Thursday, December 29, 2011

Countdown to the move - Day 32

Oops. No pictures today.

Rob took today and tomorrow off of work (translation: he asked for Friday off so that we could take a day trip to see friends, and his coworker - BLESS HIM! - told him not to come in on Thursday either). So he was home today, which was great.

We started the day as usual, in our bed with all 3 kids snuggled close, but with Daddy there too it was way more fun.

Then we headed downstairs for breakfast, and I made the kids scrambled eggs to go with leftover reheated monkey bread from Christmas. Once they all had their plates and cups and were happily tucked into their meal, I made myself a french press of christmas blend and a fried egg breakfast sandwich (this has become my favorite way to start the day, but I'm limiting myself to once or twice a week).

Then we got to work. Rob disassembled the twin beds while I packed what we don't need for the next month from the kids' closets. Note to self: you need baby blankets like you need tea, mugs, and a hole in the head. Apparently that's a thing for me.

We kept packing, changing diapers, wiping noses, throwing food at the kids, napping them randomly, moving stuff to the garage, etc. until about noon when I realized I needed to take a shower and we needed lunch. Does it go without saying that there is little to no cooking happening right now in our house? That includes lunch. I consider throwing turkey between slices of bread cooking at this point. I ran a few errands and brought lunch back within an hour, and we all ate together just before the painter came over to give us an estimate on a few projects we want to get done before listing the house.

We spent the afternoon packing more, and then I took Robbie over to the storage unit with me. We have actually filled the first unit and needed to look into renting a second one. On the way there, he needed to potty. We pulled over just in the nick of time to use the car potty I keep in the back seat, in a church parking lot. Why does this stuff not even faze me anymore? Here, son - pull your pants down in public (it's a balmy 43 degrees!) and pee on a plastic potty right off of Main Street. I will then dump its contents nearby and pretend that it is completely clean and put it back in the car, and we will continue on with our day until you yell at me 30 minutes later that you've gotta go again.

We secured a second storage unit and also learned a few new things about our facility that made me swear off ever going there alone and/or at night. When we got home, Aunt Kels was there to keep an eye on the kids so that Rob and I could drive a load of furniture over to the new storage unit. This was a really awesome thing she did for us at the end of a very long day, and I'm so thankful for her and her willingness to help us when she can.

We started the bedtime routine when we got home, and while I ran the kids' bath I let Maddie crawl around the hall near the bathroom. I had made it almost 4 years with small children and never had them choke on something other than food, but tonight Maddie found one of those large pieces of sequins (from WHAT? I have absolutely no idea) on the floor and apparently tried to eat it. All I know is that one minute I was running the bath, and the next I see her coughing and choking, and I just sort of held her up, trying to see in her mouth when she vomited all over my lap and kept struggling. Of course I yelled for Rob and grabbed the bulb syringe (? ok, I panicked) and waited for her to stop being able to take a gasping breath between chokes/vomits, but thankfully she never really stopped breathing or got into serious trouble. After a little bit I saw something shiny in her mouth and swiped through her mouth with a hooked index finger like you're supposed to, and fished out the sequins. Then I held her close and tried not to breathe through my nose because oh my goodness it is for sure now, vomit makes me want to vomit and it's not getting easier like I thought it would once I became a mom and vomit became my second job, mothering being the first.

We tucked the kids in for the night, and since the twin beds are out of both rooms the rest of the furniture has been rearranged, namely Robbie and Ellie's beds. This threw Robbie for a loop, and he voiced fears tonight about the dark, wanting his crib moved back to its original location, etc. We prayed together, I re-tucked Ellie in and he called me back over so that I could listen to him pray to Jesus again.

Robbie: "Dear Jesus, please watch over me while I sleep tonight because the I'm afraid of the darkness and right now it's a lot more light but when mommy leaves and closes the door, it's only a little light and it's darker and that makes me afraid. So Jesus please help me not be afraid and you and God watch me when I sleep."

Oh man, my little guy's first really honest prayer. It broke my heart and made me so happy all at once - to hear him talk about his fear but also to be bringing it to God at the tender age of 3! And trusting that God will take care of him. We talked for a while about the Holy Spirit, and His role in our lives. Which led to a discussion of the trinity (very basic!), and I laughed as I left the room at how some of my best conversations with the kids are the ones before bedtime. Glad I wasn't in a rush tonight, it was sweet time with Robbie.

Dinner was carry out from Smashburger (chicken sandwiches and smashfries... mmm!). And since there's still no great TV to watch, we are enjoying all the real estate shows, namely House Hunters. But also whatever the one is called where the twins in Canada get unsuspecting couples to agree to let them help pick their next home and renovate it, except the twins (who I suspect have high opinions about their own looks) are constantly squashing people's dreams as they start to renovate the newly purchased fixer-upper and come back to the couples saying things like "oh, we found faulty wiring that needs to be completely replaced" or "this plaster won't hold new cabinetry in the kitchen" etc., and then tell the couple the cost of the unanticipated project and watch them change from hopeful about creating their dream home to crestfallen as they realize they now have to choose between a brand new kitchen and adding a bathroom in the master suite. It's sort of a horrible show, but in the end everyone seems happy enough so we keep watching it (?!).

Enough about TV, my pillow is calling and we have a VERY fun but full day planned tomorrow. I promise pictures, and they'll be good...

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Funny things to remember about today: Ellie's hilarious and adorable mood; finding Jesus' birthday cake, which had been sitting out on the counter without plastic wrap covering it, with chunks missing and trails in the icing made by little fingers - we have no idea when Robbie even attacked it but we narrowed it down to sometime this morning!; Maddie refusing to give up on crawling towards Robbie's sippy cup, no matter where we moved it to be out of her reach; Robbie acting weird and doing a very awkward dance while I tried to fill out paperwork at the storage facility.

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