We are buying a house!

Several weeks ago we got an accepted offer on a house. Before sharing this with all of you I wanted to make sure that actually getting the house was going to happen. All of the contingencies have gone through so I think this is truly going to happen! We close on September 18 with the plan of cleaning and painting that first weekend and moving in the following. Now you will understand why I have been behind on the blog. I've been busy being the communicator between the realtor, the loan officer, Jason and my dad (our lawyer :))....on top of that I've been busy starting my first season as Head Varsity Volleyball Coach at Bay Port High School (we won our first match on Thursday!), starting my 4th year teaching, being a mom and wife! So far my stress level is too bad...we'll see what happens when students start school on Tuesday!

Here are a few pictures of the house. It is 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, has daylight windows in the basement (which isn't finished yet), beautiful location and great neighborhood. It has a Green Bay mailing address but is in the small town of Scott. This town is near UW-Green Bay which is on the base of the peninsula of Wisconsin. We are up on a hill and can see the bay of Green Bay from the backyard.

Washington Island

So sorry that I'm behind in posting things. A couple of weekends ago we had the first annual Starke Family Reunion Camping Trip. All 30+ of us drove up to the tip of Door County, boarded a ferry and went to Washington Island. We had a outstanding time! Jason, Macayla and I stayed in Jason's parent's 5th wheel. So those of you who were thinking we were crazy going camping with a 5 1/2 month old...no worries...no tenting for us! Macayla was great the entire time. We are so lucky to have such an easy going baby. Here are a few pictures from the weekend :)

Play Time!

At the end of last week I put together this wonderful contraption! Although it was very timing to put together, Macayla absolutely loves it!

Cereal Round 1

This past weekend we started Rice Cereal with Macayla. She did outstanding!

5 Months!

Month 5 Accomplishments:

• rolling over with ease
• squeals in excitement
• giggles
• reaches for objects and problem solves how to get them closer to her
• smiles all the time
• sits with very little support
• makes many sounds, her latest favorite sound is when she tucks her bottom lip into her mouth and goes huh-mmmmm
• turns in the direction of our voices to see where we are at
• we think she responds to her name???
• puts weight on her feet
• babbles
• manipulates objects from hand to hand
• turns her head when she doesn't want the bottle anymore
• just this weekend she has started eating a small amount of cereal
• moves all around on the floor and her crib
• grabs the bottle and pulls it to her mouth
• I am no longer nursing and she is doing just great on strictly formula (and a little cereal too)

Visitors!

This weekend my cousin Kari and her family came back up to Green Bay. On there way up from Chicago on Friday they went the EAA air show in Oshkosh (the main purpose of their trip). Friday night Jason and I went over to the campground where they were staying and had a campfire. Saturday my parents came to town for the day. In the morning we looked at some MORE houses and then everyone came over to our apartment for lunch. It is a good thing we are family and don't mind being close...9 people in our apartment can get a little tight! Hopefully the next time we have visitors we will have a house :). After lunch we went to Bay Beach for a few hours. Macayla rode her first amusement park ride, a carousel. She wasn't quite sure what to think. Overall we had a great weekend!

Trip to Milwaukee

Last week Macayla and I took our first solo road trip. We packed up the car and headed down to Milwaukee for the day. Jason's mom and sister also went down with Collin but in a separate vehicle. Jason's Grandma Skurulsky had not yet met Collin or Macayla so we decided to go for a visit. It was a lovely afternoon. We had lunch, chatted and played with the little ones. For quite a while we tried to get a picture of Grandma with both Collin and Macayla looking...this was not an easy task! haha.

In the late afternoon we said our goodbyes and Macayla and I headed downtown Milwaukee to Bradford Beach to meet up with my good friend Kristen. She plays in a volleyball league on the beachfront of Lake Michigan on Wednesday's so we met her an hour before she had to play before heading back to Green Bay. After chatting for about an hour she found out that they were in need of another player for her vb match. They asked if I wanted to play and I said sure! Macayla was great. We took the stroller onto the beach right by the court. Only a couple of times did I have to run off the court to tend to her. It was a great surprise to end the day!