Changes...

I can't believe I've neglected the blog so much that I haven't even formally shared the biggest news in our little family since... well, since the arrival of Katie bear.
Though most of you already know this, I should make it "blog official" by saying that we're moving. Over the next few weeks our whole little Lafayette life will be packed in boxes and/or loaded on trucks bound for Rockford, Ill., which is my hometown and the location of 2 new jobs for me and Brian.
We are thrilled, of course, by the jobs we've tied our family's future to. But there are unknowns and the normal scary parts of setting off to a new place. We also have "knowns" in Rockford, like my mom and brother's family. Ellie is over the moon excited about being closer to her 7-year-old cousin, Mason. Overall we'll also be closer to cousins Jay & Alora in Nebraska, and we'll be closer to aunts and uncles. We're about the same distance to our St. Louis-area family, which isn't ideal... but we'll only have to travel half as many times for family visits, so we're looking forward to making the trip south more often.
The past month or so of prep has been exhausting, as we've made plans and said good-byes. But Brian and I are confident in the decision we've made and the course we've set for the family.
As I write this, I'm up in Rockford on the tail-end of my first day at the Rockford Register Star. It's somewhat unbelievable for me to be back in my hometown and awaiting the arrival of the rest of the family (almost for good) at the end of this week. (Brian still has some work to finish up in West Lafayette before coming here to start on the job May 6...) But while I'm nervous about many things in this transition, I'm confident that Brian and I made this decision together and we're excited about this plan for our family. No change is simple or easy, but this is where we will build the next phase of our lives together as a family. Look out, Rockford... we're ready to take this place by storm :)

Zoo opening

 Here are some shots from our opening day trip to the Columbian Park zoo. It wasn't as warm as we'd hoped... but we still had a good time seeing the animals who were out; Ellie had a good time engaging the emus (below) and the wallabies (not pictured...)

 We also go to see some 3-day-old baby goats! Ridiculously cute!! Love this zoo and can't explain how much we'll miss it :(

She walks!

More details, and hopefully video, to come... but wanted to share that Katie took her first wobbly step this morning! Yay!

The girls at play

We had a fun play date this past weekend with the Shutes family. It was sweet to see Katie try to join in to the older girls' play time, and it was fun (as always) to see how much Ellie and Olivia enjoy their time together. We sure are going to miss these guys, but I foresee some fun visits in the future!

Meat!

 
Katie is still a vegetarian whenever possible, but she decided to gnaw on part of my chicken thigh the other night and then ate a bunch of meat we pulled off it for her. I won't go as far as saying she's branching out... but nice to see her sample from other food groups :)

Katie: 14 months

 These action shots sum up Katie's on-the-move attitude these days. She is always trying to check things out and get into mischief. She's still not walking, per se, but she cruises a lot holding on to stuff. She probably doesn't see the need for walking because she's so dang fast when crawling. I'm sure she'll get there.
Katie's got about 3.5 teeth now, and she's drooling like crazy as more are coming in. She is still partial to fruits and veggies, though this past week she is also loving cereal with milk as a bedtime snack.
She's talkative and happy, especially when "playing" with Ellie (or meddling in Ellie's stuff). Love our little Katie :)

(*Note: Katie got in here herself, and Ellie gave her the dog bowls and then closed the crate door. She then proceeded to "feed" Katie dog treats — aka, plastic magnets from the fridge — through the sides of the crate. Please do not forward this image to DCS...)