Settling Down

We have finally settled in and unpacked... now time to catch up on all the things I've been putting off. We rented a house in the same neighborhood as our friends and are just happy to be stationary for a while. Ron's work is going well; he loves it and is thriving in the civilian world. Ella, as usual is a constant joy and was over the moon to see all of her things finally come out of the boxes we've been living around these past couple of months. Of course, it made us realize how ridiculous the amount of toys and stuff she has is so I've put some toys she's grown out of away and have a huge bag of donations to go as well. My next project is finding ballet classes for Ella and getting back into the busy social life of a three year old :)

Here are some pictures of the last couple of weeks... and a proud Ella in her new room:)

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

It has been a while since I posted and for good reason. San Antonio has given us some challenges that have tested our patience and our ability to accept that life doesn't always give you what you want. We have been house-hunting and spending all our free time concentrating on buying a new home for our new life here. After repeated postponements, glitches in paperwork, negotiating with banks and builders, we found a home we were excited about moving into. However, financial news on our rental property in Georgia, the day before closing, meant pulling out of the contract and the beginning of a frantic search for a rental here in San Antonio.

Rental properties have proven difficult to find, budget restrictions and high expectations do not mesh well as we are learning. :) Great properties are quick to rent and we looked at many homes that were already under contract... my advice for the management companies: if it's already rented, take it off the internet and stop wasting our time!

We have put an application on a home that we really like. It's in the same neighborhood as our friends and has all the features we need including a fridge and water softener! Now, it's just a waiting game and we hope to be moving on the 1st. Of course we are not getting our hopes up as nothing, since we arrived in San Antonio, has gone according to plan and we have been consistently disappointed. We are even exploring the idea that perhaps, sadly, San Antonio may not be the place we should be. As has been life for the past two months, we shall see.

Ella, in all of the transition has continued to grow into a great little person. She has taken all the house-hunting in stride and has a positive attitude about each house we drag her through. "This is my room!" or "I like a brown house, please!" "How about this one, it's pretty!"

Our fingers are crossed that the Georgia rental gets sorted out, and a move into the rental goes smoothly. At this point, we are optimistic and look to the universe with strength and say, "Bring it on!"

Burrrr.....

We are all still adjusting to the weather here, and though definitely not as cold as most of you have, we are still freezing our little tushes off. I must tell Ella, no less than 100 times a day, to put on her slippers or put on a sweater. She's much too used to bare feet and arms. When she is cold, she'll put together her outfit, heaven forbid she wear real clothes and not her Tinkerbell dress up dress.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I am ready to leave 2009 behind. It's had it's rough patches, but it's also been an amazing year as well. I am over it and looking forward to a very happy 2010. Bring on the new year in a new city with new friends and new adventures...and fingers crossed a new house. Goodbye 2009 HELLLLLLOOOOOOOO 2010! Happy New Year my friends & family! We are so blessed to have such great people in our lives, We love you! Have a great new year!

New Year's Eve excitement ...watching New York's Times Square celebration. We rang in the New Year, east coast time and Ella was in bed shortly after 11. Whoo-hoo the excitement was almost too much for her. ha ha ha!

The Nutcracker

Grandma, Great-Grandma and I took Ella to her first fine arts experience today, and we all saw the Nutcracker. Ella sat for some of the performance but luckily we moved a few rows up and away from people so she spent most of her time doing "ballet" between the rows and giving me more stress than I deserve :)

Christmas Day & Boxing Day

Christmas has been great this year. Ella, being the sole granddaughter, niece and daughter was spoiled rotten as usual :)The Washington clan arrived before noon and more present mayhem ensued with Ella exclaiming in glee over her new princess piano, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it!"How many uncles does it take to put together the aforementioned princess piano??The girls went shopping today and went a bit mad. Of course what Grandma can resist a trip to the Disney store and could ever say no to a new Cinderella dress?? Did I mention Ella is spoiled... rotten :)With Uncle Joey licking the whip cream beaters:With Grandma and her new coat and hat set:With Papa and her new pink vest:

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve with Mommy & Daddy:Christmas cookies for Santa with Ella's new Princess Tiana pj's:
Storytime with Papa:Goodnight Papa:Goodnight Daddy:Santa was here...

December at a Glance

This month has been a little hectic and I haven't kept up this blog as well as I usually do so here is the month in photos...

Our little reindeer:Christmas Pictures for Mommy:

Our First Gingerbread house:Our Christmas Decor:

Christmas lights in the hill country, north of San Antonio:

Burrrrr... San Antonio is cold for us!