Toddlers and Tantrums

Hi all! Happy Monday!! 

This last week has definitely been an eventful one. Dan left for Dallas on Wednesday morning before anyone was awake and didn't get back until late Friday night. It was only a couple days, but they were tough ones. The girls plotted against me to throw their biggest tantrums I have ever seen in those three days he was gone. It usually takes a lot to rattle me, but I will be completely honest, I was almost in tears more than once. Usually around four or five pm, the girls have a bit of a meltdown, and it's nice to know that Dan will be home within an hour or two. Well, when you know he's not coming home then, the countdown starts to bedtime and it usually goes pretty slow. Don't get me wrong, for the most part are pretty laid back, but like all toddlers they have their moments. We had quite a few of those moments last week. I was so happy to have my rock, and my partner in this crazy world of parenting, finally home with me and our girls. 

Another cause of toddler (and mommy) meltdowns this week was bedtime. This is a new one for us because the girls have been great sleepers since they were about 3 months old. I know that it's common after a move, but we were lulled into a false sense of security when they went to sleep with no problem the first  week we were here. I'm not sure if it just hit them that they are really not going back to their old room, or if it was triggered by Dan not being there to tuck them in, but a flip switched on Wednesday and nap time and bedtime turned into a complete shit show. I got them all settled in their beds like I normally do, but the second I turned off the lights and shut the door, they panicked. I sat with them, read a few books, talked to them about how I was just downstairs or in our room right next to them, and gave it another try. Same result. I repeated that a couple more times with the same result, then finally gave up and tucked them in bed with me. Selfishly, I loved it, but knew that Dan wouldn't be too thrilled so we repeated the process the next night and had the same result. Shock. Night three we went through our bedtime routine again with a little twist that actually worked. When I went upstairs to check on the girls during their nap that day, they were both sleeping in the teepee they got for Christmas that's set up in their room. So Friday night I asked if they wanted to sleep in their tent and they hopped right it. I got them settled, read them a book, and left the room. There was a little whining, but no meltdown!! So this is our new normal. 

Absolutely adorable and they are happy, so mommy is too!! 

Saturday night Dan and I decided to sit down, pop a bottle of champagne, and toast to being settled in our new house. I got everything unpacked and organized while Dan was gone, so we finally got to relax together in what is starting to feel like home. About an hour into a movie, and hours past the girls bedtime, we heard the pitter patter of toddler feet trotting down the stairs. So all of a sudden, this:

Turned into this:

Again, selfishly I love the cuddles, but mentally, I need some mommy time. 

I know that I'm not the only one navigating the terrible two's, and I know that it will pass, but for now I feel like I'm going INSANE!! I thank God that I have a wonderful husband to help me along the way. At this age, the tantrums are the not so happy moments, but all of the new things they are doing still astound me everyday! They are understanding more, talking more, interacting with us and each other in more positive ways, voicing their opinions (which usually crack me up), telling us what they like and don't like (which makes meal time a lot less stressful), and are just growing up so fast.  The tantrum stage will eventually pass, and switch to something else equally aggravating I'm sure, but with each new stage will be even more amazing and wonderful milestones to go with it! 

Enjoy every moment with the precious little ones in your life! 

Xoxo

-Emily 

Settling In

WE FINALLY HAVE FURNITURE!!! And yes I'm yelling it, because I'm so flipping excited! I feel like south a lazy bum right now, because my couch feels like heaven on earth and I have no urge to get up anytime soon. My bed is tempting me though. It's been just over a week since we've been camping on the floor, and it's wonderful to not only be comfortable, but to finally be making this house a home. Here's a small sneak peak of everything coming together in the girls' playroom! 

While it's been difficult to settle in without furniture, but the girls are definitely loving in the house. They have a much bigger room, and much more space to cause mischief in. The downstairs is actually set up like a giant circle with the staircase and laundry room in the middle, so their new favorite game is to run laps as fast as they can. So far no head on collisions, but I'm seeing a bloody nose or two in the future. They have to learn somehow! ;) 

We have also been getting familiar with the area and can get to most of the general places with no GPS, score! Again, I am going to rave about how much there is to do here, and it's all just minutes away! Coming from a town with 2 restaurants, this is amazing. I also went to go check out one of our local gyms and I'm pretty pumped. The place is huge, has three pools (two indoor and one out), a bunch of free classes for me and the  girls, a spa, and most important they have a child center included that I was really impressed with. I'm joining next week, so it will be good to get out of the house and have a little bit of me time. 

In other news, Dan is heading out of town for business for a couple days sowe are going to have some girl time this week! Actually, we are going to have some mom's-going-crazy-being-a-referee-and-unpacking-all-at-the-same-time time, but ya know, it happens. I am looking forward to being able to put my own touch on everything without Dan getting in the way though. I hope he likes it when he gets back! Then finally when he gets home we can sit back, relax, and pop the bottle of champagne we've waiting to use to toast our new house. I guess we could have done it when we first got here, but it just didn't seem right using paper cups. :)

I plan on doing a full house tour when we get it all put together hopefully later this week, but for now here is one last sneak peak and a look at my project from the weekend! 

 Can you tell the girls are a bit spoiled? They are the only ones who actually have their space all put together. Not surprised. They are definitely the bosses of this house! 

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! :)

Xoxo

-Emily

Greetings from The Peach State!!

Hello everyone from The Peach State!! We finally arrived at our new home last night after a very long day of traveling. The girls did surprisingly well, but still, being cooped up in the car with 2 cranky toddlers for 13 hours was never going to be fun. Really though, it could have been WAY worse, so I'm not going to complain... too much.

On another note, I'm writing from my living room floor tonight, and will be until at least Tuesday. Our delivery window we got from the movers was between today (would have been nice) and Tuesday (worst case scenario). Of course, we got a call on the way down saying it was going to be worst case scenario. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying to the moving gods that there are no delays and soon we won't be eating on the floor like homeless people! 

On the plus side, Alpharetta is absolutely gorgeous!! We are so obsessed with this town already, and it's only been a day. There is so much to do! There are shops and restaurants everywhere, and so much variety. It's perfect because you have this little city all around you, but when you get to all the little subdivisions it feels very much like a small town. A perfect combination and we couldn't be more thrilled! 

Also, our house is gorgeous. It was a massive gamble going forward and signing a lease for a house that we have never seen in person. The rental market is extremely competitive down here, so we decided just to jump right in and go for it, and the risk paid off big time! It's even bigger than it seemed in pictures, and a perfect location. Right now it's just a lot of open space, so I will post pictures when we get all of our stuff here. I was right though, the girls love all the open space! And I'm loving the GIANT walk in closet! That was not in the pictures, so it was a very pleasant surprise. :) I think we can make this great home for the four of us and I am so excited to get all settled in. 

Of course we miss our family and friends at home already. Saying goodbye to them was so hard and so many tears were shed in those last couple days. We are heading back up north in just under a month to take a trip to Mexico with my sister and one of our girlfriends, and this time around we decided to take our husbands with us! We will be spending a few days in Chicago beforehand so we will be able to see the rest of the fam too. I'm not sure if the goodbyes will ever get easier, but hopefully planning regular visits will help a bit. We are going to stay positive though  and focus on all the good things that are coming our way! 

Good night everyone! 

Xoxo

-Emily

Packing Day!

Today is packing day in the Hill house!! Which basically means I'm hanging out in a madhouse watching complete strangers pack up our whole life and load it onto a truck. Nerve racking to say the least! The puls side is that we were able to hire a company to do all the heavy lifting and packing for us (which is wonderful because I despise packing). So I basically get to sit on the couch,until they move it, and let them do their thing. Besides the fact that I'm a control freak, I'm loving it! 

We have more busy days ahead of us, so we are still going full speed, and probably will be until we get settled in the new place. Unfortunately we won't have our things in Atlanta until Saturday at the very earliest, so we will either be eating out, or eating take-out on the floor for a bit. I am thinking that the girls will have a blast running through all the open space in our new house though! I am hoping we get our things before Dan leaves for a business trip next week. An empty house and two toddlers with short attention spans does not sound like a great combination. Especially with Dan out of town. And fun fact for everyone: we have never seen our new house in person, so here's hoping we love it as much as we do in pictures!! 

We have a busy day and a half before we make the long 10 hour drive to Atlanta. Seeing more of my family, deep cleaning, and mentally preparing! The next time I blog will be from our new home!! Happy Monday! 😃

Xoxo

-Emily 

I'm back!!

 So let me start by saying once again, I'm sorry that I'm a slacker. Life has been a little beyond crazy and its hard to find time to think, let alone blog. Here I am though, ready to give an update on the insane life of the Hill family. Here. We. Go!

So the biggest news for us right now (for those of you who don't already know) is that the Hill's are packing up and moving to Atlanta in less than a week! Dan's company is starting up an office there and they want him to open it for them. It's such a big opportunity for him and his career and I couldn't be more proud of him! We don't know anyone down there, so of course we are nervous to leave all of our friends and family, but we are so excited to see what this new adventure has in store for us!! 

Another thing that's rocking the Hill household right now is jet lag. Big time. I don't want to complain though because we just had a wonderful two weeks in England! This was the first Christmas and New Year that our little babes got to spend with our English side of the family. They did very well seeing all the new faces (well, new to them) and had a blast the whole time! Of course, Dan's family were over the moon to be able to get to spend that much time with the girls, and it was nice to get a couple breaks to go to the pubs 😉. 

We were also lucky enough to be there for Dan's grandpa's 80th birthday! It was great to be able to celebrate with him, and see even more of Dan's family. Dan's cousin has twin boys who are just 10 weeks younger than Analiese and Harper, so we have been looking forward to getting them together and it was so fun watching them play!! 

Overall, the trip was a complete success and we are missing them already! The sadness of leaving them was lessened just a little bit, because most of Dan's family are planning trips to see us in Atlanta in the second half of the year. Counting down the days already!! 

And of course we need to do an update on our little babes!! Somehow they are now 2 years and 3 months old! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! While they have their moments, overall they are the sweetest most lovable little girls who love to cuddle. They are each other's best friends, and are absolutely inseparable. They are both little chatter boxes (half twin talk, half English) and always manage to know exactly what they are saying, which always cracks me up. They are also music lovers and dancing fools! Everyday, they are still learning and doing more and more, and I just love watching them grow!! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and you all have an amazing 2015! 

Xoxoxo

-Emily