The Grand Update

Hi everyone! I've been terrible with blog & e-mail communication lately, and here are my excuses:

1. I'm an aunt! Last Thursday, Harrison Michael Moeller was born. He's my first nephew, and the first grandchild for my parents. As you can imagine, they're very excited. And so am I! Here is a pic of the little guy on the day he went home, Sunday. He's wearing his own clothes for the first time...



And here is one of Harry as "burrito baby." This was his favorite way to be at first, although now he's learned to kick through the swaddling ...



I think he's just so adorable!

2. Since the baby came just before Christmas, my family came down for a Christmas celebration at my house this year. It was a a very nice time! But there was a lot of cleaning, preparing, etc., to do beforehand. Here's a picture of Phoebe the dog helping out with Christmas preparations (by staying out of the way with the big milkbone she received as an early Christmas gift).



3. I am almost a homeowner! Mike and I decided to try to find a house to move into when his apartment lease ends in February. We started a few months early. Little did we know that things would move so quickly! We found a house we love, which just so happened to have motivated sellers who wanted to move quickly. Sooo tomorrow morning, we're closing on the house. It's in Norwood, where I currently live. Here is a pic of the outside:



And here is a pic of the entry:



We plan to do some painting and such in January and move in February.

4. My first grad school residency starts in 15 short days. I've read my 40 books and submitted my workshop piece. On Christmas Eve, I received a packet with the work of 8 of my classmates to read & critique before the residency begins. I look forward to starting this reading tonight! (After I visit my newphew. :-)

5. We'd taken a bit of a hiatus on wedding planning because of the other things happening, but we'll pick things up again this weekend with a trip to Versailles to speak with the priest who will marry us. I hope to make some other wedding-related appointments, as well, to keep things moving.

I'm happy that Christmas is over, and I'll be happy when we're moved into the house. I hope things will calm down a little bit then. I've felt like things are in overdrive lately. These are all good, happy things, but a lot to handle when they come all at once.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! Does anyone have 2008 resolutions?