The Cox Family: over 2 weeks already???

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since i have written. Longer, really, since the last post was just pictures.....

I feel like we are getting to a place that I can be comfortable with our new home. It has been a crazy couple of weeks, that's for sure, but (despite this migraine I have at the moment), I feel like our new house is coming together quite well. There are only a couple of boxes left in the house and a small pile of stuff in the garage that have yet to find homes in the house. I have most of the wall hangings up and it is definitely feeling more like a home in here.

We are still having issues with the rental management and I was quickly reminded of WHY I was not looking forward to RENTING as opposed to owning our home. We have a laundry list of problems that they have yet to address, but we DID finally get our oven cleaned on Wednesday. I used it today for the first time to heat up left over pizza for my lunch and I am pretty sure that the smell from the cleaners she used is what caused my migraine. As soon as I turned the oven on, the whole downstairs just started smelling SO strongly of the cleaners that she used on it. I have been trying to get rid of it for the last hour and a half and it doesn't seem to be working.

I left last Thursday for San Fransisco to visit my cousin, Trish, her husband, Joseph, and their brand new baby, little Mckinley Grace. I got to share her 1 month birthday with her while I was there. I flew down with my mom and the next day, my aunt (my mom's sister) joined us. My mom and I flew back home Tuesday and my Aunt came back yesterday. Tuesday night when we got back into town, my mom and I went to 'Menapause The Musical' at the Capital Theatre. It was quite hilarious. But I do have to say that I have never seen so much white hair in one place before.... haha. I am pretty sure I was the youngest one there, by far! There were SO many older women there, and some of them even dragged their husbands along..... haha. It was pretty funny. It was fun to watch all these older women in their groups of friends. They were just laughing up a storm and slapping each other and gasping and cheering. Haha. It was great. And I can only hope that I will be blessed to have that same sort of group of friends in 40 years!

San Fransisco was a great time. I say San Fransisco, but it's technically Alameda. The last time I went down to visit Trish, she did live in the city, and, in fact, only lived a couple of blocks from Fisherman's Warf and Pier 39. It was cool. But I know she is happy to be away from all the tourists and in a nice home (as opposed to her studio apartment) for her new family. They just bought a new house in Alameda and moved in just a week before we got there. Joseph was a good man and got SO much unpacking done! You wouldn't have known that they were only there for a week!

Little Mckinley was SO cute! I tried to take some pictures, and got a few good ones, but she is really MUCH cuter in person! The pictures don't do her justice! She has such a FULL head of hair! I don't remember the last time I saw a baby with so much hair! (especially since mine were completely BALD.....hahaha!) It's so easy to forget how little they start out as and every time I'd go to pick her up, I would think how LIGHT she is! I am so used to my 22 pounders! (and, yes by the way, they are both the exact same weight..... weighing in at 22.6 lbs....)

I missed my girls SO much while I was gone (and Shawn too........), but can honestly say that I DIDN'T miss waking up several times a night! :) I got caught up on my sleep while I was there, while my mom and my Aunt took the baby shift at night. I offered, but gladly trotted back upstairs when my Aunt would wave me off. When I got back home, it was really late on Tuesday night. I went upstairs to check on the girls, and it was all I could do to keep myself from waking them up with a big hug. I couldn't believe I had to WAIT till the morning! Ahhhhh!!! It couldn't come fast enough. But it finally came and they were so happy to see me. Although Hannah looked like she was still dreaming..... haha. It took her a while to finally accept that I was really here and then she couldn't stay away from me. Which was fine by me. I don't think I got anything productive done that day, but I didn't care. It was great to just spend a fun day with my girls.

This weekend, Shawn is helping his dad remodel his grandparents' bathroom. He's pretty excited about it. He likes to do things like that. I am still trying to get a few things done around here. Finish the wall hangings, clean the floors, organize the rest of the office (Shawn got A LOT of it done while I was gone!)..... The list goes on. In fact, I was making my list today of all the things I need to do, and it is SO long! I'm well into the second page and it just keeps growing! Argh. And Shawn leaves us tomorrow night to go to Yakima. His (old) boss is going to China for a couple of weeks and Shawn agreed to help with the business while he is away. I knew he'd never be able to COMPLETELY stay away. So he will be gone for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this coming week and the week after. I comptemplated going with him, but have decided not this week. I probably will the next week though. But this week I will be attempting to get some stuff done around here.

Not much else going on around here, that's for sure. Last night, I had a dream (or I guess it would be a daydream, since I wasn't sleeping??) that I was on the show "I didn't know I was pregnant". I woke up with the worst stomach ache ever last night and swore I was having contractions and going into labor! It definitely brought back some memories.....

Here are a few pictures. I haven't been so great at taking pictures lately and really need to get better at it. I also need to get on Shutterfly and finish Hannah's one year book. Something else that's on my to-do list and I have been procrastinating about. Enjoy. And I promise to write again sooner. ;)

My parents and Konner came up for the day the weekend after we moved. Sharon, Megan and Shawn's grandma Ward (Sharon's mom) also stopped by for a bit. Hannah was sure happy to have all the attention!

KaeLee, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so good and did a lot of cuddling. Mainly with mommy or daddy.

KaeLee and Hannah were sharing a sweet moment together on the kitchen floor, sharing a snack. How cute. :)

Last Wednesday, Sue, Jon, Alyssa, Christina and Luis came to visit. Here, Jon and KaeLee playing with toys

Alyssa's turn! She was home on Spring break from Lawrence and came over to visit the girls and see the new house

KaeLee attached to Christina as usual..... haha

And Hannah got to be loved by Aunt Alyssa

My cousin Trish, Joseph and their new baby, Mckinley Grace! What a cute family!

Little miss Mckinley! :) Look at all that hair!

Big yawn!

All the women gather around to make sure baby is happy..... haha. (I'm sure they're going to love this picture too..... haha).... it's my mom, Trish, and my Auntie)

Hannah checking out the new "home" for all the balls (PS: Her first time in a short sleeve shirt in MONTHS and she didn't scratch her arms ONCE!!! I am SO happy! Her skin is looking amazing! She just has a little patch around her mouth, but other than that, it is great! I'm not sure if it's the cortizone she was prescribed or the benadryl we've been giving her at night. We are going to try NOT giving her the benadryl tonight and see how she does. It seems like lately it is just giving her what seems to be a sugar rush and is not going to sleep for a LONG time. So we are going to try without it. But at the same time, maybe the benadryl is what is keeping her skin from itching? I just don't know. If that's the case, I guess we'll just have to give it to her AFTER she wakes up..... haha