9 weeks.

In nine short weeks the kids and I pack up and leave*. It seems so soon - especially because I am not ready! Lots of sorting, purging and packing left to do to start doing. Two and half years ago when we moved into this rental home it felt as if this day would never come...and now it is nearly here! Seriously where does the time go?!

But before we leave I want to document this house. Our {rental} home. It is nothing grand. And it certainly isn't very beautiful. In fact it's quite small and ordinary and dated. But it has been our home. And that is worth recording in my opinion. 

It was the home in which we went from a family of four to a family of five. It is where my little boy became a big kid. An elementary student. It's where my toddler became a big sister and a ballerina. It's where I re-learned how to be a full time stay at home mom. It's where my husband studied and learned how to be a doctor. It's where my baby first rolled over, crawled and took her first steps. 

These four walls have contained so much life in them. Our life as a young family. We have stretched and grown in ways I never thought possible when we first moved in. So many memories. The house I will forever associate with medical school and Hannah's infancy. Some of the best times of my life. And some of the hardest. All wrapped up in one small 1960s ranch-style home. 

[Just a warning. This is our real house. In its mostly natural state. I did not stage anything. I may have tidied a thing or two up. But mostly I left it "as is".  Be prepared to be underwhelmed!]

 

*Entryway/Living Room*

[view of living room from the entryway]

 

[view of entryway from the living room]

 

 

*Dining Room*

 

 

*Playroom*

[I included this picture because I liked the message on the etch-a-sketch]

 

 

*Kitchen*

 

 

*Hallway*

 

 

*Isaiah's Bedroom*

 

 

*Bathroom*

 

 

*Master Bedroom*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Charlotte & Hannah's Room* 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not pictured is the basement, which includes our guest "room", my sewing/crafting corner, more toys, laundry room/Joe's "office" and a storage room. Oh and I am missing a picture of the actual house...from the outside! I completely forgot to take that picture. Oops. One of these days I will add it.

 

 

*The kids and I will be leaving two weeks earlier than Joe in order to give him quality, uninterrupted, non-distracted study time before his second boards exam! Besides we have fun things in Minnesota to do in June. Can't wait around for boring old tests to be taken:)

 

This is my last post about moving (until the actual move).  I promise. I will be back to my regular scheduled rambling shortly:) Thanks for tolerating all my complaining and sentimental thoughts this week. I appreciate it. 

 

I don't like change.

(And a bunch of other whining.)

I don't like change. Especially big changes. Oh like moves and new schools and new routines. I really dislike starting over. Re-establishing our family. All of which are lurking in my not-so-distant future. It leaves me with a sense of impending doom. Especially when I am feeling content in my current circumstances. And right now I like where we are at. It seems like we have just hit our groove here. Almost three years in. Yes, I am a slow adapter. And now it's all about to change. And I don't like that. Not one little bit. 

The funny thing is, this will be our 9th (or is it our 10th?!) move in our (nearly) 11 years of marriage. One would think I would be good at this sort of thing by now. Not so much. I still dread it as much as that first move. Maybe more. 

All of this dread has left me feeling BLAH. And feeling BLAH is not conducive to being a good mother. Not to mention I have ZERO motivation to start getting us ready to move. (Unless of course you count researching moving trucks as a start. Because I did that last night instead of getting the kids ready for bed.) Not a single box has been packed yet!

And the worst part about this move is there are still so many unknowns. I know where and when we will be moving. Kind of. We will move our stuff to my in-laws' garage. Then the kids and I have a couple weeks of fun summer events planned (in Minnesota). Joe takes his board exam and then...

Well that's where the plans end. Not for a lack of trying to plan. We have tried. Joe has applied for rotations. We have dreamed and planned. Planned and dreamed. And yet we essentially know next to nothing about our schedule for the 12 months following our move. Erg. It's all these unknowns that are eating away at me. Are we going to be together as a family next summer? Or will the kids and I stay with my parents while Joe travels? I DON'T KNOW. What state will we be in in July? And August? And September? I DON'T KNOW. Blah. 

This morning I snuck away to shower (& dress) while the girls were happily playing doll house in the living room. Ten minutes later I returned to find them in the kitchen "having a snack". Yogurt. And peanut butter. And Kix. And tortilla chips. And craisins. All mixed together and slathered all over themselves and the kitchen floor! Typically I find these type of shenanigans entertaining. Under normal circumstances I would snap a picture of them and text it to Joe so he could enjoy it as well. Not so much this time. This time I was just annoyed. Annoyed that I had a mess to clean up and annoyed that I had opted not to shave my legs. Three minutes more in the bathroom wouldn't have made a difference. I would have still had a mess to deal with BUT no hairy ankles peeking out from my high-water/ankle-length/cropped pants. Blah. 

And the thing is, we have a lot of fun things to look forward to before the move. Grandma Cyndy is visiting this weekend. And Isaiah has his first chess tournament. The kids and I will spend Easter with my family. And I have a concert with friends in the city to attend! Charlotte's dance recital is next month. Oh and we have a wedding to attend (without kids!).  All good stuff. I need to focus on these things. Not the move. 

Because my life is good.

Example: our thoughtful & generous friends came and shampooed our carpets for us!

And my life is funny. 

Example: just 24 hours after the carpets were cleaned, one of my children peed on them in their sleep! 

I was going to continue to whine a bit more. Mostly about a certain stubborn and frequently screaming 20 month old. But I will save that for another time. Instead I will end with this...

Hannah's permanent marker masterpiece!

Update: I found a preschool for Charlotte for next year. Which feels really good. Yes, we still plan on traveling but at least I know one thing about our new schedule (while we are at my parents' house). The price is right and so is the location. Three afternoons a week. It will be good for her (and me) to have a little separation. Because the next year she starts kindergarten! 

the nitty gritty (of "spring" break)

We had a fabulous week. Too much too mention it all, but there are some highlights (and a few lowlights) that I just didn't want to forget. So in sequential order here they are:

• We stopped at the zoo on the way there and ate lunch with an Aardvark. Isaiah thought this was fabulous! 

Part rat. Part pig. (According to Isaiah)

 

• Hannah was far less impressed. Which meant she stayed in her stroller for the duration of the zoo expedition. This arrangements was just fine by this outnumbered and weary traveling mama.

 

 

• Eventually we made it to our destination. I was thrilled to be there! So were the big kids. Unfortunately Hannah was TERRIFIED of our friends' ferocious guard dog...and cried much of the first evening:(  In theory dogs are Hannah's favorite animal. Not so much in reality.

 

• We moms treated ourselves to crafting and playing cards (and a few snacks) after the kids went to bed each night. And this time we made something for ourselves. EARRINGS. Oh and we talked baby names. My favorite subject! Seriously a perfect post kid bedtime evening in my opinion.

Aren't they fun?

Metal cutouts (ie filigree) can be found at Swanky Adornments.

(And they are super cheap and easy to make! I promise.)

• I had the opportunity to meet TWO online friends/people I stalk but do not actually know. Yes, it was awkward (at first). But FUN. And encouraging. And good. They are both married to medical residents and have walked this life I am living now. I just wish our visits had been longer. That and I wish Hannah had not thrown an entire roll of toilet paper in the (used but not flushed) toilet at McDonalds during one of the meet-ups. I could have lived without THAT experience!

• I also was able to reconnect with many real friends. That was good too. But it makes me want to move back. Like tomorrow. Which isn't happening. Charlotte's highlight of all these reconnections was my friend's fancy toilet paper. She thought it was "so pretty" with it's imprinted butterflies. So pretty she had to call me in and show me! Glad I didn't miss that detail:)

• Sleeping all together in one room can be quite an adventure. The last night there I woke to Charlotte crying for help at some time in middle of the night. The exact time? My best guess: half past dark o'clock. And most definitely too early to get up! I turned on the bedside lamp and the bulb immediately burnt out. Such a bummer. So in total darkness I stumbled to help her on the air mattress. She wasn't there. Instead I found her with her head wedged under my bed, completely stuck! I wiggled her out and re-settled her in bed. All without waking her siblings! She still claims her head was stuck under our suitcase. It wasn't. Just stuck between the tile floor and bed:) No real damage done. 

• I love THREE YEAR OLDS. They are just the cutest ever.

These picture were spontaneous.

Just a couple three year olds being adorable!

• And their creativity makes me happy. Charlotte and her partner-in-crime...errr...I mean playmate, decided his closet was an airplane and they were going to visit grandma and grandpa...as baby Jesus and his mommy. Too much cuteness!! And sweetness. 

• The last day, during our last hour (of our five day visit) Hannah decided she actually liked the dog and pet him! She was proud of herself. If only that had happened sooner in the week! That would have been helpful.

• On the way home I missed the exit to avoid the tollways (because a certain boy child of mine was whining for MORE FOOD and I wasn't paying attention to the road). When I was paying the toll ($2.80!!!) Charlotte asked what I was doing. I tried my best to explain the (ridiculous) system. In the end I told her it was like a ride at an amusement park and she better enjoy it!  She wasn't impressed. And neither was I when I had to pay another 90¢ to exit!

She did however entertain me with knock knock jokes. 

C: Knock Knock. 

Me: Who's there?

C: Tree. 

Me: Tree who?

C: Aren't you glad you didn't go to the grocery store? (Uncontrollable 3 year old laughter here.) 

Me:

Isaiah: That doesn't even make sense! Charlotte why are you laughing? It isn't even funny. 

C: (continues to laugh)

• Oh and that snow that was in the forecast? It arrived the morning we were making our departure. Ugh. I was sad to leave friends but happy to leave the snow behind. 

• Joe did a great job of buckling down and being the studious med student while we were gone. I just wish he had taken a break to scrub our filthy floors! Maybe next time:) However I was pleasantly surprised to discover how little dirty laundry he produced while we were gone. 5 undershirts. 5 pairs of socks. 5 pairs of underwear. That's it. Surgery has its perks. Mainly less laundry for me!

Today we decided to forgo naps and visited daddy on L&D.

Sugar was a good substitute for sleep until this evening.

Then we all fell apart...

Spring Break!

The kids and I busted out on our own for the week! We escaped our cold and gloomy spring...for the cold, gloomy and snowy spring in Minnesota! The forecasts is predicting 2-4 inches of snow over the next 2 days. Ha. So much for a sunny spring break.

But we couldn't care less about the less than ideal weather because we are hanging out with our best friends all week!! Weather be darned, we are having FUN. These people graciously opened their home to us with very little notice for an entire week. Those are some good friends.

And since our grand arrival* on Monday evening we have been having a great time. Celebrating Easter (a tad early), eating like kings and queens, crafting, chatting, playing, playing and more playing. Plus trying to get a little sleep too (but there is just isn't enough time in the day for that). Spending time with these people, my people, feels so right. They know me and love me (and my sometimes ornery children). The kids are having a blast, but I think I am the one benefiting the most from this break from our regular life. I mean I am still feeding, bathing, dressing, and caring for my children of course but alongside friends it just seems...better! Enough prattle. Here are a few snapshots from our trip thus far:

Joe of course is back home holding down the fort, learning about gyn surgery and studying like a good medical student. He gets to have all the fun. Lucky guy.



*It was grand but not in a good way. I had two crying inconsolable girls on my hands...our friends probably regretted opening their home to us, but they acted like it was completely normal and made us feel completely welcome despite our atrocious behavior.