We're living amongst the boxes, but at least I have the internet

Yep, movers unpacked us yesterday. They unpacked the truck, setting the labeled boxes in said room; then set up all of our beds, assembled the crib and the kitchen table and they were out by noon. We then worked our butts off unpacking the necessities. We ended up getting clean linens on all the beds, unpacking all of the boys stuffed animals and books, unpacking and putting together probably 85% of the kitchen, B got the TV hooked up while the boys and I set up their play area. He also was able to hook up the washer and dryer and we started attacking the laundry pile. He spent at least 4 hours out in the yard. *see below* We found the box with towels and toiletries and gave all the kiddos baths.We used naptime to run errands (my kids have perfected napping in the car) and switched over all the utilities into our names, went to the post office for a mailbox key, went to the cable company and got our internet paid and ready for hook-up. By the end of the day, it was wonderful to take a shower in our own ''home'' and then sleep in our own bed.

Today, we fell short. We had big plans but they didn't pan out. Yesterday the fridge was delivered so today it was cold enough to fill it. We went out to lunch then went and grabbed groceries.

 Shopping wears her out, apparently.

That's really all we got done. All afternoon we had to hang around for the cable guy, who was hooking up our internet. Unpacked a little, mostly kids' stuff. Moved all the trash out to the garage. We had a quick dinner of sandwiches and then the kids went wild. WILD. Bouncing off the walls, running the length of the house, crazy. Nanaw was witness to some of this while we video chatted. Although not near the same as real-life, it is really amazing that they can see each other and interact. After chat time with Nanaw we tried to start bedtime (it was like 8pm) and at 10:15pm, all four kids were finally asleep. And B and I are exhausted. We opted to take the evening off, enjoy the internet and get back to unpacking tomorrow.

I do have to say that while everything is different (HEB anyone?) the weather (especially for Nov/Dec) is AMAZING. Seriously. High temp is KS tomorrow is 41 degrees. High temp here? 67 degrees. Which to Texas natives is apparently cold. I'm rocking flip-flops with a long sleeve tee and jeans. Girl next to me at lunch is wearing a long sleeve hoodie over a shirt, scarf and UGGS. Last night at dinner we sat out on the patio at Outback and the girl that left as we were sitting down commented on how it was perfect ''sweatshirt weather''. B was wearing short sleeve polo, jeans and flip-flops. It was 72 degrees out! It's amazing. The only major complaint about living here (other than being 12 hours away from 'home'): sandburrs

 B has literally had nightmares about them. We noticed them when we first saw the house, the property manager said she would have the lawn guy mow with a bagger attached and that would get rid of most of them and treat the lawn. And it did. They are dead. Whats left are the ones that remain on the ground. It is ridiculous. They are attached to the kids shoes, Rascal's paws, they get stuck to the living room rug---so incredibly annoying. Some of the locals said that they are really common and once you get them under control you can't stop treating for them or they'll come back. It's not just us either; B took Rascal on a walk and even along the sidewalks of other peoples lawns, there they are. I would guess that B has seriously spent at least 5 hours (total) on trying to de-sticker the yard. UGH!

Our new hacienda...

 

Several people asked us what our house in Texas looked like and because it will be awhile before they are able to see it for themselves, I opted to snap pictures tonight. The movers are coming tomorrow to unpack our stuff and we plan on staying there tomorrow night. We do not have internet yet, so if there are several days before my next post, that is why. I'm warning you if you aren't family, you probably have no interest in this post; it's literally pictures of an empty house. But if you are family (or just curious) carry on.

So, here is our humble abode:

View as you walk in the front door

(Mom, the area near the window/kitchen will be the boys play area. Hopefully the back of the couch will help block it off a little. The TV/furniture will be centered under the first fan)

Opposite view of living room (door on left wall is a coat closet)

And the kitchen/dining room

Close up of kitchen (fridge is being delivered tomorrow)

My favorite part....the pantry!

Okay and for pictures of the bedrooms...I don't know how Realtors do it. I could not get a decent picture so I left the master out. It's a bedroom. It has windows, walls, a ceiling...you get the idea. I did get okay ones of the master bath/closet...

 

 and the kids being silly inside the master closet (which is huge!)

Here is a crappy pic of the boys' room (taken from inside their walkin closet)

 

and one of Sweetcheeks (and eventually Peanut's) room. Again crappy pic taken from a closet. And by this point the older boys had made it their goal to be in every picture. I believe they were saying ''Cupcake".

 

 Hall bath (also known as the "I'm so glad mom doesn't have to share anymore" boys' bathroom)

and the hall linen closet (which I didn't plan on taking a pic of but Pooks jumped in there and said "Cheese" so I did) 

There is also a 2 car garage that I didn't feel the need to take a picture of. There is a pretty basic backyard with cement slab patio as well. A laundry room as you come in from the garage. It was almost 8pm when I took pics tonight so they aren't the greatest. You can't tell by the pictures but all the walls and ceilings are the same color; just beige but nice and freshly painted. 

So, that's our house! Hopefully the move will go smoothly and we'll get everything unpacked quickly. I also really really want to decorate for the holidays so I plan on hauling ass unpacking so we can hang lights, put up a tree, etc. We have had a TON of mostly welcomed changes this fall: new baby, new job, new town/state...I'm not about to sacrifice the joy and fun of the holidays :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hotel livin'

is interesting when you have 4 small children. And things will get even more interesting because this week, once the movers pack our stuff we will be living out of a hotel here until our stuff arrives in Texas. Six people in one room for a week? Wish me luck. This last stay wasn't bad but it was one night and the kids had fun. We brought crayons and new coloring books...

and played with cars...

got baths in sinks...

shared beds (me and bubba in one with sweetcheeks, then B, peanut and pooks in the other)...

 

 and slept in drawers...

Yep, it was different and interesting! Fun for one night but we'll see what a week feels like soon!

"Mom!"

Peanut: Mom! Mommy.....Mom! (yelling from his bedroom)
Me: What [Peanut]?
P: MOM!
M: What is it Peanut?
P: Maggie mom, Maggie.
M: Hon, Maggie is asleep in her bed. You need to go night night.
P: Maggie Mom, I wub (love) hers.
M: You love her?
P: Yeah. Wub her mom.
M: She loves you too, go night-night.
P: K, Mama. Night.

Happy Birthday Peanut!

Today my baby boy turned two.

I can barely believe it. He has such a personality and I just want to squeeze him, that's how loveable he is. One second he is a big kid, insisting on doing something by himself..."me do mom. me do!" and the next he shows his baby side, pulling on my pant leg while hollering "up me mama, up me!" He is much much more vocal that his brothers were at this age. Some of his recent and popular sayings are ''What that did be?" when he hears something that he can't name. "What did happen?" when he does something {like play with the remote and accidentally turn off the tv} but isn't quite sure how he did it.

He is very opinionated. He will let you know in a second if he wanted milk instead of juice. He insists on only getting into the van on his side. He is great at comprimise, is fairly good at using his manners and is super protective of his baby sister.

This evening we had a small little celebration with Nanaw and Papa to celebrate. It was nice and simple and relaxed. Pizza Hut for dinner, opened a couple presents, then Cold Stone cake for dessert. I'd post pictures now but I'm exhausted (we drove 12 hours straight Tuesday evening, spent Wed and Thurs morning trying to find a house {then signing a lease on said house} in TX, drove 12 hours straight home on Thursday afternoon and arrived at 4:30am this morning).

On Thanksgiving Day, we'll be celebrating with more of our extended family and having a "party" while we're at Nanaw Phew Phew's for Thanksgiving. Yes, I know that he is getting the short end of the stick by combining the two. I realize that we had ''real'' parties for both Bubba and Pooks when they each turned two but right now, it's just not possible to have a big party. I hate that, but it's just the truth. We spent the last 3 days on the road or in Texas. Today is the 19th. On the 23rd the movers are packing all of our stuff, on the 24th they will be loading it all onto the truck. The 25th is Thanksgiving, the 26th is Black Friday and the day that I will be cleaning out our house here. The 27th/28th we will {most likely} be heading back to Texas as the movers should be unpacking on the 29th. That means the 2 days that nothing is planned (tomorrow and Sunday) will be used sorting, cleaning, de-cluttering and donating all of the things that we currently have but don't want moved. Two days to go through 2 years worth of stuff that has accumulated in the basement. Ugh.

But back to my point...he is young and won't really care. He already got a really neat present from Nanaw and Papa, so quite honestly I think he could care less ;)

Happy Birthday Peanut, we love you!!

Ramblings

It's midnight on a Friday, B and I are catching up on DVR'd shows. Sure I could be sorting through the flotsam in the basement before the movers/packers come but since we STILL don't have a date for that, it feels a little early. Instead I'm eating leftover mac&cheese cold, right out of the fridge. It's been a whirlwind of a week. Last Saturday, I caught the stomach bug...Peanut followed suit just hours later. By Sunday night, B was vomiting. Monday morning on our way out the door to school with seemingly healthy kids, Pooks threw up all over the living room. Then the sofa. Then himself. Hours later he was on the potty, Sweetcheeks had just vomited all over the bathroom floor, Peanut was poopy and I was exhausted! This went on until Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday B was completely out of commission so everything fell on me.

I love my kids, I love my husband and overall I love my entire family but man was this week tiring! Not just the illness but the stress of moving, trying to look at houses online, laundry, dishes, diapers, meals, bathtimes, bedtimes...it was all just intensified this week. I'm glad it's over.

Today we were all healthy, up and about. We joined the boys on their school field trip to the museum, we went out to lunch, we ran errands...and it was absolutely wonderful to feel normal again! Next week we will hopefully drive down to TX on a house hunting trip, then on Friday it will be Peanut's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe that he is two! Honestly, he acts so much older so it isn't shocking that he is two years old, but more shocking that my "baby boy" is almost two. His speech is really excelled, especially compared to his brothers at this age, his understanding is even higher. He loves to say things like ''What happened?" when he does something (like turns off the TV) but doesn't quite understand why. We won't be having a big party for him, which is a first for one of my kids. But with his birthday being less than a week before Thanksgiving, in the middle of a move across 3 states...it just isn't feasible. We'll be having cupcakes with a few of his little friends here at home, then on Thanksgiving when we're with the whole extended family, we'll have a Birthday cake and presents. I think we'll go with Elmo...he loves Sesame Street and Elmo is his favorite. He loves helping with Sweetcheeks and is very protective. Speaking of, Sweetcheeks is now 5 weeks (well, almost 6) old. That's over a month old. That is insane. And she's getting chubby...

Look at those pudgy little fingers. The way her chunky little cheeks rest on me. When we bathe her, we have to make sure to tip her head way back so we can make sure to clean between her neck rolls. True story. Lint collects in the crevices. She's going through {what I hope is a phase} where she nurses on the hour every single evening. She's start around 7pm, nurse for 15 minutes, then pass out. Then 8pm, nurse for 15 mnutes, then pass out. 9pm she'll nurse for a bit then stay awake for 30-45minutes. 10pm, yep she'll nurse again. Around 11pm she'll nurse again and fall asleep for good. Then she'll *usually* sleep from midnight-4:30am...sometimes after 5am. So yes, the cluster feeding is exhausting in the evenings but the 5 hours of sleep is nice. Speaking of..it's 12:30 now so I'm eating away at my precious sleep. I'll try to be better about blogging and sharing pics, I promise. Life's just really busy right now!

It's almost Thanksgiving so you know what that means...

it's time for Christmas and Christmas cards to be more specific!

I *puffy heart* the holidays. The foods, the chill in the air, the smells of apple and cinnamon, pumpkin and ginger. I love the shopping, the decorations and I love receiving Christmas cards. Every year, we send out a photo card with family photo that was taken on Thanksgiving Day. Then I come home and pour over the photos choosing the least craptastic, mildly decent  best one. That's the hard part. The easy part? Uploading the photos and then ordering the cards from Shutterfly.

To say that Shutterfly offer tons of choices would be an understatement. In their Christmas Cards category they have seven hundred and forty-eight designs to choose from. 748 ya'll. Do you know how hard of a decision it is to choose just one? I tried picking a favorite to share with you but there are so many cute ones!

From the traditional "Merry Christmas"-

 

To the meaningful Religious

to the general ''Happy Holidays"

 (which I *think* is my favorite)

Want to know the best part?

Okay, well really there are two ''best parts.''

We all know how  busy the holiday season is. And if you're like me then you have four kids to raise, Christmas cookies to make, bake, and decorate, shopping to do, gifts to wrap, lights to be strung, stockings to be hung and then there is the dreaded addressing, stamping and mailing of the Christmas cards. It's time consuming and going to the post office with four kids, four and under in December....not fun to say the very least. But Shutterfly has a solution...

they will stamp and mail your cards for you. And it won't cost you too much more than buying the stamps and using the gas to drive to the post office. (True you can mail them from your home mailbox but when you're mailing 50+ cards I always feel better dropping them in the actual mail drop).

Seriously. Genius! You mean I can upload my pictures, pick out my cards, and mail them all from the comfort of my sofa?

Holla! Sign me up. Thank you Shutterfly. Now can you fold my laundry?

Oh yeah, and that second best part? Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

An Impromptu Stop

 A last minute decision to buy some time before heading to Grandma Great's house too early, resulted in a great memory for the boys. They loved Rock City!

Sweetcheeks

is now 1 month old!

I can hardly believe she's already a month old but at the same time, it seems like she's been here with us forever. It's odd. It's already hard to remember what our routine was like before her birth yet it was just a month ago so I guess that means that we've perfected it :)

At her one month appointment she weighed in at 9lbs even! (up from 6lb13oz) She also grew an entire inch in length. And on her one month ''birthday'' she smiled for the first time. It was the sweetest, gummiest smile and it was actually directed at me! Since I missed bubba crawling for the first time, pooks walking for the first time and peanut didn't say "Mama" until he was almost 18mos old...it was nice to be the first to see something!

My goal is to take her monthly pictures with this bear each month, so we can see just how much she's grown. If only I had thought to take it at one day old but I was far to busy to think about that!

In 34 days....

B starts a new job. 
In a new state.
That's 12.5 hours away from "home".
It's a really good opportunity and it's really good pay.
It will definitely be different, new and a little bit scary.
But I think we're ready.
Well maybe not for the car ride down with four kids, four and under. Plus a dog. And a hamster. 
We'll be moving from a town of about 53,000 to a town of 1.3 MILLION.
That's a lot of people and a lot of new and exciting things to do.
We're moving to Texas!
Lord knows the food and weather will be good :)
It's a big overwhelming but,
if you can't live in the place you love, learn to love the place you live.
At least I'm trying to adopt that attitude...it's a process.
One that I'm sure I'll whine blog about.
Stay tuned...life's about to get a big more chaotic ya'll!

The busiest weekend ever!

Whew, am I glad this weekend is over! It was fun but man oh man did we pack a ton into three days. Traveling out of town (twice) to visit family, an (adult) costume party, trick or treating with the kids, and general life busyness of being a family of six.

On Friday, we drove 2 hours and spent the day with B's mom (and family). The boys call her Yeuy, and she had yet to meet Miss Sweetcheeks so it was top priority.

 Is she not the most precious little girl you have ever seen?

On Saturday we had a kinda lazy day. Driving to visit family on Friday was fine but we knew that on Sunday we were going to be visiting the grandmas so we took a lazy kinda day. Saturday evening, B and I attended a friends 30th Birthday/Costume Party. (Let's skip the fact that when all your friends are turning 30 it means you're right around the corner. Eek!) It was really nice to get out of the house and be with ''grown up's" for a bit. Granted because Sweetcheeks won't take a binky, let alone a bottle, she attended as well.

On Sunday, Halloween, we drove the kiddos a little over an hour to visit the grandma's and show off their costumes. They were super excited!

 Cousin Belle was there as well...

Ms. Sweetcheeks was wide awake as well.

Looking pretty cute sporting her Halloween headband and Pumpkin costume

Sunday evening, we took the boys Trick or Treating. Well, Sweetcheeks went too but she hung out in the carrier...obviously not eating any candy. We only took them up and down our little street and they still managed to fill their buckets! The boys, well they were pretty ''spooky"-

So that was our Halloween and weekend!