a photo of one of the toddler areas.



Check out this cool treehouse! It had stairs going up, slides going down, wobbly bridges to cross. Chandler enjoyed climbing the stairs but started crying when she came to the wobbly bridges. I had to go up and get her. Hailey on the other hand, crossed the bridges on her hands and knees with no fear.

We finished the morning off with a stop at McDonald's for lunch with the girls. I sure hope that Bloomington has a cool place like this to play!

Gator Fan

Everyone knows how i love the Florida Gators. So, i was so excited when i found this cure jersey at the mall last week.

Their #1 fan!~

Go Gators!!

Check out those curls courtesy of all this rainy weather! Love the big orange and blue bow too!

The Gators had a big game on Saturday, but Chandler must have been their lucky charm, b/c they pulled out a win!

Dinnertime Fun

I took this video of Chandler during dinner last week. I love the way she eats the pizza. She turns it upside down and really bites into it. I am not sure of some of the stuff she is saying at the end. But the video is still cute.

Jake is her Sunshine

Caught this cute video of Chandler serenading Jake one morning this past week. My favorite part is when she tells him he is her sunshine and gives his head a big kiss.

In case you can't tell she is singing her ABC's, Baa Baa black Sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider and You are my Sunshine. So precious.

My Knoxville girls

On Tuesday evening, i met a group of girlfriends at a Mexican restaurant for a goodbye dinner for me. I have been friends with these 3 girls since 1998, when we met in Knoxville. We were all roommates at some point, we were all in each other's weddings, we now all finally have children.

The above picture was taken when Jeremy and i were moving away to TX in 2006. The below picture is from this week--3 yrs later. I think it is amazing how much we have changed. But yet we have stayed the same in so many ways.

Anne Marie, Patty and Jenny are wonderful I am so thankful that i have their friendship. I will miss them dearly when we move. But they will always have place in my heart as my Knoxville girls!

Welcome to Chandler's neighborhood

Kind of like Mr. Rogers neighborhood, but it's Chandler's neighborhood. After Chandler played in the rain she decided to run up and down the street showing me where everyone lives. Turn your volume up and i hope the video doesn't give you motion sickness!

It's Raining, it's pouring...

and Chandler is smiling. It has been raining all night and all day. By 11:00am Chandler and i had some major cabin fever. We had played with all her toys and read all her books. So i decided it was time to go play outside. Rain or shine.

Chandler was so excited to put on her rain boots.

She was running, jumping, hopping.


Oh, what a big puddle! Think i should jump in it?

She had just sat down in a huge puddle then stood back up and off she went.

The weather forecast is rain (a lot of rain) for the next 5 days. Guess i shouldn't put those rain boots away just yet!

Happy Birthday Cousin Hannah

Today is my niece's and Chandler's cousin Hannah's birthday. She is the big 3 today!! On Saturday evening we went over to her house for a cookout.

Chandler was so excited to see Cousin Hannah and followed her everywhere she went.

Enjoying some cookies on the back steps.

Playing with the barbie dream kitchen

Cheese from the birthday girl


So much fun to take a bubble bath together

Look, it's a Hannah burrito!

Happy Birthday big girl!

Hanging at Grandad's

I know, I know, i have been seriously slacking on the blog lately. But i am moving in 2 weeks, to another state. Can you really blame me?!

On Sunday we had a open house at our house. Which meant that all of us (including Jake) had to vacate the property for over 2 hours. I wasn't sure where we would go. But my dad offered to let us hang at his house. We brought the pak n play for Chandler to take a nap in and put Jake in the backyard to run around. Chandler laid in the pak n play for over an hour but never slept. So i got her up and let her run around my dad's back yard and play with Jake.



My dad keeps a slide at his house and Chandler had so much fun running around and then climbing the stairs and sliding down.

Thanks for letting us hang at your house Grandad! You were a lifesaver!

Jesus Loves Me

This afternoon as i was getting Chandler a snack, i kept hearing her sing a song. She would sing it really soft, but the same tune over and over. I thought it was just gibberish. Then i realized it sounded familiar, so i stopped and listened. I suddenly realized she was singing "Jesus loves me". I have sung this song to her before but not recently. Then i realized she probably heard it today at MOPS. She is finally old enough to be in a class that reaches her about the bible and Jesus. It really touched me heart to hear my sweet baby singing--"Jesus loves me this i know, for the bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me for the bible tells me so."

Yes Chandler, Jesus does love you and so does your mommy!

Back to MOPS

Today was our first day back to MOPS. Last night i told Chandler that she was going to school in the morning and she would get to see her 2 best friends--Ella Grace and Hailey. She was so excited when she woke up and kept asking for school.

My big girl waiting ready to go to MOPS

Me and 2 of my best friends and fellow MOPS moms--Julianne and Karyn

The 3 Musketeers--Ella Grace, Chandler and Hailey.

I think it is funny that in the photo of the mommy's we are standing in the same order of our kiddos.

Not a great picture, but hard to get 3 2yr olds to all look in the same direction and SMILE! Chandler had a great first day. She was in class with her best friends. The teachers told me that the 3 of them were inseparable. We sure are going to miss Ella Grace & Hailey and their mommies when we leave!

Welcome to Degarmo Drive

So these are way over due, but here they finally are. Here is our big, beautiful home we bought in Bloomington, IL last week! Love it!


The back of the house. The grass is so green right now. We are going to put up a black wrought iron fence for Jake and Chandler.

The family room on the main level. There is also a family room in the basement. It has a fireplace too!

My new kitchen. Love my island!! Can't wait to have me a cookie exchange on that come Christmas!

We close on the house on Oct 1st and plan on moving in on Oct 2nd. I am starting to get excited.

We bought a house!!!

Well we did it! Jeremy and I went and bought ourselves a house in Bloomington, IL!! We found a dream home yesterday morning. We went and saw it again yesterday afternoon and then saw it again this morning before making our offer. We got it for a great price. The house is gorgeous. It is mostly brick. It is 2 stories plus it has a finished basement. It is 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. We did not want a house that big, but it is what we ended up with. There is a fire place in the family room and even one in the basement. The basement is huge. It has a bedroom, full bath, media room for Jeremy and playroom for Chandler. There is a big backyard, that we will fence in for Chandler and Jake. The house is 1/2 block from the neighborhood park and splash pad area. The neighborhood is full of kids of all ages. We took lots of pictures of the house that we will upload to the computer when we get back tomorrow. So come back tomorrow afternoon and have a look.

Off to House Hunt

Jeremy's mom Sparky arrived this morning to stay with Chandler while Jeremy and I go house hunting in IL. We will start our search tomorrow morning and have until Friday night to find a house, make an offer and have it accepted by the seller. We are very excited to find our next home. Wish us luck!