Thomas Tidbits...: Home Stretch

I've clearly slacked with my blog posts, and I have a feeling this is indicative of what's to come. The holidays came and went, and we've been busy, busy, busy the past 6 weeks.

We were lucky enough to sell our house in less than 48 hours a few weeks ago, so we can officially check that off our long pre-baby to do list. We'll close in mid-March, and do a leaseback from the buyer until mid-April. This will allow us some time to settle in with baby boy, finish/close/make additions to the new home, and *hopefully* move by April 18th-ish.

In other good news, my mom is moving to Austin for good at the end of the month! We found out a few weeks ago that there was a transfer available to her, and she took no time in accepting the new job and making her way down. What perfect timing... we can't wait to have Nana here to join in all the fun!

Baby boy is definitely making his way to his birthday. If constant discomfort is any indication of an early arrival, my money is on a February baby, but we'll see. While I'm physically ready to welcome our son into the world, I'm not nearly mentally or emotionally prepared - still lots more to tackle on the work front.

We finally started unloading all of the baby gear this weekend, and I'm already having panic attacks with the amount of clutter in our house. Swings, play mats, bassinets, bouncy seats... the walls are caving in! I'm in the nesting phase and unable to properly nest - I can't wait to be in the new house.

A Cliff's Notes overview of Eleanor:

: Outside time is a must. She literally spends HOURS outside when it's nice enough, and she'd probably sleep outside if we allowed it. Tricycling, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, swinging, or just running around in circles keeps her occupied and happy.

: E is warming up to the concept of babies. She's been practicing feeding her baby a bottle and rocking her in the infant car seat. While she's a total tomboy, she definitely has a sweet nurturing side to her. Let's just hope this resonates once brother makes his way into our family.

: Our daughter continues to be super expressive with phrases like "Hooray!" "Ta da!" "I did it!" and also expressions of love, with an "I love you, Mommy/Daddy" and "I missed you!"

: While Eleanor has always been outgoing, she now runs up to complete strangers and introduces herself. Or, sees a kid from afar and says, "Friend?" This girl is going to have a social calendar that surpasses our own before we know it.

Austin has had 4 "snow days" in the last couple of weeks. This was the only day snow was actually present. Laughable, say the former Chicagoans. Eleanor woke up and exclaimed "snowman" when she saw this view from the window. We had to let her down gently that this clearly wasn't enough snow for a snowman.

Our dear friends, Mark and Elisa Dennis, invited us to join their table at the Dell's Children's Gala. It was a beautiful event, and we were honored to be a part of it. Incidentally, our picture ended up in Austin Monthly. I'm guessing they were going for the "wow" factor with the belly. As in "wow, she's actually here??"

Cool Kid.

Tomboy through and through.

Sharing a fancy feast of leftover Chinese food with Daddy

New wheels, thanks to Nana. We haven't been able to keep Eleanor off this number since we assembled it over the weekend.

Erik and Molly Lund visited a couple of weeks ago for the KU/UT game (and their 10th Anniversary). The Hawks disappointed us, but Erik made sure to keep our spirits alive with his cannonball "dip" into Town Lake