Birthday Spoils

My birthday this year was fantastic.  The girls were so good all day long, which was a gift in itself.  I spent the day playing with them and lounging on the couch with my book.  My phones--home and cell--kept beeping and ringing off their hooks.  When Brandon walked in the door after work, he had another dozen roses, a balloon, and a gift: a new set of wine glasses, and a bottle of wine to go with them.  He then proceeded to whisk us all off to my favorite restaurant for dinner and dessert, where the girls continued to be incredibly well behaved, even by their standards, which is impressive indeed.  And finally, on the way home, he took me by my new favorite store to spend some of my birthday money.

I am in love with my new dinnerware set.  My old set had been a gift from my mom long before I was even married, and they served us well for a long time.  My tastes have since changed (dare I say, matured?) and a few pieces had been broken anyway, so it was time.  I can now serve up to 8 people with my lovely green dishes, I have the smaller bowls on order, and I plan to at some point acquire the serving set as well.

We had a surprisingly warm, sunny day on Thursday, so we took advantage of it.  Elora and I went outside while Kaylie was napping, then went back out after she woke up.  Kaylie just wanted to put everything in her mouth, so she ended up in the exersaucer, but Elora couldn't make her mind up what she wanted to do.  Ride the trike?  Draw with chalk?  Play catch?  Watch her shadow?  Investigate all the neat twigs, sticks, cones, seeds, and green, growing things?   She did a little of everything, but spent most of her time exploring, and putting her finds into that blue bucket. Yay sunshine!

Getting Settled

Or, well, we're trying to anyway.  Our household goods will not be delivered until Friday and we have no idea when the long term storage stuff will get here, so we're currently sleeping on an air mattress and living out of our suitcases.  BUT, we have a brand new washer and dryer (delivered Friday) so we can do our laundry right here at home.  And, we got a new dining set and a whole new living room set (delivered Saturday) so we have couches to sit on and a dining table to eat at.  I bought towels so we can shower; basic food stuffs so we can eat; disposable plates, cups and silverware so we have something to eat off of; and the sundry soaps and cleaning supplies so we can stay tidy.  Verizon came out on Saturday and hooked up our internet, cable, and telephone.  Of course, we won't have a TV to go with that cable until Friday, and I have no idea when the phones will get here, but the internet is AMAZING.  Hooray! Here are a few pictures of the house, and our new furniture:  

I'll post more pics of the rest of the house later this week. Brandon's budgeting program has gone into cardiac arrest with all the money we've spent since we got here, but it's worth it.  We have a lot of other ideas in mind--such as putting up a fence and replacing the cabinetry in the kitchen-- but we will be spacing those purchases out.

Today is Brandon's first day of work here in Virginia.  I hope it goes well!  After all, he will be working there for the next 3 years, so it wouldn't do for him to start off on the wrong foot.  Elora didn't want to let him leave this morning.  We've both gotten used to him being home with us, so it'll be another adjustment now that he's actually got to go to work every day again.  It'll be very good, though, to get back into a predictable daily routine.

All three of us have gotten sick since we got here.  Elora came down with it first, at the end of last week.  I got the sore throat on Saturday, and Brandon got it on Sunday.  I think I have it the worst.  Brandon and Elora are both stuffy and are feeling pretty crappy, but I've got the nasty sounding cough to go with it.  It'll pass.  I'm just hoping it does so before the movers show up on Friday.

My friend Rebekah continues to be a a great help.  She's been running around with me, keeping us company, and helping me to learn my way around the area.  She's going to come over and spend the day with us on Friday, to be an extra pair of eyes and hands, especially with respect to keeping Elora occupied while we're trying to get everything moved in.  Elora is loving her "Aunt Bekah"!  Han is still staying with her, too.  She waves it all off, especially the cat sitting part.  Han is keeping her kitty company, and both cats seem to be enjoying the situation.

These are a few more pictures that I snapped in the apartment before we left Germany, and they are just too cute not to share.  I especially like the last one.  :)