Our Apartment

We have officially been Illinois residents for almost 3 weeks now. We are pretty well settled into our apartment, which is in the suburb of Chatham located south west of downtown. This was one of the only short-term rentals (6 months)we could find but the area was very highly recommended. We have a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment on the first floor of an 8 apartment complex. The style of the place is very open and it was just renovated so the appliances, bathrooms, flooring and carpeting are brand new. The main space is a living/dining/kitchen area with laminate flooring and lots of open space for Ally to crawl around. We have enough room for our kitchen table and the island in the kitchen gave us a little extra storage. We left the coffee table and end tables in storage so we just have one couch and a recliner in the living room. There is a large coat/storage closet in the kitchen, a big laundry room off the kitchen and a patio big enough for the grill and two chairs off the living room. The patio also has a very large storage closet so that's been perfect for boxes and extra things that don't fit inside.

Down the short hall is Ally's giant bedroom (compared to what she had), a full bathroom and then our room which also has its own bathroom. The closet space is a lot less that we are used to so our room has some wire racks for clothes along the walls. The master bath is also very small but its been ok so far. It's a little strange that the shower in our bathroom has the tub and the hall bath is just a shower but we are making it work. I'm getting used to bathing Ally in a small space!

As for the area we are in, we chose this place for the proximity to the important places like target, grocery store and best buy. It is also right next door to a huge park/sports complex so walking the paths and going to the playground has been a daily thing for us. The negative is that it is across from a lovely trailer park but other than being an eyesore, its really has not an issue. I feel safe here and there is lots of green space for Ella. The noise has taken some getting used to but so far everything has been going pretty well.

I would post some pictures, but its really not very exciting and its still a little cluttered with things yet to find a home. Now that we have a crawling baby, we need to rethink the placement of some things and do more baby-proofing. She is so fast!

She's on the Move

Here is a video taken two weeks ago when Ally first started to move:

Here is what she learned this week (note the same PJs even):

She has progressed from rocking to scooting backwards to now a full on crawl in just under a month. Nothing in the apartment is safe!

Rewind: Day Care Artwork

Here is the final edition of Ally's art from April. Her teachers were sad to let her go, she will be missed. Day care was wonderful for her, she developed so much and it really helped with getting her on a schedule. Hopefully I can replicate some of these activities at home!

"Painting with Feet"

"Feathered Duck"

"Easter Collection"

A card with all of her friends hand prints on it. A nice memory!

Rewind: Last Day at Work

Yet another milestone celebrated on April 30: my last day at Purdue. With the craziness of the whole week I didn't really feel like I got to relax and enjoy it. My co-workers had planned on a reception in the football team meeting room from 2-4 so when our house closing got pushed back it really caused problems. I was a little late but I still got to enjoy cake and visit with people. It was also our cheerleading coach's last day so we had a joint party. It was nice to have a chance to see a lot of people before I left, some just came for the cake but that was okay too. Karl picked up Ally at day care so she could say good bye too. Once the party wrapped up, I finished up some things in the office and loaded the last of my office things into the car and headed to Harry's with the promotions staff. We enjoyed a little happy hour there and it was packed! Some of our interns joined in and my wonderful bosses supplied the drinks. Big thank you to Barb, Heather, Jackie and Andrew for making my last day a celebration. I was sad to leave everyone and no matter how much I've complained over the last 5 years about the long hours, demanding coaches, needy staff members, etc... I really am going to miss working for Purdue Athletics. Now its time to learn how to be a fan....

Rewind: Closing Day

The last few weeks have been so crazy, I haven't had time to do any updating. Time to go back and recap the last two weeks starting with April 30.

We were scheduled to close on the house at 11:30 but at the last minute, the buyer found some standing water in the air vents in our master bedroom. We had no idea it was there or how it got there so Karl had to do some quick scrambling to get some guys out to the house to take a look. After some staring at the house, two civil engineers determined it was just water collecting in a low spot near the window at the back of the house causing it to back up into the vents. The buyer still wanted the house so we agreed to cover the cost of extending the downspouts further to prevent water from pooling near the house. We were thankful it was minor but it made for a crazy morning. We finally closed at 1 p.m. and I had to rush back to work for my going away party. Here are the last photos taken at our first house. We miss it already!