And A Partridge In A Pear Tree...

Shew, so we are almost caught up. ...Otherwise, the past couple months have been full of:

1. Swimming with the girls and putting Carter Caroline in the pool for the first time. She wasn't sure what to think, but swimming with Kate and Michael made her think it was ok.

2. Staying in Cinci one extra night to squeeze in another round of laughs with the Cudz.

Thanks, Jess, for the super cool editing job!

Yeah, that's me... sucking face with some Strawberry Chip... I can own it.

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Cudz, we love y'all. ...Because you are exactly who you are.

I'm sorry, Kate and Carter Caroline. I don't know what's wrong with us.

We are so serious. So, so, serious.

3. Enjoying the warm weather (finally!)

4. Squeezing-in visits to all our favorite Cinci hot spots like the zoo, the aquarium, storytimes, the CSC pool, the library, Graeters, the splash parks and playgrounds at Ault Park, Armledder, and Beech Acres.

5. Spending time with dear Cinci friends and saying our see-you-laters...

No one but dear Miss Janine can get Kate to sit still to do her hair!

Cutie little Colin Hastings... of course Natalie and I didn't get a pic!

'Zan and Naomi

...With Daniel and Drew

The crew - watch out!

Eastsiders...

6. Making a couple hurried trips to Memphis and buying our first house! We did not think we would jump into home ownership just yet (we are happy renters!) but here we are in our first home and enjoying it so much. THANK YOU to MeMe & Papa, Momsie & Bandaddy, Tom, Julie, Brittany, and Betsy for all your travelling, guidance, and childcare while we were on the hunt. It really does take a village!

Scout was not able to make it back for the second Memphis trip so I picked out the house without him and was soooooooooo glad that he liked it when we arrived on move-in day!

7. Packing, packing, and more packing. Then loading, loading, and, well, you get it... wrapping things up at 3326 Eastside Avenue.

Oops. I wanted to get some pics for Kate and CC of their Ohio home and I probably should have cleaned-up before I started. Oh well, girls, this is really what it looked like most of the time, anyway!

Kate enjoyed the packing process. That is, she enjoyed clipping the Sharpie on her dress, putting her hands on her hips, and sighing loudly with exhaustion. It is so hard being 3...

....She also enjoyed the huge mountains of packing paper.

8. A fun-filled weekend with the family right before we moved to celebrate Scout's graduation (boo! The Robinsons and I forgot cameras!), Kate's 1st dance recital (hilarious), and Brendan's 3rd birthday!

Scout's graduation was a great evening and a nice treat for all the residents who have worked their tails off over the past 3-4 years. Ssshhh... I have to brag.... Scout won an award from the Neonatology Department for his service there. He was totally shocked. As I told his parents, when we were in the hospital having Carter Caroline I thought it felt an awful lot like the Scout Fan Club around the baby floor. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and see him in action with those teeny-weenies.

Kate's recital was great fun, and getting to wear the Tinkerbell costume was definitely her favorite part.

The ballerina loves her papa.

Brendan's 3rd birthday party

Party time!

Scout, Julie, and baby Garrett

Aunt Julie picked out this flower just for Carter Caroline, because she thought it looked a lot like her, with her spiky 'do and all. It's perfect! We sometimes call her "The Tufted Egrit," because her hair stands straight up like her bird cousin. C.C., we love your soft blonde spikes. =)

9. Spending a few days in Ashland and a few days in Princeton waiting for the closing on our house to come through. After the moving truck pulled out in Ohio there were some problems pop up with the closing so we waited it out in transit. It was actually nice to have a little break from the move.

10. Somewhere in there there was also a Bigger Loser finale during which we ate chocolate and sipped wine and watched them work out. Hm.... how long 'til the next premiere?

11. And a partridge in a pear tree...

Bye Hyde Park

May is really the month that things come back to life in Cincinnati, and we can *really* shake off winter for good. The great thing about such a long and gray winter is the GLORIOUS spring, and the neighborhood is always bumping with giddy, vitamin-D absorbing pedestrians. In my leaving-Cincinnati-nostalgia, I was sure to capture some quick shots of Hyde Park to remember.

We have loved this neighborhood. During a season of our lives that has been tough in many ways with the challenges of Scout's residency, this neighborhood has met us with entertainment (for free!), a sense of community, peacefulness and also excitement, nurturing for us and our kiddos, and countless other little things that are hard to articulate. We will always remember strolling through the streets with a single stroller, then a tricycle, then a double stroller, then a bike and a stroller. We will always remember Kate stopping to say hi to the firemen at the station and then strutting down the sidewalk like she owned the square. I will always remember the sales people and regulars in the 'hood who were my friends before I had any. I will always remember the lonely evenings when Scout was working days on end and I will remember that walking right out the front door was all we needed to be in the thick of things... and that that was so delightful, so many times! We will always remember the playground, the fountain, the farmer's market, the races and festivals, the little coffee shop and the Jimmy Buffet type who played for us all every Friday, our favorite restaurants and their patios, breakfasts at Echo, storytimes at the neighborhood library, the biddies at On Occasions, the incredible Ault Park blooms, the flower pots on every corner and doggie bowls at every door, and our favorite streets, too many to count. Most importantly, we will always be thankful for our sweet neighbors who loved on our girls, included us right away even though we were *renters* (eek!), baby-sat for us when we needed a night out and couldn't afford a "real" sitter, and - maybe most importantly - gave us a snow shovel and taught us how to use it. ...Even helped us melt the inches of ice all over our walk when we slacked off during a nasty storm. Thank you, Hyde Park and Eastside Avenue crew. We see that God planted us down right where He wanted us for these past 3 years, and, as usual, He is really good.

Catching Up

Totally delinquent blogger, here. Life has been dragging us around by the shirt collar for the past few months, but we are now starting to settle-in in Memphis, and it's about time to update!

Where did we leave off...

In May, Kate wrapped-up her first year of pre-school. She LOVED school, and we will miss Redeemer Preschool so much! It was a sweet little place, perfect for Kate's first year. She grew so much this year in many different ways, and it is hard to believe the difference from the first day of school in September... (below)

...to her last day of school in May.

Kate with her teacher, Mrs. Ahrens, A.K.A. "Mother Hen" and Bully-Fighter Extraordinaire!

Since I was feeling nostalgic about leaving Cinci and the Redeemer family on our walk home from school, Kate lucked out. She received a resounding "sure!" on all the usual requests on our walk back home. So.... she scored a trip to the library, some Graeter's sorbet (pink, of course!), a penny-throwing session at the fountain, and a visit to the playground.

Concentrating on the task at hand...

...And Carter Caroline scored her favorite - a bottle! (Poor thing doesn't even know of the Graeter's goodness yet!)

We celebrated the school year end later that week with a pizza party at the Lunken Land of Make-Believe... such a fun morning.

Kate with Weston...

That Ian, he's so funny.

Hey, lemme in on some of that.

...And, of course, there is Elliott. According to Kate's teachers, he and Kate have been the co-class-presidents (hmm... bossy?) since day 1 and are totally joined at the hip. Elliott told his parents that they could only kiss him on the left cheek, because the other cheek was only for Kate. Scout was not amused.

Surprise hug time! We are working on teaching Kate that not everyone likes great big bear hugs all the time. Probably a good idea to at least ask first. She is bewildered by this news.

Yay! A very sleepy post-call Daddy showed-up for some of the party. Such a great Dad... I don't know how he juggles it all so well.

Water break

Carter Caroline learned to point this week and it is her favorite activity even now. Although clapping is a close second.

Admiring Daddy.

With little Lindsey

Bye-bye Redeemer Preschool! Thank you for a wonderful introduction to school!

Princeton

The week before Easter we had a visit from Momsie and Bandaddy and then we went to Princeton for a few days to see Granny and Aunt Sal and Uncle Rich. Princeton is one of my favorite places in the world for reasons that are tough to articulate. My grandparents moved back to Western Kentucky from South Florida after raising their family, because, as Granny puts it, my Grandfather "was ready to be a big fish." Western Kentucky is a beautiful place... the pace is slower, the people gentile and kind, and the whole place is just charming. As a little girl we would beg Grandfather to wake us up early and take us to "ride the range" with him, which basically meant that we all piled into his dirty pick-up truck and drove out onto his farms to feed and take care of the cows. If you have never fed a pasture-full of cows from a truck bed before, it totally makes you feel like a rockstar - you should try it. =) Then he would come home and get cleaned up and switch into "city" mode, looking sharp and driving his big Lincoln instead of the truck. He would sit in his chair in the den and whistle at each girl as we all came out dressed for lunch at the club and Granny always got the biggest whistle, of course. These days the main activities are golf, tennis, swimming, going for walks, sitting on the patio, and visiting with friends. Mmmm... perfect. (I used to include "napping" in that list, too, but since the kiddos not so much.) At 201 Holly Lane (the Hayes house) cocktail hour is an occassion and friends will usually join in and stay for dinner. (Granny and our dear friend Sitter recently gave me an impromtu list of things a Southern Lady does while I was visiting... observing the cocktail hour was #1 on their list. Hmmm...) Being there forces me to slow down and enjoy... and every time I feel like I learn more and more about life, people and laughter by being around Granny. She has taught me great lessons about not taking myself (or life) too seriously, enjoying people, and living graciously. I still have a *lot* to learn! Bonus... the new Black Oak Winery finally opened up right down the road, giving us a new place to visit!

Kate, in her *fancy* satin gown from cousin Axel.... oooh la la.