Fall 2012

This is our first fall in Indianapolis.  The weather has been great.  The trees are beautiful.  I have a very scenic drive to and from work each day.  I have loved watching the leaves change to brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow.  I'm soaking it in because I know much colder weather will be here in a few weeks.

We have been very busy.  Sam had flag football every Friday, which just ended last week.  Nick was one of the coaches.  He had a lot of fun.  I'm not sure I'm super crazy about football, but if he is going to be a NFL kicker, he needs to start early.  ;).

The girls are taking ballet.  They love it.  They have their recital in December.  I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.

We had some family pictures taken by my sister-in-law Stephanie last week. We took them at a park near our home.  The kids were great and we got  a lot of great shots.  My family didn't take family pictures growing up, so getting them done every year is very important to me.

We are loving Indy and are so glad we made the trip up here.

Ellie's 3rd birthday

I really am a bad blogger.  I noticed that besides my very last post, I hadn't blogged since Ellie's 2nd birthday!  My baby turns 3 tomorrow.  It's so hard to believe that 3 years have passed since the day she was born.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I know that's cliche, but it really is true. 

Ellie is an amazing little girl.  She has so much personality.  She is so animated when she talks.  We love her to pieces.  I wonder what it's like growing up with twin siblings who are only 17 months older than she is.  Sometimes it is to her disadvantage because we can tend to expect her to act like they do in certain situations.  I'm sure it's fun too.  She always has someone to play with and take care of her.  Marley is very good at always making sure Ellie follows the rules.  I am so thankful to be her mommy.  She's is a blessing and a true joy. 

Since we live in a small apartment, my in laws were nice enough to let us celebrate Ellie's birthday at their house.  So we went there last night and had Y Not Pizza and cupcakes and ice cream.  Y Not pizza is yummy.  Their sausage pizza is like a pizza king stromboli.  We had cupcakes from the Vanilla Bean Bakery.  I had Minnie Mouse cut outs put on the kids cupcakes. 

Ellie's cousins, Madison and Colton came to the party, as well as Aunt Stephanie.  Ellie got some Minnie Mouse toys, which are her favorite at the moment.  She got 2 pretty tu tu's and some sunglasses and farm animals.  I love seeing the excitement in their faces when they open gifts.  I love that Ellie had a special day.  With 3 kids so close together, sometimes they don't get enough time designated just to them. 

Apartment life isn't so bad.

We recently made the move to Indianapolis.  Nick is from Indy and has always wanted to move back.  We both had the opportunity to start a new job up here, so here we are.  We officially opened the Indy branch of Action Staffing on August 1st. 

We decided to rent an apartment because we couldn't sell our house.  We went from 2600 sq ft to 1100 sq ft.  So, 2 adults, 3 children and 2 dogs are living in a much smaller space.  There are some great advantages to apartment life.  We have no yard maintenance and when things break inside the apartment someone comes and fixes them...for free.  I've enjoyed that aspect because it has helped me to adjust better to life as a working mom.

I work a few days in the office and a few days at home.  We put the kids in daycare for the 1st time ever.  I really thought it was going to be a difficult transiton, but it really hasn't been.  The kids love it.  And I really have enjoyed being back at work.  A friend from high school has a son in the same classroom. 

My biggest challenge is trying to balance work and cooking healthy dinners.  It takes an hour to get home from work because the day care is 30 mins away from home.  We usually don't get home until 545 and by the time you start a meal, it's going to be late before you can eat.  So I'm looking into some other ways to meal plan. 

I love Indianapolis.  I'm looking forward to this next year as we grow a business and look into building a home.  I miss home, but I know we aren't too far away.