Trying to get settled

Anyone who knows me well knows that I cannot stand clutter. The only time you will see many knick knacks around my house is at Christmas time. Even Dylan's toys are 'clutter' in my eyes (I have learned to quickly glance past them, lol). Now that I've made that publicly known, the boxes and clutter that occur as a result of moving...drives...me...crazy!

This is a peek at our dining room/living room the day after we moved in. While the room has cleared out significantly since last week, there are still boxes to be unpacked and stuff that needs to find a home within our new home. I'm hoping that by the end of this weekend, we will have things mostly in order. I'm ready to get to the fun stuff - getting ready for baby/setting up the nursery.

Dylan has been a trooper through this whole move. I know the child is bored out of his mind, but he has been so so good. He set up camp in a little alcove amongst the boxes. He plugged his travel dvd player into the wall, put in a favorite dvd, grabbed some snacks and just sat on the floor watching a show. After a week and a half of this, however, I think he's almost over it. Good thing we've already met some people from church and they have a weekly play group on Wednesday mornings. We weren't able to go this week because we're both sick, but at least we have one thing to look forward to during the week.

The week before we left Raleigh, we had a nice snow/ice storm come through. The first year we lived in NC, it did not snow at all and barely got below 40 degrees. Of course, that year I went all out and bought Dylan snow pants, a winter coat, hat, gloves, the works. Last year, I bought him a couple winter vests (you know, the big ol' puffy ones) and a hat/mittens. It snowed about 7 inches overnight and that lasted about a week. Other than that, Winter was pretty mild. This year, I bought him nothing that could be considered snow/Winter gear. This was the year that Winter decided to actually descend upon NC! It was freezing cold and the snow/sleet/ice just kept coming. Luckily Dylan's hat and mittens from last year still fit him. Other than those, we had to make do with piling on the layers so he could go play outside in the white stuff. He sure didn't seem to mind.

All in, we are surviving. Mike and I have moved plenty of times in our short marriage, but this one has really taken it's toll on all of us. We are adjusting and I'm sure we'll be just fine here in Virginia Beach, it's just going to take some time.

The Big 3-0

Just wanted to say HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to Mike. What a crazy way to ring in the next decade...loading a moving truck in the freezing cold, pouring rain!

At least you know you're loved, Michael!

Life Happens Fast

Why is it that time flies by when you want it to drag out? This is my last week living in North Carolina and it is going by WAY too quickly for my liking.

Mike started his new job on February 1st and left me and Dylan behind to finish the packing. He'll be back on his birthday (this Friday) to load up a moving truck and then we'll all drive to Virginia Beach on Saturday morning. Luckily, my mom was in town all last week helping me pack and it's mostly finished. Dylan and I have spent the week (so far) playing with our friends. I'm holding up okay, but I know that Friday evening I will be a complete wreck. I'm trying to hold the tears in by reminding myself that I get to come back the first weekend of March for my baby shower. But, it's just not the same. We spent the morning at a playdate and all I could think about on the drive home was how much I am going to miss being able to hang out with these ladies and their little guys any time I want to. A 3 1/2 hour drive takes a little more planning. I really need to get this all out of my system so I can start our new life in Virginia Beach with a positive attitude.

And can I just complain for a moment about how annoying it is to try and switch OB's when you're 29 weeks pregnant? Our insurance changed as of Feb 1st and I can no longer see my Dr in NC and have it covered. I was able to fit in one last appointment with her last Friday. Took my 1 hour glucose test and had a regular checkup. Baby is still doing fine and all my stats look good. However, the nurse called me on Monday to inform me that my blood sugar levels were a bit high (probably due to stress) and now I need to take the 3 hour glucose test. The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Dylan, so I'm well aware of how the 3 hour test works. The annoying part is that I need to take it as soon as possible, but I have to find a new Dr first. A new Dr who will accept me this late in my pregnancy AND can fit me in next week. Technically I should be taking the 3 hour test this week, but since I haven't moved yet that's not exactly feasible. After calling 6 different practices today, I finally found one. But man, that was irritating telling my 'interesting' situation to 6 different receptionists. Go figure the nicest one was the last one I called.

Blah. Okay, now that my venting is out...Dylan and I have had fun this week. Tonight we're going to dinner with our playdate friends. Tomorrow we'll play some more. Friday morning we will go to breakfast with some other friends. By lunch time, Mike should be here (I do not do the single mom thing very well). Friday evening, we are ordering pizza and my two good friends are bringing their husbands to help load a truck. Their little guys can keep Dylan busy. What a great way for Mike to ring in his 30s, huh?

I do have some new pictures to post, but that's going to have to wait a week or two.

Crazy Life

We all have those periods in our lives when things just seem to go haywire. You know the times...you don't know whether to laugh, cry, throw things, yell, etc. Well, the past month and a half has been one of those times for us.

The week before Christmas, Mike got laid off from his job. This happened about three weeks after he had been assured that he was safe and had no reason to worry about anything. Talk about having the wind knocked out of you. We were lucky because his termination wasn't effective until Dec 31st and they gave him 4 weeks severance pay. We figured with that, we could be okay financially through the middle of February. At that point, if he didn't have a job we would have to move in with my parents until he found something. Needless to say, we have been stressed out and depressed. Very bad timing with me now being in my 3rd trimester. I have to tell y'all, Cobra isn't cheap!

I'll leave out all the details of the job search and skip right to the good news. After a few interviews, a personality test and a few weeks of just waiting around...Mike got an offer last night. It is a good offer and this will be a very good career move for him. This new job will allow him more growth opportunity and give him more responsibility. Both things he has been craving, but wasn't likely to get soon with his old company. Downside (which will hopefully turn into a good thing later)...we are moving...AGAIN. It seems we just can't stay put anywhere longer than a year and a half. Our new destination is Virginia Beach.

Since this all just happened in the past 24 hours, I'm a little short on details and probably will be for a little while. My head is spinning with all that needs to be done. I guess the positive to that is I don't have time right now to dwell on the fact that I have to leave this place that I love and the amazing friends I have here. Believe me...there will be MANY MANY tears shed in the future. Luckily, the distance is a short 3 hour drive so I'm not cut off completely.

So, yeah, that's our big news. Stay tuned for further installments to the saga!

Way back when

So, a few months ago I wrote a post about how content and happy I was with my life. I also mentioned that I knew the calm wouldn't last forever and that I was expecting a 'learning experience.' Well, the day after writing that post, I took about a dozen pregnancy tests and learned that I was expecting baby girl. I was under the impression that was the change coming my way. Granted, it was a happy change but I'd still consider it a learning experience. The lesson being that things happen on the Lord's time and not mine.

Skip ahead to the present time and I could not have been more wrong. I'm not really sure what God is trying to teach me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure this lesson would have been better received AFTER I give birth. I'm not really ready to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but just know that some big things are happening in our life. And while I'm sure one day, when this trial is all over and life has settled back down, I will look back and see how strong it made me...well, I'm not all that excited about it right now. I think content is the exact opposite of what I'm feeling right now. I think the appropriate word is turmoil. Yup, I feel a lot of turmoil.

Stay tuned for the next installment...I may just spill the beans.

On another note...did y'all notice my baby ticker???? 90 days!

Christmas in North Carolina

Being pregnant and all, I was totally against traveling anywhere for the holidays this year. So, my whole family decided to make the trek to our house for Christmas. Luckily, my Aunt and Uncle aren't moving back to Ohio until after New Year's Day, so they were able to house a few of our guests. The boys and their girlfriends stayed with Dini & Bill. My parents, Kathleen and nephew Noah stayed with us.

As tradition would have it, Dylan and I both ended up being sick the entire week everyone was here. Lucky for us all, Dylan was in pretty good spirits. Although, we did make a trip to Urgent Care on Christmas Eve. The child has been sick with a cold/cough for about two months and it seemed to get worse last week. Turns out he had ear infections in both ears. No wonder he'd been such a crab and sleeping like crap! We got him on some amoxicillin and hoped he would start to feel better. Unfortunately, that made him break out in hives. So, we called the Dr back up and got him on something else. Me? I just had a fun cold that made me miserable. We tried hard to not let our illness ruin the holiday, but I really didn't sleep good most of the time everyone was here.

My family's tradition is to celebrate on Christmas Eve. We had a yummy dinner (fried rice, several dips, chips, desserts, etc...we're into finger foods in this house), then my Dad gave a talk about the birth of the Savior and the reason why we celebrate this season, followed by some serious unwrapping of presents. The gift part can get a bit overwhelming and we were worried that Dylan would need to save some for the next morning. The kid, however, surprised us and just tore through his gifts. I feel like this was his first 'real' Christmas because he finally understood what was going on, so it was a lot of fun to watch him and hear all his little expressions as he opened each gift.

Christmas morning, my Mom made her amazing Caramel Rolls and Hot Chocolate. We spent the rest of the morning cooking a nice traditional dinner (ham, turkey, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin roll, etc). The rest of the day was spent watching football, lounging and just chatting. All in, we had a nice couple of days and everyone made out well with gifts.

No, my kid does not like to wear clothes. This was Dylan before all the festivities on Christmas Eve. He was totally ready to get started.

With 11 stockings to hang, the fireplace mantle was a little too small.

Just a glimpse of the amount of gifts. I had to take about 8 pictures to get them all.

Sweet cousins getting ready to open their presents. These two had a lot of fun together.

One of Dylan's favorite gifts is his new train table from Gram and Pa.

This was my mantle. Turned out pretty cute, thanks to my Mom. I started doing 'Elf on the Shelf' with Dylan this year. He had a great time finding 'Red' each day. I really do think it helped him behave himself the past few weeks.

I really wish I had taken some more pictures, but with being sick I just wasn't in the mood. The memories, however, will stay with me. Now I just have to figure out how to get Dylan to understand that it's going to be a long time before he gets to open presents again.

So Humbled

Dylan has been sick and in toddler mode the past 4 days. I have been on the verge of completely losing my mind; trying my hardest not to give his rear end a nice swat. Luckily Mike did not have to work this weekend and I was able to get away and shop with my Aunt for a few hours one day.

This morning, as I sat here in Mommy time out trying not to scream at Dylan for being annoying, I decided to catch up on my friend's little baby girl. I am not super close with this girl, but she is a super sweet, kind, and beautiful person. In September 2008, her 6 month old baby boy died of SIDS. I did not know her when this happened, but heard the story shortly after we moved into our house in January. I met her in February. In May, I found out that she was pregnant again. In July, I found out that her 20 week ultrasound showed some physical deformities. Her baby was born premature in October and they discovered that her situation was much worse than any ultrasound could have showed. This poor little baby has been a fighter and has already endured surgery. They were hoping to be able to bring her home by Christmas, but her situation has gotten worse. At this point in time, they are hoping for a miracle.

Upon finishing reading more about the baby this morning, I was truly humbled. I do not know why some people have to endure such trials in this life, but it surely made my current frustrations with my toddler seem inconsequential. Every time I think about my friend, my eyes well up with tears and I run to hug my perfect little Dylan. Then I take a moment to just sit and talk to my belly. I have been counting my blessings today. Any time a complaint starts to cross my mind, I remind myself that my life is awesome.