My NC Home.

So, basically this is just embarrassing. The last time I blogged was for the birth of Claire who is barreling toward 2 1/2 years old. I lack time... mostly.

Anyway. Another big life change, another reason to finally blog. For posterity's sake, of course...

After spending nearly three wonderful years in Maryland, where we welcomed two beautiful daughters, we moved. Josh was accepted into the Endodontic Residency for the US Army and assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Our report date was June 1st which means that we are finally all unpacked and it is now time for the traditional "We've moved!"-blog.

Without further ado: Pictures!

Master Bedroom. 

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've already basically seen this one, 

but because I LOVE my bed, you get to see it again... 

Entryway.

 I like it. And I like the bench Josh made for me. 

Front Door/Entryway.

 Is anyone else as obsessed about transom windows as I am?

Dining Room.

 Haven't decided what to do with the silhouettes on the wall yet. 

Still think it looks naked but giving it time to percolate. 

Dining Nook.

 Nothing to explain.

Kitchen 1.

 The water doesn't taste like mold and the dishwasher is super quiet. 

I'm in love.

Kitchen 2. 

A microwave that doesn't pop the breaker every 3rd time I use it and an oven that heats predictably. 

It's really the simple things in life...

Living Room 1. 

Now this is the exciting part. After watching children ravage my sofa for the last 11 years, I got new furniture!! 

If you're in the market, COCOCO Home is great for your custom furniture needs. 

(Save for the ottoman... Josh and I built that.)

Living Room 2.

With a gas fireplace. Seriously, can not wait for winter.

Living Room 3/Kitchen 3.

Kind of unnecessary to have three pictures of my living room, but I am in love with my furniture... 

Apparently my phone takes really blurry pictures. Sorry.

Stairs/Entry Way.

My "Home Is Where the Heart Is"-project finally has a home!

House.

Again, if you're my friend on Facebook then you've already seen this. 

But, yeah, that's my house and I'm pretty excited about it.

The Bunk House.

Or that's what I'm calling the boys' room... 

wonder when they're going to get old enough to want separate bedrooms...?

Well, that's the end of this tour. Things I didn't include:

1) The girl's room. It hasn't been decorated for the two of them yet, 

so (hopefully) that'll be a separate post not too long from now... 

2) Bathrooms. Because.

3) The office. It's ALWAYS Card Season, but... if you look back at "Living Room 1." you can see it. 

It has amazing built-ins. The owner does some pretty awesome custom work...

4) The guest room. We don't have any furniture in it yet. But don't fear, future guests! It's on the to-do list!

5) The Laundry Room. I spend too much time in there as it is.

*Desperately missing the Susquehanna Ward. Just had to add that. Because it's true. 

My Baby

"A daughter is the happy memories of the past, 

the joyful moments of the present, 

and the hope and promise of the future."

Paige Christine D'Arbra Gailey

-welcomed-

at 12:17 pm on the 6th of April, 2015.

All 7 lbs. 13 oz. 20 inches

Adored by:

Oh, and her parents.

Surprising us at 4:30 in the morning, the day after Easter, despite a scheduled induction date.

She came into the world on her own terms. 

Which is probably a good way to start, seeing as how she is our fifth child 

and the baby of our (completed) family. 

 She loves to eat and burp.

She smiles... occasionally,

and spits up regularly.

She has a long list of dislikes. Including but not limited to:

Sleeping. Car rides. Pooping. Thrush. Laying down. Sleeping.

Not pooping. Binkies. Loud noises. Strollers. And sleeping.

And yet... we wouldn't want it any other way.

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, 

a golden thread to the meaning of life."

- Isadora James

Sister

Three Men...

... and a Little Lady.

These are some very proud big brothers! Can you tell?

Just as they should be, when you've got something this adorable laying around at home, 

just waiting to be snuggled with! Let me tell you about her:

Claire Emelia Gailey came into the world at 9:21 the evening of February 20th, 2013,

following a lengthy induction and an expired epidural.

Weighing in at 8 lbs. 8.2 oz.

At a petite 20 1/4 inches.

Perfect and healthy with all ten fingers and ten tiny beautiful toes...

... and oodles of soft brown hair.

She was blessed on Sunday, March 3rd, 2013.

She sleeps about as much as these photos would suggest... 

unless you stop by our house between midnight and 2:00 am. 

She is super easy-going. 

And yes, she already loves pink. Mommy says so.

"Claire, the moment I met you, I swear, I felt as if something somewhere had happened to me, which I couldn't see. And then, the moment I met you again, I knew in my heart that we were friends. It had to be so, it couldn't be no. But try, as hard as I might do, I don't know why, you get to me in a way I can't describe. Words mean so little when you look up and smile. I don't care what people say, to me you're more than a child. Oh Claire."

-Gilbert O'Sullivan

*A giant thank you goes out to the very talented Seth Halsey for the awesome photographs you undoubtedly just enjoyed. We are obviously thrilled with how they turned out! Thank you, again.*

Ah, I see you are back...

So, I couldn't help but notice that you're checking out my new blog header. . . I know it's nice, but try to control your excitement. The neighbors may begin to talk.

But, hey, as long as you're here, why don't you take a look at few of my favorite shots from our graduation (what!?) announcement photo shoot. Obviously, I can't show you all the shots, because I want you waiting with bated breath until our announcements come out, but here's just a little taste:

The Fam.

My boys. L-O-V-E this picture; it's totally each of their personalities caught on film.

Me and my man. I can't believe that he's graduating!

Even more still, I can't believe that he's survived being married to a neurotic nut like me for nearly 8 years!

Sloan. Love this picture; again personality caught on film.

Doing a little celebrating... we still got it!

A very talented lady we know (and love!) here took them, and she did a great job! My boys are always hard to get good shots of, but she was amazing!

Check out Chelsea at Hazlebury Photography! She really is the best! Thanks again, Chelsea!

May be small...

... but at least it's something.

Obviously, it's been a while since I posted anything. I have no good excuse, other than that I have been busy. Lame. I know...

Here's what the Gaileys have been up to:

Contained our excitement over Mom's lunchtime selections.

Wore brother's soccer socks to church because we all know that the devil makes off with your black socks on Saturday night...

Lost a tooth or two...

Had strep throat... twice.

Discovered Ethan's allergy to Amoxicillin...

As well as the other boys' vulnerabilities towards it.

Signed a lease on this little beauty!

Oklahoma, we hope you're ready... 'cause the Gaileys sure are!

Just the Two of Us

So, I've gotten to do a lot of fun things lately. I blame my awesome husband for enabling me to do things that very well may turn into addictions. Let's be honest, though. They already were addictions. Card-Making and now (thanks to Maggie and Monica...) Spa Weekends. My sister, Sami, saw my post about my spa weekend in April and was green with envy. She decided that we ought to have one in the fall. Through much twisting of my arm, she was able to get me to agree and when she flew in on Thursday, we were ready to get our relaxation on!

Since I was a good blogger and took an insane amount of pictures, I will share my weekend with you in pictures.

We began our weekend on Friday morning at the Outlets. We got some really cute clothes, but this photo showcases one of my favorite moments in the day: shopping for sunglasses. I am borderline retarded when it comes to choosing eyewear so Sami was able to help my decision along. Isn't she fashionable?? I really like the shop-lifting safety advocate in the background.

We then headed to the hotel to check in and get gussied up for dinner/Girls Night Out. Too bad no one but us showed up. Ah, well. At least I had a hot date! Sami was a good sport and let me do her makeup... ain't she pritty??

Not sure why my teeth look orange in this picture. Please ignore that...

All dressed up and ready to go in our new outfits from White House Black Market. You don't have to say it, we know we're dead-sexy.

And no better place to eat than Lucille's Bar-B-Que! Yummy!

I can still smell the warm biscuits and apple butter.

My new hat from Charlotte Russe. It was too cute to pass up. Now if only I could figure out when and where it is appropriate to wear ridiculously adorable hats...?

Our hotel was pretty nice. Forget for a moment that it's basically like the Labyrinth on the inside, and it was awesome. We did meet a lot of nice guys willing to help us find our way. Either we looked pretty cute, or they were really drunk. At least we found our way. And the guy that touched Sami's neck was at least a 6. Not too shabby... Oh, yeah, the picture. Our room actually had a doorbell! Talk about fancy! Here is Sami, demonstrating exactly how cool we thought that it was.

I'm a sucker for a nice bathroom. This one ranks in the top 5 I've ever been in 'cause it had a chandelier. I know... I'm tough to impress.

Our room also had a balcony! It might not be much to you, but I've never stayed in a room that had one, so it must be elite. It didn't matter that recent precipitation left a good 2 inches of water on it and since we don't smoke, it was practically useless. It was still there.

The view from the balcony. It might mostly just be tree-top view, but it was MY tree-top view! Oh, and you see the little sliver of pool?? Pool-side, baby! Like I said, elite.

And on to the main event! We got to the spa around noon and enjoyed a 50-minute couples massage. Obviously, I don't have any pictures of that, but here's the before shot of our feet. Pretty snazzy footwear, eh? Spa regulation sandals. Beats the disposable flip-flops we were wearing after our pedicures. I nearly killed myself on them. Turns out, they're really slick!

Us in our paraffin-boot glory. Flattering, I know. Each thing that they put on our feet smelled better than the last. By the time they were brushing the bottom of my feet with a pumpkin pie scented mask, I wanted to eat my own feet.

During our pedicures, there was a wedding being set up. It began while we were waiting for our polish to dry and since the procession was being serenaded by a famous singer from a Christian rock band called Stryper, the ladies at the spa couldn't resist flinging open the doors and inviting us to watch the strangers wed from the main entrance in our bathrobes. This is the only picture I got (which isn't great) before security shut me down. Strange considering that the attending security guard and I go way back...

While we were getting ready to exit the spa, we noticed several people using a strange machine on which they would stand while the machine would shake them. Since I've decided to try to be more flexible and try things I otherwise wouldn't, I decided "What the hay?". It's called TurboSonic and apparently it detoxifies one's body by taking it through various degrees of shaking. According to the digital reader on the machine, in the ten minutes I was on it, I burned 150 calories. I'm pretty sure that would have to be from the laughing and not from the shaking though I'll reserve judgement until I see some scientific data from an independent researcher. Mostly, all it did for me is shake me to the point of nearly peeing.

Sami, trying to figure out the miracle machine.

The result. I miss you already , Green Valley Ranch Resort. Miss you already.

Oh, and you too, Sami.