Chateau James

We found a tiny house to call our own! Or at least it is ours for the next year that we'll be here in Lafayette. It's closer to downtown, but located in an older area with *gasp* hills and trees! We can almost pretend that we're not in the middle of Indiana surrounded by corn and soybeans. :) Two houses down there is a pair of red-tail hawks with a nest. When we looked at the house we could hear the babies crying out to their parents flying overhead. (Jesse is INSANELY excited to go bird watching.) As for the house it has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, linen and coat closet, dining room, living room, kitchen with laundry hook-ups next to the back door, a storage shed next to the driveway, and a nice little yard. It's slightly smaller than what we have now, but with the storage shed it'll be about the same amount of space. The best part is we only have to pay $535 a month! Woo hoo!!! Even with all of the utilities we'll pay our monthly bills will come out to what we pay for rent now. We feel VERY blessed to have been able to find this place so quickly and to have everything work out with it. We leave on Monday for vacation and then return on the 16th so we just figured it out in the nick of time! Our new lease will start on the 16th (that gives them time to finish cleaning the place) so we can start moving in as soon as we get home. We need to be out of this apartment by the 30th so we'll have 2 weeks to move. Today we started packing some boxes, taking pictures off the walls, etc. so it won't be quite the mad rush when we get home.

It looks weird because I took the picture from the road, which is at the bottom of the hill our house is located on. Ignore the boxes near the door- apparently the old tenants were PIGS and destroyed the place. Luckily for us this means new carpets, new kitchen flooring, new counter tops, and a new bathroom sink.

The backyard from our driveway. The little fence will be taken down (the old tenants had rabbits) and we have flowers to plant so it'll look different when we move in.

Potentially homeless :(

So today we met with the lady to sign our new lease for the house we're planning on renting in July. I babysit Monday-Friday so we took the boy who I babysit with us. As soon as she saw him she asked if she was our son. We told her no and said that we babysit him. All of a sudden she said she couldn't rent to us because she wasn't set up for us to use the house as a child care facility for special needs children. I explained that we'd only be watching him until mid-August when he starts back up at school. But she seemed uncomfortable with the idea of us watching ANY children in her home. We came home, upset, waiting for her to call us back with a final decision. She called us and told us that even if we purchase renters' insurance, only watch "typical" babies, and promise not to feed them in carpeted areas that she still couldn't rent to us. So now we need to find a new place in a week!!! We leave for vacation next Monday and then return on the 16th. We have to be out of this place by the 30th so it's crunch time. Our options are to either see if we can stay here or scramble to find a new place in our price range. Wish us luck!

Upbeat updates

I realized my last two posts have been a little sad so I'll inform all of you of the happier things going on in our lives!
Jesse~ He finally unpacked his practicum bags just in time to start packing for our vacation! He uploaded his pictures so I've posted them below. He's really looking forward to going on vacation to Utah, Idaho, and Washington. He's also excited to start firefighting. We ordered his special boots and as soon as they arrive he'll be on the active duty call list. He's been busy getting boxes and helping me organize things for our move next month. Jesse is also enjoying being home with his baby and is the best dad! He loves being with Rosalee, even if she's crying with a stinky diaper at 2 am. He graduates in less than a year. Woo woo!!!! So this means we've started looking at various jobs and seriously discussing our options.

Haggerman Lake and a vernal pool (a good spot to find salamanders)

Eastern White Pine (very tall!) and goofing around with Julian

American bullfrog and red pine trees

This dog is dragging in a beaver and the weird looking thing is called a Hodag and it is the mythical creature that lives in the UP of Michigan

Enjoying being home with his family!
Marie~ I haven't changed my hair in a while and I was getting bored so off to the salon I went! I told the stylist that I wanted a "summer look" so she cut it short (probably shorter than I've had it ever... or at least for a long time.) and put some blond highlights in it. Here are the before and after shot of my hair.

Of course I couldn't resist taking some pictures with Rosalee! Rosalee has two picture taking moods- smile all the time or make very odd faces. She was in mood 2 this day! In the second picture I was trying to copy Rosalee's weird face.

Other than that I've just been keeping busy babysitting, watching Rosalee, and taking care of the usual business.
Rosalee~ Her pneumonia seems to be gone so we are VERY happy! She responded well to the medicine and hasn't had a fever since Wednesday. Now she's teething so she's still a little fussy, but nothing we can't handle. :) She has this one tooth that pops up, almost comes out, and then disappears. It's the weirdest thing! Her doctor claims that it's normal so we're not too concerned. With the weather being nicer we've spent some time outside which Rosalee LOVES. She likes running her fingers through the grass and trying to catch bugs. She finds the lightning bugs very fascinating. She'll reach out for them but they're too fast for her to catch. As for development here's an overview- *Rolls all over the place! *Attempts to crawl, but ends up doing somersault like tumbling *Says “up” and “boo” randomly *Smiles at everyone and anything with a face *Laughs when being tickled or when someone makes a weird sound *Gives kisses which means mom and dad end up with wet faces :)

This was taken the 1st day after being diagnosed with pneumonia. As you can see she wasn’t feeling the best. One bittersweet thing is that being sick has made her want to be snuggled and held all the time. We had to dress her in next to nothing the 1st few days because her fever would flare up sporadically.

Big girl sitting up all by herself!
Our family~ We’ve spent some time packing boxes for our move next month. Monday we’re going to sign the lease papers so we’re getting excited to move into a house, even if we’re only renting it. We currently have a nest outside above our porch that we’ve been watching. There are four baby birds in it and a few times we’ve been able to catch the parents feeding them. Jesse being an animal fiend climbed on chair and took some pictures of the babies in the nest.

Jesse and I also planned two family dates this weekend. On Friday I picked going to the drive-in and on Saturday Jesse picked going to The Taste of Tippecanoe. We saw two movies Get Smart, which was hilarious, and Don’t Mess with a Zohan, which was stupid and crude. The weather was nice enough that we sat on a blanket next to the car eating our snacks. The Taste of Tippecanoe is a HUGE to-do here apparently. They close off four blocks downtown and then they have food vendors, several stages of music, and a kid zone full of games. We went with our friend Kevin and his two daughters so we had a BUSY time! At night they let off fireworks and Rosalee slept through them. Oh well, I guess she’ll get to see more in a few weeks on the 4th.

Our 1st drive-in experience with Rosalee

Petting an African millipede from the Lafayette Zoo

A baby armadillo

Playing laser tag with Dad. Nobody would shoot a man with a baby right!?

Ready to race Isabel in the inflatable obstacle course and coming down the giant slide

How Rosalee spent her time during the fireworks

Rose Morris

Today my grandmother Rose Morris passed away. She was a mother of 6, grandmother of 11, and great grandmother of 3. The Rose in Rosalee comes from her name and I'm VERY thankful she was able to meet Rosalee before she died. My grandmother was the kind of person you fell in love with instantly. (In fact that's what happen to my grandfather over 50 years ago in Pennsylvania!) She took me on my first plane flight when I was 10, entertained me with stories of her and my grandfather, traveled to Europe with my mother and me, was strong in her religious convictions, was overly giving, was addicted to dying her hair, believed in the importance of tradition, and loved her family more than anything. She will be GREATLY missed, but it's wonderful to know that she's finally at peace.

At my grandpa's graduation from Villanova and at my aunt's wedding in a dress my mom made

With her sister-in-law on one of our trips to Philly and with Rosalee last December

Constipation is a blessing

Yes you did read the title correctly... Last night we took Rosalee to the ER because she's been having blood in her poop and only pooping a small, rock like, amount once a day. We also took her in because her temperature was 101.5 and not getting better. (By the time we arrived it was at 102.8) So what we thought was going to be a blockage, some flu bug, or the doctor telling us we're feeding her too much bananas turned into pneumonia! The whole time the doctor kept asking if she's been coughing lately and I found that weird since we went in for a poop issue. I said that she's been coughing a little, occasionally has a gunked up nose, and the last two days woke up with goo in her eyes. For about a week the humidity, and therefore pollen/pollution count, has been very high so we thought it was a seasonal thing. WRONG! Rosalee had a chest x-ray done that showed early signs of pneumonia developing in her lungs. The x-ray was a nightmare to get because Rosalee was pinned in a machine with her arms straight above her head. She was so scared and kept crying and screaming. After a few other tests the doctor informed us that she is eating less and sleeping more because she is sick. This, plus feeding her food with bananas, has caused her pooping to decrease and a bit of constipation. The main concern though is the developing pneumonia in her lungs. The doctor wasn't able to tell if it is bacterial for sure so Rosalee is now on Amoxocillan just in case. If she isn't showing signs of getting better in 48 hours we need to take her back to the doctor. So if goes to show that you never know when an annoying symptom may unearth a potentially dangerous one!

4's a crowd?

Last night Jesse said he'd help out by putting Rosalee to bed. He read her a book, sang her some songs, and then went into the bedroom to put her to bed. I was SO happy to have him back to help with the various chores and activities we have going on.

Happy until I tried to go to bed! I went into the bedroom to find that 4 is a crowd! Maybe for our anniversary we'll upgrade to a California King bed... :)

Fun in the sun!

We took Rosalee swimming for the first time today. She absolutely LOVED being in the water!! She kept kicking, smiling, and laughing while we played with her in the pool. The only bad part about the experience was now she has a nasty rash on her bum. :( We think it might be from her swimming diapers so next time we may just have to risk it and take her in a regular diaper.

SO happy to have Daddy back!

Rosalee and I are both VERY happy to have Jesse back! He came home yesterday at 6pm and it has been wonderful to have him home. Today while Jesse was feeding Rosalee she started laughing uncontrollably at the weird noises he was making. Jesse was able to get Rosalee to laugh for about 20 minutes just by making this weird monkey sound. I've come to realize that the sound of a laughing baby is one of the sweetest sounds on Earth. Enjoy!!!

As soon as Jesse finishes unpacking I'll have him add some pictures from his practicum on here. Most of them will be of animals or nature scenes, but that's what I get for marrying a wildlife biologist! :)

Rosalee aka Smiley Girl!

Lately Rosalee has been experimenting with her voice. She makes all kinds of laughs, screams, squeals, spittle sounds, and basic consonant noises. But the best part about everything is how happy she always seems to be!

7 months old

~7 things we love about our 7 month old~
How she laughs and squeals at the sight of a smile... or the dog
Her gray-green eyes
That she is a calm, happy baby- even when teething!
Her log rolls across the room, sometimes resulting in getting stuck under the couch!
How "ga", "ka", and spittle sounds equal a conversation to her
We know she knows us and loves us
That she learns, grows, and changes everyday

Vacationing with mom

My mom came out from Washington from the 24th of May until the 1st of June. During her visit we drove down to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee so we could go to Dollywood and see The Smokey Mountains. My mom is a Dolly Parton fan so we thought it would be fun to go down and see her theme park. Here are the pictures from our adventures!

Black Bear Jamboree

Our 1st night we went to a dinner show called the Black Bear Jamboree. The food was great and the show was amazing! Rosalee had a wonderful time dancing to the music and even fell asleep during the show. This is definetly something I would recommend to anyone and something I would hope to go to again.

Rosalee playing with her placemat.

Rosalee and I got to be part of the show.

She loved the giant bears!
DOLLYWOOD!!!!

Rosalee's Elvis face

The Dollywood Express- this train took us up into the mountains and around the borders of Dollywood.

Rosalee all tuckered out!

Happy baby!!!!

Classy :)
Rosalee's 1st ride

She was VERY happy and spent the whole time smiling and squealing. She was wiggley and hard to hold on to, but it was fun for both of us.
Dolly's tour bus

Parked in Dollywood is Dolly Parton's actual tour bus. We figured it's parked because of the high price of diesel but no matter what the reason is, we were happy to see it!

Dolly's bedroom

Her make-up area
The American Eagle Sanctuary

A 5 ounce screetch owl that I find adorable

I got to be part of the show! A black vulture came out and landed on my arm 3 times. At first I was nervous but the bird didn't weigh that much or stay on my arm for long.

The red tail hawk that flew over the crowd

This crow is trained to take money from your hand and put it into the box. My mom was one of the last people to see him so he was tired by the time she offered him a dollar. She was able to pet him though and I think she liked that better.

Big Bone Lick State Park - Kentucky

About halfway back from Tennessee, near Union, KY, is a state park decided to paleontology. The first fossils were found by Lewis and Clark! They had a display showing how some of the primitive animals lived and died. There is also a large herd of bison in the park, but it was too hot for them to be hot. It was fun to stop, see the fossils, and then continue on back to Indiana.

What kind of museum?

On the way back from Tennessee we decided to stop at the Creation Museum near the Indiana border of Kentucky. The museum is reported to be about the Creation of the Earth by the Lord, and I admire them for making it, but it was weird! The place had more dinosaur things than Biblical displays. Randomly they'd have a dinosaur in the middle of a display or area. The children were greatly amused by the dinosaurs but it distracted from the point I thought they were trying to make. At one point the museum contradicted itself! They claimed that the dinosaurs died out in the Great Flood of Noah's time and then on the replica of the ark they had a pair of dinosaurs with an egg! It wasn't a crocodile or some other lizard, it was a full blown Jurassic Park toy. From the pictures it looks like we went to a dinosaur museum, not a museum about the Creation of the Earth. The place had very few good points and I'm sorry we went. The only good thing about going was that it delayed our return to Lafayette enough that we missed the tornadoes and nasty storms!