A White Halloween??

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Halloween...

We've already had the first snow of the season.  And it's not even Halloween yet!  Granted there wasn't a bunch and it didn't stick around.  But this is more than we might have seen all season back in Atlanta :)

There is talk of more snow tomorrow and into Sunday, so we'll have to see what comes.

The 'dusting' was just starting as we went to bed last night. 

On the road again...

Oh my is the trip from Atlanta to Boston long when you DRIVE it.

With a kid and 2 dogs, flying was a bit out of the question, so we loaded up and drove from Atlanta to Boston.  It was long, but we made it! :)

The rest of this post may be more so that we can remember the details.  If you aren’t interested, feel free to tune out now and check back later for more (fun) posts!

Day 1

We left Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon right around 5pm in hopes of making it to just-north-of-Charlotte to spend the night.  We’d had our carpet replaced that day and knew we couldn’t make it much further, but at least wanted to get a little bit of the drive in on Wednesday so that Thursday and Friday wouldn’t be QUITE as long. 

I was SURE that we were going to have horrible traffic heading up 85 as we left, but it really wasn’t bad at all.    We made it just across the state line and stopped at the SC welcome center to eat dinner, then drove the rest of the way to Charlotte.

 Eating some french fries...

Sydney slept in the car for a couple of hours and was quite content when she was awake. 

She was SUPER EXCITED to get to the hotel.  She even did a little happy dance around the hotel room as we got ready for bed

Miles Driven Day 1: 230

States Visited: GA, SC, NC

Day 2

 

 Sydney didn't realize how long the drive was that we had in store for us, so she was excited to get going. "Come on, I have the keys and the suitcase..."

We grabbed some breakfast and headed out around 9:15.  We drove with some light rain for most of the trip, but as we crossed into Virginia we went through the foggiest fog (hmmm, not sure how else to explain that) that I’ve ever driven through.  Not sure if that was due to the rain or if that’s normal or what, but it was certainly crazy.  We stopped for lunch at a rest stop near Blacksburg.  Bella was polite enough to save her puking for OUTSIDE of the car at the rest stop.  Thank God.  I can only imagine how bad Dan’s car would have smelled for the rest of the trip if she had done that IN the car. 

After lunch we hit the road again.  And I learned that Virginia is a very big state.  It really didn’t help the drive that there were no ‘new states’ to break up the drive. We drove through Virginia forever.  It didn’t help that there had been an accident and it took us 45 minutes to go a mile and a half.  Literally. It was miserable.  But thankfully it was the only really trouble we had.

FINALLY we crossed into West Virginia and then into Maryland.  I can’t tell you too much about these states as I spent much of my time in them singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Wheels on the Bus over and over again in an attempt to keep Sydney from screaming the entire time.  My efforts were only mildly successful.

We crossed into Pennsylvania and made it to Harrisburg around 6:30 that night.  We walked into our (supposed-to-be-a-one-bedroom-suite) hotel room to find that we have been put into the room that has the Jacuzzi tub in the middle of the room and a fireplace.  Sydney, the dogs and I stayed in that room for about 5 minutes while Dan went to get things fixed and Sydney only put her hand in the fireplace twice and got herself stuck while trying to climb into the tub once.   So I called it a success and we moved to our ‘upgraded room’. 

Miles Driven Day 2: 470

States Visited: NC, VA, WV, MD, PA

Day 3

The end was in sight. One way or another we were going to be at our new place by the end of the day. We left around 9:30 (there was a bit of a delay in finding a Starbucks before we hit the road and we weren’t about to hit the road without coffee!),  drove up through Pennsylvania and into New York.  The light rain that we had been driving with finally let up for a while and we were able to enjoy some leaf-peeping as we drove. We stopped for a late lunch at the NY/CT border.  Turns out that Dan’s dad worked for an electrical contractor one summer back when he was in high school or college (so just a couple of years ago, right Larry? :) ) and one of the projects that he had worked on was this particular rest stop.  I must say, the lighting was perfect :)

 A little light reading in the car.

It was after this rest stop that Sydney decided that she was done being in her car seat.  As I went to put her back into her seat she started screaming “no, no, no, no, no”. 

After lunch, we took a bit of a detour so that Dan could visit memory lane.  His grandparents had lived in Middlebury, CT many years ago and Dan hadn’t seen the house in about 20 years (I think).  So we hopped off the highway and drove by.  Turns out the house is for sale, so I’m sure we got somebody’s hopes up as we parked on the street out front and walked around and peeked in the backyard, all the while, taking a few pictures.  Sorry to the current home owners, it was a lovely house, but the commute might be a bit much.

We hit the road again, just in time to catch Hartford’s rush hour.  We crossed into Massachusetts. (FINALLY) and hit Boston traffic.  Plus it was raining again.  It felt like the closer we got, the longer it was taking. We ended up hopping off the interstate and taking some back roads. 

But we made it. 

Sydney and the dogs (and Dan and I) were definitely ready to be out of the car.

Miles Driven Day 3: 430

States visited: PA, NY, CT, MA

1130 miles and 10 states.

Not sure if I want to do that drive again anytime soon. (ok, except for maybe Thanksgiving, ‘cause we’re not sure if we’re going to fly or drive that trip yet.  BUT at least we’ll have 2 drivers to switch off the driving if we do end up driving….)

18 months

Oh my, how time has flown.

Sydney is 18 months old and has now lived in 2 states.  We are still getting settled and unpacked, but things are starting to settle down a bit.  With that will come many posts to update everyone on all of the Chase Happenings over the past few weeks, but for now, I'll just jump right back in with the important things - like the baby turning 18 months old.
Come to think of it, I think we are officially past the point where we can call Sydney a baby. (although, we probably have been for a while...) 

We visited the doctor for her 18 month visit about a month ago so that we could get her appointment taken care of before the move. 
As for the stats from that visit....
24 lbs 7.5 oz.   (60th percentile) and 32 inches long/tall (72nd percentile).
In case you are curious, almost-25 pounds gets very heavy, very quickly these days.

Sydney still loves to eat.  She'll eat anything in sight.  Except for noodles.  Noodles will get spit out every time.  I've tried them plain and with sauce, regular and whole wheat... it doesn't matter.  Whatever is on the noodle will get eaten and the noodle itself spit out.
(Seriously, who is this kid?  WHO doesn't like noodles???)

She is still taking 2 naps a day.  I love it.  We can stretch her and only have 1 nap some days.  Sometimes that works out okay and sometimes it is terrible for all involved.  So the move to 1 nap a day may not be too far off.  (though I must say, I am going to miss that morning naptime.  I read on someone's blog the other day that naptime is one of God's gifts to mothers.  And I agree. Wholeheartedly.)

She loves to read and definitely has her favorite books.   She also likes to 'watch a show' and will request this by finding the remote control, pointing it towards the tv, pushing buttons (often turning the tv on in the process) and then asking 'please'.   If you ask her if she'd like to watch a show, she'll nod emphatically and say 'uh huh' (not sure how you write that out phonetically, but it's the 'yes' noise :) ).

She loves bath time.  

Favorite toys are her baby doll and Gloria (the glow worm that Uncle Ben and Aunt Angela got her for Christmas last year).  They have to go to sleep with her at night.  

She's learned how to wink (though sometimes it looks like a wink and other times more like she's staring into the sun on a bright day) and how to raise her eyebrows.  Now THAT is funny to watch.  I'll work on getting a video. 

Change is in the air...

Dan sent me an email from work one day a few weeks back that said 'I have something I want to talk about tonight'.  I replied and told him that was ominous and that I wasn't patient and what would he like to talk about. (because, you know, talking over email to your husband about important things is DEFINITELY the way to go).  He wouldn't budge, but that night, he asked me if I was open to relocation.  We had a discussion about where exactly we were talking about (Let's be honest, some cities would not be acceptable). 
After some talking, we decided we'd be up for it.

Things moved fairly quickly from there and this past week, Dan accepted a new job.  He'll be doing something that he's wanted to do for a long time. 

And with that, comes change.  A change of careers.  And a change of address.  From Lawrenceville, GA to Boston, MA.

As we've shared the news that we're moving with people, there have been several common questions that keep coming up.  To make this easier, I figured I'd share those answers here.

Q: "Boston?  Like the Boston, MA, Boston?"
A:  Yes, that one. 

Q: "When are you moving?"
A: We're still figuring that out, but it'll be mid-October.

Q: "Where are you going to live?"
A:  We'll rent for a year, probably pretty close to Dan's new office in Burlington, while we learn the area and figure out where we want to live long term. 
(and on that note, we'll be renting out our townhouse in Lawrenceville, in the event that anyone knows anyone who is looking for a place to live :) ).

Q: "Will you come back to visit?"
A:  Yes, of course.

Q: "It's cold in Boston.  Did you know that?"
A:  Yes.  And I'm sure there will be several days this winter where we don't enjoy it.  But 3 months of 90+ degree days makes the cold seem like a good thing.  Plus, we think the cold and snow will be fun - we like actually having distinct seasons.

And my personal favorite:
Q: "You do realize that they are going to make fun of your southern accents, right?"
A:  Oh yes - well aware of that. 

A day with a 15 month old.

One day with a 15 month old can certainly wear you out...
So that Dan and I can remember what these days entailed once we get a bit removed from them, we've put together a play-by-play for the day.


Sydney woke up at 8:00 and had breakfast:

Thankfully today's breakfast didn't cause quite the same mess as the poptart I gave her a few days ago:

 
After breakfast came some play time in her playpen which we lovingly refer to as Baby Jail so that I could clean up.

After a bit of playing with mom came errands.

Sydney is a big helper during trips to the store:


She may be a back-seat driver, but we let it slide since she's so cute:

Once we got back home, it was nap time (for Sydney, I wish for me too :) ). She slept from 10:30-12:00. An hour and a half is a bit short for her. I'm pretty sure the fact that she stands on and smooshes her crib bumper down so that it is practically flat helped her be able to stick her leg through the crib slats and get stuck.


So naptime ended with mommy rushing in to save Sydney from the horrible crib. One lathered-up-with-baby-oil leg and some creative maneuvering later, Sydney was free. A bit bruised from the adventure, but otherwise okay:
(After all of the tears, she wasn't exactly in the mood for pictures, so this is the best I got:)

After lunch, we had more play time:

She REALLY loves Bella:

And shoes:

Still playing with the shoes:

and then had to watch a show before she took her afternoon nap. Curious George is a favorite in our house these days.

Naptime was from 2:30-5:00 and she certainly woke in a better mood than she did after her morning nap

Naptime was followed by some playing in her bedroom:

 Then, a quick snack (on the kitchen floor) while I cooked dinner:
(I promise she liked her snack... not sure what that face is!)

After dinner, we went over the mall right near our house for some window shopping and people watching:

A busy day like this will certainly wear a girl out -- she needed a Daddy-ride up to bed.

Hilton Head

When I left off last time, we were heading down to Savannah to spend the night with Uncle Matt and Aunt Natalie.  After a quick night with them, we headed to Hilton Head to spend the weekend with my friend Susan and her family. 

The camera didn't make it out to the beach for any play-time shots - we were entirely too busy chasing Sydney around - but you can rest assured that she LOVED the beach and the ocean.

We did find a few minutes to grab some family shots though:

15 month stats

We kicked off our vacation this morning with Sydney's 15 month doctor's appointment.

The official stats for all of those keeping track:

Weight: 22 lbs. 3.5 oz.
Height: 31.5 inches.
That's the 40th percentile for weight and the 80th for height. Tall and skinny. :)

And with that, we are beach-bound to enjoy the sun and sand!