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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

Baby Time-Weekend Photos.

Note:Make sure to check the crop winners I posted this morning, y’all!

This weekend,as I mentioned,it was just me and the babies.It was seriously weird. And quiet. But really fun. We blew LOTS of bubbles. And danced,and snuggled,and sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider 23428340283 times. And blew more bubbles.

I don’t think they knew what to do with themselves. I’m not sure if they wondered where the big girls were, or if they just LOVED having me all to themselves!

I decided it was time to get out my “real camera” and document how cute they are right now. Their facial expressions slay me.I mean really…the eyebrows. The mouths…I die.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend. Lucy is in the left in all of the table shots,and Cate is on the right.

In the outside shots,Lucy is in the yellow and Cate is in the pink.

 

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Love to you all!

xoxo

 

baby love.

please pardon theblog mess. it’s a work in progress and i’m not in a hurry. 🙂 hoping to get it to where i want it soon,but for now i’m just having fun!

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oh i am so in love with them. they always smell like graham crackers and baby shampoo.

their skin is so soft and they are so snuggly.and drooly.and jibber-jabbery. i just can’t get enough of them.

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sigh. how did i get so lucky?
happy weekend, friends!

xoxo

 

making this house a home.

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After several weeks without our belongings, they finally arrived on Wednesday.

This was a strange move,to say the least. We have done countless moves, three of them cross country,and we’ve never had one like this. It was supposed to be a door to door move and we were told that it would be,but that’s not how it worked out.

Our things were packed,loaded, crated,put in a warehouse in Savannah,then put on a train,then put in a warehouse here,then picked up by a moving company.

It was a disaster. The interim moving company pretty much dropped everything we owned,shoved everything into tiny moving crates with no rhyme or reason,and didn’t close 2 of the crates all the way. It rained really hard here in RI recently. You see where this is going,don’t you?

Yes…two crates flooded. Bikes,mattresses,rugs,framed art…wet.

There aren’t many “things” I have an attachment to. But our dinner table is one of them. J and I picked it out together, it was old and solid and beautiful. It had a story before it came to us. And it’s had many stories since.

Birthday parties,goodbye dinners,welcome home dinners, family moments,tears,laughter…that table has seen it all. And it was dropped in transit. One of the corners is completely gone,as if a sledge hammer was taken to it.

Yes,things are only things,but that thing had a story dang it.

I won’t get into the rest of the details…lots of damage,ruin,and a few tears shed by me. We will photograph,file claims,and hopefully be reimbursed.

We have so much more than so many people. I know that. But I wish they would have had more respect for the things that are dear to us. That’s what it comes down to.

I’ve been busy unpacking and making this house a home.

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Determined to keep things in perspective. I won’t say I’m not upset.I kind of want to punch someone. Just a little bit.But in reality it doesn’t matter.

Don’t get me wrong, they will pay.That sounds kind of like I’m in the mob or something. HAHAH! But I’m so grateful for what I do have. Telling myself that over and over and looking at my sweet girls. Whilst raging inside.

 

Much love, my dear friends. Have a beautiful and blessed weekend.

xo

 

Stop 2-Baltimore

After spending 2 days in Cary, we knew that our next (and last) stop had to be Baltimore. We didn’t have long there. We rolled i to town around dinner time and we had to leave early the next morning.

There was only one reason I wanted to stop there (other than the fact that it is a beautiful town),and that was Laura.

After an..umm….interesting? incident while driving through DC,we arrived.

We stayed right on the Inner Harbor in a hotel with an amazing view. Here’s what I saw when we walked in the room:

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We headed down to meet Laura and Charlie at a restaurant. I was SO sad that we didn’t get to meet Ken and Clara. But I have no doubt we will all get together eventually.

Laura and I have been friends since Harper was one. We started by emailing about The Bachelor (which we have almost every season since). She has come to be a true friend of my heart. I always suspected we could be long lost sisters. Tall, same size,same sense of humor,same awkwardness. And I was right. Meeting her was just as I thought it would be. Easy and natural.

It’s sort of heart breaking to meet these women (Gabby and then Laura) that I’d give anything to live closer to.Because as soon as I met them…I had to say goodbye. Such good friends.

And I could stare at Charlie’s eyes and lashes for days. He’s gorgeous.

Here are my favorite photos from our night in Baltimore:

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And then after a night’s sleep, I woke up to this beautiful view. And unintentionally took a super cool Instagram! 🙂

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Some people like to say that moving is a pain. But I really,truly think of it as an adventure.

I will always remember this time in our lives and it was such a blessing to meet some of my favorite ladies and see such beautiful scenery.

Happy Wednesday…our household goods are supposed to come today,wish us luck!!

xoxo

 

Stop 1-North Carolina

When we headed off on our big road trip/move from Savannah to Rhode Island, we knew that our first stop would be North Carolina.

Jimmy’s brother Christoper and his wife Anna live in the area and we wanted to spend lots of time with them and with Anna’s parents. We spent 2 days in Cary and they were filled with laughter,swimming,relaxation,and love.

I have to say, how handsome is Chris? The older he gets he looks SO much like Jimmy. It’s crazy watching both of them, they also have the same mannerisms,speech patterns,etc. Amazing.

And I don’t have a sister and always wanted one,so Anna is a gift from God. I love both of them so much and I am SO glad we got to spend some quality time with them. Here are some of my favorite photos from our time with the Howells and Stampers (Anna’s parents).

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Anotheer reason we wanted an extended stop in NC is because of my sweet,darling friend Gabby.

I’ve had an online friendship with Gabby since Harper was not even one year old. So it seems crazy that we had never “met” until a few weeks ago.

We spent a morning with the Fekete family at Pullen park and it was wonderful. Gabby is just as sweet,kind,and wonderful as I knew she would be.

And Ev and Olive? THE CUTEST. I loved watching Harper and Evan. Flirtation city. HA!

Most of the photos below are ones that Gabby captured (the Instagrams are mine). I just love her so!

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Our time in NC was “magical” as Harper kept saying. BAHAHA!

Up tomorrow- Stop 2:Baltimore.

xoxo