home = heart happy

not enough words to express how good it is to be home. i will let the pictures do the talking.

our new HOUSE

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home renovations

jena & erin painting extrordinaires!

sister.in.law nicole = edging queen.

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erik's new jeep!

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erik + grill = good food

family finally meeting evie = SMILES

uncle mark

aunt kinsey aunt ashley

uncle jason

the sweetest nephews

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friends + sunshine + wine + music = smiles + sunburn + laughs + happy heart

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reunion + margaritas = bliss

five months old

this month has been such a crazy whirlwind. i have no idea where the time has gone. but now my baby is 5 months old.

this past month…

• evie is now around 14 lbs 24 inches long. its obvious she is growing!

• evie has started to reach out for everything...toys, food on our plates, and much more.

• she loves her new excersaucer the koenig's let us borrow!

• evie goes down for naptime & bedtime like an angel baby. [minus the move...those two weeks don't count].

• she is wearing size 2 diapers.

• evie loves to blow kisses [aka raspberries]

• she took her first plane ride this month & did very well! she also took her first 8 hour roadtrip.

• evie met TONS of family this month.

• she is rolling over from tummy to back.

• sitting up is a work in process.

• evie does not talk as much as she used to b/c she is studying everything around her.

• she LOVES being outside in the fresh air.

• evie's laugh makes everyone smile.

family, family, & more family!!

our move across the country included family, family, & more family!! so much has happened in the past three weeks - our life feels like a whirlwind.

my mom & our good friend mark flew out to seattle to help us pack up andmove on out. mark and erik loaded all of our stuffand then made the 25 hour drive across the country. my mom and i were lucky to be ableto fly with evie to minneapolis rather than driving!

our sweet baby girl endured the move as best she could. she handled the plane ride great and we only had a couple minor meltdowns. within a 7 day period - evie camped out in a hotel and 5 different houses. considering the crazy transition, evie had a very hard time sleeping all week long. in fact, she woke up more than she did as a newborn. but it was worth it b/c she got to see and meet so many wonderful members of the family!

after we flew in to minneapolis, my parents, evie, and i spent two days with my brother & his wife. evie sure loved meeting her aunt kim & uncle bret. everyone spoiled her with lots of hugs & kisses.

evie loved aunt kim's cool bathroom sink. she insisted on taking a bath in it!

grandma & grandpa lovin' on evie.

evie then started off on her first big roadtrip. we left minneapolis and spent four hours in the car to sioux falls. evie did great and slept most of the way!

smiling with grandma at a pit stop at a park for some fresh air.

evie got to meet lots of family while we were in sioux falls!!

we stayed with my cousin caron & her husband mike. caron is expecting a little boy in august & let evie sleep in baby ferrin's crib!! we also got to see my aunt barb, cousin liz & her husband jared + their two boys will & lucas.

aunt sara & uncle josh enjoyed hugging evie for the first time. so did her cousins skyler, mollie, & hunter. evie had loved all the attention!

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while we were in south dakota, the haggar family gathered to celebrate the lives of grandma arlene & grandpa ed haggar. this is the second annual celebration & each family member released a balloon in remembrance of our beloved grandparents. balloons are a special tradition in our family. grandpa ed used to fill birthday balloons with a dollar bill stuffed in side of each balloon. the number of balloons we would get would be equal to our age on that particular birthday. to get the money we had to pop the balloons! so much fun. so we have started this wonderful tradition of sending balloons to the skies in loving memory of our grandparents. this year we sent 52 balloons for each family member in the haggar family.

among the very large & quickly growing haggar family were grandma & grandpa's 6 children + 5 spouses, 11 grandchildren + 3 spouses, & 8 great-grandchildren! [missing 7 grandchildren + 5 spouse + 6 great-grandchildren]. thank you melissa for the stats! :)

my cousin amanda has been full of wisdom during my 5 months as a mom! it was fun to finally get our two girls (sloane & evie) together for the first time! can't beat sloane's sweet sweet smile!

so needless to say, evie met lots of great aunts & uncles as well as many cousins b/w the ages of 6 months & 4 years old! what a fun afternoon filled with laughs, love, and good food!

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and then we got to lincoln! home...at last. more to come! :)

back on track...for now

it's been almost a week since i wrote about sleep "re-training" & we have seen a drastic change in evie's sleep! crying it out is such a controversial issue - but i have to be honest & say that it worked for us like magic. within 3 days of letting evie work out her issues by herself in her crib - she figured it out. and she's back to waking up only one time at night. no more rocking, singing, sshh-ing, nursing, patting, or bouncing to sleep. evie can do it independently.

now of course we have still had the occasional battle with evie vs. naps, but for the most part, she's doing GREAT and our sweet angel baby is back...for now...

but in four days (yes four!) we are going to move her across the country and completely screw up her schedule again. oops! but we have hope that evie can learn this all over again. we've seen the results first hand. :)

way to go, nugget!

(a cheater nap in her chair...she was too cute to move)

blessings

there are times when we are reminded of God's provision & this is certainly one of those moments. we have been planning our move back to nebraska over the past couple months & all of the details have just fallen in to place. it is so evident that the Lord has provided for our family during this transition time & we are beyond thankful.

we signed a lease for our house a few weeks ago. so our housing is set.

last thursday, i was offered & accepted a position at the

i will be working for the department of teaching, learning, and teacher education. this is a new administrative position that they recently created to help administratively manage the department alongside the chair. i am thrilled about this opportunity & am stoked to be back in Husker-land!

if that wasn't enough...yesterday, erik was offered & accepted a position at

he will be working as the kitchen manager & couldn't be more excited! erik has a passion to help encourage lincoln to support local restaurants & farmers. luckily, he will be working directly with the owner of bread&cup who shares this same philosophy. this is a tremendous opportunity for erik to get plugged in & to learn from an excellent chef/restaurant owner. make sure to come say hi to erik & enjoy good food down in the haymarket!

we have so loved our time in seattle. it is going to be so hard to leave! today i was reminded about what a tremendous blessing it has been to work at SPU. the Lord gave me an excellent group of faculty & staff to work with over the past two years. today my faculty surprised me with a fair-well party. it was so thoughtful. they brought me to tears when they offered me a gift of an investment fund toward evie's future education. i was floored & overwhelmed by their generosity. i am blessed beyond words to have worked with these fine educators & feel honored to have been a part of their lives. God is good. i am going to miss them tremendously.

erik & i have been reminded every day why this move is the right move. having these details just fall in to place is the stamp of approval that this is the move God has for us. the frosting on the cake...our sweet baby girl gets to be closer to our family & friends. that is the biggest blessing of all.

family vacation

we took our first family vacation last weekend! before heading back to nebraska, we thought it would be fun to go visit the san juan islands just north of seattle. we took the ferry to get there and had a wonderful relaxing weekend! the weather was somewhat rainy, but we were able to take a drive around the island and see the beautiful sites. friday harbor is a cute little town with lots of cute shops & restaurants. we were able to take lots of walks & enjoy our time on the island together as a family! here are some pics of our weekend adventures!

[don't panic! we weren't driving with evie in our laps...we were waiting for the ferry!]

one tired baby after a fun, eventful weekend!

sleep re-training

4 month old evie has officially hit the "4 month wakeful period." if you are like us, you have probably never heard of this dreaded time period. evie has gone from sleeping 6-9 hours straight at night to waking up more than she ever did as a newborn. thankfully, our pediatrician is wonderful & helped explain this wakeful behavior at her 4 month checkup this past week.

evie's sweet little brain is on overdrive soaking in the world around her & it makes it difficult for her to sleep. she will wake up in the night talking to herself & refuses to take naps. so we have officially started sleep training... something we already thought we conquered. such is the life of parents...something is always bound to change. thankfully, erik & i understand that we don't have it all figured out & will constantly be forced to adapt & change. but for the planner that i am, my patient husband has to remind me of this quite frequently.

after round one of sleep training the score is...

evie 1. mommy & daddy 0.