Trip to Oshkosh

With my new-found free time, Ally and I took a trip to visit my family in Oshkosh last week. Before we moved, we were so busy with work and packing that we didn't get much time to travel so we spent the whole week there. Karl had to stay behind and work so it was my first solo ride with Ally alone in the backseat. The drive is a little longer now and we had to make a few stops along the way but we both survived and were happy when we got there. Ally had a lot of fun visiting with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins. She even got a chance to meet her great, great Aunts and Uncles! It was so nice to spend more than five minutes with everyone and each day we were able to visit with family. My mom is great at putting Ally to bed and once she got used to being in the pack and play, she slept great. The weather was terrible all week but when it finally did warm up and get sunny, we went with my dad to the Menominee Park zoo and walked around by the lake. We also spent some time shopping at the Outlet Mall with my mom and stocked up on summer essentials for the girl! Laura and Andrea made time in their schedules to see us as well and Ally was so happy to see them. We even got a chance to stop by and see Sara on our way back home which worked out to be a perfect feeding/playing stop. Ally loved spending so much time with everyone but daddy missed us so we had to go back to our new place. Since we left after only 5 days in the new apartment, we still had some unpacking and organizing to do. Its now about a 6 hour trip but its well worth it.

When we are home, I always forget to take pictures so I only got a few. Here are some of the good ones:

A Tooth!

Ally has been dealing with her bottom two teeth for a few weeks. Her bottom right has now popped all the way through! For the last few weeks it has been moving up and down but now it is most definitely up. Probably not all the way into place but its got to be pretty close. The bottom left is also starting to surface. I've been trying all week to get a picture of her with her mouth open enough to see it but its been impossible. She now loves to stick out her tongue and work it across her new tooth. More to come on this soon.

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!