I’d Like to Thank….

The last few months have been crazy. To say the least. My sweet friend Lindsey said once that this an experience we’ll look back on in 20 years around a table with friends and laugh at. “Hey, remember the time we bought a fixer upper, renovated, had a baby and moved all in the course of two months? Remember that? Ha. That was so funny.” I hope she’s right. Because I sure ain’t laughing just yet.

Needless to say, we have survived. We are all still alive, happy and thriving. Neither Evan or I have killed each other or done each other any permanent harm. My babies are healthy and happy. Our home is coming together nicely. We have survived. But, not alone. Not even a little bit alone.

So, right now I’d like to thank….

Barney, Diego, Dora and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse … for occupying my toddler for many, many, many more hours than I’d care to admit.

McDonald’s Vanilla Iced Coffee and Pepsi Cola … for giving me a daily boost of caffeine. Or seven.

Our friends and family … for every little thing you’ve done. For babysitting, for packing boxes, for unpacking boxes, for cleaning, for bringing food, for laying shingles and hardwood, for painting, for keeping me company while Evan was working around the clock, for the hours and hours and hours of time you’ve given to us. I thought of including some names here, but I know I would forget someone.

My babies … for sleeping well, for transitioning well and for smiling even when I am the most boring Mama in the world and spend too much time working and not enough time playing.

My husband … for busting his booty getting this place ready for us to call home.

My tweeps … for keeping me sane. All the time.

Our church family … for two weeks of wonderful, wonderful meals brought to us daily – making it so that I didn’t have to cook for the first 5 (yes, 5) weeks of Gwen’s life.

Our dreams are becoming our reality but we couldn’t have done it alone. Really, we couldn’t have. And we are so deeply and forever grateful for the support we are constantly shown by our loved ones.

I have so many posts I want to write. I want to answer your questions about homebirth, I want to write a post explaining the significance of Gwen’s name, I want to show you what both my kids are up to, show you some pictures of our house, and share some stories about the adventures of our new life. These will all come in time, I suppose. For now, I’m still trying figure out which way is up.

We did it.

We did it. We moved with 2U2 and lived to tell the tale. Because of the weather forecast we ended up making a last minute decision to move most of our stuff on Friday night instead of Saturday. It was definitely a good choice as it rained the better part of Saturday. We also decided to stay at Evan’s aunts’ place for the weekend so we could get things organized around here before bringing the kids to sleep. Another wise choice.

We were blessed to have tons of help over the weekend (and, really, throughout this whole process – more on that in another post), which made all the difference in the world. Friends to help with the babies, the lifting, the organizing, the cleaning – the whole deal. We really wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.

After nap on Sunday, I brought the girls up to “da new house” for the first time since we had moved any stuff in. Immediately, Evalyn was SO excited to see her big girl room. Once again, she has surprised me and impressed me with how seamlessly she’s made all of these transitions (again, more on this in another post … can you tell I have a lot to say these days but no energy to actually sit down to say it?).When we arrived, my parents were here to help for the afternoon and were already busy cleaning my kitchen. On Monday, Evan took the day off and we tackled a lot of unpacking and organizing, Monday night, the Aunties arrived and we tackled the kitchen. By Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling fairly impressed with how much unpacking and organizing we’d done in that short amount of time.

Of course, there is still a ways to go. A long, long, long ways. I mean, things might be better once there is a sink in my bathroom. And a door. (Note: if you are coming to visit, pee before you arrive). But, regardless, we have what we need to function and the rest will happen as it happens.

For now, I’m working on things bit by bit and trying to take some time to enjoy the last few weeks of summer as we watch this place transform into our home.

It’s getting there. Starting to feel like home.

As my precious, tell it like it is, almost 2 year old said to me yesterday while playing with her toys, “We at home now. Da new house is my home now".

If These Walls Could Talk

I’ve been thinking about the day I’d write this post for months. Maybe even years. In my head, I’ve been thinking about how I would convey these ideas for as long as I can remember.

For me, buying our first home has been such a bittersweet experience. Yes, I am stoked to have our own place. We’re ready. We’ve been saving and planning for this for years. I’m ready for that. Yet at the same time, the apartment we’ve been living in for the past 5 1/2 years isn’t just any old place that we’ve been killing time. It’s not a crappy high rise building that allows us no space of our own.

The place we’ve been living up until now, although not owned by us, is our home. Our first home, really. Although we did live in one teensy weensy basement apartment in town for a few months right after we got married, this is the place we will remember when we think about our first home.

And so as I’ve spent the last few weeks/months thinking about the prospect of moving and planning for that to happen, I’ve started thinking about so many of the stories that are contained within the walls of this home.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of a young, newly married, head over heels couple who found themselves without a home just three months into their marriage due to a flood in their first apartment.

They would tell of a young woman who was in the midst of undergraduate exams, stressing over finding a place to live and feeling heart broken over having no place to spend their first Christmas together.

They would tell of a generous and gracious family who made accommodations for this young couple to move in within a week, in order to be settled and comfortable before the holidays.

They would go on to tell of years and years of generosity and kindness being bestowed on the young couple by the family who lives upstairs.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of a tiny little black lab, border collie mix who stole the heart of a girl who hated dogs and became her first baby. They would tell of weeks of sleepless nights, house training and cuddling as the dog hater fell in love with her sweet little puppy.

They would tell of years of writing papers, studying for exams, preparing grant proposals, applying for grad school, conducting field work, writing and defending two theses. They would tell of a BA and an MA. They would tell of a husband who supported his wife through it all.

 

If these walls could talk, they would tell of a wife peeing on a stick on a total whim at 6 am one Sunday morning and then startling her husband awake as she jumped on him and screamed, “We’re having a baby!”

They would tell of nine months where a couple grew together in anticipation of their first child’s arrival. They would tell of morning sickness, nursery decorating, belly kicking and some hot, hot summer days that resulted in the wife cooking dinner in her skivvies.

If these walls could talk they would tell of a husband and wife making big decisions for the man to leave a steady, consistent job in order to follow his dreams and start a business of his own, doing what he loves most. They would tell of the best decision they ever made.

If these walls could talk, they would speak of this couple laying their eyes on their first born daughter for the first time when she was brought into the world on their very own bed. They would tell of this couple becoming a family as they fell head over heels in love with a tiny 7lb 10 oz package that they called their own.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of sleepless nights, breast feeding battles, excitement over milestones and a deeper joy than can ever be explained as this family experienced the first year of one little girl’s life together. They would tell of first smiles, first steps and first words.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of this couple’s decision to add another child to the family. They would tell, once again, of a wife taking pregnancy tests and sharing, with excitement and with her one year old by her side, the news that her husband would be a father one more time.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of another pregnancy filled with (more) morning sickness, anticipation and eager excitement. They would tell of an overwhelming joy that was experienced as they prepared to make their first baby a Big Sister.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of the stress and anxiety and excitement over purchasing their first home.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of the birth of a second beautiful, beautiful baby girl. They would tell of a mom, and a dad, and a little girl all falling head over heels in love with the newest member of their clan.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of five anniversaries, six Christmases, thirteen birthdays, two mother’s days and two father’s days, along with countless other holidays and celebrations – all celebrated together.

They would tell of a couple who loved hard, fought hard, worked hard and prayed hard. They would tell of tough times and of fun times. They would tell of joy and of pain. They would tell of mountains and valleys.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you of a young family who developed their roots in this home.

Tonight, we will sleep in this home for the last time. The home that has been so formative in building “us”. The only home my girls have ever known. And that, for me, is oh so bitter sweet. So, as I look around and see empty walls looking back at me, I know they are not empty. Not at all.

If these walls could talk, they would tell you that they are filled with the stories of us.

Peacin’ Out

Moving day is upon us. T-minus 7 days until all of this crazy will finally come to fruition. Next weekend, we will move into our home. Finally.

And then the real fun will start, right?

The apartment is a war zone. We’re living with the bare minimum. As in, we’re drinking from red solo cups and Evan has a mug. Yes, that’s right a mug. Evalyn is playing with the same four toys and reading the same 10 books over and over again. I’m wearing the same shorts every day (okay, so that may have nothing to do with moving, but you get the point).

Despite living with the minimum, it still feels like there is oh!so!much! to do. And that’s because, well, there is.

So, consider this my farewell. I may pop in once or twice. I can’t promise I’ll be reading blogs. I definitely can’t promise I’ll be commenting on blogs. I do have a (very, very special and important) post scheduled for later next week. But, for the most part, I’m peacin’ out.

I’ll see you on the (living in my first home in the country) flipside, friends.

So What Wednesday

Today I'm linking up with Shannon at Life After I Dew for the ever famous, So What! Wednesday...

So what if having a baby has refuelled my addiction for the game Spite and Malice on my iPhone? That game has gotten me through many a night time feedings in my day.

So what if we went through the McDonald’s drive thru for an iced coffee and when Evalyn asked me “Where’s Eea timbit?” (donut hole from Tim Horton’s for all you Americans) and I said “We didn’t get one today” she responded by saying, “Okay. Just cossee for Mama da-day!” Hm, has she heard that before?

So what if my once super organized and efficient packing has turned a wee bit sloppy in these last days as evidenced by the box I packed yesterday and labeled, “Random Crap We Probably Won’t Ever Need Again”.

So what if we decided to buy a fixer upper, renovate,move and have a baby ALL! AT! THE! SAME! TIME! Seemed like a good idea at the time.

So what if I purchased an ErgoBaby Carrier with Gwennie’s gift money even though I have 8 other baby carriers of different styles? They all serve a different purpose, right?

In similar news, so what if I’m obsessed with babywearing?

So what if I had about ten other things to include on this list but my baby is crying and needs me so I’m signing off!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

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?

A jumble of thoughts. Or something.

I sit down to blog and lately, nothing more than a huge jumble of random thoughts falls out. So, here goes nothing…

~

I think it is so cute that Evalyn mixes up pronouns and says “you” when she really means “me” that I don’t even try to correct her. I already find it so bittersweet when she starts saying a word properly after mispronouncing it in a super cute way for a long time that I am in no rush to have her talk like an adult. She’ll get there. My favourite one is that she often says, “Mommy got you” when I’m holding her. Usually it’s when she’s being sucky, or is hurt or scared or something. Just last night she was having a hard time getting to sleep and I almost melted of the cute when I picked her up and she said “Mommy got you. Mommy got you, ah-ways”.

~

For a while, we were sort-of-kind-of doing the potty thing. She started showing an interest in noticing the potty and all of that jazz a few months ago and asking to sit on it, so I went ahead and bought a kid potty. We would put her on before bath and also whenever she asked. In the course of a few weeks, she peed on it four or five times. Just before Easter, she pooped while sitting on the potty and I’m pretty sure the splash (tmi?) scared her enough that she doesn’t ever want to sit on the potty again. Granted, she still talks about the potty non stop, tells me when she’s pooped and is actually kind of disturbingly obsessed with her dirty diapers. She wants to “yook”, “touch”, “bye bye dirty poo poo” all the time. Is this normal? Should I take this as a sign that I should crack down on the potty thing? Now whenever we ask her if she wants/needs to sit on the potty she says yes but then shouts ALL DONE as soon as we get to the bathroom. I kind of feel like I should just pack it up and put it out of sight until after we are adjusted to the new baby and settled from the move. Experienced moms, is this me being wise or just lazy? Honesty please.

~

I started packing today. Sort of. One box of my boots and three boxes of decorations from the walls, dressers, mantel and so on. Evan thinks it’s still too early. I keep reminding him that with every passing day I am becoming more and more pregnant. And soon will become more and more exhausted from a newborn. We get possession the end of this month. I am hoping to have lots ready to go by that point that can just sit in the basement/garage until the floors/painting is done. So, my house my be starting to look bare but I’d rather live in an empty, boring house for a few months than rush at the end. No?

~

The friend who runs Evalyn’s daycare is named Jessica. So, we always tell E she is going to go to Jess’ while mommy and daddy go to work and that I will pick her up at lunch time. She has started to add “See ya yunch-time” to her list of goodbyes to people. Also? She has started to call Jess Jess’. Hi Jess’. Thank you Jess’.

~

I suck at watching movies. I think it must be because I have the attention span of a camel. Do they have a short attention span? They must. My lack of interest or desire to watch movies drives Evan nuts. He doesn’t get why I can’t/don’t want to sit on the couch and zone into a movie for two hours every night. The other night we were laying in bed and he was watching a movie on netflix. I was “watching” too. Aka, getting up to get a snack, playing on my phone, doing some laundry, drifting to sleep and otherwise, just not paying attention. When the movie was about ten minutes from being over, it somehow caught my attention. But remember, I hadn’t watched the rest of it. And also, the angle of the laptop was making it difficult for me to see the screen. Our conversation went like this. Me: “Can you pause that when you have a second?” Evan: {pauses movie} “What?” Me: “Can you tell me what is happening in this movie?”

The response I got? Priceless. Sidenote: he did not have the decency to fill me in.

~

I hate when I write a blogpost and then a few hours later realize that I forgot to include the initial thought that sparked the idea for the post. It happened yesterday. I wrote about how I love watching Evalyn become a combination of Evan and I. What I forgot to mention was that the whole idea for the post came the other day when she insisted on dipping every bite of her dinner in Frank’s Hot Sauce. So like her father. So unlike her mother.

~

We can’t agree on this unborn child’s name. The girl name was selected within 34 seconds of finding out we were expecting and I am utterly and completely in love with it. The boy name was also selected but now I’m just not 100% sure about it so I’ve been tossing around new ideas. I found one that I fell in love with, but husband disagrees. I’m pretty sure the fact that I am convinced we’re having a girl, I love the girl name and we have no idea what the boy name will be guarantees I’m having a boy.

And while we were on the topic of names? Count yourself lucky if you never ever have to go through the process of naming a child with my husband as your counterpart. He is horrible.

~

My hormones are raging. I feel like the hormonal mess of pregnancy kind of levels out somewhere in the middle and then spikes again as you get closer and closer to the end. Lemme tell ya, it is a-spiking. Many unannounced tears, taking offense over simple, harmless comments, and all together weirdness. It is happening.

~

We bought our double stroller on the weekend. Long story short, I was quite simply done with agonizing over the decision. I found the one I had been eyeing on sale. I had a giftcard that meant I’d only have to pay $110 out of pocket so I took the leap. We went with the Graco Ready2Grow Sit and Stand. For the price, I feel like it will more than meet my needs for the next few years. I love the option of being a dual rider or a sit and stand. The thing that sucks? Tiny cars don’t believe in double strollers. I will have to take the child cup holder and the canopies off it to get it in and out of the car. Which will be a pain, but honestly, unless I was going to spend big bucks, there does not exist a double stroller that will fit easily in the trunk of a Mazda 3 hatchback and apparently (so says the husband), fitting a double stroller is not an adequate excuse for upgrading my vehicle. I have a feeling most of its use will be going for walks at our house anyway, so the in and outs of the car may be less than I’m used to. Quick trips to the mall just for fun won’t happen so much with two babies, not to mention the fact that we are now going to be living much farther away from the nearest mall.

~

It’s May. Time to bring on the warm weather, m’kay, Mother Nature? I want to take my kid to the zoo before I turn into a sloth.

(pre) Nesting Mode

Everyone knows what nesting is all about. You know, the stage in pregnancy where Mama overcomes the tired, the achy, and the blah and decides to get to work and get cracking on things that need to get done to prepare for baby’s arrival. With Evalyn, I nested hard core. I arranged and rearranged her room. And then did it again (times 300). I canned approximately 492898 jars of salsa, peaches, pears, and jam. I cleaned out closets. I froze enough meals to feed my family for the first seven years of my daughter’s life. I nested, like whoa.

But so far in this pregnancy that little ol’ nesting urge has yet to appear. What I have discovered, however, is that there is another instinct that is occurring. Maybe it’s a second pregnancy thing?

This my friends, is the (pre)nesting stage. It is the stage in which you think about nesting. You write lists about the things you are going to do. You tell your husband about the things you are going to do. You plan exactly how you will do these things you are going to do.

And then? You sit on the couch and eat spinach dip.

Up until today, I’ve blamed the lack of nesting urges on the fact that I simply did not have time to nest. I was hoping that I was just pushing them away, knowing that grading and other work related junk had to come first.

And then yesterday? I finished grading my very last papers. (Insert hooray right about here). That meant work was done. It was time to move on. Evalyn was scheduled for daycare this morning since I anticipated that I’d still be working, so I figured I’d get going on all of the things that have been floating around in my head the past few weeks.

You see, although there’s not much to do to get ready for the baby him/herself, since we pretty much have everything waiting in the storage room, there is a lot to do in other areas.

Hello, crazy people who buy a house that needs may-jah renos right at the same time as having a baby.

We get the house May 31. Four weeks before baby is due. We are keeping our apartment until July 31. Four weeks after the baby is due.

Somewhere in there, I have to pack, organize and get things moved. And the husband has to replace the roof, paint the entire main floor and replace all the flooring in the house.

So, yeah. Nesting has got to happen.

My master plan is to have as much as possible packed and moved into the basement of the new house when we get possession on May 31. There is a lot we can survive without for a few weeks before the move is official. That way, I will reduce the amount of work my friends and family who will feel sorry for me I have to do after the baby comes.

But? I feel like it’s still a bit too early to really start.

So this morning? Instead of starting? I thought about starting.

I wrote lists. I made plans. I envisioned garbage bags of clothes to go to Goodwill and boxes of neatly packed and organized possessions to move to the house. I wrote a May list, a June list and a Post-Baby list highlighting all the crap that needs to be done in that time frame. And then I put the lists, all nice and neat with checkboxes beside each ‘to-do’, on the counter.

Where they will stare at me day in and day out. Taunting me to make progress.

But of course, I didn’t actually do any of the things on the list. I just thought about them. And thought about how I could get started when she went down for her nap this afternoon.

Which happened 30 minutes ago. And here I sit. On the couch, with my delicious leftover seafood alfredo, a huge glass of icy cold water, and my laptop open to Pinterest.

Welcome to (pre)nesting mode, my friends.