Sunday, June 7, 2015

The Big Move

Greetings Everybody!  Don't you just hate it when you go to check a blog and it hasn't been updated in forever?!  And you wonder if said bloggers are still alive and what the heck they've been up to that has them MIA.  Well, don't give up on us just yet.  We have a good excuse: We moved! 
As if our day-to-day responsibilities with three children five and under aren't enough, we get to unpack, sort, purge, organize, and repeat.  And just when I think that I'm done with one room, Travis appears from the basement with yet another box he found! 
 Fortunately for us, we have had help!  YaYa and Papa (Travis' parents) came and helped with unpacking, organizing, and various other tasks as requested...like baby gate installation.  We can't underestimate the importance of that!
 Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of time for photography amidst the chaos of moving but I did manage to grab the all-important YaYa & Papa with their granddaughters photo:
As always, my children were cooperative little angels.  YaYa, go ahead and send us your chiropractor bill.  Given the amount of times per day that Josie performs this little stunt, we could probably keep a chiropractor in business full time.
The new house is coming together as quickly as it can, given our circumstances.  While we're not exactly ready to post a house tour (remind me in a few years or so, okay?), it's with enormous excitement that we post a couple of pictures of the most fun feature of the home:
 A little playhouse under the stairs!
I'm going to go ahead and speak audaciously on behalf of my gender when I say, this is every little girl's dream!  It took quite a bit of persuasion to convince Travis to get on board with this idea - he was adamant that the space under the stairs was for luggage storage.  Period.  But, he can only resist for so long.  He's substantially outnumbered, after all! 
Back to the moving process...As he tends to do, Travis embarked upon an international business trip the week after we moved in.  While this time was a little easier than last time because I am more familiar with the area and I have a little bit of help, said "help" all go to the same college where it happened to be finals week.  We've got great timing, right?  So while our beloved sitters were focusing on their scholarly endeavors, Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne benevolently stepped up to the plate.
 That mother and sister of mine (along with that Aleve PM my mom brought) managed to see to it that we made it through Travis' absence and got a little more unpacking accomplished.
 And in exchange for the hours of unpacking, laundry, and childcare they provided, I made sure Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne feasted on one of my famous "home cooked" Bertolli frozen diners:
 Just look at Aunt Leanne's enthusiastic fist pumping!  She is my favorite person in the world to feed because even if I microwave a Lean Cuisine for her, she tells me I'm "the best cook".  And I ignore the fact that she uses this line on everyone who prepares her a meal of any sort.  I just relish in the culinary compliment as they are rather infrequent in my world!
 Let's see...what else have we been up to this month?  Well, both girls wrapped up their first year of preschool.  Merryn is enrolled in a summer enrichment program at her preschool while Josie is enrolled in "the Summer of Indepedence" program (AKA "Mom's Boot Camp").  Goals for Josie primarily center around self-care skills and transitioning from needing physical assistance and verbal prompts to fully independent toileting, self-dressing, and general mobility (stairs, climbing into her chair, carseat, etc).  These goals are rather ambitious, however, we are bound and determined to make as much progress as possible.  Hell hath no fury like a determined mom with an aching back!  Josie is stubborn but I am committed to out-stubborning her.  In fact, that's one of my major goals in life.
We also managed to squeeze in a visit with Elmo and Ernie ...
 ...and celebrate one year of Baby Lydia! 
It seems like just yesterday that Baby Number 3 made her grand entrance, and yet so much has happened in the past year for our family.  And the beauty of Miss Lydia's sweet temperament is that she has handled the pandemonium of having three residences in one year with such gentle grace.  She has been a delightful addition to our crazy circus. 
Her special day consisted of a birthday banner colored by her sister, attending her sister's swimming lessons, enjoying a lunch of her favorite food: spaghetti, and a dinner at everyone's favorite place: The Olive Garden.  Of course she enjoyed gifts, her first taste of cake, and a FaceTime birthday serenade by Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne.
And that, my friends, is the month of May 2015 in a nutshell.  One of my goals as we get more and more settled in, is to blog more often so stay tuned and keep nagging me.  In the meantime, get loads of photos and brief daily updates on our Instagram account: @CatfishWithKetchup.

3 comments:

  1. Wow!!! what a month you've had. Love all the pictures, such a beautiful family.

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  2. I see Mama Hop did not disappoint with lack of pinot grigio

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  3. I just found your blog today, and I love the double-perspective you have to offer. My daughter with DS is now 24, but oh! how I remember the days of the "flop and drop" and "limp noodle"! :)

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