Halfway House

So we are out of one home but not yet into the other. We're staying at my parents house here in Dallas and hoping to close on our new one on Friday.

It has been so nice not to have to stay in a hotel, but it also kind of feels like one of our usual visits. Not like we actually live in this city now.

My parents have been out of town since before we got up here, so it has been kind of lonely. I can't wait until they get back. I can't wait until we move into the new house.

The week without Dan was hard. Really hard actually. I was doing fine until Max got sick. Then it all started running together, with the packing and loading and I was going back and forth to the doctors office. The packers were so good to me and I think they mostly just felt bad. And as usual my pediatrician was so accomodating. Unfortunately Max is still wheezing so I think I'll end up at the urgent care tonight. Ava had never really recovered from her ear infections and cough at the beginning of the month so she was in and out of fever and generally not feeling well, too.

But as they were closing the doors to the truck on Friday afternoon while I walked to the bus stop, I said to myself, "I did it! I did it!" And then I mentally corrected myself to "We did it! We did it" because if it weren't for a couple of wonderful, wonderful friends who took my kids, brought me food, and helped me clean out my fridge at midnight, I would not have been able to do it. So to you ladies, I owe you much and miss you even more!

Ava spent that afternoon on the floor in our empty house with a major fever. Dan finally got back that evening and we spent a surprisingly pleasant night at a hotel. The next morning things took a turn for the worse when Ava was still sick, tired, and crazy mean. We took Sophie to an animal shelter and we said goodbye to our home. We stopped by a birthday party and said goodbye to friends.

And then we hit the road. It was a crappy drive and we looked at each other and agreed that we would not miss the stretch of highway between Houston and Dallas.

About 3/4 of the way there Max would not stop crying. And then the realization hit me just about the same time as the smell, that in all of the commotion of the day we had not changed Max's diaper since 7:30 that morning. That was a nearly 8 hour diaper topped off with diahrea. His entire car seat was soaked along with his clothes.

Our car was so randomly packed I just felt lucky to be able to retireive an old towel that had gotten left behind from the movers. But as I tried to lay it under Max since he had no clothes, I realized that I was trying to protect him with a towel that the cat had apparently peed on the night before. And that's when I just had to laugh. We blame stress for the entire situation.

I took Ava to the urgent care on Monday and she got some new antibiotics for her infected ears and some steriods for her breathing.

Ava started kindergarten again on Tuesday and it is "awesome!" according to her. And according to me that is also "awesome!"

The school feels like a whole different shebang, though. Mostly just because of the size difference. Instead of 12 kindergarten classes there are 4. Our old school was run like a well oiled machine. You drove on certain streets, waited in certain areas. Everything was organized, designated, reserved, planned, and coordinated. Because an enrollment of 1300 students pretty much requires it. And to their credit, it all ran very smoothly and was a great school.

Here, if your student forgets their lunch you can leave it on a desk right inside the front doors and you can walk right up to the door and pick your child up after school because they just let them out. Seems kind of like how I remember school being, but from where we just came from it seems foreign.

But mostly I am just glad that Ava is loving it.

I am loving having only one child in diapers. It feels like such a luxury! Once we wean Max from formula in a few weeks then we will be majorly saving at the grocery store too. Diapers and formula was adding on a good $120 a month to our bill.

Luke is pretty proud of himself too.

Max will be one year old on Friday. I have no idea where the last 12 months have gone. At least he is too little to know that by the time we get around to celebrating it he will probably be one and a half!

Day 2...

...Done!

The kids are in bed. Ava finally quit talking to me about possible scenarios in which I go to jail. Real tears were shed, despite my insistence that I will not be going to jail anytime soon. The whole thing just reminded me of when I was 5 and cried during Miracle on 34th Street when Santa went to jail.

Anyways, I'm not going to jail.

Dan left on Sunday for Dallas to start the new job. And from his report it was a good first day and he thinks he will like it. The commute was surprisingly better than expected.

One thing is for sure though, I am supposed to be wherever Dan is. And since Dan is not in Houston and I am, I am feeling unsettled. I cried so many times just in dreaded anticipation of this time, but so far things have been okay. I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Dan reminded me that he did this single parent thing not too long ago for 6 days while I went to my sisters house. That is true and it has given me hope that I can do it as well. I mean, I know we'll all be alive when this is over and hopefully I will not be in jail. But I am feeling a lot of stress right now, knowing that by the end of this week our life will be on a big truck headed out of town.

And once all the gory details are resolved Dan will fly back into town. It's the gory details that scare me.

And one more thing, I went crazy cleaning and taking pictures of our house since it went on the market last week. And I am feeling pretty frustrated that those pictures have yet to show up on the mls listing of our house.

We aren't really hoping to sell it ourselves but I hate the feeling that I did all of it for nothing. So here they are.

You wanna buy our house? We'll give you a great deal!

Oh Lukey!

Since Grandma and Grandpa Colton are making some changes in their home, they found they had an excess of fan catalogs. They knew just what to do with them, too.

A box came in the mail a few weeks ago. A box! Full of Fan Books!



(At this point you may be asking yourself, does this boy always have a messy face and need a haircut? The answer is yes. )

Luke was ecstatic. He tried to eat dinner, but could only get down a few bites before he was back on the floor perusing his new treasures.


Luckily he gave up after a few attempts at carrying all 4 books around at once. And now instead of one fan book, he sleeps with a library of them.

I took him to the doctor for his 3 year well-check today. I'm only 3.5 months behind schedule.

Homeboy weighs 41 lbs. and is 43" tall.

That is the height of an average 5 year old. He's in the 97 and 99 percentiles, respectively.

For the first time they used some computer program to predict his height based on Dan and my heights', which came out to be 6'2". I think that sounds great but it is just so weird to imagine him being grown up. Who knows how accurate that thing is, but I think it's safe to say that someday I will be looking up to him.

Max still bugs the pieces out of him but I was feeling encouraged because there have been times where the yelling and screaming have ceased and not wanting to ruin the moment, I tried to steer clear of them. Surely the absence of both their bodies and the yelling can only mean they are getting along, right?

Or it could mean that they have discovered how to make mischief together. Too bad Luke only wants to play with Max if it means making some kind of mess.


Who am I to discourage their bonding?


Well after the third roll on the third day I'd had enough. There will be no more shredded toilet paper on my watch. I have learned, silence is not good.

Luke is doing great with going on the potty. One of the big differences between training him and Ava, since she was just 2, is that he really doesn't go that often in the day. There is not the constant running back and forth and asking every 15 minutes.

We're still working on the pooping portion but I will spare you the details for now.

He is really proud of himself and has been so much happier this past little while.

He's been asking a lot lately if I want to snuggle with him. Only it sounds so much cuter than that. More like,

"You wanna snuggle me, Mama?"


Don't mind if I do!

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My mind is too scattered to function in it's regular way, although I really don't feel that frantic yet. I actually feel more concerned about my lack of concern and franticity.

People ask me how I am, just an unknown-yet-sure to-be-short-amount-of-time from moving. And I tell them that I am fine. Because I am. I am fine. And it's not that I am feeling foot loose and fancy free either. It's more like I am feeling nothing. Emotion-less. So, so unlike me.

It could mean that my pleas in prayer to "please don't let me freak out" are being answered, or I may be simply refusing to acknowledge reality, or it could be that the waterfall is just around the corner. Only time will tell I guess.



This week Ava got her first report card. It was a validating moment for Dan and I after all of our concern and worry about whether to hold her back or send her to kindergarten this year. She did great! She was on track or better with 26 of the 28 skills. The two areas for improvement were describing three dimensional shapes and following multi-step directions. She got a principals award for exemplary behavior. I hope to meet with her teacher this week before we move. I am confident that she will be right on track at her new school.

We are really proud of her!

Also this past week I have managed to convince Luke to wear underwear a few times. Of course this is a dangerous proposition, but it felt like a step in the right direction. And yesterday, when we arrived home from church Luke told me he needed to go potty and he did! This morning he got out of the tub saying the same thing, and he went on the potty again!

Why this is coinciding with moving, I have no idea but I am not about to put him off.

Definite rejoicing at the Colton house these past few days! We may beat the Christmas deadline yet! Actually, I had continued to promise a ceiling fan with a remote for being potty trained, but I was losing hope knowing that our hopefully-new home is chock full of fans. I was watching the leverage slip right out of my hands, but now I am optimistic that we might have this potty thing in the bag by the end of the month.


The moving company called to get us on the schedule. They wanted to know when they should show up to pack our things. I realized that is probably something I should know. Minor detail, right? But it seems impossible to say at this point with still some of the major pieces of the puzzle up in the air. Hopefully by tomorrow we will feel more confident with a date.

Dan starts next Monday. I am debating whether to stay here that week with the kids or to go up and get Ava started at her new school. Either way is less than ideal but I guess I should just be glad that I have the choice. Staying here by myself with all the kids is a guaranteed doozie. Staying at my parents and commuting Ava to her school extra early with the little boys doesn't sound all that appealing either.

Max is appealing though.


He is so fun to squish and kiss and talk to. He rewards all who pay him attention with lots of dimply smiles.


And following the tradition established by his elders, Max could not be more content than when he is with his daddy. The second Dan walks in the door, Max is crawling his direction squealing/fussing. When he gets close, he stops, sits up, and flaps his arms until Dan picks him up. And any attempt to set him down the rest of the night is protested with tears.

If he has the option Max will always, always pick Dan.

Since this is the third one to follow suit, I no longer get jealous. It's kind of nice to have my hands free in the evening and I guess can't really blame him because given the option, I would always, always pick Dan too.

We shoulda been on House Hunters

House hunting.

Appraisals.

Offers.

Contingencies.

Coughing.

Inspections.

Acceptance.

Mortgage rates.

Earnest money.

Stomach bug.

Contracts.

Ear infections.

Unexcused absences.


I am tired. But happy to be under contract on a new house. It will probably take the rest of this month to get things sorted out. I can't wait to release a big sigh of relief, I'm shooting for November 1.

I finally took Ava to the doctor yesterday. She has had an unrelenting cough that keeps us all up all night. Instead of a teddy bear, for the past two weeks, she has slept with a throw-up bowl which she has dutifully filled every single night. All from coughing.

She has ear infections as well. All from not blowing her nose. She will not blow her nose because she doesn't like how it feels and it scares her. I'm hoping that this two-week sickness will be good incentive for future nose blowing endeavors. Anitbiotics and some powerful cough medicine ought to do the trick, too.

We found a house. And after a little waiting, our offer was accepted. It is all riding on the appraisals of this house, and the company buying us out, and all of it must happen within a certain window of time. There are so many little things that have to work together.

I am so happy to be finished with all of the inspections and appraisals on our end. I cannot, cannot, CANNOT imagine what it would take to put this house on the market and keep it show ready all the time. If there is any amount of mercy in this world, we won't have to find out. I am so glad to have these three days behind us even if it did overlap with much intestinal distress.

Now we just wait. I'm not too worried yet, but I think it is the serenity of this backyard that is keeping me calm.