Happy Anniversary, Baby!

So, today marks our 4th wedding anniversary. It's crazy that it's gone by so fast! There were days and times that didn't, of course, but looking back over it all? Speedy quick.

Those of you who were there for me 4 years ago while we dated, after he proposed, when things looked shaky, and when they were grand, thanks. For those of you who weren't, well, today is a look back on those days, so you can feel cool too!

In March 2006, I was told I needed open-heart surgery for a heart condition I'd had since birth but didn't know it. We scheduled it for July 6 of that year, around my family's reunion so that I could have lots of help afterward. Just after that, Virgil asked DisGrace if I'd ever go on a date with a Samoan, not knowing the husband is Tongan. I said sure, but I wasn't looking for anything serious. hahahahaha. The same day Virgil asked the husband about it, the husband's dad told him he needed to go on a date. With a girl. So the husband instantly said yes, just to get his dad off his back.

We went on our first date April 8, 2006. Blind date with DisGrace and Virgil (and Dizzy) along for the ride. It was a lot of fun and he asked for my phone number. He texted me a few days later to see if I'd go out with him again.

The next weekend, I took him Easter shopping for his daughter -- she was living with him at the time, and Easter is a big deal to me, so we made her an Easter basket! We had dinner that night, too, and he threw a shrimp tail down my shirt. Accidentally, or so he said.

We watched movies at the condo the next weekend, which is where we shared our first kiss.

I'd kissed plenty of guys before, at least in the double digit range, though definitely not a LOT of men. But kissing him was something different. It was electrifying and rocked my world. We still have great kisses, but I remember that one specifically. It was that powerful.

The next day? Yeah, he asked me to marry him. I told him maybe, that I needed to think about it. I think on some level I knew we'd get married, but I was still freaking out about my heart. I went back and forth and remember telling Steph that I didn't think I loved him, and she countered with, "I don't understand why you think you don't." haha.

Another powerful moment occurred when Kiddo asked me if I was going to marry him, and I said I didn't know. We were on the swings at the park by our condo, and I almost fell off of mine. "Did you pray about it?" She asked me. I said yes, I had, but didn't have an answer yet. "I bet if you're really quiet, Heavenly Father will give you an answer."

I think he just had. I finally said yes on Memorial Day.

At the end of June 2006, his daughter was taken back to California to live with her mother. That was really hard -- we'd planned on being a family of four, and suddenly we didn't know if or when we'd see her again. Just a week later, I was checking into the hospital for my surgery.

My husband (then fiance) drove me to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. We got me all checked in and my parents came to spend some time with me/us. I had a bunch of lab work done that day, and then spent the night in the hospital. The nurses gave me Valium so I could sleep, and put up a cot for the husband to share the room with me. We watched some lame movie and tried to sleep. I had to get up very early the next morning and shower with Hibiclens (a surgical prep), and then they got me ready for surgery and took me off to the OR.

My mom said when I came out of the OR, I was asking for the fiance. Not her. I'm sure that hurt her feelings. Sorry Mom. When I realized he'd stayed the whole time, and when I asked him to stay and he did (trying to sleep on uncomfortable cots and benches in the ICU waiting area), I was relieved that he really wanted to be with me! Like the whole 3 months previously had been a joke or something.

Eight weeks later, we were married.

I wish I could say everything has been easy, but it hasn't. There have been some very bad, very dark times in these last 4-1/2 years. But there have been some amazing times and wonderful times and even just so-so moments as well. Even though our life isn't perfect, we are happy and our kids are happy ... and we're getting back on our feet.

Thanks for reading my reminiscing, dear readers. There will be some changes on the blog going forward, which I'm excited to tell you about very soon.

Dead Computers Aren't Much Fun

Yes, I use an antivirus. So does the husband. But we've had both computers in the compooper hospickle this week for viruses. Loverly.

I have 176 unread items in my reader. Sorry. I'm going to have to pick and choose what I get to, since I have a LOT to do this weekend!

We got rid of a fridge, a dresser, two mattresses, an entertainment center, 3 broken chairs, and a wrecked side table today. Thanks to Virgil and Lu. I spent my "chore time" today bleaching the inside of the fridge, so the rest of the house has gone to pot. Hopefully I can get a bit of it picked up ... and finish the mending DisGrace sent home with me (because I have Mom's sewing machine). And then I can finish the diaper bag I started the other day! And maybe get Bitty's quilt sandwiched!

OH! Kristina asked if I really can make diapers. Yes, I can sew cloth diapers. I don't love doing it, but I can! If the end of the world comes tomorrow, at least my babies' butts will have cute fluff on them. Even if the rest of us go nekkid.

I have sick babies.

Maybe I shouldn't have celebrated church nursery success quite so much last week. Little Mister got sick and has been more than a handful this week. He's also gotten everyone else in the family sick. Including the baby. Though my being sick seems to be just starting. Woooo!

Baby girl coughed so loud last night, she woke him up. Payback!

The husband says he'll go to church by himself ... Hope so.

In other news, my mom loaned me her sewing machine that lives here locally. I hemmed 7 pairs of pants that night and have made 3 shirts for Little Mister. Who may or may not be called Stitch from here on out.

I believe Stitch was created by someone with a busy, naughty, destructive (not intentionally) 2-year-old. Stitch was programmed to destroy things. So are 2-year-olds.

I'll see if I can get some decent cell phone shots of the shirts later on.

My ankle is feeling much better, and I am still being a good girl and wearing my brace when I'm awake.

Stitch is trying to help. I'd better save the baby and the computer.

I'm Broken

Not exactly broken. How about torn? My ankle has been hurting for a while and swelling not going away. Driving makes it worse. Walking makes it worse. Standing makes it worse. It's really bad when the 2-year-old hangs on it. So I went (driving) to the store yesterday (walking) and bought a cheap wrap (standing) so I could put it up (hanging on it). I also called the podiatrist and made an appointment for today because that is just not okay.

He asked me to tell him how I injured it. Is it so sad that I could not remember what I'd done to it? I remember that I'd twisted it twice last week while packing and cleaning the condo, but I couldn't recall specifics of the injury.

They took x-rays and it's not broken, but the ligaments are torn. Awesome. I have a (more expensive) brace now and instructions to stay off of it for a few weeks, and to go back if I'm not better in a month. Perfect.

To add insult to injury (ha) I finally remembered how I did it. I stepped on the mini trampoline to step over a gate to get behind it, only I slid while I was stepping. That prompted me to move the trampoline, gate, and couch. Then, while I was taping boxes closed, I stepped into the middle of a roll of packing tape. Awesome, eh? I am a klutz.

I'd take pictures of my swollenness, but my son broke my camera this morning. I don't know if it's fixable.

And I broke my sewing machine the other night. Pardon me while I go cry in my Coke.

Couponing

I have to get back to this. After getting the bath and kitchen unpacked, I realized I haven't had to buy toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, hand soap, dish soap, etc., for MONTHS. And I still have some in the cupboards! The stuff that's down there I got for pennies on the dollar. Gotta get back to it so I'm not running out and paying full price in emergencies.

Off to bed now. Babies are sleeping and I should be too.

Churchy stuff

One of our goals when we moved was to go to church every Sunday, as a family, no matter how tired the husband is. (unless we're sick.) Oh, and we knew we wouldn't go that first Sunday, the day after we moved and still didn't know where our clothes were. So, we've all gone the last two weeks. Little Mister ran right into nursery the first day and didn't look back at all. Before, he freaked out if I left him in there. He'd scream for 15-20 minutes, and I'd go back and get him. It was horrible. Kiddo has actual girls her age, enough for their own class, and there are quite a few young women and enough young men to bless and pass the sacrament! That's a first for me since I moved back to Utah 7-1/2 years ago -- I've been in wards where the elders had to do it. And the husband is actually enjoying being in church and learning and not feeling judged.

I'm not saying our last ward was bad by any means. I loved it there. I miss my friends. But I think maybe all the financial difficulties we've had were partly so we'd get out of there and find a ward that is better suited our entire family.

Oh ... California finally fixed the child support problem, so they are no longer double garnishing us. Sweet.

Must go put on the wrap so I can wear the baby and get a few boxes unpacked/sorted/tossed.

I'm an Addict

I'm addicted to creating. I didn't realize how bad it has been, my jonesing for something to create, until I decided enough was enough and dug through the garage tonight, getting the sewing machine and a box of unfinished projects out.

The one thing I decided I don't really enjoy sewing anymore is diapers. Which amuses me, since that's what I started sewing after a long hiatus. Too bad so sad, I have too much diaper making fabric (albeit at the storage unit for the moment) to not make them for the kids. And maybe sell some.

I've been trying to think of something to make for our landlady, who is expecting a baby in October.

I haven't sewn much of anything for over a month ... I pulled out the skirt I started for Kiddo that matches Bitty's green ladybug dress. I put the waistband on backwards. Brilliant. Made friends with my seam ripper again and took it off, then put it back on correctly and hemmed the skirt. It took about an hour to finish, even with the flub, and now I'm going to finish matching pants for Little Mister. maybe we'll even get a picture of the 3 kids in their matching outfits sometime soon! I had this vision in my head of them all wearing them at the hospickle when we brought home Bitty, but obviously that didn't happen! lol

Well, it's done!

We've moved out entirely. Finally. I need to go get contracts signed for the renter next week and then she gets to clean and move in and get it ready to sell.

As we were leaving yesterday after we finished packing (finally), one of our neighbors stopped by. He is an older gentleman who grew up in the same town as my dad. He and his wife are just wonderful and I'm going to miss them a lot. But Kiddo is really going to miss him -- he always gives 5 to the kids at church, and he teased her every Sunday by calling her any and every name of different animals but the one she's actually named after. Yesterday, when he called her Bird and said, "You're my favorite girlfriend." ... she started bawling. I followed shortly thereafter. But today we finished moving everything out.

One of the newer neighbors whom I've never met came outside while our kids were playing today. My the family loaded the rest of the stuff in the van while we talked a bit. Their kids were so excited to see my kids out there, they HAD to come out. He volunteered to take a truckload over to DI for us. So we loaded up his truck with DI stuff, Virgil's van with trash (he took it to the dump), and the moving van with everything else.

As I did the final walk through today to make sure we had everything, I tried really hard to hold it together, but gut wrenching sobs still escaped me. I'm just glad I left the kids downstairs while I looked around!

I remember moving in with Kiddo and being so excited to have our own space. I remember sharing my first kiss with the husband on the couch in the living room (his friends decided they wanted the couch and came and got it today). I remember the fire the husband started on our balcony before we got married. I remember our wedding day and settling in as a family. I remember moving my office out of its room so his daughter could visit us there. And that's the last time we've seen her. I remember JapanBoy's visit with his family, dinners with my parents, date nights at home with the husband, bringing my babies home from the hospital ... the scary things, the fun things, the exciting things, the sad things ... I still have all of those memories, but it was really hard to leave today.

But I am looking forward to making new memories in our new place. Once I've unpacked a zillion boxes and purged more stuff.

Friday Fave Five!

1. KC helping out packing Kiddo's room yesterday. Kiddo and I were both overwhelmed with it, and I couldn't really maneuver around in it at all while I was pregnant or wearing the baby, so it really was a huge help to have her handle it.

2. Got the paperwork turned over to the buyer for the condo. Now it's just a waiting game. We'll be out this weekend and have a renter moving in for a couple of months next week, who will do the deep cleaning, stage the house for showing, and pay the HOA dues as her rent. Good deal for her, and I don't have to do the deep cleaning myself, so I never have to go back to the house!

3. I picked up a Bissell SpotBot recently because, well, with a toddler with poosplosions and renting a place to live, we decided we needed something to deal with the leaks besides just me and elbow grease. It got out red NyQuil the husband spilled at the condo the year we were married. Not kidding. It also got rid of the poop messes from the other night at the rental, and the spaghetti sauce mess from Kiddo, so hey, it's doing its job! Plug it in, turn it on, and a few minutes later, you are stain free.

4. Bitty is 2 months old this week! She's such a great baby -- usually very easy going and sleeps well. She's smiling more this week and flirting with me and Kiddo, and sitting nicely with Daddy. She gets mad when Little Mister climbs on us though. And I don't blame her. He's a rough and tumble boy!

5. Kiddo has been babysitting a lot and is usually doing a great job. She's having a hard time with all the changes right now, as are the rest of us, and she's still pretty patient with me and with Little Mister. Yesterday when I had to run to the bank, I managed to sneak out and get back before he noticed I was gone, leaving the kids home for 5 minutes by themselves. Successfully! Bitty was asleep and the other two were watching a movie. Kiddo was pretty proud of herself for handling that quick trip alone, and I am proud of her, too.

15 Things I Learned Today

1. The doctor's office will not have the correct essential medical testing equipment when you go in for the second time in 2 weeks because they didn't have it at all the first time. They assure you they have it two days earlier on the phone, so you go in and wait. For a long time. While being texted every 2-3 minutes by your 11-year-old. They will have ordered something you can't possibly use because it's made of latex, to which you are allergic, and which the doctor's entire staff knows. They will have to track down a silicone version instead and call you when it comes in. This item in silicone is something they've never heard of, so you're wondering if this is really ever going to work. This appointment lasted nearly 90 minutes. Last time's was over an hour as well. If the next visit fails again, I'm billing them for my time.

2. Toddlers will poop and give themselves diaper rash when Mom accidentally took ALL of the diapers and wipes with her to the doctor's appointment.

3. Relief Society presidents and friends are fabulous to come through with diapers and wipes and bring them to the 11-year-old and 15-year-old babysitting the 2-year-old. The girls still had to change him though.

4. 15-year-olds will take what you say literally. When you say, "Just put together boxes and put Kiddo's stuff in them," they will pack everything in boxes. Even trash. (But you won't care *much* because it got done and you didn't have to do it! and you can fix it while you help Kiddo unpack.)

5. Adolescent girls will come up with ways to get paid in ways you never imagined for helping around the house. We are probably minus a bunk bed and mattress, and will need to get Kiddo a new frame for a twin bed. lol At least it will fit in her room better.

6. My car locks automatically as soon as you turn the key, whether the engine turns over or not, and that is something you should tell people who have your keys. KC didn't know that and locked us out of the car.

7. Husbands will come to your rescue.

8. Husbands don't like being called multiple times when they're driving in heavy traffic.

9. When you feel like you need to check your bank account before you leave for the day, you'd better do it or you will find out later that an unexpected bill came through the account the day before and you are now in the hole by over $100. And they aren't done charging their NSF fees.

10. Zions Bank will post cash deposits the same day, even after 5.

11. Zions Bank is about 2 blocks from our new place.

12. Husbands don't like being told, "It's leftover night," when they didn't like the dinner in the first place (hence the reason there were leftovers).

13. When Mommy is grouchy, kids cry and husbands hide.

14. The husband's computer has a new virus on it. I wish he'd quit reading manga.

15. Moving is hard on 11-year-olds, too.

Little Mister Has an Attitude Problem

So, one of his favorite foods is French fries, and during the week leading up to the move and during it, he had more of them than normal ... and his diapers got grosser and grosser. He had poosplosions twice a day and just wasn't feeling well. I finally realized that whenever he had them, he was doing worse, so we cut out potatoes and things improved dramatically. He misses them and asks every time we leave the house. It's pretty sad.

Well, the other day there was a rain storm. I *love* walking in the rain and wanted to head out in it, but even I am not crazy enough to do so with a toddler and a new baby. So we went for a quick drive instead, and I drove with my window open so I could still feel the rain. I was suffering from a major caffeine withdrawal headache and, though I plan to get off the sauce in the next couple of weeks, wasn't prepared to head into a busy weekend with that headache to start it off. It happened to be Happy Hour, so we headed to Sonic for a vanilla Coke.

I also ordered ice cream.

Little Mister was excited when I asked if he wanted ice cream. "Ice ceam? Ice ceam? Uh, sure!" (which is how he answers most yes/no questions if the answer is yes.) (oh, and while he can't drink milk, he can still eat cheese and ice cream without problems.)

Then he asked for "fwen fie." I said, "No, I didn't order any French fries. They make your tummy sick, remember?"

He grunted. And then said, "Stupid."

Yeah, dude. Food allergies are stupid.

What I'm Grateful For Part Two

At the second hardware store last week, I saw a former neighbor of mine. She didn't look like she'd changed at all in the 13 years since we met! Not fair. We only talked for a few minutes, but she did tell me she'd divorced the guy she was married to when I lived next door to her. Oy. He was SUCH a flirt and said inappropriate things all the time to me back then, both before and after I married my ex-husband, though it was worse before. I always felt bad for her, because I knew if I'd said yes, he would have cheated in a heartbeat. Shortly before she left him, I'd run into him at Hollywood Video and, foolishly, gave him my number. He called me a few days later for a booty call. Yeah ... Even though I was single at the time, it was not going to happen. MEN. He never called again.

Not that I'm glad they divorced, but I am glad she's no longer in that situation where her husband disrespected her so publicly. She was always such a sweetie and deserved oh so much more.

Guess what? So did I.

Dentists and Tithing

I took the kids to the dentist today. While we were waiting, I heard the gal at the desk talking about all the dental work another family needed -- 4 girls, all needing tons of it done, and quite expensively at that. I just kept thinking, man if we have to do dental work the rest of the year, we're up a creek because our flex spend is gone after having the baby.

So we went back and both kids are cavity free. YAY!!

As we left, a thought came to my mind. "This is one of the blessings from paying your tithing."

I'm not saying that other family didn't pay theirs (they are LDS), but that this specifically is a blessing we had this dentist visit because we'd paid ours.

We'll see how things look next week for the husband and I. I have a couple of sensitive teeth, so while I hope I won't have to have anything done, I'm not counting on it.

But I'll still pay my tithing.

What I'm Grateful For

At one of the hardware stores last week, Little Mister was freaking.out. I picked him up and carried him off to the registers to pay, and when I put him down, he grabbed the neck of my shirt and pulled it down with him, completely exposing my left bra cup. The cashier laughed and said, "It's not like any of us have never had anything like that happen before."

It later occurred to me to be grateful for 3 things:
1. The cashier was female and understanding.
2. I was actually wearing a bra.
3. I had actually done up the nursing hook after feeding the baby before we left, or she would have gotten more than an eyeful.

USCIS

United States something something something ... That's where we spent part of Wednesday last week.

The husband's permanent resident card came up for renewal this year, so we sent them some money and they sent us a letter saying he had to go in for "biometrics" on August 4 at 11 a.m. and if he didn't show up, his application would be denied. Well then.

We took the older kids to DisGrace's house and ran away. We had to drive about an hour to get to the office. I was under the impression that there was to be an interview because of how his family talked about it at our last visit with them. Not so much.

There was a sign on the door saying cell phones, cameras, recording devices, etc., were prohibited and if you were caught with one, you'd be removed from the premises. The husband and I turned off our phones and went in. He handed the security guard his letter and green card, and we sat for about 20 minutes. Then the receptionist called him up, gave him more instructions, and gave him a number. About 10 minutes later, he was called back for the biometrics stuff.

The baby was sleeping but I knew I'd need to feed her while we were there or she would not be happy. The husband didn't want me to nurse in public (NIP) because he thought I could be arrested. Um, no, there are laws protecting breastfeeding moms from being harrassed. So, while the husband was off getting his fingerprints and pictures, I moved to a corner and nursed her under a blanket.

About 5 minutes after we sat down initially, however, I noticed the giant sign on the guard's desk, reiterating the "no phone" rule. Then I noticed the security guard playing on his iPhone.

If it hadn't been illegal of me to do so, I would've taken a picture.

Part the Sixth

We did get her registered, and we ended up having to go to the old place to take the trash out, and I quickly gathered up some things that we were missing (silverware, for one). While there, we discovered that the solution for the leak from the HOA president was to just turn off the water to the condo. YAY! No potty and no washing hands available!

After we left there, we grabbed lunch and went to the bank, then off to the cell phone store for Kiddo’s birthday present (which made her year) and I was due for an upgrade. Then we headed home to let the internet folks in. After they left, we had ice cream at Cold Stone with DisGrace and her spawn, and then back to the apartment so the landlords could get it appraised for their refi. Then we went to Subway and picked up dinner. After we’d eaten and Little Mister went to bed, Lu dropped by for a load of empty boxes and helped me move the furniture around (which the husband doesn’t like and wants it back how it was), and Kiddo said I could go to the store and leave her home with a sleeping Little Mister.

I got about 10 blocks away before I had to come home because she was freaking out at being left home alone. Which is about how I figured the first attempt at her babysitting alone would go.

Which is why I still have no router. And I’m out of baby wipes. And we’re out of milk.

Up next: Immigration! WOOOOOOO!!!

Old School Movie Night

Since we unearthed the VHS player and all the videos, I'm watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Adam is an idiot.

Who on earth would really think "one woman is pretty much like the next," or that kidnapping girls to marry his brothers is a fanTABulous idea?

yeah ... I still like parts of the movie. Dance and fight scenes particularly. And it will always remind me of Japan Boy and the summer we spent memorizing the script and score.

It's actually the same video we watched all that summer, and it's pretty worn out. I think I need to get on in DVD just so next time I'm in the mood, I can watch it without worrying the tape will break.

Part the Fifth

Monday morning, I got up with the kids and went to two hardware stores to find the stuff to make the dryer hose work. We also stopped at the Hostess outlet store down the street and bought bread and donuts. Brought the stuff home to the husband, who decided to keep sleeping, and I went to bed with the babies. We woke up around the time the husband did, and he went to work on the dryer. It finally (!) all worked correctly, so he got our appliance dolly (man I'm glad he bought that a few months ago) and moved the washer in.

The cold water faucet started leaking badly as soon as he turned it on.

Around this time, we also realized we hadn't had very hot water since Saturday night, when I took a shower.

So I called the landlady and she called her husband. He told her he'd actually turned off the gas to the water heater on Friday night to let off a bug bomb. The apartment had been vacant for a month because they held it for us, and it grew bugs. Anyway. He said he would come fix it after work. He got home a couple of hours later, which was a couple of hours early for him, and he took care of the water heater but had to go find "guts" (his word) to the faucet.

When I realized that the water heater had not, in fact, been heating for 24 hours before my shower Saturday night, I realized that the Lord must have known how desperately I needed that shower, because there was plenty of water for a longish shower. Thankfully.

Finally, finally, around 5 o'clock Monday, the landlord was able to get the water all fixed up so we could start washing clothing. By 10:30 that night, I had washed 5 loads, and dried and put away 4 of them. The dryer was drying things much, much faster than before, probably because of all the lint I'd cleaned out of it!

Monday, the husband also told me his CPAP machine was overheating, so I called the medical supply company. They told me I needed to take it to them, get a rental for $25 a month, and they'll send it back to the manufacturer to find out how much it will cost us to fix or replace. Because we're made of money and all that.

Things seemed like they were finally settling down at that point ... And then we realized Tuesday was Kiddo's birthday, she had to get registered for school that day, and the internet and cable folks were supposed to come over that afternoon to get us all hooked up. That left no time to go clean or finish packing the old place. *sigh* So much for having a plan.

Part the Fourth

In keeping with our fabulous weekend, our furniture doesn't really fit in the living room. Especially the entertainment center. It's too tall. It's been living in our garage with the VCR for 18 months, so we are just going to get rid of the entertainment center. So, Sunday evening (yes, breaking the Sabbath), I was desperate for a break from all the commotion and took the kids to Walmart while the husband was sleeping. We looked at entertainment centers and TV stands and didn't find a thing I liked or wanted to pay for and lug with all the kids with me. I did purchase a few other things, like new hampers for our huge piles of dirty laundry since the dryer still wasn't hooked up, and the washer was still taking up the dining room/kitchen. And I bought a small upholstery steam cleaner so I could clean up the couches Lu gave us. Plus Little Mister has been having poosplosions almost every day lately. I'm thinking something in his diet is bugging his tummy, so we're cutting out things again to see. *sigh* We had to buy more shorts for him over the weekend because we couldn't get them washed.

When we got home, I put the TV on a small side table I had from a million years ago and put the VCR on top of it. It is working for now, and the kids are thrilled they have "new" movies to watch. Kiddo has been watching all of her favorites from when she was little. Awww. I tried to put the dryer hose on but it wasn't working. At all. I left it to the husband to take care of when he got up. He couldn't make it work either. Fantabulous. I did vacuum out the bottom of the dryer and the front of it where the lint trap is, as well as the "hose" which is really stiff/flexible aluminum. A LOT of lint came out of all of that.

I should mention here that all around this, I've been unpacking and organizing and moving stuff around the new place so that we feel like it's home. Little Mister loves the new "house," which is what Kiddo told him it was, and he seems to have adjusted just fine. Kiddo loves having a smaller room and less cwap. It's easier to keep it clean. Derrrrr. The husband loves the kitchen, and we're loving the set up for him to have a darker, quieter room, and me sharing with the babies mostly. That wouldn't work for every marriage but it's helping ours because he's less grumpy with the kids, both of us have nice beds to sleep in, and I'm not angry because of his grouchiness or his sleep being off making my schedule off. Haha. Plus, when I do want to sleep without a toddler, I can and do still sleep in the other room. Yep, I'm the one living in limbo. Wooooo!

We gave up on the washer that night with the plan to head to the hardware store Monday morning. Yay for having a plan!

how about a birth control post?

I went to give the husband the afternoon dose of his Depakote and when I got back, Little Mister was being a little too quiet. So I asked if he was okay. "yeah. color."

"are you coloring on paper?"

"uh ... shoe."

my lime green crocs are now decorated with black ink. awesome.

Part the Third

Sunday, Virgil came back over and helped unload the truck. I'd been able to bake biscuits and made eggs and sausage for "Stewbert McMuffins" as Virgil dubbed them. So we all had breakfast and Virgil went home. The husband and I, once again, loaded up the kids and took the truck back. Little Mister panicked when the husband got into the truck until he realized we really were following Daddy wherever he went. He thought it was funny when we pulled up next to him at the stoplight before the U-Haul place, but got so angry at me when I pulled out before the husband! Poor kid.

I should note that because we picked up the truck so late in the afternoon, they told us they didn't care if we kept it all night as long as it was back by 9 the next morning. We dropped it off at 8. As of this writing, I do not have the internet so I have no idea how much they charged us, however.

After dropping off the truck, we went back to the old place to pick up a few things that I needed, including the other plug to the dryer. I'd kept it all this time, figuring at some point we'd move and would need to change it out. I am smart.

When we got back to the new place, I tried to put the power cord onto the dryer, but the dudes from Sears who had installed our new dryer had really, really tightened the screws and one of them stripped when I tried to get it out. The husband, fortunately, was able to get it out and replaced the cord when he got back from the old place (with a whole bunch more stuff). While he was working on that, I noticed Little Mister was limping around, though he was still walking and running all over the place. I washed his foot off and noticed some bruising on it and around the ankle, and it was pretty swollen. So off to the InstaCare we went AGAIN because it sounded like fun.

The wait was over two hours.

Did I mention I had a toddler, a new baby, and a grouchy 10-year-old with me?

Unfortunately, while we were there, the husband called to ask me where the dryer hoses and clamps were. Since I wasn't the one who took it out of the utility room, I was pretty sure I didn't know where they were, or if I did know where they were, he wouldn't like the answer. He went back to get them and went to see his parents. About an hour after his call to me, I got a call from our former neighbor, saying something in our house was leaking into their garage (condos, ugh). I called the husband back to see where he was. He'd left, so I called her back and (cringing because I know the state of the house, and it was UGLY) gave her the garage door code so she could let herself in and see if she could find it. It was apparently the washer faucet and she called the HOA president to come help her fix it. I asked her to call me back if they needed me to go up there, but she didn't, so I'm assuming everything turned out okay.

Fortunately, after a large series of x-rays, because they were worried Little Mister might have hairline fractures or a greenstick fracture of his tibia, he checked out just fine and we came home. Where we all fell asleep. For 4 hours.

Part the Second

One other thing I should mention ... Even after multiple trips to Walmart and various other stores which may or may not be trying to take over the world, I have not remembered to get a router, so my internet time is limited. I wrote all of these posts on the laptop and had to save them to a flash drive, then copy them from word to here. Don't ever say I don't love you.

Anyway. On to Part the Second

After the husband went to McDonald's and got everyone sausage biscuits for breakfast, Lu called to say Virgil could help move the king sized bed she was giving us, but he could only help right then. Lu is Virgil's sister, and Virgil is married to my sister, DisGrace.

I met Virgil and Lu at the new place and we got the bed set up. I the new mattress pad and sheets on it so it would be ready that night. Then I drove back to the old place and had a nap with the babies, after instructing Kiddo to finish packing her room. I hadn't slept more than 4 or 5 hours a night for the previous week, so I really had to sleep. She "forgot" and read Calvin and Hobbes for 2 hours instead. Which meant when the husband went to take down her bed and get the dresser, he couldn't, so that's all still at the old house. Wonderful.

The husband and I took the kids and got the truck. Then he drove to get his brother, and The Architect showed up to help load the truck. They all worked really hard around the antics of Little Mister and Kiddo while I kept packing. Yep. Still packing. We have way, way, WAY too much cwap. After Little Mister fell off a skateboard and hurt himself, I took the kids away to get dinner for everyone, took the food back to the guys, and took the kids to the new place so the babies could go to bed on the king bed. Kiddo wanted to wait until the truck got there so she could help unpack. When the guys got there, all 3 kids were still awake (grrr) so they "helped" unload. Little Mister's shoes were missing so he kept stepping on rocks in the driveway and crying. They unloaded really quickly, then headed back to the old place for another load (yes, really).

I finally got the babies to bed and started on unpacking the kitchen. Kiddo went to bed too. Virgil, Dizzy, and KC showed up to help unload the next truckload, but when the husband got back with it, he had wisely decided that 10 p.m. was too late to unload a truck when your landlord lives above you and you share a driveway. (And Virgil got his internet nickname from the conversation we had that night. Bwahaha. I'm not nice; it had to do with teenage trauma. But he doesn't read the blog so whatever. Teenage scarring continues.)

Murphy Was Hard at Work This Week

The moving saga will be spread out over the coming week. Hope you're not all bored.

Part the First

Last Thursday, we took a break from packing and being busy and went to a going away BBQ for my cousin and her husband. While we were there, my sister commented that Kiddo's "cold sores" around her mouth looked like impetigo. She also had sores on her underarm, torso, and knee. Lovely.

Off to InstaCare we went, where the PA informed me that yes, indeed, it was impetigo. With instructions to use topical Neosporin multiple times a day and a prescription for Keflex in hand, we headed to Walgreen's, Sonic for ice cream, the Redbox for a movie so I didn't freak out, and then we went home.

I'd intended to pack that night, knowing I still had a LOT to do, but ended up snuggling grouchy kids all night. I watched 2012 while they slept, but if I got out of bed, they fussed. That was quite helpful.

Friday, I took coolers full of food from our freezer to the new place. We also purchased some frozen foods (with hubby's discount from work) for the weekend so I wouldn't have to cook from scratch while we were still moving, and so we wouldn't spend a small fortune in more fast food, and we put that in the freezer as well. Filled the fridge's freezer completely full and took some to the old place for Saturday's meals. I packed as much as I possibly could that night.

The husband called off work Friday night and spent the night/morning packing and moving boxes and furniture to the garage, so it was completely full of stuff, and I'm sure his efforts helped things along the next day.

Saturday, we woke up to the power being out. That plan to use the frozen food? Yeah ... not so much. No way to cook it. We had to buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Awesome.