First, exciting news for the Essman family, we are moving! Tomorrow we sign papers on our new house as well as signing papers on the sale of our current abode. In less than two weeks we have not only found our dream home but also worked out the details to sell our current house. As much as we love our first little cottage with Beatrice on the way and Everett growing every day, it is time for a change. We will be moving into an Arts & Crafts style bungalow built in 1908. It is located on a quiet street in a lovely town that has, within walking distance, a library, a post office, a grocery store, the courthouse, a park, a couple of restaurants, and a little zoo! It has four bedrooms, a gorgeous livingroom with attached reading palor, formal dining room, kitchen with a breakfast nook, storage, space, a washline both inside and out!, and wall-to-wall oak floors. I only wish I had brought my camera last time we toured the house, because I desperately want to post pictures! Oh well, soon enough I suppose.
So in the meantime, we have to finish all the little repairs in the cottage and then or maybe simultaneously, start packing. This morning I called to secure moving boxes and on Saturday I can pick them up! I am quite thankful that in the past year we have done some serious housecleaning, it means less junk to move now! We hope to be completely moved in by Memorial Day, which is kinda funny, because when we bought this house we closed right before Memorial day and were working on the property over the holiday.
In other exciting news, I am coming up quite quickly on my 100th post! To celebrate I am going to do a giveaway, as that seems to be the popular thing to do. So check back by Sunday to see all the little suprises I have planned!
Here is our little Bea at about 27 weeks and a couple of days. The weather has been completely wonderful, I think we may actually be enjoying Spring, albeit a little later than usual.
Mom and I were talking the other day about the feelings that certain flowers engender. For her, iris are the high-mark of Spring's floral abundance because of her grandfather's iris beds, which she remembers him carefully tending. For me, peonies are the fragrant, blousy reminder of my great-aunt Ruth who would take pails of them to the cemetery for Memorial day when I was little. 
Russ did a little re-wiring underneath the house this past weekend. I came back outside to find Everett had joined his daddy and was being "very" helpful! I couldn't separate those two if I tried.
I even like the ants that come with peonies, as long as they stay outside. A simple trick is to just blow them onto the next bud after you have cut a stem.
Almost unbelievable, but here we are all together! We went to a friend's baby shower on Saturday and she snapped this picture. I love it--maybe because we have so few family photos.
Of course we took Everett to the park before the shower, we thought we would try to wear him out. Haha. At least he had a great time on the swings and slide, I don't think it affected his energy level one bit, however.
I still enjoy the swings, Russ snapped this picture, and even though Miss Bea is kinda hiding, I think she enjoyed the rocking motion.
We had a friend over for dinner on Sunday night and this arrangement helped distract from the boxes and moving chaos as well as the fact that I packed all three of my salt and pepper shakers!
She sits so low in comparison to Everett.
This is Evie's preferred method of swinging. He will sit if required, but he really likes to pretend he is flying.
This is another of Evie's favorite games, "wake-up, Daddy!" 
Poor Russ just wanted a mini-siesta--he should have known his plans would be thwarted.
The scrape on his nose is finally, almost healed. I keep hoping it won't scar, but Evie and Russ don't seem to be worried at all. Boys.
Russ enjoying a few peaceful moments before the onslaught.
He looks so very thrilled to have his picture taken (for the hundredth time) doesn't he?
Both Russ and Everett insist on helping with clean-up when I bake. Russ even pouts a little if I don't leave enough batter in the bowl.
Everett is still perfecting his beater-batter retrieval system, and it is a messy process!
Another favorite game--"goodnight, sleep time" Everett has three favorite blankets, plus one he borrows from his sister's cradle. These blankets go everywhere so that he can pretend he is going to sleep, he also requires the use of a laundry basket to make his bed in. If only we could get him this excited about actually sleeping.
While he hasn't fallen or jumped in, fountains still make me a little wary. But he loves the water, so we always throw a few pennies in for luck. 
