We Made It

Well we made it to Washington. Brad got our moving truck on Tuesday and we loaded our entire 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, and some stuff in the basement house into a 24 foot truck. Our entire lives were in that truck. We couldn't have done it without the help of a couple of Brad's friends and a neighbor, John. It was so much work, moving is always so much work! Brad was able to get 4 of the guys that he used to work with to come over and help us load all of our stuff. And a guy a couple of houses down came over to help as well, so 5 guys total and Brad made 6. Six guys, and we needed them!! And I honestly don't know what we would have done without them! They were so much help, and owe them a lot.

We started loading the truck at 11am and didn't get to bed that night until midnight. After loading the truck, Brad's mom and I started the cleaning process. We cleaned the bathrooms, swept and mopped all of the floors, vacuumed, cleaned out the insides of every single cabinet, and shampooed the carpets in the family room, Josh's room, and the hallway. So our house is now pretty damn clean if you ask me! It will be nice for someone to come and look at. Then on Wednesday, I had wanted to be on the road by 8, but with all of the little last minute stuff, we didn't end up leaving until 9:30. So it's a 9-10 hour drive and it's just a long drive period, let alone driving a huge truck - poor Brad. We really wish now that we had gotten movers!! So for future reference, you might think you can do it yourself - but trust me, get movers. They might be expensive, but they are worth it!!! Maddie did great in the car, she got fussy a few times - but considering everything she's going through right now, she did awesome! And Josh did even better. He rode in the big truck with Brad the entire trip and did great! He loved riding in the big rig with daddy and didn't complain once. Right before we got to Pendleton, it started to get pretty foggy. And it starts getting dark here around 4:30, so I had to drive through really thick fog (maybe a one car visibility) for about an hour or so. At one point we were only going 35mph! It was really bad. But we made it through. Got into town about 7pm, Washington time. So it was another long day for everyone.

But we are here now. Yesterday was spent unloading the truck, and figuring out what we needed and what was going into the storage unit. There is still so much to do, but I am just too exhausted to do it. Brad is now taking the truck back and we got a couple of things in place at his parents' house. Moving is just hard period, but with me being sick, Josh and Maddie both being sick, Maddie teething - it just makes it that much harder.

It's only been 2 days, but please everyone just send good house selling vibes our way! We need some good karma in that department. We are very lucky that Deb and Dennis are letting us basically take over their house, but that's just it - it's their house. It's hard being homeless and not having a specific place for all of our stuff. But we'll get through this part and hopefully we'll have a house of our own in a couple of months! I might be complaining about this in a couple more posts, so just bare with me.

Packing Sucks

Errr, where do I begin? Well today was really busy, and me being sick isn't helping matters any. I had a really bad coughing fit last night, so it was pretty dang rough! I ended up going over to the neighbors for some honey (thanks, Julia!). But I did sleep better, so that's good. Today though, is a different story. Today it's my nose with it being stuffy and a lot of sneezing, and still more coughing.

But I did get my hair done today, my last with my current hair dresser. I had to get one more appointment in before we left. So that was nice. Probably my last drive down to Salt Lake as well. And, I have a spa appointment on Monday. I've had these gift cards that I haven't used, so I figured with as much stress as I'm going through, I might as well put those cards to good use! So that will be really nice, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Today we did get a lot of stuff done, which is awesome. Brad and I went through most of the basement and threw away a lot of stuff. Packed up more stuff in the basement, and decided which stuff to donate. Brad will take a trailer full of stuff to the dump on Monday, and we've already dropped off the donated stuff, so the basement looks pretty good. Most of it was in storage bins anyways, but we did accomplish a good bit. We also packed up the coat closet, Brad packed up his bookshelf, I packed up the cabinet above the refrigerator, underneath our bed, our nightstands, Brad's dresser, and some of our closet. Tomorrow will be packing up the kitchen (what we can anyways), some of the bathroom stuff, and going through the basement again. Most of it doesn't really need to be packed, just loaded onto the truck. We get our moving truck on Tuesday and leave as early as possible on Wednesday. It's just crazy to think about it.

On good news, we've had a lot of showings for our house. We had a showing last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. One on Tuesday, two last night and a re-showing today. So I know that's a good sign that we're in the right price range and that people are interested in our house. Just send good vibes our way!

And I have to say thank you to everyone that has offered their help! Thank you so much, I appreciate all of it.

Overwhelmed

Well the crying sagas continue. I cry at night because I feel like I actually have a minute to myself to think about everything that has happened and everything that is going to change. I knew this (us moving) was going to happen fast, but I didn't expect it to happen this fast. I feel like I'm being pulled in 50 different directions, and I can't keep my brain on straight long enough to do anything!

I was able to get a few things accomplished yesterday. I called the newspaper to cancel our service, called the phone and TV company to cancel that, called on a couple of storage units for our stuff when we move, called the city to find out what we needed to do about our garbage cans and water, and talked with Josh's teacher about the transition. It sounds like a lot, but considering everything else that I have to do, my to-do list is much longer than my "done" list.
Now all I have to do is pack up my entire house, get our house sold, and make a 10 hour drive to move in with my in-laws. All of that on top of feeling like I might be getting sick again and now Josh is sick with a really bad cough. I know, I know - I'm just brimming with positive energy.

I am looking forward to living closer to family and maybe actually having a life and going on a date or two with my husband. It's just a hard thing, moving that is. We've made a life for ourselves here, and it's scary. Change is scary. We've been praying a lot lately, just to make sure this is the right move for our family. And we believe it is, I guess I just feel overwhelmed because of the packing. You never really know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all up! But we will be fine, we will survive. I guess I'm just dreading the drive too - but we'll just take it one day at a time. That's all we can do.

New Adventures

Well it's time to for me to come to terms with things. We put our house on the market as of Monday night. It's a pretty scary thing to do. I have so many memories in this house, we made it our home, and we have a lot of good friends that we've come to know and love. Josh has lived here since he was 7 months old, and Maddie - well, her whole life. It's only been three years that we've lived here, and even though I always complain about not living closer to family - this is our home.

As with everything, moving closer to family has it's advantages and disadvantages. Brad keeps joking that maybe we'll actually have a life when we move - mainly because we might have a couple of people available to watch our kids.

So to back up a little - Brad has been applying for jobs in Washington for a little while now. We didn't want to say anything to anyone because we didn't want to jinx ourselves - but he has a job in Washington which starts next month. We knew getting into this that if it happened, it would happen fast. So he got a job offer on Monday, and it just happened to coincide with us putting the house up for sale. So we'll probably live with Brad's parents until our house sells, and then buy a house in the area that we'll be living in.

It's exciting and scary all at the same time. I'm really excited to live closer to family, to move back to Washington - because in all reality that's where "home" is to us. This, Utah, has never really felt like home. And we knew eventually that we were going to be moving back to the Northwest, we just didn't know when. Also, we didn't know when another opportunity to move back would come, so we couldn't pass this one up. But scary at the same time, as in - now I have to pack up all of our crap, get Josh readjusted into a new school, move period, and just adjusting to a smaller city - possibly living out in the country, etc. I had my first (and definitely not last) breakdown last night. My biggest worry is the kids and Josh's school. But they are still very young, so if we want to move - now is probably the time.

There is so much to think about, so much to do, I'm already feeling overwhelmed - but I'd rather get as much done now as possible. I have so much going on in my head that it's hard to think straight, let alone write it all down. So wish us good luck and if you know anyone that wants to buy a house in Utah...

Maddie Took Her 1st Steps

Well the title says it all. Maddie has taken her first steps, prompted by mom and dad of course - but she did it. She is still pretty unsteady, but she loves to walk. She gets so giddy going back and forth from mommy to daddy. Her little face just lights up. She is definitely getting braver and instead of walking with the help of the couch, she now tries to walk from the couch to her toys. She still prefers to crawl almost every where, but she did take her first steps. It's so cute when kids first start to walk. Maddie arches her back with her arms high in the air and fists clenched. She mainly falls backward and sits on her butt, but she's done it. Too cute. Now I really need to get this on video and post it! That's the hard part.

My Big, Little Girl

Well my little girl is growing up and getting closer and closer to toddler hood! Maddie has been standing up more and more on her own. She loves pushing stuff around now - it is her favorite pastime. Her other favorite activity to do now is walk holding onto someone's hands, which is a real killer on mommy and daddy's back. We did buy her a little walker (I know, I can hear some gasps), but so far she is too short to take full advantage of it. Only one little foot touches the ground, so she can only move backwards. But she would rather be out of it and push it around, which makes me want Christmas to come that much sooner (grandma and grandpa bought her a little shopping cart to push around). My little girl loves to stand up and dance when Josh dances, it's the cutest thing - now if I could only get that on video. So now we wait, wait for those first few steps. I can wait, trust me. I am not quite up for chasing two kids around. But it is exciting that she's almost walking. And she's only 10 months. It seems like she's done everything sooner than Josh, but I know that's because she's trying to keep up with him!

VOTE!!!

If you haven't voted already, then please vote. Every vote counts. I know it sounds cliche, but it really does. I just voted after I dropped Josh off at school, and it felt very empowering. I felt like I make a difference and that I am taking control of my future. It felt great. So go vote!

Dentist Appointment

I know, really catchy title, right? Well, Josh had a dentist appointment yesterday. We've been going every 6 months since he was 2, but we've never had an experience like the one we had yesterday. Now that Josh is able to understand more and communicate more, I had been talking about the dentist and what they do at the dentist's office for a couple of day prior to his appointment. And of course, I did a little bribing - you'll get a toy after the dentist looks at your teeth type of thing (probably not the best thing to say, but considering that he has screamed at his last 3 appointments, I just wanted to get through this one).

So we're in the waiting room, and the dental hygienist calls Josh's name. Josh proudly steps forward and follows the hygienist. They wanted to do x-rays, which I seriously doubted were going to happen (keep in mind - screaming, kicking, crying at the last THREE appointments). But Josh climbed right up in the chair, let the guy put the apron over him, and did all the xrays needed. I thought to myself - wow, this is going really well, but wait until we get to the cleaning part. So, we get to the chair where Josh needs to be and again, climbs right in - sits down and lays back. This is the first time that he has ever done that - we've had a hard enough time with the dentist even counting his teeth.

The hygienist was awesome!!! He explained everything to Josh, let him touch all of the instruments, and walked him step by step through everything he was doing or was about to do. I swear, they need more male nurses, hygienists, preschool teachers, etc. Men understand men better. This guy knew just how to explain everything to Josh and what to say. Josh is a boy's boy. He loves his trucks, trains, cars, etc - so getting to do things hands on is really important to him. And I didn't even have to tell the hygienist this - he just did it. Josh sat through the cleaning, flossing, fluoride treatment, did the thing that sucks out all of the spit, and let the dentist look inside his mouth. And all of this without any troubles, no crying, and no complaints. It was great! The only bad part was that Josh has 2 cavities, boo! Bad mommy and daddy. We need to do a better job of brushing his teeth after he does it. So we have 2 more appointments next month. They said that they're going to try to do a little bit each time, so hence the two appointments.

So thank you Tyler, the friendly hygienist. We appreciate you. And I'm so proud of Josh and he knows he did a good job too. Extra kisses, hugs, and high-fives were given yesterday (not that we don't do that everyday, just extra). He is growing up right before my eyes, and it's days like yesterday that make me happy and sad all at the same time. Now he keeps asking if he can go back to the dentist. Hopefully he'll still feel the same way in a month.

Daylight Savings

I just have to write a quick post on this, but Daylight Savings day really sucks when you have kids. Especially if those kids love their routines - it's only an hour, but it kind of does screw things up for us. Yesterday seemed like it was going to last forever, and today hasn't been much better. Yes, I do enjoy the extra hour of sleep I get - but the kids' schedules are all off. We've been trying to do a little extra time with their naps and for bedtime, to slowly get them used to the new time schedule. Josh is doing better than Maddie. Oh well, by the end of the week they'll be all caught up.

Halloween

I've finally gotten around to posting about Halloween and putting up some pictures. I was super tired and busy yesterday, so only one post got done. But we had a great Halloween. Josh did really well and was super excited to go. For a while he had been saying that he wanted to be a fireman, and the day that we went to go look at costumes - he changed his mind at the last minute and said that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear! But it all worked out ok. I had these grand plans of cutting out cardboard wings (his costume hadn't come with any), painting them, etc. But that just didn't work out, not enough time. Next year I'm going to be prepared! Ha. Maddie was a little clown. Julia (our neighbor) let us borrow it, and it worked out perfect. We traded costumes (I gave her the one Josh wore at her sons age - a monkey), and it couldn't have worked out any better. Maddie looks so stinkin' cute.

We went over to the neighbors houses first, and Josh at first thought we were going in to play. Because he took the candy at Julia's house, and wanted to walk right in after that. But we said that he could get more treats, and that seemed to satisfy him. We had been talking about Halloween since Grandma and Grandpa were here, so he knew what to say. This was our second year trick-or-treating, but the first to where Josh could actually say the words. He did a really good job with saying trick-or-treat, then saying thank you, and even a couple Happy Halloweens every now and then. He had to be coached a little to get up to the doors, and then if the people didn't answer the door right away - he said immediately, "they're gone, they're not home" and would get about half way down the steps when the person would open the door. We had to come home to empty out his bag once and go pee. Then daddy and Maddie stayed home and I took him around one more block. It started to get dark, and the houses were getting a little scarier, so we headed home.

We made Halloween cookies earlier in the week.

Lithotripsy

Well Brad's kidney stone never passed. He ended up having a lithotripsy on Friday morning. Which meant I packed up both kids and him to drive to the surgical center about 30 minutes away, drive back - get a little bit of stuff taken care of, and then it was back to pick him up. They said that he had to be there an hour early, the procedure would take about an hour, and then he'd be in recovery for about an hour and a half. His appointment was for 9:45, so he was there at 8:45, and then they called me right as I'm getting out of the shower at 10:50! I was thinking that I had until at least noon. So here I am dripping wet, answering the phone, and I had just put Maddie down for a nap about thirty minutes before that.

I already had it set up that our neighbor would watch Josh and I would take Maddie to pick Brad up. I just didn't know what to expect and how he would react to being under general anesthesia - because everybody has a different reaction. Our neighbor was taking her kids to a little Halloween thing, which we had worked out ahead of time, and since I thought I had plenty of time - I knew they would be back in time to watch Josh. Well, as with all things that happen in life, I had to change course. The Halloween thing started at 11 - so I knew that they had just left, so I tried to call a couple of other people to watch Josh, but to no avail - it just didn't work out (thank you Julia for offering to help, I appreciate it!!!). So the only other thing I could do was get dressed really quick, put my hair up, wake Maddie up and take both kids with me to go and get Brad. Luckily he was very alert, could walk, and there weren't too many instructions on what we needed to do afterward. Josh was really good, but a little scared when we went back to the recovery room.

Brad is doing well. He had a pretty good sized welt on his back, followed by a red ring, he was feeling good at first and then started to get pretty sore. He took a couple of pain pills, and sucked it up to go trick-or-treating with us. I felt really bad for him, but he didn't want to miss going out with us. And of course, he'd never really let on about how much pain he was really in. Today is much better and to put it nicely - his stone is definitely broken up into pieces.