Fun In the Sun

As I am sure you can imagine, we are having a crazy summer- juggling the sale of one home, purchase of another, running after Chase all while pregnant. We have just returned from our trip to Florida. Chase and I spent most of our days exploring the various areas and neighborhoods that Tampa has to offer. Luckily, on one of our last days we found the perfect home for us! Hopefully, all will go smoothly and we will be moving down mid September.
Chase has been keeping me very busy. He moves at 100 mph all day long. As he has found his voice he has also become quite demanding, asking to play in the sink, to have the dustbuster turned on , etc. So most of my day is spent following him around trying to figure out just what he is asking for and then calming him down when he either can't have it or has played in the sink long enough but isn't ready to leave it. In many ways has decided he is done being one and has moved into the terrible twos. He is testing out different strategies for getting his way such as biting, slapping, scratching, even pulling my hair. But in the midst of our tantrum filled days he is very quick to walk up and start kissing me, or hold on to me. He is still so sweet and remains a huge cuddler!
Baby girl is doing well. She is already 18 weeks. I have started feeling her movements in my belly, which is the best part of being pregnant. We have our big anatomical ultrasound coming up, I can't wait to see her!

Moving On Up

Well, many of you have already heard about our decision to head south. Ryan and I always knew we would head back when we started having kids. We never figured NYC would be a great place to have a family. Recently, Ryan was offered an exciting position in Tampa so we decided that now is as good a time as ever. We are excited about being able to sprawl out in a full size home. And the many "luxuries" (washing machine, driveway, closets, grass) that will come with our move. Chase and I are going to vacation a bit this summer before joining Ryan in Tampa early fall.
It is hard to think about life outside of the city. We have enjoyed every minute of living here and feel like it has been an incredible growth experience for us both. It can he a hard place to live but there are many wonderful aspects of urban living. For example, it is hard to be lonely. We know most of our neighbors, and they are all in love with Chase. We have dozens of friends that we play with at the park, without even calling and arranging a play date. We know all of our local service people, from our cleaners to our UPS guy "Archie"- who shouts hello from his big brown truck. We will definitely miss our grocery store ladies- who all stop and come over to talk to Chase and give him arm fulls of fruit (which he enjoys squeezing so hard that it is inedible when we get home.)
We have made many friend during our 6 years here and it is always hard to leave and go to a new city to start over. Thankfully, Ryan's family is there and my family will be following so we have a huge advantage already.

First Haircut

We finally broke down and took Chase for his first haircut. We love his sweet curls and have been dragging our feet worried that he would look too grown up. But the time came when his hair got a bit unruly, Ryan turned to me and said "I think it is time for that haircut." So we went to a cute little kids place. He got to sit in a jeep and was good as gold (for most of it). The cape started to make him uncomfortable in the end but overall he was just curious about what was happening. They gave us lots of locks and even a certificate.
Both of us were pleasantly surprised at how cute it looks- much neater but still curly and wild :)