We Closed! We Wrote Checks! We Have Keys!

Yes, folks, you read that right!! I am typing this post in our new office {although sitting on the floor because we don't have a chair}. We are about 1% unpacked and about .02% organized.

Allena, where's the soap? I want to take a shower. Crickets...

You mean you don't know what box you packed the soap in? Crickets...

Let's see - over the past 5 days we have had stuff in:
a) our storage unit
b) our friends' garage
c) my parents' house/garage
d) my car
e) Brent's truck
f) Brent's parents' house
g) Brent's dad's truck

So no, I don't remember where the soap is! {grin}

But...BUT...BUT

WE'RE IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soap be damned!

Cue the angels singing.

Moving is not any fun - it's stressful and hard on everyone. Brent and I are both trying to remember that as Trent acts out a million times worse than usual and Drew clings to me. But we are so happy to be in our new {wonderful, beautiful, magnificent, glorious} home.

An official tour to follow...but give me some time to find the soap. {grin}

The Weekend That WASN'T

So I intended to blog tonight about how great the move was. Sure we were tired and the house would be a mess, but we would be in it! Except... 

We didn't close on Friday. Womp, womp. There was a glitch, and we got bumped to Monday. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, except we had to be out of our apartment on Saturday. So at 34, we are living with our parents. {grin} We are SO blessed to have 2 amazing sets of parents who graciously helped us move everything out of the apartment, clean, pick up our kids, fill their houses with crap, and feed/house us for a few days.

Now here's what happened over the weekend that wasn't about moving into our new house.

In Montessori you learn to write in cursive. Here's T practicing.

Love, love, love this boy.

Some friends who live in the neighborhood we're moving into graciously let us put a bunch of stuff in their garage, so Friday Brent scrambled around and found some movers to get all the big stuff into their garage. Then Saturday, it was a matter of getting everything else...somewhere.

We have split up a little - Friday night Brent slept in the apartment on an air mattress, and I had both kids at my parents'. 

Drew Baby eating her dinner where I ate many a breakfast growing up.

That girl may be cute, but she made a mess of all our sleep Friday night. She has mastered climbing out of the mini-crib at my parents, so we played musical beds for a few hours Friday night.

And again Saturday at naptime. Took me about 2 hours to get her asleep on Saturday.

Victory!

Trent was such a trooper while I battled Drew at naptime - even trying to lay with her and help her sleep. But all it does it get her excited, ha. So when Brent and Papa brought a load of stuff to store at my parents, Trent happily went back to the apartment with them. I eventually made it back over there to turn in my keys {whoop!}, help clean, and take 2 loads back to my parents. The boys stayed at Brent's parents that night and the girls stayed with my parents.

We had a super loud thunderstorm about 10:00 PM that woke up D and scared her half to death.

Pops is showing her the rain to help calm her.

More musical beds followed Saturday night {that girl!} after the storm. 

Sunday brought church, shopping with my mother-in-law for all things bathroom, and a great dinner at their house. And baaaaack to my parents for the 3rd night of the worst slumber party in history. 

I might be bummed we aren't in our new house, but I am beyond loved.

So cross your fingers everything gets righted tomorrow morning and we close!

DITL: April 15, 2015

I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last Day in the Life post, but sure enough it has been! I need to pick a weekend day next time, because I feel like my weekdays are all pretty similar.  It'll still be neat to look back at these in the years to come. {grin} If you want to participate or read other posts, head over to Julia's blog.

6:30 - Alarm goes off, and I only snoozed once. [Technically I was already awake because Brent had left by this point, but I was enjoying just laying in bed.] I'm still working towards my goal to slowly push the wake-up to 6:00 or earlier but this is not the week for stressing on that given I've been working/packing until super late. I am consistently getting up 15 minutes earlier than a few months ago, so I'm making progress! Considered taking a selfie but chose to spare you that view.

My other view instead...

6:40 - Begin getting ready. I washed my hair last night, so I needed to straighten it. The plan was to make Trent's lunch before waking the kids up, but...

7:00 - Drew is up and singing {loudly} in her bed. Go get her. She grabs 2 blankets and a tiny stuffed dog to come with us. She gets her 'milky' first thing in the morning. Haven't quite figured out how to take away the last nursing session of the day. Not going to stress about it until after we move.

2 Gurley gurls

7:20 - Go to wake up Trent. He pops up just as I go to take a picture of him sleeping. Stinker. Yes, he's sleeping without sheets. We washed them a few days ago, and I said 'to heck with it' and packed them, ha.

Blurry but has to be documented!

7:30 - Make pancakes for Trent, Drew picks granola. She won't sit at their table without me, so she sat on the counter while I made pancakes. {And by made, I mean microwave frozen pancakes.}

7:40-8:10 - Get dressed, get the kids dressed {wrangled} and in the car. I tried to get a cute picture of them sitting side-by-side, but neither child would cooperate.

Trent is being slow and living in his own world, and Drew wants to 'hold it' {meaning my phone}.

8:30 - Arrive at school. Listen to '70s music in the car {Cat Stevens and Peter, Paul, and Mary} with the windows rolled down.

My iPhone music montage

9:00-2:30 - Home and working! We are currently dealing with drama with mortgage lendor. 'We must close by April 17' meant 'April 24' to him, and they aren't ready. Um, get ready.

My day consisted of conference calls, scheduling requests, and spreadsheet building. It probably doesn't sound exciting, but I love this job SO much better than auditing. Brent says I talk all day, which is partially true, and that is RIGHT up my alley.

My workday view

I usually listen to replays of my favorite morning show.

2:30 - Leave to go get the rugrats.

2:45 - Get to school. Find out Trent had a really good day! {That makes 2 in a row, so excited!!} Tell the kids we have an errand to run, but if they are good we can get Starbucks. Trent decides we need ice cream, and Drew agrees!

3:15 - We arrive at a friend's house to get wardrobe boxes. She just moved last week into an AMAZING house. We got a tour, and the kids played with her kids and dogs. My one big regret at our house is I picked a paint color that I think is too light. Valerie has 1 shade darker of the same color family, and hers is what I thought I was getting. Womp, womp. I'll be saving my pennies to maybe someday fix...ha!

Beautiful house! {And yes, my mirror is zip-tied on. #dontask}

3:55 - Hop back in the car and head to get ice cream!

4:15 - Ice cream time! Trent wants cotton candy, and Drew wants whatever her bubba has, so 2 blue ice cream cones it is.

4:40 - The kids are starting to get wild in the store, so we load up and head home. Drew hasn't finished her cone yet, and while I know this doesn't bode well for the car ride home, I take a chance versus staying in the store while they act like feral cats.

5:00 - Get home. Brent plays golf on Wednesdays, and he left super early this morning, so this is the only window of time we'll see him. We talk about moving stuff, he plays with the kids for a bit and is gone. Drew gets a bath because she is blue. I tried to get B to take a picture with me to document that he was alive today but no dice.

Her pigtails are a little worse for the wear by the end of the day.

5:15-6:00 - The kids watch a little bit of Netflix/YouTube, play, and eat pick at dinner.

A renewed love of Rescue Bots

Moving boxes make for great building sites

6:30 - Drew comes in from the porch coloring herself with a marker. She goes back in the bathtub.

More requests to 'hold it'.

7:00-7:30 - Time to start bedtime with Drew. We read, sing, get interrupted by Trent 3 times, have a slight meltdown over actually getting in the crib, but I call her bluff {'Do you want to lay down and have mommy sing or do you want mommy to leave?' 'Leave.' 'Okay, goodnight.' Boom - that's the sound of Drew laying down ready for me to sing.}

Trying to read to this silly girl

Nope, she took the phone! She finally gets to 'hold it'!

7:30 - Trent's bedtime! I left my phone in Drew's room {which I so knew I was going to do}, so no pictures of us. But we finished reading the Magic Treehouse's first Super edition which was about a mission in World War 2. The end of the book talks about Anne Frank, and I tear-up. Trent laughs at me.

8:00-10:00 - Time for more work! I think I've blogged about this before, but since I leave early a few days a week to get the kids, I work at night to get all my hours in.  I love the flexibility I have to be able to spend more time with the kids during the day. Other than being a doula, I don't think I could ask for more, ha! Eat a bacon sandwich during this time. {We're trying to clean out the fridge and 95% of the kitchen is packed away so it's slim pickings right now.}

9:30 - Sneak into Drew's room to get my phone and take sleeping baby pics. Per usual, Drew is on her stomach or side, and Trent is on his back.

I wash her pillow once a week but girlfriend DROOLS so bad. So please don't judge me for her discolored pillow!

He isn't supposed to have squirty fruits in his room. We're prepping him for the new 'no food on carpet' rule in the new house. #busted

10:15 - Stop working. Somehow manage to waste 45 minutes playing on the internet.

11:00 - Get ready for bed. I read for about 20 minutes before putting the phone away. Reading a really interesting book right now that is making me think a lot. Can't wait to share more about it soon.

And that was our Wednesday, April 15, 2015!

My Favorites of 2014

Before we get into 2015, I wanted to look back {again, ha} at 2014. I would say overall 2014 was a great year! There is very little I can think of that happened that wasn't great. No major illnesses {thank God} and lots of positive changes for our family.

Best Book
My Outlander obsession continues! Written in My Own Heart's Blood - book 8 in the Outlander series came out this summer, and it was amazing! Seriously, these books are phenomenal!

Best Movie
I would say this is a tie. Dallas Buyers Club was amazing - it was probably my overall favorite movie. But 22 Jump Street {yes, I am serious} was so funny and IMO better than the first one that it ranks up there for me this year!

Worst Movie
Hands down - Nebraska. How this terrible film could have been nominated for Oscars is beyond me. I despised it.

Best TV Show
I spent about half the year in a Sons of Anarchy induced fog. It's a show I loved, then hated, then loved to hate. I'm not sure I would ever recommend anyone should watch this show - it is so insanely dark.  It started out all hopeful - dark but hopeful - and it just ended beyond dark. But it was definitely my favorite TV experience of the year. I had high expectations for Outlander, and it just wasn't great. The first season was split into 2 parts {coming back in April}, so hopefully the second half will be better. Here's hoping Downton Abbey is back up to snuff in season 5!

Worst Experience
'Worst' is probably not the right word - hardest might be better. Trent continues to challenge us with his behavior, but we're slowly moving forward...little by little. We have a neuropsych evaluation set for the end of February {getting that scheduled was insanely difficult} and are starting a new group therapy next week.

Best Experience
Definitely our house! I still can't believe we are building a house, and I can't wait for it to be done. Every few days 1 of us goes out there, and we are just loving the progress!

We have a roof!

Best Trip
Our trip to Colorado {part 1 and part 2}! I was a world traveler this year {okay, a national traveler} and hit up California, Florida, and Colorado. But our anniversary trip definitely took the cake!

Bring it on, 2015!

We Interrupt This Broadcast

OMG. I have 1 word, and it should be a 4-letter word. 

Moving.

We are so close to being done, and we started sleeping in the apartment last night. But there is another Goodwill stop, storage unit stop, and a ton of unpacking in my future. I will be so thankful when we are done! Only to repeat this in 7 months, ha!!

One thing that is funny/sad is Drew. Trent has adapted pretty well to the move. He has been a little more emotional (scared in his room and having a few extra fits), but Drew is just confused. Poor thing. Brent said last night she was in our bathroom with him and was spinning in circles saying 'Mama, Mama' because she didn't know how to find me! She has been extra clingy, but I get it. Hopefully in a few days we will all be sorted out! Just in time to start school. {grin}

Next week I plan to do an apartment tour, so stay tuned!!

And the Beat Heat Goes On {A Weekend Recap of Sorts}

Man. Summer started out slow here in central Texas - we made it all the way through July with ONE day above 100 degrees. Then August hit and that show was over. The 10 day forecast looks like this: H.O.T.

And we're just rocking and rolling through it all. I'm just so glad Trent has finally decided he likes to swim, ha!

Friday, we met Brent's family at a local park for a picnic and swimming because his nephew is in town from out of state. He's 19. You read that right. Brent and I have a 19 year old nephew. I met him for the first time when he was Drew's age. Man, time flies.

Saturday, Brent and I filled out the application for our apartment. Lease starts this coming Saturday. I haven't packed a thing since getting the house 'show' ready. Gulp. Brent and I both laughed that we feel like we're taking a step back in life. Mid Early 30s {I can still say that for another year, right?} and moving into an apartment with our 2 kids? But it's a really nice apartment - as big as the house I grew up in - with a great pool, fitness center, attached garage, valet trash service {what what} blah, blah, blah.

I lied - we have done exactly 1 thing considered prepping for moving - got rid of our hand-me-down dining room furniture that neither of us liked. Thanks Granny for the 8 years of furniture that got used precisely once for a sit down meal.

Today was the usual - church, grocery store, naps, etc. T is having a slumber party with my parents tonight so little sister got the run of the place.

Randomly, we figured out what the address of our new house is. I didn't realize it was on some architectural stuff. And it got me all giddy. We drove by the lot after we did our lease paperwork. It's so exciting...yet so far away still! We're setting appointments for the next week or 2 for flooring, tile, granite, lighting - the big stuff!

Drew drew {ha} on the wall with a pencil. Brent was just a wee bit perturbed given we just had the house painted. I told Drew 'no no' and she showed me every spot she drew on with a waggle of her finger and a repetitive 'no no'. Hard to be mad at that!

She made a beeline for Bubba's unoccupied room after his bath.

Home girl is in LOVE with his storm troopers that he refuses to let her touch.

I don't know about you - but that is just about my perfect weekend.

House Stuff

Things are moving along nicely with selling the house. Inspection went well, option period is up in 2 more days... But I guess I should tell you my lovely readers where we're going and why!

*Had I known we'd be taking a picture that day, I might have put on makeup. {grin}*

We're moving to another ATX suburb about 15 miles from where we are now, but we're building our dream home! We call it the 'at least until the kids are out of high school' house. We like the community better and it's closer to the kids new school. And we're 6 minutes from my sister. #winning

But as you can tell from the picture...there's no house there yet! We have a floor plan and site layout and are beginning to make selections for the interior/exterior of the house. So far it's been smooth sailing. We'll see if that continues to last!

Most likely we are moving into an apartment for 7 months. We're going to make the final decision after the option period is up. On one hand that sounds terrible {having neighbors above you and on all sides and no yard to play in etc} but on the other hand it sounds wonderful {no yard WORK, something breaks and someone else fixes it and less space to keep clean and a pool and fitness center in the complex}.

So that's the latest with the house stuff. I can't wait to share more details as we make some actual progress. And if anyone wants to help us move... TWICE... We'll gladly buy you some beer!

Some Things Aren't Meant to Last

Some interesting things happened here over the weekend...

First, we only had 1 showing on our house. But it was enough - we are under contract! I am so thankful because the thought of keeping our house show ready for months was not a pleasant one. The 10-day option period starts tomorrow...wish us luck! Now if we can just find a place to live...hmmm...

Second, Trent found a tiny frog in the yard that was his 'pet' on Saturday. Trent was so excited and even named the frog after himself.

Meet Trent with Trent {grin}

Unfortunately, Sister loved poor TJG #2 a little too much. And he became ant food Saturday afternoon. I don't think she necessarily squeezed him too hard, I honestly think that poor frog went into shock from all the love.

I seriously can't look at these pictures without laughing. Does that make me a bad mom? Trent cried for about 6.2 seconds and then was on to the next thing. #upsidetoADHD?

So in a nutshell we sold a house and killed a frog. Productive weekend, no?

Big Day!

I woke up today knowing we had 1 big thing happening...

I wasn't expecting this one! 

Can you guess which one I find more exciting?