Last but not least...

We moved!! We closed on a house in mid-July and have been working hard ever since. Our dream come true- a brick ranch in Matthews with a yard and hardwood floors. It has been almost two weeks and each day has been full of unpacking, yard work, cleaning and decorating and the expected hiccup here and there. Randy is learning a new meaning for the word "handy" and we are adjusting to the changes but overall it is heavenly! The girls LOVE being outside and exploring. We have been building fires in our homemade fire pit and walking across the street to Pine Lake Nursery for little things and advice (and fighting lots of mosquitoes)! Randy and Bella went on a little breakfast date last weekend to the bagel shop in walking distance and both girls are enjoying frequent wagon and wheel barrow rides. They have been so helpful. Bella's room is fit for a princess and she said, "It is like a dream come true," when we showed it to her for the first time. My heart melted. I have a lot of before and during pictures to post but for now, the day we closed... Randy and I drove back from Hilton Head only a day after being there and got up at 5:30 in the morning for the walk-through and closing. We were a little sleepy but like after having a baby the adrenaline from the excitement fueled us!

Beach Trip 2013

We took our regular Eich family beach trip at the end of July. We went to Hilton Head this year which meant bike rides, alligators and lots of time spent in Harbor town. The kids were in heaven having a pool in the backyard and sharing a room with lots of twin beds and trundles. There was dolphin watching on a boat cruise with Greg Russell, putt putt and pony rides. The kids also got to go crabbing one morning.

testing

1...2...3...

Six Years...

I surprised Randy with a little Bachelorette date this year for our anniversary... I left him a date card on the front porch and asked him to go with me on an overnight date. We went to Boone, NC where I went to college. We stopped in Blowing Rock for dinner at one of our favorite places and there I presented him a rose and a card from Chris Harrison with a reservation for the "fantasy suite." We went on a little hike the next morning and got some of Randy's favorite fudge from Kilwins. We had so much fun. It was absolutely what we needed.

tragedy strikes

Bella lost her giraffe (her pink lovey) on the way home from vacation. She went into the gas station with Randy to buy herself some gum and I think she was just so excited carrying her purse and buying the gum with her own money she set it down and forgot about it. It has been with us for four and a half years and it is so very helpful! We bought two when she was born for this very reason and switched them out occasionally. One day as a two year old she cut the tags- her favorite thing about the thing! I panicked and instead of letting her handle the natural consequences, I switched them out. She was smarter than I thought she was though because she knew the tags were back and once when I was washing that one I slipped her the one with cut tags and she immediately wanted the "other raffy! other raffy" to which I responded, "What are you talking about? There is only one raffy." Yeah right. I dug myself into a hole and learned my lesson. I ditched the one with no tags and she has held onto the other one for two more years until just this past Saturday. I think I was more heartbroken than she was. She has done fine going to bed every night (3 nights so far) until tonight. She left her replacement animal, a lamb, at her friend's today and cried herself to sleep. If only we still had the darn giraffe. I saw one on ebay for $25 (we only paid $10 originally) but in the picture it looked like that tag had been cut! That is the whole reason we need one so I guess we are out of luck. I did learn, however, during my online search for another one that they were recalled a while ago!! Crazy. We tried calling the gas station but haven't had any luck yet. Maybe it was just his time...

VBS!!

The girls got their first experience in VBS this summer. I always loved going as a I grew up and I was so blessed to be able to volunteer and have them both go with me. My good friend Sarah played a big part in making the week happened and had asked me if I was interested... um, yes! The girls and I all enjoyed ourselves. I was a little torn as I had to leave sweet baby Cohen (a friend's baby we keep part time) with Randy but they did great and Ava stayed with them half of the time.

Anyway, these pictures are of the finale. Bella was mostly focused on playing with Ava who kept running to the middle to try and steal the show.

Puppies and Bikes

Every kids dream! Well, we actually just "puppysat" our friends 5 week old puppy but the girls loved every minute of it. Bella was great with him and was a big help. Ava is generally afraid of dogs, well any animal, but she tolerated him and even got a little close to him by the end of the week.

Also that week we got Ava's little bike out. It was Bella's when she was younger. Ava sits on it like she is so proud but actually has no idea what to do. She is always bringing us her helmet now to try to sneak in a bike ride here and there.