Happy 10 Month Old Baby Boy!

Yesterday, Westin Moore turned 10 months old (these pictures were taken during dinner last night in our three season room). He is such a happy baby and charms almost everyone that he meets (especially the elderly folks in Vermillion). His mohawk gets crazier by the day, and I promise that we are not those parents that style his hair on purpose. In fact, his hair is still too thin to style. Westin is still not crawling, but his butt scoot is something to be reckoned with. He can get across a room on hardwoods in a minute or less. He can pull up, but only on something that is dangerous. For example, in our tv room we have this lovely coffee table-not baby proof or safe really. Next to the coffee table is the very sturdy sofa. In the time it took me to help Dalen drain some pasta, he had butt scooted over to the table and pulled up and it fell down--thankfully the table fell off to the side, but it was enough to scare the bejesus out of the parents of one wily Westin Moore. He is now willingly sleeping on his belly (rolling himself over to get there), and sometimes when we go to rescue him from his crib, he is sitting up shaking the rails of the crib. He LOVES food..except he is starting to grow beyond the baby food-and if given a choice, he almost always wants what we have. A surprising like is lentils and rice..LOVES this stuff! Anyway, that's a snapshot of my baby at 10 months. He never ceases to amaze me and he simply gets cuter every single day. I never thought it was possible to love a person as much as I love my baby boy!

Elizabeth R. Moore, PhD, Assistant Professor

Today was my first day at work. Now I went in over the weekend to unpack my office...why? because when you work HARD for ten years to get to a certain place, well, you tend to get verklempt...and I did. Today was still emotional, but there is no crying when you are in charge and running your own lab. Today in a nutshell went as follows: got some things done, some stuff will wait til tomorrow, some stuff will take longer than I thought, I missed the heck out of my baby and my wonderful husband (who mopped the kitchen floor..did all floors downstairs, put up dishes, and did laundry, while keeping a wily Westin in check), but I was really really happy!
I spent tonight with my two most favorite people. At first I felt a little decadent going to Red's..then I totally got over it. Today was a great day.

This Old House

Over the next few years, you will likely see a number of these posts. Our lovely Yale Street House (called the 'Moore House' by our neighbors--okay, okay it is still called the 'Dickinson House', but one day....) has good bones, but has been decorated in a lot of peachy tones and pinks, and let's not forget the odoriferous disaster in the basement. Since we are reluctant Real Estate moguls, these initial renovations are made more out of necessity than anything else, and almost all will be done on a shoestring. Nonetheless, this is how we truly make this lovely house, The Moore House.

Step 1. Remove all carpet (except for the attic...for now). Stinky stinky smelly pants. Now for the Before and After's (feel free to contact HGTV).
Stinky, smelly pants basement:Sleek, modern, stink proof, flood proof basement:
Scary burgundy floral motif in the master:Luxurious, chocholate yumminess:Which room makes you happier? The Bean already cast his vote. Oh and if you thought the old carpet in the Master Bedroom was special, just wait until you see the bathroom! :)
The very tippy top picture are flowers that I collected from the garden. The Dahlias are still blooming, but the roses are almost done. We are going to enjoy them before they slumber for the winter.

The Yale Street House

Welcome to our new House! We finally got to Vermillion on the 8th of September. Moving Day was a bit of a blur. Thankfully there were Grandparents around to keep Master Westin entertained, while Dalen and I directed the boxes and furniture.
I have to say that my baby moves well. :)

The backyard meets CopperDog's lofty standards. He has already made friends with the neighborhood squirrels.
This house is lovely and the bones are good, but it is a work in progress. Since the first night that we have stayed here, Dalen (with the guidance of G-pops) has torn up all of the carpet in the basement (residual horrendous cat urine smell), replaced a garbage disposal, resealed some failing caulk, Kilzed the ceiling where water leaked because of said failing caulk, and Kilzed the downstairs basement. Who needs a handyman?? I can tell ya one thing--I don't :).

Welcome to South Dakota

South Dakota: the land of Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. ALL IN ONE STATE!!! I know, it's exciting stuff!(G-Pops and D at Mt Rushmore)

So the water tastes a little funny and Westin has been allergic to both naps and bedtime, and eating anything that isn't loaded with carbs (incidentally, veggies and and fruit are no match for the whole grain honey wheat bagel or yummy waffles, who knew?) since we have moved here, but, you really will not meet nicer people, and I mean that honestly. In our trek across the state we stayed at Rapid City and Pierre (pronounced 'Pier') before we landed in Vermillion. It was quite the journey, but a good introduction to the state.(The Moore's outside of Wall Drug)

(G-Pops, Mama, Bean's and the Giant Buffalo, a real animal, unlike the jackalope, which is a South Dakotan creation)

As an aside, if you are in Pierre, the only place to go see a football game is their local bowling alley. But don't get your hopes up, because just because you call and they say that they have ESPN game plan does not mean that a) they know how to operate the remote control, b) their satellite is fully functional or c) wait a minute, ESPN game plan means channels in addition to ESPN and ESPN2?. Just trying to save you some agony on your next road trip to Pierre during football season.

Good Bye Montana!

This post will be a toughy..even though we have been in South Dakota for a couple of weeks now. After Westin's and my Southern excursion, we had about a week and a half left before the Big Move. Now, before I had planned the trip, I knew that the move would be close on it's heels. I was still unprepared for those final days. We did have actual movers, who came and packed us up, loaded us up, and moved us down the road. This made things a lot easier in many respects, but you still have to say Good Bye.
Montana is the place where Dalen and I became a team, where we decided to start a family and became a family. Dalen and I really felt a part of the community and made many deep and lasting friendships. These are not insignificant milestones and because of all of these things, Montana will forever be the most special place that we have ever lived. Well, okay, the most special place that we have lived so far.....
Of course, we had to say good-bye to the brewery. I still have a beer card somewhere, will have to save it for when we visit :)

Luckily, the last night was also the first night of the County Fair. We were lucky that Becky, Jeremy and Braden Anderson were also headed to the Fair. Braden and Westin were friends at daycare, but long before Dalen and Jeremy were fishing buddies and Becky and I worked on the RFO together at RML. Dalen and I were so excited to take Westin and thought that he would just have the best time looking at all of the cool animals..boy, were we wrong. It took a fun tractor to get him to perk up!
The next day, Pops, D and I cleaned the house (Dalen kept CopperDog and young Westin occupied). Then we left. Pops and D drove the Suburu and we were in the truck. That night we made it to Bozeman, MT and that was the last place that we stayed until we got to South Dakota.......
Oh-and if you are interested, there is a heck of a deal on a gorgeous two bedroom/two bath in Hamilton, Montana.....

**Many of these pictures were taken by Pops and D, who came from Alabama to help with the move. As you will see in the upcoming posts, their help was not only appreciated, but truly indispensible. We love you guys!

Noni's House

After a fun time at Grandpa and Grandma Moore's house, we left Mississippi and head back to Birmingham to Noni's house. Westin met A LOT of people on this visit, but what else is a proud Grandmother supposed to do when her precious grandbaby lives a million, trillion miles away?? We were lucky because my Sister (Aunt Shannon) was able to come over from Atlanta to hang out. Westin also got meet Noni's best friend, Joan.
The little Monkey meets the older Monkey...for those of you who don't know, I called my Aunt Sandy, Monkey for the longest time. One day when I was itty bitty, a little older than Westin, I was doing something funny, and Sandy called me a Monkey. For whatever reason, my dear Mother, said"No, you are the Monkey"..and since I was just learning how to talk, the name stuck.
Westin also got meet other family: Jimmy and Marita with daughters, Madison and Jade (pictured above), Joe (Sandy's husband), and Aunt Pat (who gave Westin two really lovely books, which I am already having fun reading to him :)).

So this is the tough part about living so far away from home. You don't have a lot of time to see family. But when you do, it is really great!