Cranky Side of the Crib

Today has been one of those days, starting the moment Cameron woke up screaming at 6:50am. You just know it's going to be tough...and it has been...and it's only nap time. He's been so not himself. He's been the opposite of himself. He's ornery, cranky, violent, moody and disobedient. He threw toys at his friends; grabbed toys from friends; beaned an 18 month old point-blank with a basketball; ran his scooter right into another friend, knocking him down. And then screams at me when I put him in time out. I feel like I've been in battle all morning - disciplining him, preventing further carnage, and apologizing to my friends who's kids are now like the walking wounded.

I need a nap. Or a drink.

I try to remind myself that he's only 3, but a big part of me expects more of him...expects him to be more generous, more considerate, more thoughtful, more teachable...less like a maniac. And it's times like these that I wonder if I'm doing this all wrong, am I screwing this whole thing up, or is it just a product of his age.

Do you ever wish you had a reboot button on your kids? Today is a reboot-button kind of day.

One Line a Day

Last week I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up a birthday present for a party over the weekend. They had a display at the front of the store for Mother's Day gift ideas - lots of fun ideas, and stuff I'd be pretty happy with. But let's be honest, if I really want any of those books, I need to just buy them myself. Kevin is amazingly thoughtful, but he's not going to be shopping for me at Barnes & Noble any time soon.

Anyway, I found this one little book on a bottom shelf called Mom's One Line a Day. It's a kind of nauseatingly pink book with a rocking horse on the front...but it's the inside that's so brilliant. Each page is dated at the top - April 9, for instance. And then there are 5 small sections on each page that start "20__". So you start the book on today's date, you fill in the year, and then you write a sentence or two about the day. Then tomorrow you do the same thing...every day, all year long. Then, on January 1 next year you move down to the second row of spaces, you enter "2012" and you write one sentence a day.

This goes on for five years. So by the time you finish the book you will know exactly what you did on April 9th for the past 5 years. Amazing, right? It only takes a minute at the end of the day, but think about how cool it will be to have that record of what you did every day for the last 5 years. When I finish this journal Cameron will be 8 going on 9, and Caleb will be 6.

For anyone who is looking for simple way to record your everyday stuff, both large and small, you might check this thing out.

Planning the Purge

I am desperate to clear out our house. Once the weather starts warming up I get desperate to get rid of the stuff that has been piling up in our house over the coming months. I walk into rooms and I feel my neck tense up as I see all the stuff cluttering surfaces, shelves, drawers, etc. I am ready to start boxing stuff, up and getting it out of my house.

Have you ever noticed that physical clutter gives you the feeling of emotional clutter? And by the same token, when your home feels clear and organized, your heart and internal space feel clear and free?

I am going to take it in chunks - one room, one cabinet, one shelf at a time. Kitchen crap I haven't used since we moved in. Clothes that never see the light of day. Toys that are missing pieces. Tchotchkes that just sit around collecting dust, stressing me out.

Here's to a lighter home and a lighter heart!!

We don't need no stinking potty training...

Ok, friends...help me out! I have a 3 year old who is not potty trained. Not only not potty trained, has absolutely ZERO interest in using the "big boy potty". Not only zero interest, he frankly could care less if he sits in a diaper full of poo for hours on end. Seriously. How do you convince a kid to use the potty when he thinks being sopping wet and wretchedly stinky is no big deal?

I swear, I'm going to have the first kid who grows out of all regular diapers and has to start wearing Depends.

At his 3 year check-up, our doctor recommended laying off the "potty-talk" (so to speak) for a whole month. Don't suggest it, don't try it, don't talk about it...nothing. If he mentions it, fine. But we are not to initiate a conversation about, say the phrase "big boy potty", or even make eye-contact with the Lightening McQueen potty for a whole month. Then he said we should try again, only this time use completely different incentives. If it was stickers before, it should be M&M's now, or whatever. We may go straight to the standing-to-potty method. Yes, I expect a mess...but there has to be some way to encourage the kid to want to use the potty. Not to get too graphic (and Kevin may kill me for this), but Cameron has recently observed Kevin's pottying prowess, and now talks constantly about "Daddy goes potty like fireman".

Hey, whatever works.

Both exciting and disturbing...

Today we are having a veritable heat wave. According to weather.com, it is 56 degrees here!! Sure, I've still got a foot of snow in my yard, but 56 degrees!! Come on, that's practically beach weather! Ok, yes, getting a bit ahead of myself, but I can't tell you how exciting this is. I'm sitting here at my computer with the window beside me cracked open, just so I can feel the fresh, cool air. It's heaven.

However, the disturbing side effect is the slow melt of our snowman. This guy was 5'5" at his tallest moment, and a true feat of engineering by a complete novice. I mean, come on people, I grew up in Oklahoma. With the 2-inch dustings of snow we'd get, my brother and I would make these stubby little 8 inch snowmen that were mostly mud, twigs and dead leaves that got rolled up with the snow. Pathetic.

So this monstrosity of a snowman was a true achievement! I thought it was going to be a super fun Mommy-Cameron bonding activity. Yeah, it was pretty much Mommy doing the rolling, patting, lifting and shaping, while Cameron stood on the sidewalk saying, "Good job, Mommy! I go in now and watch a little show?" Ah well, maybe next year.

So, here is a photo of our snowman now (rather poor quality since I had to take it with my phone). Yesterday it looked creepily like a African shrunken head snowman, and has now devolved into the Headless Snowman...complete with the scarf still around it's noggin-less neck. Yep...creepy.

Neverending Snow

People, we have been snowed under for MONTHS. I don't think I've seen my lawn since Thanksgiving. It is still about 18 inches deep and is now a slick sheet of ice along the top. I swear this snow isn't going to melt until sometime in mid-June. We are stuck inside most days, dying for some entertainment. It's hard not to just turn on Nick Jr. and let Dora and the Bubble Guppies entertain Cameron all day.

Cabin. Fever.

But I'm trying to focus on the spring to come. I'm trying to give myself a little ray of hope by planning for those days when it isn't 17 degrees outside. I'm trying to get to the gym more often to work off winter squidginess that comes from too many comfort foods and not enough activity. I'm starting to strategize for my vegetable garden. This will be my first foray into gardening and I can't wait! I'm reading everything I can on growing vegetables, discouraging pests, creating rain barrels, making compost, etc. I'm starting to think about spring colors and clothes - good-bye sweaters and boots, hello tank tops and strappy sandles! I can almost feel the cool spring air through the window right now. Ahh...

Anyway, I hope wherever you are, you're feeling a little more hopeful about the possibility of spring. Believe it or not, it's right around the corner!

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, which inevitably brings a whole raft of resolutions, commitments, and proclamations of change. I am not immune to the allure of a fresh start - a chance to reflect on all my failings in 2010 and fervently vow to do absolutely everything better in the new year. I'll be more faithful, more active, more patient and more generous. I'll eat better, exercise more, and go to bed earlier. I'll cook more meals, organize my attic, regularly clean my house and grow vegetables. I'll be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. I'll write more, read more and procrastinate less.

Unfortunately, the thing that think I'll be best at is breaking all my shiny new resolutions. But I can't break them if I don't make them, right?

So here's to 2011 - a chance to make a fresh clean start. I plan to show up here more often - hopefully you'll meet me here.

And she's back!

Hey to everyone out there who has been waiting on pins and needles for my return to blogland...

I'm baaaaaack!

Ok, not so exciting. But here I am anyway.

I am now the seasoned mother of two. I have thankfully passed through the valley of the shadow that is early life with newborn/two children, and think I might survive this crazy experiment after all. Folks, I think we are finally hitting our stride.

For anyone out there who hasn't done it, or for those of you with older kiddos who don't remember...

IT. IS. HARD.

Man. It has been a roller coaster. But there is definitely an advantage to having done all this once before. I'm so much more laid back about, well, everything, then I was with Cameron. Caleb is the easy one...all he does is eat, sleep, and sit around in his bouncy seat. Cameron, sweet boy that he is, is definitely the challenge. I mean, come on, the kid is 2 1/2 years old. It is a daily struggle with his demands, frustrations, and boundary testing. But he's also hilarious! No kidding...this kid is funny.

Anyhoo...that's a brief overview of life around Casa Clem. More to come, now that I'm back in the land of the living and getting regular sleep.

If you're a cutie and you know it, raise your hand!

Sweet Caleb
(Ignore Daddy's legs in the background)

Is this wrong?

We have been running around like crazy people trying to get prepped for D-Day on Friday. Last minute home projects, baby gear to pick up, groceries to buy, meals to plan, etc., etc. Frankly, it's all rather exhausting.

Here's the screwy part. I'm actually looking forward to Friday. Sure, the having a baby part...but what I'm really looking forward to? Four days and nights with no responsibilities. No meals to plan or cook. No groceries to buy. No toddler (sweet and precious though he may be) to entertain. No dishes to do. No laundry to fold. Nothing but hanging out in bed for four days. Now, granted, I have to have abdominal surgery to get this great vacation. And then I have to go home and try to survive life with a newborn. But right now, I'm just looking forward to 4 relatively easy days in the hospital.

I know...it's kind of sick. But there you go.

Happy Holiday?

Why do we insist on terrorizing our children at the holidays? Why do we think our tiny 2-year-old is going to want to go anywhere near a 6-foot rabbit? I mean, I don't even want to go near a 6-foot rabbit. And Christmas? Think enormous bearded stranger wearing fire-engine-red from head to toe loudly exclaiming, "Ho Ho Ho!!" It seems as though the photo of your precious punkin' sitting on Santa's knee screaming and crying is a childhood rite of passage. And don't even get me started on clowns.

We had a big Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, which Cameron loved...well, minus the run-in with the Easter Bunny.

Here are the boys headed to the Easter Egg Hunt.

Looking too cute.

Mmmm...chocolate!

And here is Cameron's meeting with the Easter Bunny.

Not happy.

I can't blame him. That thing is a bit frightening.

And in case you're curious, here's me at 38+ weeks.

As if I weren't busy enough...

I have such high hopes for my blog, and then fail so miserably at staying on top of it. It's embarrassing, I know. Oh well...no one's reading it anyway.

We are having a baby in 10 days. We don't know what kind of baby...we love a good surprise. Some days, like today, I'm not sure I'll make it until the 26th. Some days, like today, I hope I don't make it until the 26th. However, I also know that about 3 days into mothering a newborn I will wish that little troublemaker were back inside where they were a whole lot less trouble.

While I'm looking forward to meeting the little munckhin, I'm not sure I'm ready for the reality of Life With Two Kids. I know, whine whine. People do it all the time. I'll admit it...I'm a wimp. And I'm really lousy at being tired. Just ask my son, he'll tell you. Mommy is impatient, short tempered, irritable, cranky, moody and generally no fun when she hasn't had much sleep. My poor sweet son is going to have a rough few months dealing with a new little spotlight-stealer and a mommy straight out of Night of the Living Dead. Good times.

Other then that, we've been finishing home projects, surviving major snow storms, dealing with days of power outages, going to ultrasounds, and waiting for spring to finally arrive...which happened this week. There's just something about a day over 60 degrees that makes you believe you can survive anything. Let's hope that's true...

Anyway, the Clems 3 become the Clems 4 in 10 days or less. I'll post details for the brave remnant who still check my blog on rare occasions. Hopefully your faithfulness will be rewarded.

Happy Spring!

Seriously?

Last night, Kevin and I were sitting at home, mostly watching the Fiesta Bowl, when Kevin comes across this "interesting" show on the guide. It's called "Conveyor Belt of Love." Just stop, and say that again to yourself..."Conveyor Belt of Love." People, we have reached a new all-time low in our society when shows like "Conveyor Belt of Love" are not only pitched to networks with serious intent, but some network executive somewhere says, "Hey, that sounds like a good idea."

Here's the premise, to save you from being sucked into the inanity if you happen to see it on your TV - that's assuming it endures past the initial episode. 5 women form a panel and have signs that say "Interested" and "Not Interested". Then, one by one, 30 men roll through on, yes, you guessed it...a conveyor belt. They then have to do or say anything they think will catch the attention of one of these women. These guys were doing everything -- reciting bad original poetry; serenading the women on a ukulele; performing lame magic tricks or Sean Connery impersonations; doing yoga poses. One guy had nunchucks. Another guy, who was actually picked, rolled through in a speedo cradling his dog, who's name during the day is Princess and at night is Rambo...the dog, that is, not the guy in the speedo.

And we watched it.

We spent 60 minutes of our all-too-short time on this earth watching - say it with me - "Conveyor Belt of Love". After having a wonderful conversation over the weekend about our family New Year's resolutions, and the things we want to do as a family to bring us closer to one another and to God, we then spent a slow Monday night watching mind-numbing, intelligence-sucking reality TV crapola. I am dumber for it.

Christmas Break

For all my lofty goals of posting more often, I was definitely undone by the holidays. Things have been entirely too crazy. I still think it will be a miracle if I survive until we get on the plane Thursday morning. So much for my grand ideas about taking it easy this season.

It has been fun, though. We had our family Christmas Sunday morning, which was doubly fun since we woke up to 8 inches of snow! Cameron has been playing non-stop with his art easel, coloring books and stuffed Brobee (from Yo Gabba Gabba). Kevin and I just exchanged a few stocking stuffers this year. We really wanted to spend a little less on "things" so we could give more in some areas where we feel called. Our church is really focusing on the Advent Conspiracy concept, spending less so we can give more. We are helping a village in Uganda get clean water, and build a medical clinic and a community center. We have really been convicted this season by the spending statistics at the holidays - it's something like $450 billion is spent EACH YEAR on Christmas just in America, and it would only take $10 billion to solve the clean water crisis around the world. It's staggering. Anyway, we are feeling overwhelmed by our own blessings, and called to pass the blessing along.

So, 48 more hours to get all the things done here at home, and then we're off to visit grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., etc., for a week.

I hope everyone has a truly happy and blessed Christmas! See you in the New Year!

Holiday Madness

I am finally getting my head above water after Thanksgiving. We hosted in-laws for the entire week, and since the final group decamped on Saturday, I have been busy cleaning up, putting everything back in place, and decorating for Christmas. Our tree is up, we have a few lights in the bushes outside, and Cameron and I are headed for Home Depot this afternoon to find some more lights for our fence outside.

I love holidays. Any holiday. You name it, I love it. I want to celebrate them all! Big. I'm always up for a reason to celebrate, to cook something fun, to have a party, to put up a few decorations. My favorites are the fall and winter holidays -- I love Halloween -- but I love the 4th of July, Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's, Easter. Any reason to dye and egg, make a heart shaped pancake, give Cameron green colored milk, hang some streamers, wear a kitschy hat, hit a pinata, I'm in!

At this time of year, which is my all time favorite, I tend to have the bad habit of letting people and circumstances get to me. Steal my joy in the season, so to speak. I'm working extra hard this year to really appreciate the season around me, and to see it through Cameron's eyes. Enjoy every house with Christmas lights, play outside in the cold, take a goofy photo with Santa.

And as Cameron gets older, we are really trying to focus on why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. To make it less about the gifts and Santa Claus, and more about Christ and giving. I don't know about you, but looking back, I can hardly remember a gift I got last year, much less what I got as a child. But I remember praying with my family before we opened gifts. I remember decorating the tree with them every year, watching White Christmas. I pray that Cameron (and the forthcoming child/children) has the same memories. That Christmas is remembered by the times we have at home the things we're doing together...and the gifts we're able to GIVE. Kevin and I are overwhelmed by all we have...we really want to be able to pass on the blessing, and hope our kiddos remember that too.

Anyway, enough of that.

Here's hoping you're all enjoying the holiday season in your own home, in your own way!

Mmmm...Oatmeal

I am a Crock-Pot novice. I received a lovely Crock-Pot as a gift a couple of years ago, and I think I used it once when we lived in Texas. However, it did not make the move to New York with us. So, after 6 years of sitting in a box, it has finally emerged...and mostly sits in a cabinet. I will occasionally pull it out, study it a little quizzically, and then shrug and put it back in the cabinet. I simply don't know what to so with it.

I heard a rumor about the ease of cooking oatmeal in a Crock-Pot. And frankly the idea of going to bed and waking up to a warm, steaming pot of cinnamon-y, brown sugar-y oatmeal sounded blissful. So I Googled it, and found a great blog with a simple recipe for Crock-Pot oatmeal. We tried it last weekend, and it is awesome. Simple, hearty, and delicious. If you like oatmeal, give it a shot!

I actually read the recipe wrong, and made the whole thing with 4 cups of milk, instead of 4 cups of water and a 1/2 cup of milk or half & half. It turned out great anyway, creamy and delicious. So you could always play around with the amount of liquid based on the consistency you like, and the ratio of milk to water, depending on the creaminess you like.

All credit goes to www.mommyskitchen.net

Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal

1 cup steel cut oats (this won't work with regular oats or quick cooking oats - too mushy)
4 cups water (if using a slow cooker liner decrease the water to 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup half and half or milk
1 cup dried fruit of choice
(apples, raisins, cranberries, apricots etc)
or 1 - fresh apple (chopped)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 - tbsp butter
1/2 - tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar

First off find a bowl that will hold four cups of liquid, and fit inside your crock pot with the lid on. Measure out one cup of Steele cut oats. Pour that into the inner bowl. Add the four cups of water, milk or half and half, brown sugar, vanilla, butter and cinnamon sugar. If you would like to add dried fruit or a cut up apple the add it as well. Fill the crock with water to about halfway. Set the inner bowl in the crock and see how high the water rises. Add more water in the crock if necessary. Try to match it so that the water reaches about the same height on the outside of the oats bowl or just below the bowl. Place the lid on your crock pot. Set on low and go to bed. When you get up the next morning your oatmeal should be cooked perfectly in that steamy water bath.

Reeling

Have you ever had that experience where suddenly, without any warning, your legs are knocked out from under you? You are cruising along just fine, when something earth-shattering hits. And your shell of self-reliance is crushed, leaving you feeling immeasurably vulnerable, shaken, fragile.

I have a had a few of those this year. Days, or several days, that have left me reeling. Feeling un-anchored. Lost. Helpless.

And invariably, our loving and gracious God has used these moments as learning experience. A teachable moment - ha. At the time it felt like being thrown in the deep end without knowing how to swim.

The striking thing about these particular moments I'm thinking of is that God allowed them to happen at times when all my earthly "crutches", so to speak, were nowhere to be found. We all have those people around us who hold us up, strengthen us. Those we call first when something happens. Those who bear our burdens as gladly as we bear theirs. These are people God has graciously placed in our lives, and I believe He loves us in a very tangible way through them. But sometimes, at least with me, He has to remind me again in a very real way that while these people can help support me, He alone is my foundation. It is fine to lean on those who know and love me, but He alone must be the source of my strength.

Several of these moments have come this year when Kevin was traveling, friends were out of town, family was unavailable or unable to offer help. And the feeling of being completely alone was staggering. And in those moments, I could almost feel His hand on my back, reminding me that He was there...where He always is.

I am getting better, and faster, at turning to Him first, and leaning on others second. It is a hard lesson, and one I hope I hurry up and learn so He'll stop letting all this crap happen to me and around me. But I am, as ever, a work in progress.

Connections

It's 7:45pm on Tuesday night. It has been a day. Not particularly good or bad...just another day. Cameron is running a slight fever, but mostly doesn't seem bothered by it. It just makes him sleep a lot. And, no, I'm not complaining.

I hop off the couch about 7:30pm figuring I should start dinner (and by "hop", of course I mean roll my tired, pregnant self off the heating pad permanently located on the couch and shuffle slowly to the kitchen). Hmm...what to make on Tuesday night? Ah, that good old stand-by. Soup.
I love soup. I love making soup. I have a million variations I have made up over the years, and as soon as the weather turns pleasantly chilly, I start making soup. Poor Kevin emerges in the spring slightly waterlogged from the sheer volume of soup we have consumed.

Tonight, it's split pea. What could be simpler than onion, garlic, chicken stock, and a bag of dried split peas? Picking through the peas tonight brought back memories of picking through pinto beans with my grandmother. I feel like few family gatherings passed, large or small, that didn't include a pot of beans, simmered for hours with bacon or a ham hock. And you always had to pick through the dried beans first to make sure no small stones made it into the pot. This was a perfect job for small fingers, and I was often recruited to do it. But I didn't mind, mostly. I got to do it at the table in my grandmother's kitchen, and she was there. Being in her kitchen also meant I had a good chance of licking the bowl from the oatmeal cake icing, sweet talking a piece of candy from the top of the fridge or sneaking some of her homemade peanut brittle.

And as I picked through peas in New Jersey, I thought of her all the way down in south Texas. And I missed her. But this one small pot of Tuesday night split pea soup made me feel connected to her. And grateful for her.

It's Coming Along

As is all to often my habit, it has been weeks (okay, months) since I posted. It has been a full few months getting settled into our new home, town, routine and lives. We love our house, and still look around and think, "I can't believe this is ours". Cameron loves the space, and will still run laps around the dining room table for the sheer joy of having room to run. We have a few odd boxes in the corner of our study, awaiting the perfect bookshelves, and I still have a few unorganized cabinets that drive me crazy, but other than that, we feel pretty settled.

Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks:

-- We bought a car... the first car we've had in 6 years. And then 4 weeks after we got it, we hit a deer and wrecked the front. After a couple of weeks in the shop, it seems to be as good as new.

-- We had our first house guests for Labor Day weekend. If you want to make yourself crazy, invite people to come stay in your home 2 weeks after you move in. Fortunately, the Cohen's are basically family, so we didn't feel the need to have everything "done" before they got here. They brought their adorable twin daughters, Emma & Avery, who made poor Cameron's head spin. He spent the whole weekend with a look on his face that said, "who are these girls and WHY are they playing with MY toys?!?"

-- My parents came to visit for a week at the end of September. We spent a lovely weekend with them in Cooperstown visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame, and then just hung out the rest of the week. Cameron (and Nana & Papa) were in heaven.

-- We spent a week at the beach in Corpus with Kevin's mom and sister Jamie (in visiting from Panama). It was great fun introducing Cameron to the ocean! Kevin and I also got a weekend away to California, leaving the Mini in the capable hands of Grammy & AJ (that's Aunt Jamie).

-- Cameron had his first year trick or treating around our new neighborhood. He discovered a new and obsessive love of Reese's peanut butter cups. Can you blame him? Okay, I know I'm a little biased, but can you even stand the cuteness?


-- And I guess the only other thing going on is the anticipation of Baby #2 coming in March 2010. I'm at about 20 weeks, and other than back pain, am feeling pretty good. Pregnancy the second time around is a whole new ballgame, as I know you moms-of-more-than-one know. But that's a conversation for another post.

So there's our news in a nutshell. I hope everyone is enjoying the fall, and looking forward to eating too much food and watching a lot of football next week.

Home Sweet Home

We have been in our house for a week and a half now, though we feel FAR from settled. We have boxes everywhere, and I just can't seem to make it through the piles on my kitchen cabinets and in the bedrooms.

The movers carried everything out of our place in the city, packed it into a huge truck, drove it out to New Jersey, and then carried it all into our new place. And all on the hottest day of the year. It was sweltering. We had a few dicey moments. Our home was built in 1929, so it wasn't quite built with today's furniture dimensions in mind...namely a queen size box spring. The mattress was okay, as it's flexible and can kind of bend around corners. However, the box spring, being completely inflexible, took 4 guys (3 movers + Kevin), and required some shoving, paint scratching, and ultimately completely removing a window in order to make it to the second floor. But in the end we got Cameron's crib assembled, our bed set up, and we spent our first night in one first house!

That was all on Monday. Then on Friday, Kevin caught a late flight for Dallas to pick up another load of home stuff. We had all kinds of boxes stored with my parents that we needed to get...things we didn't bring to New York in the first place because, a.) we were moving into 500 square feet, and b.) we thought we'd only be up here a year (ha, ha). In addition to boxes, we picked up quite a bit of furniture - some things that were ours and some pieces that Kevin's parents have generously passed on to us to help furnish our first place.

Kevin arrived in Dallas Saturday morning, then went to 3 different houses (my parents and his parents' 2 places) to load up furniture and boxes. Then he and his dad left Dallas that afternoon and drove north to Norman to pick up one more piece of furniture from my brother and his wife. From there they headed northeast, and spent the next 2 1/2 days on the road to finally arrive in our driveway Monday night around 7:30pm. Whew.

We are both so exhausted we can hardly keep our eyes open at night. We haven't had a "leisurely weekend" in about 6 weeks. But here we are, in our own - albeit chaotic - home. Cameron loves running around the empty rooms and the backyard. He loves the huge 24-foot Budget Rental truck parked in our driveway. He still thinks riding around in a car is pretty cool. We are so grateful to be here, it still seems unreal.

So, dear ones, we have a couple of extra bedrooms...come on up and see us!

Tomorrow's the day!

Tomorrow is closing, where we go sign a mountain of papers, hand over a check for a nauseating amount of money, and then receive the keys to our very first home. We still can't believe it's tomorrow.

I have spent every waking moment trying to pack up our apartment in preparation for the movers on Monday. We still have a ways to go, but I finally feel like the end is in sight. Though I guess the end will come whether I'm completely ready for it or not. The movers will show up on Monday morning, and whatever isn't packed to my rather annoyingly exacting, uber-organized standards, will get thrown in a box and sorted out later. I'm okay with that.

I'm so excited about the space and the yard that I haven't thought much about leaving the city. I'm sure it will make good fodder for a piece later on comparing and contrasting the city to the burbs. In the meantime, I am just trying to make it until Monday.