Moving Day

Moving day is quickly approaching. The packers arrive tomorrow and we officially move on Saturday. Luckily, Jack is safe and sound in Florida with Grammy and Grampa. It is all so bittersweet. I look forward to living in only one house again, but I'm not looking forward to the endless boxes. Not to mention, our new house is a construction zone right now. Those few small projects keep growing and none of them are completed! It's like de ja vu all over again from this house. Please pray for my sanity, if it's not already too late. It looks like it will be several days before I have internet access again and I don't get cell service at the cottage. So, if it seems like I've gone on a hiatus, it's actually just a temporary lack of technology. Happy Labor Day weekend to all and think of us while your munching on burgers and hanging at the pool! Be in touch soon!

That's What Friends Are For

We have been inundated with friends and family offering a helping hand. How blessed we are! On Friday, with very last minute notice, Cristina and Sophia came over to help us out. Originally, Allison and Ansley were on their way, until we found out Ansley was a little under the weather. Not wanting to take any chances on a sick Jack during the move, we decided it would be best to opt out. Not to mention, Ansley is traveling to Disney Land this week so she needed the rest. So to save the day, Sophia and her sweet Mommy came over. Jack was thrilled when he woke up from his morning nap (yes, we are back to am naps!) to see a playmate standing in his living room. Mommy was thrilled to see a helping hand and entertainment for my bored baby. I think it's fair to say that Jack is already over boxes and Mommy being too busy to play. While I took the kitchen down to the new house, Jack and Sophia played hard under Cristina's supervision. Now, I can safely say, the kitchen in the new house is ready to go. However, there will no more cooking in this house for the next week...guess we'll have to eat out (what a shame:)! When I returned home from a productive day, this is what I found....

I suppose "help" was contagious on Friday. Jack must have figured..."if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours". Or in this case, "if you help my Mommy out, I'll push you". That's what friends are for! Thank you Cristina and Sophia for your help and great fun! We owe you one.

Ode To Daddy

Ever since we went "under contract" things have gotten CRAZY around here! There is so much to do and so little time to do it. Being the fabulous Daddy that Clay is, he has stepped right up to make the transition as easy as possible for Jack and I. Here is just a brief list of all the ways he has been so helpful...

• daddy hired packers so mommy doesn't lose her mind trying to get the whole house into boxes in 11 days


• daddy gave mommy the go ahead on a few remodeling projects in the new house...and now, just maybe Jack's new bathroom will be completed before move in day!


• daddy hasn't complained once about all of mommies trips to Home Depot, Target, etc to get new things for the house or maybe that's because he hasn't seen the bill yet


• daddy has taken over bedtime duty to allow mommy to take a few things down to the new house every evening even though we are both averaging about 6 hours of sleep a night right now...now that's what I call "team work"


• daddy has stayed up until the wee hours of the night consoling an emotional mommy and it has meant the world to me
• daddy has been making endless phone calls to relators, power companies, trash services, cable companies, phone companies all in an effort to have our new house move in ready


• daddy's parents (aka Grammy and Grampa) are taking sweet baby Jack for 4 days during moving weekend--I must admit this one is very bittersweet--I'm going to miss that little monkey like crazy

I could go on and on, but those are the highlights of my wonderful husband during a less than wonderful time. Again, Jack and I are blessed beyond measure and challenging times like these are when God gives me a gentle reminder. Thank you Daddy...you are the best!

The Power of Prayer

I've been praying about the house and our family...a lot. I've talked to God and even pleaded since we put the sign in our front yard that he would send us a buyer by the end of the summer. Well here we were, the beginning of August, and I explained to God that "Hey, I consider the last day in August the end of summer....we are running out of time here". I rationalized with myself that 'God has a plan' and just sit back and see what he has in store for us. I even reminded myself that he has always taken care of me and listened to me. I've been blessed with the husband I prayed for, the son I prayed for, actually the entire life I prayed for...why would he not follow through now? Still, will all of that faith, I have been stricken with anxiety, as has Clay. And poor Jack has been toddling around through it all. And then it happened last Saturday...we got our first offer. After a week of negotiations we are scheduled to close at the beginning of September. At that moment I reveled in God's glory...he truly is amazing! Wow, the power of prayer! And God answered it so precisely which amazes me even more. There was not one moment during the last two months that I doubted God's love for us, however I did wonder if 'his plan' coincided with ours. We feel so blessed to know that all along it did. Obviously God understands too that buyers can back out and deals can go sour. So, as a second gift he sent us a back up offer yesterday. The way I look at it...we are sold! Now comes the packing process and tonight I will begin praying that God holds my hand through that too.

I'm Not Listening...

Is this what I have to look forward to in 10 years?

Right now it's just fun and games, but Lord help me the day he does it for real. In the mean time I'll enjoy Mr. Personalities quirky behaviors:)

Got Milk?

In an effort to get out of the house this morning due to Jack's lack of am sleep and a showing (which we've had 4 of this week...woohoo!), I took Jack to a local Dairy Farm. I called first to ask if we could forgo the whole tour thing and just visit with the animals, but due to insurance purposes we had to do the entire tour. The all encompassing tour included seeing cows milked, visiting the bottling plant, a hay ride, and a petting zoo with baby calfs and goats. Hmmm...I thought, is this going to be way over Jack's head? But, we packed our bag and lunches and headed out for the farm anyway. And, I am so glad that we did. Jack, a true animal lover, had the time of his life. So much so, that the whole way home we talked about what we had seen during our visit and Jack proudly responded with a lot of "mmmmmmms" which translates as "mooo for cow". I think we might have a future farmer on our hands!

After seeing Daisy the Cow milked by the all too high tech milking machine, Jack waved "Bye Bye" over and over again. As you can see from the picture the other tour goers were gone and on their way to the next stop. "Come on Jack, there's more to see."

We visited the bottling plant and Jack got his own "Jack sized" jug of milk. Although Mommy wouldn't open it for him, there was no way he was letting it out of his sight. "Hey, I think I saw one of those other kids eyeing my milk, better hold on tight".




On to the hayride and time for a refreshing drink, but take note... the milk was guarded closely between his chubby little legs.

The hayride took a short pit stop and we got to see the farm Border Collie corral all of the cows up to our tractor. Jack even gently moved a fellow hay rider out of his line of view with his fist. We are steadily working on that pushing tactic Jack seems to use all too often.

On to the petting zoo where Jack hastily made his way to the first goat he saw and fed him all of his food. He couldn't understand why the goats didn't want anything to do with him once his hands were empty. Ahhh...life's little lessons.

Did I mention, Jack tries to kiss every animal he sees? Yes, a real kiss too. It starts with a pucker and then ends with a big loud smack. How ironic though that he won't kiss his Mommy or Daddy, just random farm animals, neighborhood dogs, and even a pig statue at the local outdoor mall. One of the baby calves actually gave in to his plea finally.

See...I told you!

The perks of being the shortest one in the crowd...Jack got to be up close and personal with the calf eating his lunch from a bottle. 'Hey, Jack, where is your Mommy?' And Mr. Independent responds..., 'Back there somewhere, this cow is cooler than her anyway'.

Napping News

As I promised, here is the latest with Jack's napping saga. I'll give you the rundown of one full week. PLEASE feel free to chime in with any advice.

Saturday & Sunday...
What Jack Did: He chatted and tossed and turned for an hour during the am nap and snoozed during the pm nap.

What I Was Thinking: Oh, this is easy, he's ready to drop that am nap. I guess we need am plans for Monday morning. We'll go the library for story time tomorrow.

Monday...
What Jack Did: He got very droopy eyed at 9:30 am. I went ahead and put him down warning him he had only 15 minutes to fall asleep or I was getting him up for a library visit. He zonked in 5 minutes. Here is the clincher though...come afternoon nap time, guess who played in their crib for an entire hour and a half and NEVER went to sleep? You guessed it...Mr. I Need a Morning Nap Jack. This was followed by a fussy evening and an early bedtime. Not fun!

What I Was Thinking: No more am naps, no matter how tired he looks and I mean business!

Tuesday:
What Jack Did: Library story time, lunch with Sophia, played hard outside, anything to stay busy in the morning hours. He went down for his afternoon nap at 1:00 and slept two hours.

What Was I Thinking: Problem solved, he IS ready to drop that am nap...I just have to keep him busy in the morning. However, I'm not crazy about going from 4 hours of daytime sleep to only 2 hours. This was a very long day.

Wednesday: (this is Abby's day with J)
What Jack Did: He stayed busy in the am per my instructions to Abby. However, at 11:30 am he fell asleep in the stroller on a neighborhood walk. Keep in mind Jack DOES NOT fall asleep anywhere but his crib. Abby had to wake him and get him going again. And then, right before lunch, he climbed up the steps, only making it to the 3rd one and fell asleep on the stairs.

What Was I Thinking: I am the worst Mommy ever! I'm depriving my poor baby of sleep. He's just not ready!

Thursday:
What Jack Did: Took a one hour and 15 min am nap, because Mommy woke him in fear of messing up the pm nap. And snoozed for 2 hours during the afternoon nap.

What Was I Thinking: Now, I've got this figured out...just shorten his am nap and he will still sleep in the afternoon. Duh?, it's just what my sleeping books said.

Friday:
Ditto to Thursday...Hey, this is going great!

Saturday:
What Jack Did: Played in his crib for an hour during his morning nap and then snoozed for 2 1/2 hours during the afternoon nap.

What I Was Thinking: What is going on???

Sunday:
What Jack Did: He slept in until almost 8:30 am, so we knew there was no chance of a morning nap. we didn't even bother to try. By his afternoon nap, he was ready. He snoozed for about an hour and 45 minutes.


What I Was Thinking: Will we ever figure this out? We no longer have any rhyme or reason to our days. We (Jack and I) use to be such creatures of habit...what has happened to us? Not to mention that pm nap was NOT long enough.

So, here I am soliciting any advice I can get. Writing this all down has given me a better perspective on our napping issues and I 'think' I know what to do. But, I will take any help I can get. I knew this time would come eventually. I've read that most toddlers drop their morning nap between 15-18 months. I have just always thought that we would be on the latter end of that since Jack LOVES to sleep. I hate transitions! I can't even plan our days anymore. What does my little guy need? And what do I need to do? Help!