We're on the Market!

Geoff and I are very excited for his work opportunities in Skokie, Illinois.  Now that Hylie is here safe and sound, we are beginning the process of moving forward with our relocation.  This week we contacted a Realtor and boy does he act fast.  Our house is already on the market and has had some showings!  We still have quite a bit of work to do--organize the basement, shampoo the carpets, and tidy up the garage...but we're getting there.

Here are some of the pictures the Realtor posted:

Geoff has been Mr. Handy-Man and painted our basement stairs--they used to be a lovely green.  

When Geoff finished the second coat, he accidentally stepped in some paint... so he came up with a perfectly reasonable solution to make sure paint wouldn't be scattered throughout the house.

I admit, I always dreamed of being organized enough to have a picture-perfect house--never cluttered, always clean.  Now that we HAVE to live in a magazine so we're ready for showings at any moments notice...I've decided it's not as glamorous as I thought it would be.  In fact, it's just down-right stressful!  But we can live like a TV family for a few weeks, right?

Birth Announcement

We're hoping to get these in the mail soon...

Bath Time Blunders

So I'm sure many of you are wondering how the Woodhouses are doing now that Mom Nelson is no longer in their midst.  For the most part, we're doing just fine...but Hylie decided to mix things up a bit with Bath Time when her Mom got to bathe her solo for the first time.

Hylie and I took a nice walk Wednesday morning where Hylie stayed pretty alert the entire time.  When we got home, I changed her diaper and decided to draw up her bath.  Hylie seemed to enjoy the warm water and remained pretty pleasant throughout the entire tub time.  She wasn't very excited to be removed from the water into the cool air, so I quickly bundled her up in a fresh, warm towel.  Two seconds later I hear the all-too-familiar noise Geoff and I refer to as 'the blow-out'.  Yes, that's right, Hylie couldn't wait for a diaper, she had to go NOW, right after she became squeaky clean.  I admit, I ran around the house a few times trying to figure out what my next step should be.  Finally, I laid her down, wiped her off and filled the tub up with water again.  Hoping another bath would soothe her constant crying, I put Hylie in the water only to find that it not only soothed her, it also prompted her to pee into the fresh, clean water.  So once again, I pulled her from the water, adding more water to the already wet floor, and ran her third (and hopefully LAST) bath.  By now, Hylie wasn't finding much comfort in anything, but she managed to get through this bath without adding anything of her own to the mix.  I then finally got her hair washed (with Hylie IN a diaper) and calmed her down for a nice, long nap.  Looking forward to next bath time...when Dad's around to help!

Here's a girl who takes Rinse and Repeat (and Repeat) quite seriously...

Baby Shower

Some Sisters from our ward were extremely generous and thoughtful and put together a shower for Hylie and I while my Mom was still in town.  Hylie was very spoiled with some adorable outfits and necessities. 

The celebration started outside on the sidewalk!

The yummy spread we all enjoyed.

These adorable cake pops were made by my friends Meranda and Nila.

Hylie and I at the shower

Mom, Geoff and I had fun putting these party favors together.

I was very excited to show off the BEAUTIFUL quilt Mom made Hylie.  We will cherish it always.

Doing the DAD thing

Geoff has jumped right into fatherhood as well.  He's been a huge help with Hylie and figuring out how our world needs to change to accommodate all our new needs.

One thing I found is that I get REALLY thirsty from nursing, so to help lessen the trips to refill my glass, Geoff ran and picked up one of these:

Geoff was also able to take some days off where he brought home our rocking/recliner chair.  We both find ourselves spending a great deal of time rocking Hylie to sleep.

One day Geoff was also able to see how well Hylie takes a bottle.  Once she realized it was a bottle and not just a pacifier she was pretty thrilled to be fed by Dad!

 

We both get a pretty good giggle out of Hylie's "Milk Comas" that she gets after each feeding.

The First Week Home

Figuring out life with a newborn has been a wonderful experience so far.  The main reason I can say this is because of the help Mom Nelson gave the first week we were home.  I also have been blessed with a pretty amazing recovery.  Fortunately, I have not been in a great deal of pain from the delivery and my energy levels, for the most part, have been up.  I was even able to attend church the day I checked out of the hospital because I was feeling just fine.

The spoiling by Mom/Grandma Nelson began at the hospital when she brought meals for Geoff while I was in labor, she also had dinner ordered for us so we both could eat after Hylie was born, plus she brought us breakfast that next morning (which was quite nice since at that time I had NO idea how to order meals from the hospital), she also brought us changes of clothes, toiletries...just anything and everything we needed.  Hylie was thrilled that Grandma went out and bought her some girlie outfits--all complete with ruffly socks and bows for her hair (well, technically they're for her head, I guess).  Even Mom Nelson's erratic driving couldn't keep her from spoiling her new little granddaughter. 

Hylie's sporting one of the outfits Grandma Nelson provided on her first trip to church.

Then when we returned home from the hospital, the spoiling came on even STRONGER.  Hylie loved all the attention and holding Grandma gave her.  (Some nights Hylie stayed sound asleep until 2 AM in Grandma's arms.)

Every evening we were provided with a yummy home-cooked meal that provided enough leftovers to feed seven armies.  Our freezer is officially packed full of meals waiting to be consumed when needed.  Mom Nelson did laundry, ran errands with and for us, and she even was willing to cut my hair!  It felt good to chop off at least 6 inches.

Mom was able to cut this 'do from a YouTube tutorial--isn't she amazing?

 Mom also was a great coach in helping us figure out how to bathe Hylie--before AND after her umbilical cord fell off.

All week I also found myself picking her brain and asking questions about what to expect with a little newborn.  What a wonderful visit we had while Mom was with us.  We sure hope our next opportunity to be together will be sooner than later!