Sunday, May 29, 2011

Swimming


We went to the country club yesterday and went swimming for the first time here in Beeville. Ruby had a blast...she enjoyed floating, kicking and especially being tossed between her daddy and me. She would giggle and giggle and then make the sign for "please" to do it again. We're excited that we have the pool to help us survive the insane heat we've been experiencing!




Friday, May 27, 2011

Our House

Here's the pics you've all been waiting for. Our new house. And here is my disclaimer: everything is a work in progress and nothing was straightened or cleaned up for these photos (we're family and friends, after all, so you don't mind, right?).

The entry:


The living room:



The kitchen:


The dining area:


Ruby's room:


And for those of you who have little ones or love to sleep in dark rooms, we got Ruby's blackout curtains from Overstock.com and they are fabulous! They don't have the stiff rubbery backing that a lot of these types of drapes do and they make her room nice and dark.

The master bedroom:


The master bath:


We also have a guest bedroom and bath that are incredibly boring right now and I didn't take pictures of. Once everything is in some sort of "finished" state I'll post more pictures, but that could be awhile. I'll keep you updated as things evolve.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

An Update

We're about half done unpacking and getting the house officially moved-in and livable. Here's a run down of our activities over the last week:

Monday: Ruby and I flew to Texas...a while ago Bobby and I decided that Ruby would be a much happier girl if she and I flew and Bobby and his mom drove. Ruby does not enjoy being in the car for extended periods of time and we thought three days of driving would just about do her in and seriously jeopardize our sanity. We stayed with the Huckmans, who will forever be in our book of fabulously wonderful people for their generosity and hospitality.

Tuesday: Ruby and I went over to the new house to meet our realtor, pick up our keys and make a list of stuff we needed to buy and projects we needed to start working on. We went shopping, I ordered some things, called around to find Ruby a pediatrician, made some more phone calls to get blinds ordered and our new bed delivered. Back in West Virginia, Bobby and his mom started their drive and made it into Louisiana.

Wednesday: Blinds installed! Now people won't be able to see us naked in our house! Woohoo! I started some cleaning and putting away the things that we bought the day before. Ruby loved running around the empty house yelling at the top of her lungs and listening to the loud echoes. Bobby and his mom got in later that afternoon and we went back over to the house so that she could look around.

Thursday: We all went over to the house to do some serious cleaning. Our new bed was delivered and it is absolutely heavenly!

Friday: Our trailer arrived and Bobby and I, along with a very sweet guy from our ward, Mike, started unloading. We got quite a bit done and our empty house started looking more like a home.

Saturday: A bunch of men from our ward came over in the morning and we finished unpacking the trailer. Everything made it safely! I was so relieved...there really isn't that much that we own that if it broke I would care about, but my piano is one thing that I would be pretty crushed if it bit the dust. Needless to say, it made it safely. We packed up our things at the Huckman's and officially moved into our new house. Then we found out the dryer didn't work. Yuck.

Sunday: Church. Our new branch is so lovely! Everyone is very kind and helpful and Ruby was a huge hit. In a branch full of mostly grandparents and no babies, our little girl was the star of the show. We also got a surprise visit that evening from one of the members. I don't remember his first name, but everyone calls him Frenchie because he's from Louisiana. He had just killed a wild hog and brought us a cut of meat. Bobby was in heaven!

And that brings us to do this week. We're still unpacking and settling in, but the house is looking great, Ruby has made the adjustment beautifully and we're all happy! This week's projects are to organize the garage and put some shelving up in there and to really start making our yard look nice. I'll put some pics up once we get internet and we're not mooching off the Huckman's!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Balls

One of our good friends gave Ruby a big bag of balls before we moved. He had them laying around (who knows why) and thought Ruby would have fun playing with them. Boy, has she ever! She took them out of the bag, then she had to put them into the bag, then she put them into a box. She even took a few into the bath with her. David, Ruby will forever remember you for this absolutely fantastic gift you've given her!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Captain Berry

Since Bobby graduated he was able to be promoted to Captain in the National Guard. And what made it special was that he was able to have Bishop Chapman promote him (since the Bishop is a retired Major). He'd been looking forward to this for awhile, especially since it was just another affirmation that dental school is over. I've always thought Bobby looked very handsome in his uniform, and this was no exception.




And what makes the relationship with these two wonderful people so fun is that they have family in Houston, so when they come to Texas we'll be able to get together and catch up. Bishop and Sister Chapman, we love you and can't wait to see you again!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Little Spaces

The whole time we were packing Ruby made a habit of climbing into any small box or bin that she could. She totally got in our way and made herself a bit of a nuisance, but she was so cute the whole time we couldn't help but laugh.



Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Cousin Hailey

We had such a great time with Bobby's family during this last week. Ruby got to spend quality time with her Grandma and her Aunt and Uncle and especially her cousin Hailey. They've met each other once, right after Hailey was born and Ruby was five months old and couldn't have cared less about her. But this time they had fun following each other around and playing with toys.


Monday, May 16, 2011

Graduation

Bobby graduated on Saturday and we had such a great time! Bobby's mom, Xax and Shannon and their girl Hailey were able to come and celebrate with us.


And here's Bobby getting hooded and receiving his diploma.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Leaving West Virginia

Today was Ruby and my last day in West Virginia. It's a little bitter-sweet leaving...maybe more sweet than bitter, but we've made some great friends here and we have a lot of fun memories. We're excited to go to Texas and start our new life there, experience new things and meet new people. Life is very good and we're going to have a great time together.

Thanks to all our friends that we've loved in West Virginia. You have made our stay here so wonderful and we are going to miss you. We love you.

Pickles

I've chronicled many of Bobby's pack-rat tendencies on the blog...I'm sure the toilets come to mind when I make that statement. As we've been packing he's been a real champ about letting go of some very odd items.

Case in point: We were cleaning out the fridge and he pulled out the pickles and said, "I'm going to throw these away." What's the big deal you ask? Well, he's been hanging onto these pickles for 7 years. They moved with him across the country. So it was a very big step for him to bite the bullet and throw them in the garbage.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Congratulations, Bobby!

After four years of hard work, countless hours spent studying and stressing, you are now officially a dentist! I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished. I can't wait to see what life will bring for us in our new adventures. I love you, Dr. Berry.

Friday, May 13, 2011

New places to play...

As we've been packing Ruby's had a great time exploring and playing in our disrupted house. She's climbed onto and into boxes, thrown papers around, and generally made herself a nuisance, but she's been really cute doing it. I wondered when we started this whole process how it would affect her, but she's loved it.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

My Birthday

So I turned 32 last week and it wasn't a big deal. Honestly it wasn't. Birthdays are fun for me, a time to eat dessert and open presents and not to stress out about getting older. I really don't feel much older than I was in college (10 years ago...how crazy is that?!) and I never have a crisis when my birthday comes because really, who cares?

So I spent my day with these two fabulous people:


Bobby made me dinner and we had a relaxing afternoon playing with our girl and enjoying being a family. What could be better?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Bubbles

Sorry there hasn't been much on the posting front lately...packing and getting the house ready to move has been our big project and there hasn't been much time for anything else. Fortunately we're in the home stretch and we'll have some free time on our hands.

The Easter Bunny gave Ruby some bubbles in her Easter basket and so we took her out and she experience blowing bubble for the first time. She was totally amazed and spent a good ten minutes chasing bubbles in our little patch of front yard.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Halfway There

The packing is going well...we're probably half done. The attic is finally empty and the storage room in the basement is about 99% done. Those areas are the black holes of our little home and having them done makes me smile. We've planned out how we're going to tackle this week and we should be in great shape. Bobby's mom comes on Monday and she's planning on doing a lot of work and helping us a ton. And I don't want her to...I just want her to enjoy being with us and spending time with her granddaughter, who she hasn't seen for 9 months.