Shiny New Nichols: Growing up

I personally don't think I will ever be a "grownup"—not sure I want to be one to be honest—but today we feel more grown up than ever. We signed a contract on our very first house!

Our soon-to-be new home! Door will match the shutters, and posts will match the white trim.

More on that later; first the kids. Cora and Rhys are also growing up and it's incredible to watch them bloom! Cora is 3.7 years old, taller than 90% of her classmates despite being the youngest, and obsessed with Disney's Frozen. She has almost the entire movie memorized, including all the songs. I honestly don't think I've gone a full day without having "Let It Go" in my head since the middle of January. Despite her obsessive traits, she is really blossoming at her preschool, and comes home with a different best friend every few days. There seems to be one girl who is the friend-of-the-day most often, Brooke. It's really fun seeing Brooke's excitement when Cora arrives in the mornings. Cora, however, is hit or miss when it comes to drop-offs. Some days she's great, but others she won't let go of us. When I take them to school, I can't say I really mind if she wants to give me extra love in the mornings! She is the sweetest girl most of the time, and so sensitive that when she's done with any not-so-sweet moods, she has to have a cuddle. I'm not fond of fits, but I love the cuddle. What is really awesome to see is how much Cora loves her brother!

Early morning cuddles

Our morning commute is one of the best parts of my day!

And what's not to love? Rhys is the sweetest boy in the world. He is 1.7 years old and we think he's developing even faster than Cora did. Since he started going to daycare two days a week, his vocabulary has exploded, and he may surpass Cora in dexterity if he keeps progressing at this rate! Just as we were with Cora, we are in awe of all the things his little mind picks up. For example: whenever Rhys sees/hears/thinks of something related to Cora's favorite movie, he says "Waydoe! Waydoe!!" You guessed it—let it go. Thanks a lot, Cora. Rhys loves to play "awshad", so now that the weather is cooperating we're really enjoying watching these two run wild.

Did I mention this boy is sweet?

We are extra glad this year to see warm weather, because we actually had a rough winter...in North Carolina?! We had school cancelled for snow or ice about 4 or 5 times, had some snow accumulation twice, and had a REAL snow once that shut down the entire Triad for three days. People were literally abandoning cars in the middle of the road as the snow surpassed the inch mark. It was a nightmare! I sat on the bus for 30 minutes trying to get home. Made it 300 meters. I got off and walked three miles home, took a shower and checked my bus tracker to discover that my bus was still about 1/2 mile out! Here are a few of the kids enjoying the snow.

Gena started working from home part-time in January for her old boss from Tulane. Tom has transitioned from academia to the private sector and started recruiting Gena the day he left. He finally suggested she work for him from home, so she has been analyzing data, editing papers, writing protocols, and most importantly, enjoying speaking to adults and thinking about problems that don't involve soiled diapers and screaming children! I am amazed with how well she manages everything, and so glad she is able to spend so much time with our wonderful kids. I know they have some great genes, but without Gena I don't think they'd be nearly as incredible.

Speaking of incredible, let's talk about me. Just kidding, my ego isn't that big (despite what my siblings may think), but I am proud to announce that I have accepted a position with UNC to work at one of their affiliates starting in July! We will be moving to High Point, NC at the end of June and we could not be more excited! For those who don't know, High Point is about a 20 minute drive from all our friends in Winston-Salem, where we lived prior to moving to Louisiana. We feel like we have gone full-circle and are very excited to settle down for a change. After living in six different rental homes in just under a five year span, we are ecstatic about our next move! As you may have guessed by the first picture, the house is a new build, and should be finished this month. We will close in mid-June and move in time for me to start work on July 1. I'm really using this blog post as an excuse to share these pictures with the family, but I thought since I haven't posted since May, 2013, I better turn this into a real post. So without further ado, I give you our new (in-progress) home.