Kid-isms

Now on to more important matters than moving...

Gabby is saying some things that I don't want to forget: 'bom-mum' for bottom and 'I are.' She also said, "I want fairytails in my hair," instead of pigtails. How stinkin' cute?

Kate was crying the other afternoon in her room. When I went in to check on her, she was staring at the princess poster on her wall. When I asked her why, she told me, "I want them to come out and play with me, but they can't because they're stuck."

And then little Nate, he makes a lot of sounds. He gurgles, coos, makes ma-ma, ba-ba, and ga-ga sounds.

(A More Real) Love Story

For all those moms of little ones...enjoy.

Under Contract

We signed the paperwork last night after dinner and the house is under contract with inspections on Friday! We're praying there's nothing that we're unaware of and nothing that will be expensive to repair. Due to their lease, closing isn't set until the end of June, so we'll have some time before we have to really start packing it up.

The family who is buying the house has three little ones too. I hope it will be a happy home for them!

Waiting Game

What is it about waiting that makes the days drag by so slowly? The house has been on the market just about a month. In that time we've had a lot of traffic--a few times 4 in a day. Now it has screeched to a halt.

I've done a good bit of waiting in my life. I waited years for that first baby. I've waited for test results. I've waited for days to come and nights to end. Honestly, I'm not in a tizzy. I've learned enough to know that it will all come together in God's time. It does get physically and mentally challenging to sit teetering on an edge between wanting to live a somewhat normal life with three kiddos, being ready to evacuate, and getting ready to pack up all our things and take off.

And it doesn't help when you've had an offer. Countered, and are told to expect an answer by noon and it's currently 1:30... It's a limbo kind of day. We'll see how it goes. I'm praying that the people who made the offer will make the best decision for all of us.

Things I've Learned...

Ten things I've learned as a mother:

1. Always keep your keys in your pocket when the kids are in the car.

2. Always wear clothes with pockets.

3. That which you think will be easy will be a struggle and that which you expect to be a struggle will be easy.

4. Everyone else has an opinion about how you should raise your kids.

5. A child with a quiet disposition does not mean that the child is compliant.

6. Every child grows and learns at his or her own unique rate--really. That's not just something to make you feel better about your slow, thin, chubby, or otherwise differently developing child.

7. Yes, indeed, she can get louder, more whiny, and grumpier.

8. For a short trip to the grocery, leave the diaper bag at home. You're not really going to change the diaper in the store. You might in the car, so just keep a couple of diapers there instead of toting them around all the time.

9. They don't care if they get the best of everything.

10. Moms need friends too.

Lost It

See this cute little girl?

I've lost her.

Nope. I didn't misplace her at the store or pretend she wasn't mine while she was throwing a tantrum in public

Since I looked like this:

I've lost the amount she weighs.

I only gained 24 pounds while I was expecting Nate, so I expected it to disappear quickly. When I went to my 6 week check-up and got on the scale I found that I had only lost 14 measly pounds. I was dejected, sad, irritated, and I did something about it. I've lost 40 lbs.--the weight of my four year old.

My husband lost more than 50, but he cheated--getting diabetes isn't fair.

It feels pretty good not to be carrying her around anymore

Unless I want to, of course!

Outloud at Target

The other day we were walking through the store as a family. I was carrying Nate in my arms rather than in the Moby like I usually do. Kate looks at me and says. "It looks like your pregnant."

Nothing like a comment like that to take you down a notch. This lady was walking behind us and passed as we stopped to pick out some coffee. She had giggled at Kate's remark, but as she passed she whispered, " But you don't."

So thank you to the kind lady who was nice enough to tell me that I don't look pregnant. And as for this little stinker:

I guess I'll keep her and pretend that she said that because of comments she's heard about how it's like I'm pregnant again when I carry Nate in the wrap. But I don't think I'll ask her how I look before I go somewhere. She might be a little too honest for my taste.

Showings

Showings, showings, showings. We had 4 today (over 20 total), but still no offers yet. The new home buyers tax credit runs out in 9 days. We'll see what happens.

We'll be so glad to be done with all the showings. I've never heard of anyone having this many. We're thinking perhaps some people are waiting until the last minute hoping for prices to drop again. It is a cute house, everything is in working order, lots of updates, along with new appliances and even a new air conditioner, so hopefully some other little family will have a happy little home here soon.

We've been saying we would rent when we move. We thought fleetingly about trying to buy, but we know that we can't possibly get what we'd want to end up with in 5 years. The thought of having to do this all over again, cured of us of any delusions of buying right away. I'm looking forward to notifying a landlord that we won't be renewing our lease and walking away to our final earthly home (I hope).

Evacuation Survival

We've been kicked out of our house more times than I care to count lately--actually it is 15 times--14 showings and an open house (and another on the schedule for tomorrow!). I have been counting. Thankfully we've had nice weather for most of the time, so we've been to parks, gardens, shopping, and walking.

Here are some pictures of our adventures in evacuation!

Last week at the Botanical Garden


Yesterday at the park


Upside down!


Uh-oh Kate's got him!


Yesterday we were gone at snack time, so we stopped by McDonald's for a quick treat--coffee, ice cream, yogurt, and chicken nuggets for the fellow who can't have a sugary snack.

Kate as a Poet

Kate's always been pretty bright linguistically. I will never forget at a well visit when she was about two years old and the nurse checking us in asked if she could say 50 words. I laughed. The child had been talking since we'd walked in the room and had undoubtedly passed the 50 words in the time the nurse had taken to ask the other developmental questions. I told her I had no idea her current number of words--I stopped counting at 100 shortly after she turned one.

She's learning to rhyme, spell, and sound out some short words now. It's a fun new development. She's also loving to do some word play. Occasionally she'll even use alliteration. And she's also discovered the fine art of modifying poetry to meet her own ends.

"Mary, Mary me,
How does Mama’s not garden grow?
Not with vegetables or flowers;
Only Daddy’s garden grows."

She's no Lord Byron or Keats, but it was pretty funny. I beg to have it known--there is no garden this year because we're moving and I was largely pregnant last year and I did pick some of the produce, I just didn't plant the garden. And my azalea and hanging basket are both blooming--okay enough defense.

Happy Friday!

I Don't Wanna

Before I write this...I know it will work out, I know it will get better, but right now...I don't want to move.

I don't like packing with three children. I don't like having to make beds five times a day (the girls' beds each have to be made twice). I'm not enjoying trying to be sure that there is nothing out of place, loosing the convenience of where I typically store some things to make the house look nicer, taking down my family pictures, being afraid if what I'm cooking for dinner is too pungent smelling, or if we'll even be here to eat it. I don't like the extra work we're putting into the house that we'll never get to enjoy or even get our money back out from. I don't like hearing Kate say, "But I just wanna play!" when I have to ask the kids to clean up again so we can leave for another showing.

I can not stand the fact that we will have to come to closing with more than a year's worth of house payments! That makes me want to just mail the key to the bank and say, "See ya." We won't. It's not moral, it's not ethical, it's not fulfilling the promise we made to the bank, but my goodness is it tempting.

But it's also tempting to live complacently here. The move is full of good things--a raise, location to family, and more opportunities for Justin at work. Right now though, this is our home. It's safe, it's familiar, and short term, it's a better decision to stay financially.

I know, I know it will be fine. I know that we will make the move, but we were never told it would be easy, just that we would get through.

Wish me luck and pray we get an offer soon before I paint one of the children or make them into their bed!

Through Kate's Eyes

Kate got a camera for Christmas. It takes low resolution pics, but she LOVES it. It has given us an interesting view into Kate's world too.

She takes pictures of people who come to visit us:

Aunt Holly


and Miss Ann with Gabby.

She takes pictures of us:

Nate,


Gabby,


and Justin in the foreground (vacuuming) and me in the background.

She captures random objects around the house:

The toothbrush holder,


The view out the back doors,


Her calendar,


This very disturbing picture of the baby doll, Daniel,


Her radio,



Staged pictures with her toys,


And even a picture of my mom on Skype--with the phone because the sound didn't work that day.

She even takes self portraits:

Like this very avant-garde pic of just her eye.

I hope you enjoyed this view into Kate's little mind!

5 Months

I can't believe that my little fellow is already five months old! He's been a busy little fellow. Rolling into walls and throwing himself forward in an attempt to crawl. He's just figured out to be up on his hands rather than his elbows for this and is definitely getting more forward momentum this way.

This morning he was dozing angelically in the floor:

But when I came back from getting his sisters upstairs he was gone, along with the blanket he was laying on. Evidently he took it with him when he rolled himself into the bathroom. He sure gave me a start when he wasn't there!

His favorite activity is jumping in people's laps. He loves to be in motion anyway, so this is his greatest joy. I love the way his face lights up when his sisters come by and play or give him a kiss, especially Gabriella.

This month has also led to the beginning of solids for him. So far he's had rice and oatmeal cereals, peas, and green beans. He likes them all and is a very messy eater. He attacks the spoon with his mouth, grabs to do it himself, and isn't really good at swallowing yet, which means that every meal time also results in a bath immediately.

His official stats from the doctor's office two weeks ago were: height 24 1/2" and weight 16 lbs. 5.6 oz. That has him on the shorter side for now, but it may just be that his growth spurt is coming. He was listed at the 66 percentile on weight.

Good Night, Sleep Tight, or Not

I know it's nearly impossible to believe that a little boy as cute as this:

can be such a little stinker. But he can--believe me. We've had lovely company, but with that I've made every attempt to let them sleep. After a busy day with the munchkins I was sure that they needed a quiet night. That, however, has created some poor habits in our little fellow, who was already getting up 2-3 times a night. Now it's more like 6 times a night.

Last night, we decided to try to end this silliness. We knew he didn't need to eat every 90 minutes, so I would pat and soothe him. Nate disapproved of this change in policy. Loudly. Repeatedly. And nothing I did kept him quiet for more than 2 or 3 minutes.

At 3:30 AM the pack & play found it's way to the kitchen and Nate got his own room for the very first time. We were able to grab a little less than two hours of sleep before Justin's alarm clock went off. And the little guy--he fell off to sleep shortly after he was put down there. Of course.

On the Market

The house here has been on the market for about 10 days now. So far we've had 5 showings and an open house! It's been a flurry of activity. I will say I don't feel like I've wasted my time on keeping the house clean, since it's been so often seen.

The realtors are already getting antsy for us to drop the price because of the first time home buyers tax credit that runs out at the end of the month. We're holding out a little longer on that, though we'll likely drop a little this week. It's not the easiest of decisions!

Gabby-isms: Lord of the Rings

I am a bog-rog! (Balrog)

[I promise we haven't let her see the movies]

Gam & PawPaw Visit

We've been spoiled. We have had visits from both sets of grandparents and my sister in the past month.

Life can get kind of lonely on the plains sometimes, so it was nice to have visits and the extra sets of hands around.

My dad worked most of the time he was here. I feel a bit guilty about it, but do appreciate all he did for us. The house looks great.

I wound up with the stomach flu--bad news with three little ones, but my mom was so nice to let me get a nap yesterday. While I'm still not feeling great, I am so thankful that they were here. God sure is good at providing what we need.

I wish that we had gotten more pictures, but somehow the three munchkins kept us hopping. I did manage to get a few.

PawPaw with the girls



Gam & the girls



Gam & the Little Man



Nate & PawPaw

Hopefully soon we'll be close enough to see each other much more often!

Gabby-isms

Me: You need to eat your lunch.

Gabby: I can't, my fork is sleeping.

Me: Your fork is asleep?

Gabby: Yes, I put it to bed.

I guess Kate didn't get all the creativity around here. I think I'm in for it!

Easter Day

We hope everyone had a lovely Easter.

We had our family celebration--the empty tomb, Easter baskets, and an egg hunt before breakfast. Then we made it to church for our service and Kate was a part of the children's choir.

We had a family from church take a snap shot of us. Kate's a little hidden, but it was the best of the pictures, so here it is.

I got pictures of the three munchkins together and individually too. Nate was the most cooperative of the three. I guess that's only because he hasn't figured out how to run away yet!

The Munchkins


Kate


Gabby


Nate

The girls have enjoyed their candy quite a bit. We're looking forward to celebrating with friends tonight, as we have dinner together.