Summer in the desert! {5 months!}

 Anberlin is 5 months old! <3

{Thank you Anna for this gorgeous blanket you made for Anberlin!! We love it!}

Anberlin has survived her first month of living in the desert after surviving her first road trip across the country. (If you missed that blog, click here!) Since we moved during monsoon season, the weather in Arizona was pretty similar to the weather in Maryland. Hot and humid. Blech.

We are slowly getting settled and into a routine. We are currently living in Brad's parent's pool house. Our move was a completely nightmare. Since we knew we would be staying with someone when we moved, we had all the things we wanted with us put into the nursery for packing. We told them to make sure all the nursery boxes were labeled with "nursery" so we could easily find them. (Something you don't think you should HAVE to say...) Well, the guy who took apart Anby's crib a) put the "feet" to the crib in a random craft box that was in the room next door to her nursery (which we didn't notice until it was delivered) and b) didn't keep the hardware to the crib with the crib or the nursery stuff, Brad just noticed it in a bag on the living room floor at the end of the move day and then had them put it in a random box and label it "nursery". Fast forward to our delivery day... we wanted most of our stuff put into a storage unit and then the things labeled "nursery" to be left out so we could take them. You would think that would be an easy task for movers, especially since they didn't have to unpack anything or put anything together. But no. No matter how many times me and Brad would tell them to look for boxes labeled "nursery", they still missed some and so did we. In the end, we didn't get a lot of the things we wanted or needed. We got crib pieces, but no hardware and so we had to buy a new crib. Yup. That's about how well this move went.

But we are here now and moving forward... And by that I mean, we knew we couldn't stay with family forever so we made finding a house our top priority... And we did! After debating between staying in Havasu or moving to Vegas, we decided that Vegas would be a better move. More job opportunities for us and more things for Anberlin to do as she gets older. So we signed some papers a few days ago to get a house built in a nice community in Henderson, NV. It starts getting built August 20th and we should be able to move in at the end of November! :)

Anyways, back to the Bay... because I know that is the real reason you all read this blog!

She had her 4 month appointment once we got to Havasu, finally! It went very well. The PA who saw her said that she was happy to see such a healthy, breastfed baby. And that she is! On the day of her appointment she was 4 months and 10 days old. She weighed 18.13 lbs and was 26 inches long. No other concerns were mentioned and then she got some shots. Brad held her and when she cried, I cried. Haha.

Happy before her shots!

Sleeping after her shots...

She is growing up so fast and hitting (most) milestones sooner than she "should be". With that being said, we finally have a roller-over-er. She can only go from back to tummy and she only rolls to her right, so we don't have to worry about her rolling across the living room... yet!

She can pretty much sit up on her own now. She will still topple over after a few minutes, but for the most part she can sit up, unassisted, and even grab for toys while sitting. She actually prefers sitting up now, so we need to get her to figure out how to get there on her own. I think we still have a while for that though.

Her hair is still a reddish brown. But from what I can see, in the places that the hair fell out, it's coming in a light brown. Her eyes are turning a greenish brown color. I am so anxious to know what she is going to look like because she is such an adorable baby. Really it's the almond shape of her eyes that makes me swoon. We are also still adorably toothless. And there is really no signs of them coming in anytime soon. We are completely okay with that because we love her gummy little smile. I keep telling her you have teeth your whole life, no need to rush on getting them now! ;)

Anberlin with her "auntie" Shannie.

Anberlin with her great Uncle Mike.

 She loves the sound of her voice and she loves it at all octaves. She has found her outside voice but using it mostly inside. And it gets LOUD. And she is also babbling a lot more. She likes to babble the most when she has things in her mouth, like her hands or toys. She is a cliche baby and says "gagagaga" a lot. It's pretty stinking cute. I can't wait for her to say her first real word!

One of the most exciting things that happened this month for Bay is that she went SWIMMING for the first time! Grandma bought her some little swimmer's diapers and we took her in the pool. She didn't even mind it at all! In fact, I would even go as far as to say that she loved it. No crying, just splashing and swimming! It must have been all the Olympics she has been watching!

First time in the pool!

Swimming with dad!

Splashing was her favorite!

We can't believe that she is almost half a year old! Time really does fly when you have a kid! Speaking of, we want to congratulate our friends Tony & Andrea who gave birth to a baby boy, Antonio, on August 2nd! Congrats and love to you three. Having a baby is so much fun, if you look past the crying, not sleeping, and pooping. ;) <3

Going back home to the West Coast... #roadtriptoaz

Most humans, by nature, do not like change. When things are a certain way and seem to be stable, why would anyone want to change that? Well, sometimes we also put on blinders and those blinders make it seem like everything is okay, but it's not. Once Jenna got out of the Navy we soon realized that we had to make some decisions on what to do. Maryland was an expensive place to live and the only way for us to live there was to buy a house. But as we were just finally finding a house we could live with, Brad's parents suggested that we move back to Arizona. Naturally we hesitated because Brad didn't have a job and then by the grace of God, Brad's employer said that he could keep his job and working remotely from his laptop from Arizona! So the decision was made and nothing was keeping us in Maryland anymore. We contacted the Navy and they packed and shipped all our goods for free. Brad's dad came to Maryland and drove one of our cars back with our dogs. So all we had left to do was drive across the country... with a 4 month old! It wasn't as fun as it sounds, I assure you. But it also wasn't nearly as bad as we expected. Anberlin in seriously the best baby in the world.

Along the way we made plenty of stops and Anberlin was able to meet tons of family who she otherwise wouldn't have met. {There are LOTS of pictures coming up, just warning you...}

Obligatory picture in front of the first house Anberlin lived in.

Hope this thing is comfy...

Family photo during a stop on the 4th of July.

Anberlin and Great Grandma Sheppeard,

Hanging out with the girls!

Great Aunt Sally.

We had so much fun during our visit!

Sleeping on the way to meet Nana.

Anberlin and Great Nana.

Cousins.

Anberlin and Great Aunt Valerie.

Anberlin and Erin and Katie.

More sleeping.

Anberlin and Great Grandma Ebert.

Anberlin and Great Grandpa Ebert.

Yup! I got them all!

WHEW. That was our trip across the US. It took us 4 days and Brad drove the whole way (what a trooper!). We are thankful that we were able to stop and see family. And now we are so happy to be in Arizona with our parents and immediate family.

Tomorrow Anberlin turns 5 months! And yes, there will be a blog for that tomorrow! :)

<3