The State of Things

We are now less than a week away from the closing date on our first home. Wooooowza. You know, the house I told you about way back when but have rarely talked about since? The one I’ve shown you zero pictures of? Yeah, that one.

Things have been crazy around here trying to get ready. Although, not sure I mentioned it before, we aren’t actually moving next week. The house we bought is a piece of work. A piece of work that is going to be a long, long project for us. And although there are tons of jobs we will want to do eventually, there are a few jobs that we are doing right away. Which will be easier to do before we have all of our stuff and two little kidlets chilling in there. Like floors, roof and painting.

So, we decided to stay here in the apartment until the end of July, giving Evan time to do these tasks before we move all of our furniture in, and also because the move would have meant a change in care providers for me. Something I don’t want to do at 36 weeks of pregnancy.

Regardless, though, I knew it would not be wise to leave everything as is until after the baby arrives, seeing as I will only have somewhere between 3-5 weeks after his/her birth until the official move.

So? I’ve spent the past few weeks packing up all of our non-essentials and getting things as organized as possible to minimize the number of mental breakdowns I have over the next two months. Raise your hand if you’re surprised by this. I hope there are no hands raised.

The plan is to move everything that is packed, plus some pieces of furniture that we’ll be able to do to without, next weekend just after closing and stash it all in the basement/garage until the floors and paint is done.

This plan is all fine and good but let me tell you … it has left things in a state of chaos around here until we wait to get the keys.

But, don’t take my word for it. Let the photos convince you.

And these are just a few. Not every room is pictured. And the four loads that have already been taken to Goodwill are not pictured either.

Boxes. Everywhere. Empty walls. Everywhere. Packing tape. Everywhere. Newspaper. Everywhere.

I’m sure by next weekend when it’s all gone, I’ll strangely miss it since the house will look so empty but I must say, I am looking forward to having it cleared out so I can focus on pulling out baby stuff and getting the last few things in order for his/her arrival. Because, oh yeah, in case you lost track, I will be full term just six short days after we get the keys.

One thing I’ve learned through this process is that we have a lot of crap. A lot. The mere fact that I have been able to pack up more than 20 boxes of stuff that we don’t have an essential need for for three months? That’s gotta say something.

Say a prayer for us as we enter next week, because getting the keys will also mean losing our husband/daddy most evenings and weekends as he works hard to get things in shape for us to move in in July.

And I think it’s been crazy this far?

Updates

I’ve been sparse around here lately. Other than sharing the news about our house and a few little kidlet updates, I haven’t had much to write about. I guess you can say I’ve been living the moments instead of sitting down to blog about them. And by living the moments, I mean grading papers. Because honestly? What’s really kept me away from blogging is the ginormous stacks of papers taunting me. Work has been insane, yo. But speaking of that, first update: I’m almost done. I just picked up my last set of papers today and if all goes according to plan I should have them all done by Friday.

Then? Work is done. Done done done. And I’ll be able to focus on my tot, getting my house packed up, planning for renovations and birthing a child. And the best part? If all goes as planned, I won’t be returning to work for 15 months after s/he is born. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

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Next up, I promise I shall post some photos of the new joint soon. I’m starting to get really excited about what we’re going to do with each room. And with every ounce of excitement, comes another pound of anxiety.

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A few months ago I blogged about our horrific pool experience when I took Evalyn back to the pool after a 6 month hiatus? Remember that? Well, what I haven’t blogged about since is that immediately after that I decided to try to kick that fear to the curb and signed her up for swim lessons. We started 6 weeks ago. Today was the first day that she really, really enjoyed it. Sure, it’s gotten progressively better each week, but today was like magic. There was not a single tear. No “all done”s screamed for 30 minutes straight. No “sit down there”s while pointing to the benches on the side of the pool. Just splashing, kicking, following instructions and having fun. Today she even took four turns down the slide, and when she had a positive reaction all of the other parents, who have been witnessing the painfulness for the past month or so, cheered and hoorayed for her. It was sweet. And the best part? As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I heard her little voice from the backseat say, “Mommy? Mommy? Thank you. Thank you swimming”. Melt.My.Heart.

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Another little tidbit about her – this stage? The 17-19ish month stage? THE BEST EVER. Sure, it’s trying. She’s testing the limits. Learning how to assert her independence. Trying to see what’s what. But amidst all of that? She is just so stinking fun. We can have conversations. We sing songs together. We play pretend. And it is amazing. She amazes me and fills my heart in so many ways every day. Like today when I walked in the door after a late evening at work and she ran to me, lifted my shirt and said “Hi my broser! My sitter!”

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I’m now in the single digit countdown for weeks left in this pregnancy. It’s a funny feeling. Like, I feel like the baby will be here in no time at all. Yet at the same time 2+ more months of pregnancy feels like an eternity. Am I the only one who feels/has felt that way?

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I know when I set out to write this post, I had a few more things that I had planned to write updates on. But, of course, I forget what they are. So for now, I’m heading out to watch my belly dance.

A few little letters

Dear Crazy Face 17 Month Old,

How is it even possible for your tiny little brain to be so mischievous and creative? I’m not even sure how you think of doing half the things you do. Like, looking straight up at your Daddy with your eyes closed when he scolds you and tells you to "look at Daddy”? That, my girl, is genius. I guess what they say about payback is really true. Now we just need to figure out how to channel your ingenuity into something good.

Love, Your Flabbergasted Mama

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Dear World,

No. We haven’t bought a house yet. We’re working on it. Trust me, when we do, you’ll know. I will be so relieved and excited I will probably wear a sign on my forehead.

Love, House Hunting Sucks

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Dear Taylor Kitsch,

I discovered last night that you’re Canadian. Which is amazing. Because you are amazing. But am I really surprised? All good things come from the great white north.

Love, Your Biggest (also Canadian) Fan

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Dear Second-Time-Pregnant Body,

Come on! Are you serious? It is way to soon in this pregnancy for me to need 37.5 pillows to get into a comfortable position at night and to feel like my sciatic nerve is on fire all.the.stinking.time.

Love, I’m Pregnant NOT a Grandma

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Dear Popcorn,

I love you. You are the best accompaniment to my nightly snack of melted butter.

Love, Preggy McPreggo

Life Lessons from Coach Taylor

It’s not a secret that Friday Night Lights is my current obsession. Both the husband and I are totally hooked. In fact, as much as we love the show, we’re both to the point where we are thinking, “okay, when will this be done so that we can get on with our lives?!” Honestly. Right now my house is a little messier than normal, the meals are a little less well put together than usual, the laundry is a little less caught up than usual and the hubby’s progress in the shop is a little less up to date than usual. In other words, we have been wasting spending hours and hours and hours of our lives chilling on the couch with the ever handsome Coach Taylor (or the ever beautiful Tami Taylor, my husband might add).

In the meantime, when we’re not getting ourselves acquainted with the residents of Dillon, Texas we’ve been getting serious about house hunting. If you’ve ever done this before, you probably know how oh!so!fun! it can be. In this family, the husband is the chillaxed, easy going partner and I am the high strung, stressy stress face. So you can imagine how awesome house hunting may be for two people like ourselves.

By now you may be wondering how a major Friday Night Lights binge and house hunting are related. Just stick with me. Trust me. They are. Because while FNL is normally just a few hours of mindless entertainment, I have found that there are a times when major life lessons can be drawn from the episodes. These moments make me think that perhaps I’m not completely wasting my life away while I sit around watching hours of TV a day.

There’s a scene somewhere way, way back, season two, I believe, where Coach and Tami are facing a situation and find themselves at a crossroads. Don’t worry, if you haven’t watched yet, I’m going to set up the context of the scene without giving anything away. They are in the midst of a situation where they have to make a decision for their child. And the solution doesn’t seem clear to them. Tami approaches the situation with a sort of “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!?” attitude. You know, the same kind of attitude that I often have when discussing important life decisions, such as purchasing a home, with my husband.

In the midst of Tami’s miniature freak out, Coach puts his hands on her shoulders and calmly says,

“This is not our burden. This is our gift.”

And, whoa. Has that line ever hit me in the face!

I have been trying to remember and reflect on this line as I’ve faced my own miniature (or not so miniature) freak out sessions over the past few weeks.

To be in the situation where we need to find a new place to live because we have been blessed with a second child and need more space? To be in the situation where we need more space because we have been blessed so abundantly with ‘stuff’? To be in the position where we are able to purchase a home because of my husband’s hard work and motivation over the past eight years? To be in the position where we can buy a home that needs renovations because I have a husband who has the skill, ability and desire to make improvements?

To be in this position I am in, despite how stressful, unknown, unclear and scary it may be?

This is not my burden. This is my gift.