Long Update

We have so much going on right now I am not sure where to begin. Is buying a new house more exciting than Julien eating his first solid foods? What about the exciting house search we conducted last week in Pennsylvania or the wonderful time we had going to Pietro's Prime and I can't forget Valentines day celebrated in a snow storm at Kimberton Inn..

I guess I will start with our trip home from February 6 to February 14. We stayed with Josh's parents who have definitely missed their calling as B&B owners. They were wonderful hosts who thought of everything, even a jacuzzi after a long day of house hunting. They also watched Julien everyday while we hit the roads searching for our dream home. It was once again a great stay at Chez Oliver.

As for the great house hunt of '08, we came, we saw, we conquered. After visiting 36 houses we finally made a bid and had it excepted. Once we get through inspections and settlement we will be the proud owners of 207 Mill Pond Drive in Exton, PA. We have to give a lot of credit to our real estate team, Christine and Clay who gave us their undivided attention for a solid week. Christine even took us out in a snow storm while she was very ill, now that is dedication! She made the process fun and kept us focused which was difficult some days.

We are super excited about our new house, it is in the perfect location for us. It is less than 10 minutes driving for Josh to Sartomer, about 10 minutes to Papa and GG and 15-20 minutes to my family. We are also within walking distance of The Drafting Room which as everyone knows is our favorite restaurant/bar. The house is contemporary in a nice neighborhood which hopefully has plenty of kids for Julien and stay at home moms for me. We plan to make some updates in the kitchen and bathrooms but everything else seems to be great, we will find out at the inspections.

Now, for the really exciting news, Julien is eating solids! We started him on rice cereal like good parents and then wheat cereal. I then bought French baby cereal which he LOVED, I got curious so I tasted it, I think they just broke up cookies and called it cereal. Today I decided to try some more natural foods and gave him bananas mixed with avocado. He loved it, he kicked his little baby feet and made piggy sounds while trying to guide the spoon in himself. He is also starting to roll over and can manage his own pacifier. The pacifier doesn't always go in straight but it does make it into his mouth. He is very verbal most of the time which is usually fun until the horrible screeching that indicated he is tired. I have been trying to teach him some sign language so he can tell me if he is hungry or tired but he seems to have his own ideas. For tired he screeches while rubbing his head or banging his head, depending on how tired he is. For hungry he whines and tried to nurse whatever is closest. He is growing up so quickly but we are trying to enjoy each day an not miss anything.

Oh yes, I also wanted to mention the wonderful dinners out we enjoyed while home. Going out is a HUGE deal for me because in Paris we have no babysitters so the best I get is take out sushi. Anyway, we went to Pietro's Prime with Josh's parents while Leslie (Josh's sister) and her twins, Katie and Drake watched Julien. The restaurant was super, the service was great and the food was wonderful. The price was steep but it was worth it. We even got to see Clay who was performing that night in the bar area. Also the entire restaurant is smoke free which is so nice! Josh and I also celebrated Valentines early with a nice dinner at the Kimberton Inn. We hadn't been back to Kimberton since our wedding but the owner was there and remembered us which was nice. We were one of two tables in the entire place, due to the blizzard conditions outside. We had another wonderful dinner with exceptional service.

We also managed to make it to my families house for a couple of great meals. Yes, all we do when we are home is eat. I hope this trend stops once we move back for good or we are going to be in trouble!

We are now trying to get everything situated on this side for the move. Our apartment hasn't sold yet which is stressful but we are hoping for the best. Josh is organizing the movers so that should be pretty easy. We need to figure out what we need for daily life for the 2 months between the movers taking our stuff and it arriving in Exton.

Hopefully the next update won't take so long and will include pictures! We are hoping to visit Champagne this weekend and next weekend Josh is running a half marathon so I will try to keep everyone updated.