New Bloggy Blog! {ch. ch. ch. check it.}

So it isn't finished BUT I have a new blog started! Please visit it. Bookmark it. Come back and look at it often! I'll be updating more often now that life here in the James and Amanda Mattila household has become a little less insane. http://family.amandamattila.com/

And now for something completely different...

Woo! I just got off my butt and started installing the wordpress application onto my other domain that I already host for my business blog...and am creating a new family blog! Big pictures! Easier to update = more updates! I'm excited. It probably won't be done for a little bit but I'm hoping to get pictures from our move and our recent vacation up in Michigan up asap! I will make a post when it is up with the new link.

YIPEE.

Izzie is 11 months old!

Wow, 11 months old! She is almost a year! Amazing how it flies. I've been thinking about her birthday and I'm going to do a little party here. My mom and Steve and possibly Chrissy, Roger, (and hopefully more) are maybe coming down the weekend of her birthday. It is Steve's 50th birthday and we originally had planned to go to Lake Michigan but with the move, it was going to be a lot so they might be coming down here. Plus, Steve is into the Civil War stuff and wants to see some battlefields and such. I came up with some ideas for her party so I plan to start once I get back from Michigan. I found a dress for her that I just love... here!

So, what has our precious Isadora accomplished in the last 11 months? Besides being the little angel that has us wrapped around her tiny finger... she has 2 teeth, eats table food, she climbs (yay, another climber), can walk more than we can count her steps, tries to blow kisses (which looks like smacking herself), she claps when we say clap or we clap or we sing a song that has clapping, dances when we sing or music is on, says "mama, dada, hi" along with babbling which sometimes sounds like words. The other day, I think she sang "abcd"!

Stafford.

Still no pictures to post. One, I lost my cord for hooking up my phone to the computer. So I have to find that. And every single time I finish a client order and I think I'm going to be able to start my personal ones, another order comes through! Seriously, I was so excited last Thursday night because I finished everything that I had on my plate and my plan was to blog and edit the kids' pictures over the weekend. I no sooner got the words out of my mouth to James "yay, i'm excited that I'm all caught up. Those wedding album orders will hopefully not come in until after our vacation" that I check my email and have the orders! Blah. And because I'm so, um, compulsive about work orders that I've put it on hold. So you all will be bombarded with photos soon. soon.

We are moved! Our new address is 72 Belladonna Ln. Stafford, VA 22554

We had checked on several townhouses/houses to rent but the process was taking a long time. We ended up renting a townhouse sight unseen over the internet/phone just to get us moved out there. The townhouse is nice. Now that I've gotten it pretty unpacked and organizing it, it is a lot better than I was thinking. All of our stuff in boxes...staring around at the place I was really unsure of where all of our stuff was going to fit! But it is going well. And feels even more organized so far than our last house. Maybe because of my huge closet! lol.

James is really liking his job. It is more organized and he works with some nice people. We just found a few sitters so we will have a date soon. We did have a trial run last week and went to the bank (woo hoo for a date! ha.) and to starbucks. That was really nice to get out even for a short time.

The kids are good. Isadora is walking. She gets going and she clears rooms. She does a lot better if she is holding something for balance. So it is really funny to see her carrying a bucket around the house. :) They love having a pool! With it being so hot here, the water is really warm too. We haven't done too much exploring since we've moved. We probably won't get into a normal routine until after summer because we just nicely moved and are heading back to MI for a trip with James' family. Then I fly back in not even 2 weeks later for a wedding. And my parents are coming down 2 weeks after that! I did find a Trader Joe's, so that made me happy. And we have some very convenient stores/shopping near us. With it being so late in the summer already, I'm not sure if Berlin will be able to go to preschool now. I'm a little bummed. Even if we do enroll her, we are planning on moving in 6 months, so we may not be able to keep her in it anyway. So I'm going to do some searching now that I have the internet! Just got it on Wednesday!

Hmm. I can't think of anything else to write now...so talk soon!