The 500 Babies on the Move

One of the biggest challenges in moving was keeping the 500 Babies entertained and happy during the final weekend of packing and moving. We had to put everything in storage because there was a five-day difference between closing on the old house and closing on the new one. We also had to try to maintain as much of their routine as possible, despite the fact that they were without beds for several days.

They slept on the floor:

They played with cardboard boxes: (Which we all know kids prefer to real toys anyway.)
At Grandpa and Grandma's house they jumped in Baby A's bed:

And watched deer across the backyard fence:

After a week of transition and excitement, the kids were definitely out of sorts. Mikea began having several crying fits a day, Joe cried at church last Sunday (both at Sunday School and during the Children's Message - something he's never done before), and Daniel? Well, Daniel probably handled the changes the best. He didn't seem to show any adverse affects. (Baby A. did great as well.) Things are slowly getting back to normal, but we are also having to find new systems and routines here in the new house. (More on that later!)

Finally!

Well, with an abundance of help from family and friends we are finally moved into our new house. It's been quite an adventurous couple of weeks, and we still have to unpack and finish settling in, but all of the hard parts are over and we are enjoying life in our new home.

I plan on doing a few posts to catch up on what's been going on, but in the meantime why not go over to Jamie's blog and scroll down to see what the 500 Babies did last Tuesday when we closed on our old house? The kids had a blast and when you look at the pictures you'll see why. Thanks, Jamie!

What's Going On

1. Our offer on the new house was accepted! Another buyer made a similar offer on the same day we did, but the sellers decided to go with us. We move in about 10 days.

2. Everyone in our household has been sick over the course of the last two weeks. Nothing too serious, but we're all weary of feeling yucky and are ready to feel better.

3. The kids are having a blast with their Grandpa and Mim who are visiting for the first time from Michigan! I think Grandpa and Mim were having fun, too, until they got sick. (Wonder how that happened?)

4. We are still waiting and praying about the situation with Baby A. So far his CPS case worker has not heard from the baby's mother, so it is looking more and more doubtful she will not get him back. His grandmother has stated that she wants custody of the baby, but there are issues with her situation as well which would make it unlikely for her to be a placement. We are very optimistic about our chances of adopting him.

House Hunting

We finally went house-hunting last Saturday. We left the three older kids (including a feverish and vomiting Joe) at home with Grandma and took the baby with us. The search began with a rocky start when we arrived at the first house and our agent realized he left his master key at home. The last thing I wanted was an hour round-trip to retrieve the key, but thanks to my quick-thinking husband, who asked our agent to drop us off at IHOP, we enjoyed an unexpected leisurely breakfast together.

After a year of looking at houses online, to be able to actually go inside them was pretty exciting. We felt like we were on one of those house hunters shows, "Oh, this is nice. A walk-in closet." "Oh look, a double vanity. That's nice." "Hmmm, this house needs some work." "Oh, look a dead roach."

We fell in love with the perfect home that amazingly was the lowest-priced house on our list. But the next day when we were all set to make an offer we found out it was a short sale, which meant we might have to wait months before the bank lets us know if our offer was accepted. We didn't have months. We had 28 days.

So Wednesday evening we headed back out to look at several more houses. (Despite the fact that the clock was ticking and it's incredibly stressful to have no place to live, these house-hunting trips have been fun because they've been the closest thing to a date Billy and I have had in a long time. Of course it's a date with a real estate agent and two-month-old baby tagging along, but I'll take what I can get.) This time around we found a house we loved even more than the first. The house was incredibly beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I didn't want to keep looking at it because it seemed too good to be true. It was only two years old, the exact size we wanted (4 bedrooms + game room/loft), less than 5 minutes from Billy's school, and it even had a fenced-off vegetable garden in the back! I knew the price had just been reduced on the house and I knew it couldn't last long. We decided to make an offer, and while waiting to hear back from our agent yesterday, I kept searching for the house online but I couldn't find it. I was convinced it had already been sold. But around noon we heard back from our agent that the house was indeed available and the owners were ready to make something happen. There have been two previous buyers for the house but both deals fell through.

We're making an offer on the house tonight, and obviously a lot has to happen before it's ours (including finalizing the sale on our current house.) But we're excited at the possibility that after months and months of work on our house and getting it ready for showings and all of the headaches involved (and lots and lots of prayer), the end may be in sight and within a few weeks we will be moved into our new home!

Fun Facts About the Fair

Nothing says "September" more than a county fair. Friday night was the perfect evening to hit the road and drive up to the Comal County Fair. While we were there, I learned a few things. At first I was going to call them facts, but they were more like revelations.

Revelation #1: Alpacas are even cuter in real life than the ones on TV. They're even almost as cute as the 500 Babies. But not quite.

Revelation #2: Pushing a side-by-side double stroller through crowds is extremely tricky. The handles are at just the wrong height. What I'm saying is that whilst navigating the crowded fairgrounds I inadvertently touched two strangers' behinds. Not fun. Highly embarrassing.

Revelation #3: I don't care how many blue-ribbons it won, but there is nothing appetizing about a meringue pie that has been sitting in a hot exhibit hall for three days. Pretty much all of the food was gross-looking. And I realize the judges had to taste the entries, but do the half-eaten brownies still need to be on display?

Revelation #4: Roosters can be beautiful. I had no idea there were so many fancy varieties. I thought a rooster was a rooster was a rooster. I was amazed at the diversity of sizes and colors.

Revelation #5: Getting a funnel cake for the road seems like a good idea, but it's not. Funnel cakes should not be consumed in a vehicle, especially a vehicle in motion. They have a tendency to slide right off of those flimsy paper plates. The interior of our van is now covered in powdered sugar.

The kids were tired and crabby by the time we left, but it was worth it. One of these years I want to trek up to the State Fair, but that involves a five-hour drive. I can only imagine the revelations that trip would bring!

Fun with Scorpions

As if I needed any more excitement in my life, the other day I discovered a scorpion in my washing machine. At first I thought it was dead because it went through an entire wash cycle and looked like this when I found it:

I almost picked it up with a paper towel to get rid of it, but decided to leave it to show Billy. I checked on it a couple of hours later and it looked like this:

Yikes! It was resurrected. I racked my brain (or is it wracked?) trying to figure out a weapon long enough and sharp enough to kill it. At first I tried a pick-axe, but it got stuck in the washing machine and I couldn't really wield it with enough dexterity to deliver a death blow. I ended up using a marshmallow toasting stick-wand-thingie to stab it repeatedly. The scorpion was only a couple of inches long, but I think it was the largest creature I have ever killed. Many years ago I once thought I had run over a baby bird with a lawn mower, but what I thought was gore was really just poop. (I had only scared it. A lot.) What a relief!

House Update

I'm happy to report that we are inching closer towards selling our house. We received an offer about two weeks ago and have been dealing with negotiations, inspections and a few more repairs ever since. The timing was less than ideal because the offer came the day our agent left for vacation. We've been working with another agent in his office, but although she's been helpful with the sale, it was obvious that finding a home for us to move in to was not a priority for her. So we did what we could on our own, visiting a couple of new home builders and researching apartment complexes that offer short-term leases. The good news is that our agent is back in town and this Saturday we're going to finally get to look at some houses. He seems to think we may be able to do a lease-back agreement to get into a home and out of this one by closing on October 20. Let's hope! Otherwise some of you may find 500 homeless babies (and two dogs) on your doorstep!

Early Literacy

I don't like the baby to be out of my sight when the big kids are up and about. It's not that I don't trust them . . . well, yes it is because I don't trust them. They wouldn't intentially harm him, they just don't understand that infants can't eat goldfish crackers and don't want to play with big kid toys. But the other day I just had to get some laundry put into the dryer. Mind you, it's not like the laundry area is even really a separate room. There's no door and it's only about 10 feet from the living room. I was gone for less than a minute, but when I returned to the living room I found this:
You've got to love their intentions!

Why I Love Two-Year-Olds

It just doesn't get any better than this:

Daniel Turns Two!

Daniel spent last Monday chillaxing in a shopping cart at Target. Isn't that what we all wish we could do on our birthday?
For his birthday cake, he requested a "doggie cake". Thanks to my mom, who recently found her 1973 copy of Baker's Cut-Up Cake Party Book and bequeathed it to me, I was able to make him the "Woofy Dog" cake.
Then Daniel dressed up in his new firefighter gear.

We hope you had a great birthday, little guy! We love you and thank God for the past two years of your life!

Fun with Shaving Cream

Three cheers for shaving cream! It's the wonderfully messy, yet delightfully clean way to have fun! Let's glop our hands in it!

Let's smear it all over the table! Let's draw pictures in it! Who doesn't love shaving cream??

Wait a minute. What's this?

Sadness? Tears? A toddler who doesn't like playing with shaving cream? (A toddler who regularly coats himself with whatever food he's eating.)

Yes, it's true. The shaving cream experiment was a complete diaster for Daniel. He hated it.

Sorry little buddy, I really thought you'd like it.

I won't make you do it again.

Secret Garden?

I wish I could say I have a secret garden tucked away in my backyard, responsible for the produce you see here. But with our house on the market this summer, I decided it would be better to just throw a bunch of flowers in the two raised beds we put in last year. But since I also want my kids to know that the natural state of vegetables is not frozen chunks or something that comes out of a can, we went to the Farmer's Market last Sunday and came home with a colorful array of produce.

The Impossible

Getting a picture with all three kids looking at the camera and with their eyes open is next to impossible. So this picture is a rare gem indeed:Each time we come home from somewhere the kids now have the ritual of sitting by the front door while they wait for us to get the baby and multiple diaper bags, shopping bags, and whatever else is still loaded in the van. I've tried countless time to get a picture and yesterday was the first time I succeeded. Can't wait to try it with all four!

I'm Still Here

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Life is great right now, it's just exhausting. A month of interrupted sleep is taking its toll. I'd forgotten what the feeling was like. (And how on earth did we do this with TWO infants??) This week Daniel and Mikea decided it was time they started climbing out of their cribs during naptime. They end up in Joe's bed, which is cute, but then they don't sleep, and I'm not ready for that. I've moved Daniel out of their room a couple of times, and that seems to help. Although then when Mikea wakes up she's screams because Dan's not there.

The house has been on the market now for six weeks. We've had a few showings, the latest one Friday evening. I spent all day Friday getting the house ready (and letting the kids watch way too much TV), but when we came home there was no evidence that anyone had been there. Usually the lights or off or you can tell a shower curtain was moved. It's frustrating, but what else can you do? It also wouldn't be as bad if we could actually go do something during the showings, but we have to bring the dogs with us so we just drive around all crammed into the minivan: Two dogs. Two adults. Three toddlers. One infant. Infinite fun!

Back to School

Today is the first day of school at newly-constructed James L. Masters Elementary School. My husband has the privilege of being one of the teachers to open this new school. Construction was behind schedule (plus two entire wings of the building were left off and will have to be constructed while school is going on, meaning they might need to set up portables already) The teachers only had a few days to get moved in and set up, but Billy's an old pro at this by now and I think his room looks great.

Friday I took the kids over to see where Daddy goes to work every day. Here they are goofing around in his classroom library.

This is the computer area. Everything is brand-new. Note the plastic on the filing cabinets.

One of my favorite features of his classroom is the giant window. In my eight years of teaching I had a room with a window only one time. The window faces east providing gorgeous views of the sunrise every morning. Since it wasn't sunrise when we went, I'll give you a gorgeous view of Joe instead.

Another one of my favorite areas of Billy's room is his display of family pictures. (It appears I need to give him some updated pictures of us. Hmmm, maybe I'll do that for his birthday. Oh, you want to know when it is? This Wednesday, August 26. Oh, and he's turning 30. I'm not poking fun at him, mind you. It's just that I've had to endure my fair share of age-mockery considering I turned 30 half a decade ago. Seriously.)

Daniel and Mikea trying out the desks. If you're thinking it looks like they fit pretty well in those chairs it's because the small chairs and desks were mistakenly ordered instead of large ones.

Future Masters Elementary School student.

The kids had a blast running up and down the halls and it was great to see many old friends who moved over from our previous school to Masters.

Proud Of My Big Sister!

It's not often that you read the news and stumble upon an article about your own sibling. But that's exactly what just happened to me. Click here to read about my big sis and the work she does with seniors. It takes an extra measure of patience and caring to work with the elderly and Sarah is blessed with an abundance of both!

Update on Baby Brother A.

Friday we finally had a visit from Baby A.'s caseworker and found out a little more about the direction the case is going. The judge decided to allow A.'s mother to work services to regain custody of him. Because he is an infant, she will have weekly visits with him. She will be given a year to "work services". However, if she does not make any attempt to participate for six months, she may lose her chance.

This is not the news we were hoping to hear. I have a lot of strong feelings about the situation, but this probably isn't the right venue. We just ask for your prayers again. I am optimistic about our chances of adoption Baby A., but it looks like it could be another long road before that happens.

The Little Mother

Mikea is already practicing for the day when she has 500 babies of her own. Yesterday she figured out how to carry two babies at once. The baby on her back is tucked into her shirt. (Several weeks ago we saw a monkey on TV carrying a baby on her back and Mikea and Joe both wanted to try it.) I don't know about feeding a baby with a screwdriver, but you have to give Mikea credit for multi-tasking. (By the way, it is an extremely realistic-looking TOY screwdriver for those of you questioning my parenting choices right now!) :)

Celebrating An Adopt-iversary

Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of our adoption of Joe and Daniel. It was also Baby A.'s one-month "birthday", so of course we had to celebrate!

It still boggles my mind that somehow our family has gone from zero to four children in less than two years. I look at the three toddlers growing up together, laughing and learning and I feel so indescribably blessed to be their mom. And then I look at little Baby A., and think how perfectly natural it feels to have him with us in our family. I can't say it enough: God has been so good to us!

Better than New

Dan's procedure went smoothly Friday morning. We went to the hospital at 6:30 and were home by 9:45. After his ID bracelets were attached he kept holding out his arm as if he couldn't use it. He even tried holding and reading a book with one had. It was too funny.

When Dan woke up from the anesthesia he was quite the grouch. He was crying and kicking and hitting and demanding more juice every time he finished a cup. Poor little guy. I didn't want to give him too much because the anesthesiologist said he might throw up, but the nurses kept bringing me more. I think they wanted him to stop screaming and for us to leave. But once I got him dressed and he understood we were leaving the hospital he calmed down.

Now he's on the mend with the assistance of some pain meds and should be better than new in a few days!

Top 3 Signs You Are Sleep-Deprived

3. You discover a box of aluminum foil in your refrigerator.

2. You try to feed an infant with the non-nipple end of the bottle.

1. In the middle of the night you think you see a pig carcass on the floor. Turns out to be a shirt.

From past experience, it's clear that my mind plays unusual tricks on me when I'm sleep-deprived. See Return of the Phantom Baby for an example. But a pig carcass? That's just bizarre. I don't read creepy books or watch horror movies so it's very puzzling as to why that image came to mind. There was a dead bird on our sidewalk recently, so maybe that had something to do with it. Or maybe I'm just weird.

This May Be TMI, But I Had To Share

This Friday Daniel is undergoing a minor surgical procedure that his doctor recommended we get done. I'll spare the details other than to say that had Daniel been born Jewish, this procedure would probably have taken place when he was eight days old.

A nurse called today to obtain Daniel's medical history. She asked if he's had any procedures done before and when I said no, she said somewhat excitedly, "Oh, this is his first one?" as if it were his first tooth or something. It also struck me as funny because, I'm no expert, but I think this procedure can only be done once. (I know she was talking about all surgical procedures in general, but it still made me laugh.)

The Lineup

Now, if you're not smiling you either need to get another cup of coffee or go back to bed.

Birthdays, Bowling, and Blessings

I don't know why summer days are called lazy. Crazy is more like it! Last week was no exception. On Monday alone Baby Brother A. had no less than three appointments! But we managed to squeeze in as much fun as possible the rest of the week.

We played in the backyard.

Joe sneezed on his birthday cake.
We made S'mores.
We went bowling.

And Daniel bowled a strike!

The week ended with two surprises: Aunt Sarah came over Saturday morning to play with the kids while Billy and I went shopping with Baby A. It was amazingly leisurely being out with only one baby. Then Saturday evening the Truwe's brought dinner over to our house. Lasagna and salad and bread and chocolate cake! Yum! It made us realize how amazingly blessed we are to have such incredible family and friends!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Joe turns 3 today! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday he was a 15-month-old eating dirt,

bathing in soup,

hanging out in boxes,

and contacting aliens with foil hats.

Now he is a computer programmer.

Wow! I can't wait to see what age 4 brings!

Fun with Aunt Kellie

We were all sad to see Aunt Kellie leave this past Sunday after a fun week together. The timing of her visit was perfect because she gave Joe, Dan, and Mikea the extra attention they needed as Billy and I reacquainted ourselves to life with a newborn. I know she must have gotten tired of the kids constantly trying to sit on her lap, but she never complained.

Hopefully Kellie can convince her parents to take a trip down to Texas so they can see for themselves how great these kiddos are! (Hint, Hint)