Flashback Friday

A long time ago,

(11 years)

in a faraway place,

(Arches National Park, Windows lookout)

Two almost-strangers intercepted.

And the rest is history.

July 2014

April 2003
My parents had come to Utah to celebrate my brother Sean's BYU graduation. As part of their long weekend, they took all their BYU student-children down to Moab and Arches National Park. We did a couple short strolls, including Windows lookout.

The following weekend - my parents were gone by then of course - I was back in Provo and noticed that a boy who I thought was cute had now parked his car across the street from our complex at an old rundown house instead of in his usual spot out my apartment window. (I may have been slightly stalker-ish...) That particular evening, I felt strangely pushed there by a force other than my own. I knocked on his door about 9pm. Luckily, he answered and didn't have a date over.

I said, "I saw your car parked over here. Have you moved?"

And he replied, "Yeah. So what did you think of Arches?"

I was shocked. "How do you know I was at Arches last weekend?"

He invited me into his awful living room, and we talked for a few hours on his awful couch. First, of course, we talked about Arches. The previous weekend this cute boy in my ward, Ryan Williams, had been training for his coming summer job as a tour guide to Japanese visitors. He happened to be headed towards the Windows lookout as my family was headed back to the parking lot.

I did not see him that day at Arches, but he saw me and said nothing.

After we sorted out the Arches "coincidence," we talked about just about everything - growing up, family, majors. We immediately felt comfortable together, and ended up spending much of the rest of the weekend together.

The following Monday, Ryan left to live in Las Vegas for the summer for this tour guide job. Because of my visit that evening and our immediate connection, we spoke frequently all summer and visited each other as often as we could.

By fall when he returned, we were engaged... and the house he now rented had been switched into another ward's boundaries. If I hadn't stopped by that night, we would have missed each other.

And all because we were both at the Windows lookout at Arches National Park at the same moment in April 2003.

***

Of course, during our trip to Arches last week we had to stop by the Windows lookout.

Fun story?

Milestones

COLLIN
This 5-1/2 year-old lost his first tooth!

It has been super wiggly since mid-May, and he quit eating with or brushing it. When we got home from vacation Thursday, I saw a black spot on the tooth and gum, and I freaked out. I was worried it was going to rot the permanent tooth underneath.

Luckily, Super Dad coaxed him into letting him tie a string around it that night, and... YANK! It was out. Thank goodness. We had corn on the cob to celebrate.

BRENNAN
This 3-1/2 year-old is - I say this cautiously - potty trained!

I have been trying and trying for the last four months to get this kid out of diapers, but he is super stubborn. He doesn't do anything that makes Mom happy.

So I read "Potty Training in One Day," and enlisted Super Dad (sensing a theme to this post?) to spend all day Saturday having potty parties. They drank sugar-filled juices and pops all day and ate candy after each success. Part of the book's idea was also that Brennan potty-trained his Curious George, because he is his "daddy." The other idea from the book was that after each accident Brennan had to do five "practice runs" pretending from different parts of the house that he needed to go and running as fast as he could to the toilet, removing his underwear, sitting on the toilet, dressing again and leaving. It was a great logical consequence for my little man.

Obviously, all the sugar consumption was completely against my thinking, but "my thinking" (sticker charts, cleaning up the mess, date rewards) had totally failed numerous times. Anyway, it worked and it's sticking so far, so I'd say with some kids (who are strong-willed and sugar-holics), it works.

ETHAN
This 9-month old can crawl AND has six teeth!

Eefie is 9 months today. Today's the day he's been "out for as long as he was in." He's adorable but certainly has developed an opinion. He knows what he wants, and he does all he can to get it. Since vacation, he screams each time I put him in his car seat, but hopefully that'll wear off at some point. He is barely nursing (3 times per day, just one side for 5 mins), but loves eating baby food and Cheerios. He sleeps 7pm - 5:30am and takes two 2-hour naps. He is probably my most curious baby so far. Yesterday I was trying to vacuum, and he kept crawling into the path trying to touch the light on the front. All my other children have been petrified by the loud noise, but he's not one to let fear get in his way. He grabs at everything and keeping him out of trouble has become my full-time job. He also puts everything into his mouth, which is to be expected at this age, but "everything" at our house (due to having older brothers) includes teeny legos, magnets, and - my worst find yet - a peanut. Man, I hope I can keep this little guy safe.

Utah Vacation

We've been planning to visit Utah this summer since before last summer, which was WAY before any thoughts of moving to the mountain west. Here's what we ended up cramming into our long-weekend trip.

Friday: Drive to Salt Lake & Temple Square
We started out early Friday morning and drove to Salt Lake. We ended up arriving about 3pm, and our hotel pool was disappointing, so we decided to walk to Temple Square. Unfortunately, nine blocks was much further in real life than it looked on the map, and the heat threatened our vacation giddiness. We did enjoy walking around for a bit though.

Then we headed across the street to the downtown mall. We thought we'd grab a quick bite in the basement food court and then catch TRAX back to our hotel. Imagine our surprise when we saw City Creek Mall! It is gorgeous. The boys played in the fountains, and we finally found the food court.

Saturday: Temple Square, Lunch with Madison Neighbor, Madison Ward Reunion & Drive to Springville
The boys asked us in the morning if we could return to Temple Square. They really loved the Christus statue and wanted to see it again. Who can deny a sweet plea like that? So we bought our TRAX passes (no attempt at walking this day, lol) and headed back over first thing in the morning.

Ethan needed a nap and due to packing-space limitations, we only had the umbrella stroller which isn't very conducive to napping. He was not a very happy traveling companion this morning. The boys and I got to check out both visitors centers, the tabernacle, and the assembly hall. Ryan walked with Eefie and finally got him to fall asleep as we boarded TRAX to return to our car.

Next, we drove to Sugar House to visit our neighbors from Madison. Eric, the husband, was working on his PhD at Wisconsin while Ryan was doing his masters, and they lived across the patio from us. Even though they aren't members, Eric is now working on his post-doc at the U. Unfortunately their kiddos (who were the ages of ours back in our Madison days) were out of town visiting their grandparents and we missed them.

After lunch (and a pretty decent nap for Eefie), we headed to South Jordan for our Madison Ward Reunion. Wondering why it was being held in Utah? Oddly, many of the students in our ward live and work in Utah now, and many others arranged their family vacations to coincide with this reunion (like us). It was great fun to see so many old friends, and see how each of our families has multiplied exceedingly.

Brennan fell asleep on the couch in the midst of the chaos, but woke up a total grump, and Collin was even worse. We left about 7pm to head to my sister's house an hour away. It was a late night, since the kiddos cheered right up when they saw their cousins. They really do get along super well. This was one long (and super fun!) day.

Sunday: Church & Dinner with Ohio Friend
Sunday morning came early, since the adults stayed up until 2am talking. We went to church, napped and had dinner. My family grew up with the Luce family in Ohio, and Rachel lives in Sandy. She came over for dinner with her two little girls who I had never met  (her husband was on a business trip). She had never met any of my kids either, and they all had a great time playing and then roasting marshmallows. We didn't say our farewells until after 9pm, and it was another super late night for us and the kids. So fun to get to see Rach and meet her adorable little girls!

Monday: BYU Tour & Driving to St George
Monday morning we said goodbye to Kim's family and headed to BYU. Ryan and I hadn't been to campus since he graduated in 2006, and many things have changed! It was fun to show the kids campus, but it was hot and they were tired and there was quite a bit of whining.

We were able to meet up with our Madison friend Jennifer - whose husband is a professor there now - and her three kids, and she gave us a great tour, filling us in on the Provo gossip.

After lunch in the Cougar Eat (and more goodbyes), we drove by the apartment complex we met at (which used to be ritzy and now looks run-down) and the car garage Ryan worked at the first summer we were married (which really was the start of his trajectory of working with engines). More reminiscing.

Then we headed out of Provo and started the long drive to St George. We arrived about 5pm and met Ryan's sister Emily at the condo they were at vacationing. We were able to swim, which was a blessing since it was over 100 degrees. We got takeout Mexican (delicious) and made the kids (she has five now plus our three) mac and cheese. I think we all made it to bed by 11pm. The late nights were really catching up with us by this point. So fun to meet up and chat with more family!

Tuesday: Red Cliffs & Driving to Moab
We had originally planned to hike at Zion's, but the late nights, heat and long-ish drive squashed that plan. We found a nice short hike which advertised pools for the kids to splash in along the route. Unfortunately, only two small pools held any water, and it was stagnant and buggy. This hike was HOT.

 

 
After suffering through this one, we got in the car to drive to Moab. We arrived about 6pm and discovered another disappointing hotel pool. (Having a neighborhood pool has apparently spoiled us.) We headed to a nice dinner in town and gave the kids a much-needed bath before bed. I think we were all out by 9pm. Much-needed rest.

Wednesday: Arches & Driving Home
Wednesday morning we tried to get moving early to beat the heat, so we were all fed, packed up, and checked out of the hotel before 8am. We decided we'd hike Delicate Arch first, and then see if we had any juice left afterwards. (This was a good idea since we had no juice left at all and didn't make it anywhere else.)

We were blessed with some cloud-cover and then a nice sprinkling rain on the way up, and I think that's the only reason we were able to make it. The heat was really killer. It was super awesome at the top though, so that made my fear of heights and the whining from the kids on the way down a little more bearable.

By the time we got back to the car, we just headed home. We hit a bad thunderstorm somewhere in the mountains west of Denver. We kept hydro-planing, and it was pretty scary. We didn't make it home until after 9pm. We all crashed into bed.

Conclusion 
We really managed to cram a lot into our few days. Ryan had to return to work bright and early Thursday morning (he's running low on vacation days because of our most recent move). I would like to make it known that Utah is a truly beautiful state. Their mountains are incredible, and the red-rock and its nutso formations are like what I suspect it is like on Mars. I think you have to leave (and not be an anti-Utah, BYU student) in order to appreciate its natural awesomeness. I'm glad we were able to take the boys and share with them some of our college days and friends. Good to see so many of you too!

We're Alive... barely (aka "June in a Nutshell")

*** CAUTION: This is a LONG post. You've been warned... ***

We survived our second move in just three months. So glad it's over. We even have a few pictures hanging on the walls (a feat we never accomplished in the rental), so I guess it's time to update my blog. Sorry to have been MIA for so long.

We ended up having to be out of our rental the day BEFORE we closed on our house, so we had to move our lives into (you'll never believe this) TWO U-Haul trucks (one 26-footer and another 20-footer). How embarrassing. We joked about hoping we got robbed so it'll all just disappear. We also had to spend one night in a hotel, but we made it through. Many thanks to our new ward here which offered muscle and babysitting. We couldn't have done it without their help.

RYAN

Hike to Horsetooth Rock (April)

Ryan is loving his job, which he may just say to me in order to soothe my anxieties about being in a new place. I hope it's true. He has been on TWO business trips this month - one the week before our move and one the week after. Both were back to the Midwest, which helped reaffirmed his decision to abandon that region's humidity. He's got a lot of home projects ahead of him. The first one is to cover our patio. (He's outside measuring for it now.) The sun's intensity here is something else. Last Friday he finally got the boys' trampoline set up, and the boys - and I! - are certainly grateful. Ryan got a calling about a month ago too. He's been called to Primary, team teaching the CTR 7s - Baptism Year, my favorite). His team teacher is also Bro Williams, so the kids call one Bald Williams and the other Hairy Williams. You decide who is who. Lol. We celebrated Father's Day a week late because of the move. He got a new Weber Grill (which he's been asking for since we moved to Illinois). We've been enjoying steaks and burgers each weekend since.

LINDSEY

Mother's Day 2014

I'm keeping busy with settling us in, unpacking and organizing. The big boys are in swim lessons every day this week and next, and we are headed to Utah the end of next week. We're excited to see some old friends from our Madison days, as well as my sister and Ryan's. The boys will get to see seven cousins in all. I still don't have a calling, which I was really enjoying, but now I am starting to worry says something about my testimony. Our new neighborhood has pool access in a neighboring neighborhood, so that has kept our afternoons nice and full. I'm also spending a good deal of time dreaming of decorating this new place. We have a HomeGoods, and I now understand what everyone was so excited about.

COLLIN

Preschool Graduation (front center, white shirt/khaki shorts)

Collin will start kindergarten in just a few short weeks (6?). He loves to go to the school's playground and pretend he's at recess (it's right across the street). He's really into writing lately, and he leaves little notes around the house. All his "sentences" are just first letters. For example, I'll find a post-it on the door jamb to the basement that says, "NTYOAOFYO." Don't you know what that means? Translation: "No 3-year-olds allowed. Only 5-year-olds." Oh, yes, it's great fun. He's also becoming a little engineer, taking things apart and trying to build something new. One of the trees in our new house had a moisture sensor that was broken. Using screw drivers, he took it all apart and now he's begging Ryan to turn it into a "temperature sensor" (aka thermometer). Unfortunately, for all his creativity and brains, many of his ideas are neither reasonable nor practical, and he gets quite upset when we tell him so. He loves having his own room on his own floor with his own bathroom. And, joy of all joys, he has discovered sleeping in! If we stay up late for an activity, he actually sleeps past 6am! For the month of June, he has enjoyed taking a sports class each Monday where they explore two new sports each week. His favorites so far have been baseball and soccer. (Though he may have only chosen the latter because he is a Mommy-pleaser.) Yesterday was his first day of swim lessons. He was braver than I expected, but he still doesn't like to get his face or ears wet. He has become a budding artist too, leaving drawings and coloring in his wake.

BRENNAN

Top of Horsetooth Rock (April)

Brennan has also been taking sports class and swim lessons. He has been very hesitant with swimming. He even got mad at the teacher today (who tricked him into the cold water), and then wouldn't do anything else the rest of class. He's always been one to hold a grudge. His favorite sports have been football, baseball and basketball. He is a surprisingly fast runner and well-coordinated with each skill. (He certainly didn't get any of that from me.) He has been really into pretend lately too. He loves "exploring," when he draws a map on paper and sneaks around the house with a backpack on. He's unhappily adjusting to having his own room, but the purple walls have definitely helped. He is still up early, no matter how tired he is. Last Saturday we actually gave him a nap at 9am! He claims to be afraid of everything: the dark (at noon with the blinds closed), heights (sitting on the barstools), dogs (on a leash), water (in the 1 ft baby pool), going fast in the stroller (lol), etc. I think he is just seeking attention. He's super attached to his dad, which has made the recent business trips even more difficult. He has entered that adorable 3-year-old stage of making funny observations using limited vocabulary and information. It's my favorite. For instance, last week we had a really bad hail storm. A car in the grocery store parking lot's back window was shattered and lying on the back dash. He said he thought a robber had tried to break in and used a magic stick to break the glass. Cute imagination.

ETHAN

Ethan figured out the army crawl yesterday, but he's still rocking back and forth for the real thing. He has four teeth - two cute little ones on the bottom, and two MASSIVE top ones. He's still super chunky and very smiley. Everyone (not just moms and grandmas either; preschool boys, teenage boys, teenage girls, preschool girls) say how cute he is. And he really is. His smile is out of control. He does seem to be developing a naughty, teasing personality. Heaven help us. He has this evil giggle he uses when he does something he knows will annoy his brothers. Collin said one day, "Oh no. Another Brennan!" It was hysterical. But seriously, hold on tight. He's not been sleeping well this past week. I'm hoping it's a short-lived phase, since we'll all be sleeping together on vacation next week. He's also not nursing well - only 3-4 times per day, sometimes only on one side even after a long stretch (like overnight) and never more than 5 minutes. It's painful for Mom, to say the least. He's a real trooper running his brothers all over town, eating baby food wherever we may be, and napping in his car seat often. Guess that's the story of being the youngest.

CONCLUSION

And there it all is. I hate that when life gets busy that I miss my kids growing up on me. It is all happening so fast. Why can't life slow down to that interminable pace of middle school and high school when a school year felt like an eternity? I'd love years to last that long now.

Congratulations if you made it this far reading this novel. If you haven't noticed, I have done very little exploring of this new state we now can call home. I'm sure it's a great place to live and vacation, but I think it'll take having visitors here in order to force me to make the time to see it (hint, hint).

Happy Fourth!

An Update

We bought a house!

After a month of meeting with spec home builders and custom home builders, we decided we didn't want to be house-poor and that we'd just buy an existing home for now. So we called our landlord, and she said that if we wanted to get out of our contract early (original end date was March 15, 2015) then we needed to be out before June 15th. A bit of a time crunch, to say the least.

So after having four houses sold out from under us in just a week (those are good stories), we hired a realtor and three days later: An accepted offer! Our close date is June 13th. Just in time.

A little about the house... It's in this same ward, which I wanted. It also has a decent-sized backyard, which is hard to come by in these parts. It has a two-tiered back patio with mountain views, which we love too.  The fenced yard backs up to what they call a "green belt," which is a shared grassy space cared for by our HOA fees. It is right across the street from a high-rated elementary school, and in the high school region that everyone is dying to get into. It was built in 2011, so it's fairly new which I wanted. Its floor plan is perfect for us - super open - but it doesn't have all the upgrades of the homes around it (tile floor, hardwood, wainscoting, covered patio, finished basement, granite counters, etc), so we have our work cut out for us. Nothing new there though. It has three bedrooms upstairs, and one in the basement. I wanted four altogether, but we couldn't swing the expense, so this will have to do. It's a little bit out in the country and away from the traffic of town, so that's like our Illinois home too. We can hardly believe our good fortune.

The blessing is that we could actually afford this one, despite its perfect location, because it wasn't upgraded to the sky! Perfect for us.

Lots to do around here with packing and moving AGAIN, but it'll be worth it this time. See you in a month!

Ahhh! My baby is six months!

In all the chaos that has been our lives lately, we've had a baby growing up. I told Ryan last night that there has to be a way to pause a baby's life. I am missing it!

LIVING
He loves his brothers. If I can get them to stop wrestling or arguing with each other long enough to look at him, his whole disposition changes. He smiles ear to ear and can giggle with full-on belly giggles. He loves when Brennan calls him "Eeffie." We also call him "Eef" for short. He's super adorable, and I really mean that. He's flexible and happy almost all the time.

SLEEPING
As of his 5-month mark, I'm no longer nursing in the middle of the night. Sometimes he'll wake up once, but Ryan can usually re-swaddle him and he'll go back to sleep after a few minutes. Hooray! During the day, his napping is kind of a mess. I always have to wake him to get his brothers to something, but I'd say he is still getting 3-4 naps per day. He prefers sleeping in his bed over his car seat, but often that isn't an option.

EATING
He has two little teeth on the bottom that poked through the week we left Illinois and drove to Colorado. Good timing, I know. I can attest to his really strong bite as his nursing mother. :-(

We started him on solids as soon as we got here (5 months), and he is really going to town now - about four small jars per day. (Ha ha - no homemade food so far this time around.) Yesterday I cut back his nursing to every four hours, and that seems to have been the right choice. He likes all the pureed foods (green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, bananas, pears, peaches) but hasn't liked the baby cereals.

He's been taking 1 ml of Zantac twice daily since he was two months old. We experimented with a 1/2 ml dose last week, but the carrot stains on the carpet prove that wasn't a good choice. We increased it back to the full dose this week, and he's doing much better. We'll try to wean him off of the medication again when he turns one.

MOVING
He has the rolling thing down pat. He can roll repeatedly in the same direction, rotate, and roll in the opposite direction. He loves being mobile. He loves to suck and chew on fingers, toys, clothes, blankets.. anything he can get into his mouth.

GROWTH
We had a thirty-day waiting period for health insurance with Ryan's new company, so Ethan doesn't have his 6-month well-check until May 5th, but I predict he's about twenty pounds.

He was 17 pounds at four months, and he's definitely chunkier and heavier now. I can barely haul his carrier around, so as soon as he can sit independently, I'll switch him to the rear-facing car seat. Shouldn't be much longer now. He's in 6-9 month clothes now too.

Stop growing, Ethan! I want you to be this age FOREVER. I love you, Eefie.

Easter

I've lived in the Midwest so long, I barely remember that it can actually be dry in April. Every time rain is forecasted, I naturally figure we'll have to stay inside all day long. Nope. We are lucky if we get a 5-minute sprinkle! That being said, the trees are all in bloom despite the grass being brown, dry and crunchy. Here's the best picture I could get on Sunday of the family.

Oh Brennan. You will be the child who teaches me the most, particularly about patience. Good thing he's so blasted cute.

While Brennan was "too tired" to brush his teeth, I got these handsome ones of the cooperative children.

Aren't they adorable?

Collin's preschool hosted an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. It was CRAZY crowded, and we'll be finding another community event next year. Here he is with the Easter bunny. As usual, Brennan opted out of this photo.

Don't miss the cross around the giant rabbit's neck. Who knew the Easter bunny was Lutheran? Lol.

After church, I wanted to make up for Brennan not getting any eggs at Collin's school's hunt the day before. Unfortunately, despite massively low expectations, Brennan didn't earn participating. Ryan and I hid the eggs and let Collin hunt alone for them during nap time.

Collin loved being an only child, if for only a small moment.

And in an effort at keepin' this blog real, I must mention that the Easter bunny hasn't actually visited our home yet. The Big Boys have been really struggling with bedtime since moving here, and Saturday night Ryan gave them one last chance to stay in their room and go to sleep... And we had to follow through with the consequence of no Easter bunny. They are currently working on five good bedtimes in order to have Mr. Bunny stop by another night this week. So far, so good. We'll see.

We also decorated the coolest, most awesome Easter eggs ever this year, but I can't find the memory card with the pictures on it. Sad huh? Our eggs included a cheerleader, a sweaty athlete, two bald babies, an octopus, a mummy, an Italian gestapo agent... If I find the card, I'll post them. It's amazing what a glue gun, stickers, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, pom-poms and Ryan's brain can create.

*   *   *

And as an update on our Illinois house... It sold! It was on the market 31 days. We signed and mailed our paperwork last night, but the buyers are closing for real on Thursday. Hooray! We're really happy with the price, and in the negotiations we were able to waive the radon inspection, kitchen flooring replacement credit, and three minor repairs resulting from the inspection. Yahoo! Smoothest process ever.

One Week Down

So yesterday marked one week since we arrived in Fort Collins.

The Drive
We left Wednesday after Ryan got off work and drove the two hours to my uncle's home in Iowa City. Ryan drove his truck, and I had all the kids in the van. Thursday morning we got on the road early and drove to Lincoln, NE to wiggle, nurse and potty at my friend Amy's house. Ryan had the big boys in the truck, and I had Ethan in the van. Thursday afternoon we drove to North Platte, where Ryan checked me and the boys into a hotel. He continued on (until 1am) to Fort Collins and slept on the floor here in our house. He woke up early on Friday, met the moving truck, and orchestrated the delivery of all our stuff. I checked me and the kids out of the hotel and stopped by my aunt's boutique/antique shop in the mall in North Platte. Then I got on the road with the kids about noon and arrived at the house shortly after the truck left.

Overall, the kids did really well in the car with only a few tantrums and not too many tears from Ethan. Collin was our little helper, handing things to both Brennan and Ethan and keeping most everyone calm. Thank goodness for older brothers.

The House
We are renting for a year while we wait for our home in Illinois to sell. We also really want to build, which will take time to locate a lot and pick a floor plan and such. For now, we are good.

Unfortunately, it has been quite the task to try to organize our 3200 square feet of stuff into 1700 square feet. The bedroom spaces are fine, but the living space isn't what we are accustomed to. We don't have an eat-in kitchen, so we have to use the dining room for eating AND office space. The living room is half the size of our old one, and we don't have an additional family room. That's a lot of things with no where to go.

But I do love the look of the house though (rear-loading garage, Rustic-façade style, wrap-around front porch). It also is light green with cream trim, which is totally my dream home.

We only have a side-yard, and since we are a corner-lot, we are surrounded on three sides by streets. With no fence, I've been hyper about the kids being out there. There's also nothing to do out there, since we left our swing set and sand box behind (and they'd be against the HOA bylaws anyway).

On the other hand, the HOA provides for a clubhouse and pool, as well as several parks, playgrounds and a biking area. I'm trying change my ideas about yards and public spaces. It's just different from the Midwest.

The Ward
We feel very welcomed in the ward. The bishop, relief society president and primary president all took the time to chat with us on Sunday. Even though they figure we'll only probably be in their ward a year, the other moms have helped me find a preschool for Collin (now) and Brennan (in the fall). They also filled me in on library story times and parks with sand boxes. I even got the scoop on McDonald's play places. I'm attending their book club in a few weeks too. Their bishop's wife teaches a free toddler music class at the church once per week, and it sounds like they meet at a park each week in the summer time too. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't as common as in Peoria, probably because it costs so much more to live here. There's only a few of us in the ward apparently. All in all, the members seem really friendly.

The City
It is really crowded here. I guess when you live in a place where people actually WANT to live, it can become pretty crowded. There are lots of busy roads and stop lights. I haven't been impressed by the drivers' friendliness. Everyone seems like they're in a hurry and a little rude on the road. There are people everywhere all the time, even on weekday mornings. There are always cars, buses and trucks driving by the house.

On the other hand, there are lots of parks, trails and biking lanes. The beautiful mountains are always off in the distance, and it was only a 15-min drive to the mountains on Sunday.

I was really impressed with the preschool during our tour yesterday too, so that's good.

Unfortunately, the cost of living here is pretty high, so we aren't quite sure how much house we'll be able to build.  In fact, as we've visited parks this week I've ONLY met nannies, no moms. Maybe we should get used to only 1700 square feet. :-(

The Job
Ryan is liking working for a smaller company. When he needs his computer looked at or a part on the engine swapped out, he doesn't have to fill out a work order and wait three days. Everything happens in less than a half hour! The commute is a little farther than before, and he actually has to deal with some minor traffic. He also got a traffic ticket this week too, so that was a bummer. He's getting settled in, just like we are. He is super happy and even took the boys for a hike this morning.

All in all...
We are settling in. Collin starts school Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons next week. We have story time on Tuesday mornings at the library. Music time is on Friday mornings. I workout at the clubhouse each morning before Ryan leaves for work. We are getting a routine again, which has been desperately missed this past month.

Thanks for checking up on us. Life is never boring with the Williams!

It's happening

Packers today, loaders Monday, leave Wednesday.

It's a whirlwind kind of move.

It's Official

Not looking forward to leaving our first home behind, but it's official.

There's now a sign in the yard and a lock box on the door.

Anyone know anyone wanting a wonderful home in Peoria, IL? And even if you aren't in the market, you can see all our home improvements in the 32 pics. Enjoy the link:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5816-Brookmere-St_Edwards_IL_61528_M78876-59073?row=1

Our home really is beautiful, and I'll miss it. We have so much sweat and tears in these walls. Goodbye first home! May you be loved for many years to come... and may you sell quickly to the highest bidder.

Moving is Complicated

You asked for details. Here are some things running around in my sleep-deprived, foggy brain...

We are still hammering out our timeline. In the mix is: Ryan's last day of work here, when to have our stuff packed and loaded, whether to ship Ryan's truck or have Ryan drive it out and fly back for me and the boys. We are also trying to pack most of our own things, get the house on the market, and host an Open House. I want Collin to go to school until Spring Break, Brennan has a speech evaluation scheduled, Collin and Brennan have dentist appointments, Ryan and I have eye appointments, and Ethan has his 4-month well-check and vaccinations. Pretty sure there's a Going-Away Party thrown in there too. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned doing the deep-clean. Think our calendar is a tad-bit psycho!?

Anyway, I just sent a massive email to Ryan at work detailing the most recent (and last - I've done three this week) moving van line quote. We need to make a decision by the end of the work-day today (in 3 hrs), so I was going through everything. And here was the last sentence:

"Call/text when/if you want/need to talk."

Yep, that's pretty much the best sentence I've ever typed!! I think it's a perfect blurb to summarize the indecision and craziness at our house this past week. Oh my goodness: We only decided to make this move ONE WEEK AGO! Life is crazy.

PS: When this craziness is all over, I'll have to post about all the miraculous hand-of-God tender mercies that have been showered upon us through it all. I'm for real. As stressful as it has been, we really are being blessed beyond our wildest hopes.

Rocky Mountain High

(text by John Denver)

 

He was born in the summer of his *32nd* year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin' by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long

 

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory

 

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

 

 

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high

NEWS: Ryan starts a new job (in Fort Collins, CO) on Monday, March 24th. We are super excited... but also really sad to leave our friends in Peoria. Here's to our new adventure!

A Different Kind of Valentine

Dear Mastitis,

You are far more wicked and awful than I ever could have imagined. I am grateful beyond words to have never experienced your awfulness until my third nursing baby, but rumor has it that I may see you again now. You have tortured me day and night for... oh no, has it really only been 48 hours?

Well, your stay in me is soon to end. Unfortunately for you, modern medicine will shortly eradicate you, and I'll be myself again. Four giant pills daily for ten days, and then I'll be able to eat, sleep, breathe, and cuddle with my baby again. No more fevers and chills. No more fire-filled nursings. No more gasps of pain. No more headaches and nausea.

Oh, I know you are hating my antibiotics today, but I am not. No sir. Today my antibiotics are my valentine.

Without any love,
A Tortured Mother

PS: Happy V-day everyone.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

So in case you missed the buzz, the Midwest has been in the negative temperatures for much of the month of January and now February. And what do you do when it's too cold to go outside?

You work in the house! Here are the projects that have kept us busy...

Master Bath
We've been needing a master bath remodel for some time, so we tackled this project over the long Martin Luther King, Jr weekend. First we removed the giant mirror and hung two smaller mirrors, with one over each sink (Home Depot: $60 each).

Then we removed the strip of lighting over the mirror. Ryan crawled around up in the attic to move the electrical to hang these three beautiful pendant lights (Menard's: $15 each).

We also sanded, stripped and stained the vanity cupboards to match our bedroom furniture and the espresso mirrors (multiple products at Home Depot: about $50).

Last but not least, we painted the walls the same sea-foam green color as our bedroom (Home Depot: $25). I also found this cheap piece of artwork for over the toilet at Big Lots ($10).

Ta-da! New bathroom.

Laundry Room
Our laundry room needed a coat of paint too. It's been just primed (and therefore unwashable) for 10 years, and you can only imagine the filth. It's nothing fancy, but oh so much better.

It's the same light gray as our kitchen. It looks nice all fresh and clean.

Kids' Bathroom
This project shouldn't be posted here, but it's another remodel we've tackled relatively lately. The day before I had Ethan, Ryan and his mom repainted our kids' bathroom. It was also just primed, and the dirty handprints and bright blue toothpaste smudges were driving me crazy. Now it's a fresh pale yellow.

 The accents in there are now gray. All the towels are from Target ($7 each).

Part of this remodel was buying a new toilet (Home Depot: $200) and putting the old one in the basement for guests. See why were able to enlist Nana's help? :-)

I spent way too much online on this gray chevron shower curtain, but I love it (West Elm: $60).

And that's how we've spent our time with no yard work keeping us busy. We can always find another project to tackle!