New House & Ethan

The front door


Ethan's closet/bookcase


The lock inside the guest bedroom closet


Ethan!

Busy, busy

Monica tagged me - 10 things that are keeping me busy.

1. Trying to sell our old house. We'll be going back there tomorrow to repaint, mow...We live 2 hours away from our old house, so it's not like we can just swing by after work to do these chores. I just want it to sell soon.
2. I've also been reading Eat, Pray, Love; also bought it at Cost.co. I'm enjoying it, but I don't have much free time to read.
3. Setting up our new house. There's still a few boxes to unpack & sort everything out, trying to find places to display everything.
4. Choosing paint colors for the kitchen & laundry room.
5. Planning a family vacation - nothing big, just a few days in San Antonio later this summer with my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law & their kids.
6. Exploring my new town. I grew up in this area & I know the general things - the larger stores & things to do. But new stores & cafes have opened, just new things to discover. It's different being here as an adult vs. a child - my mother was very practical & doesn't like to just stroll, poking around in quaint little shops.
7. Trying to lose weight.
8. Trying to meet new friends.
9. Cooking/Baking - DH works at home now, so I make lunches for us. I don't want to get in a rut, just having sandwiches every day. Also I'm trying to make fruits & vegetables for Ethan - cook, puree, freeze.
10. Honoring Sara. Her pictures & other memorials are around the house. It'll be 2 years since she died before I know it.

OK, gotta get ready for bed.

Ethan's Baptism

On Sunday we had Ethan baptized. It was a very special day because we were able to coordinate with our friends who lost their daughter 4 days after we lost Sara. Their little girl D. is 2.5 months old and was also baptized yesterday. Ethan was a little restless, but was a doll during the baptisms. The preacher began the sermon, saying how this was a special day, to have Ethan & D. baptized together a year & a half after their big sisters passed away, how it was healing for the church to share this day. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much more than that, Ethan got fussy - he was due for a nap, so I had to sneak out to the nursery.

Several people stopped me later, saying how special it was for us to have our babies baptized together. I'm not a very religious person & I won't go into my beliefs here, but I felt like this needed to be done - to introduce our babies to our church, for these people to see our babies, the faith & strength that helped us through the difficult time, that continues to help us.

After church we had separate parties. DH & I just invited our families over for lunch at my aunt's house. It was a beautiful spring day. I had kept the decorations simple - just blue, green & yellow stuff - plates, napkins, cups, tablecloth & cupcakes. But I had a pink candle & pink roses for our Sara. Saturday when we were setting up for the party, I went in to my aunt's kitchen to cut the roses to fit the vase. The radio was on, Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" was playing. I broke down. I understand his lyrics too well.

I miss you Sweet Sara.

Damn Solicitors

Today I got a phone call from the funeral home that handled Sara's memorial service, of all things. The name didn't come up on caller ID & I didn't recognize the number, so I was completely caught off-guard. The man identified himself as an employee of the funeral home. I stopped breathing for a moment, I just knew he was going to say that they had made a mistake with Sara's ashes. No, he wanted to offer pre-paid funeral arrangements to us. The practical, polite side of me wanted to say,"No, thank you, I no longer live in that city." My emotions overtook me, I could only say, "No, No" & hung up on him. He's probably used to those reactions.

Small Scare

Over the weekend we went to a family reunion out at a campground roughly 30 minutes from our house. DH camped out, but Ethan & I came back to sleep in our comfy beds.

While we were out there, I sat in my car to nurse Ethan. He started to fall asleep, so I put him in his carseat. His ear was bleeding!! My first thought was, "He didn't fall, why is there blood coming from his ear??" I yelled for DH, who was already walking over just to check in on us. It turns out that Ethan just needs his fingernails clipped, he scratched his ear & then that ear was pressed against me, making it smear & look alot worse.

Another thing that freaks me about this house is the distance from the master bedroom to Ethan's room. In our old house, all the bedrooms were down the same hallway. Now our bedroom is in the front of the house & Ethan's room & the guest bedroom are in the back. We have the monitors set up, but those first few nights, he felt so far away from me. I'm getting better, maybe once all the boxes are out of here & I feel more settled, I won't feel like he's so far away. AND once those boxes are gone, I'll gladly post some pix. I need to take some of Ethan as well.

Our house is full of windows. Unfortunately for our fat cat, the sills are too narrow for him to spread out to bask in the sun. He has to sit upright.

OK, gotta go.

New House & Old House and Ethan's 6 months old

New House - We have trash pick-up twice a week. We can't put a trash can out, they'll take the can, the City wants the trash just in garbage bags. OK whatever, it's different.

Our mailbox is on the front porch. I know the mailman will freak me out one of these days.

There are still a bunch of boxes to be unpacked. I look forward to Ethan's naps so I can get some work done. I think the essentials are unpacked, just not put in their proper homes.

Old House - is still on the market. I'm so frustrated. I know our house is a nice little house for the price range it's in, but we have some trashy neighbors renting the house across the street & they are not helping us. We could do all sorts of repairs, but those people would still drive away potential buyers. UGH!! I hate this.

Ethan had his 6 month wellness check on Friday. My once little Peanut weighs 20lb, 7oz & is 27 inches long. I like his new pediatrician. He sat down & talked with me about Ethan's development, eating habits, etc...He's not the young hipster we had before our move, but I liked that I wasn't rushed out the door.

OK, I have to go unpack more.

New House

So we moved this weekend. We rented a moving truck. The website recommended a certain size for a 3 bedroom house, we have a 3 bedroom house, so that was the size we rented. Well....
We ended up filling that truck twice, plus a 16 foot flatbed trailer & a couple of smaller loads in pick-up trucks. UGH!! I really don't think we have that much, but some things are awkward & don't pack neatly into little boxes.

Our 'new' house is 100+ years old. I plan to do some research on it once we're settled. Previous owners updated the kitchen. There's lots of cabinets & I think everything will fit, just not where I would have liked to put it. For example, I like to keep my spices near the stove, so I can add them as I cook, but the cabinet closest to the stove is being used for coffee grounds/filters/mugs & the top shelf is very high. I'll probably rearrange everything after a few weeks of use.

Most of the house has the original hardwood floors - beautiful! But at night they creak. Spooky. The first 2 nights I could barely sleep - between being in a new place, Ethan up several times & the creaks, I couldn't relax. There's is still an old heating grate in the main hallway. It's uncomfortable to walk over barefoot (when I have to get up at night to check on Ethan), so we put a rug over it. It's a jute rug that the cat loves to scratch his claws on. So late at night, I heard this thumping noise. I peeked in the hall, the cat was scratching at the rug, the rug was picked up just a bit, but then dropped down on the hollow vent, which would echo. I hope I get used to these noises soon.

OK It's time to get ready for bed. Another busy day tomorrow. I miss my friends in A-town.