Well hello there...

It's about time for a wordy update, especially since it's been over 2 months since I last posted, and I don't know that I've really done an update since we moved, other than highlighting some of our fun adventures and explorations.

We've unpacked the boxes (mostly... don't look in the basement or the garage... or Jason's office) and are settling in. I still have a lot of finishing touches I'd like to do in terms of decorating and making our space a little more organized and livable (curtains anyone?), but we already feel quite at home here. We are loving our house more and more each day, and we are completely falling in love with our neighborhood and town. We've made friends with several neighbors who have kids around the ages of our kids, which has been great. And there has definitely been no lack of fun and exciting things to do in the area with the kids. Jason and I have both commented on how it's almost creepy how well everything has worked out and how much we're enjoying ourselves here. Then we remember that we have yet to make it through a winter and that our tune might have changed a bit by the time we make it to spring. ;)

And lest it sounds like we've completely forgotten what we left behind, we do all have our moments of homesickness. It hit me hardest when my best friend Stacey had her newest baby boy; I hated not being there right away. I saw a picture of baby Samuel on Facebook and completely broke down in happy/sad tears. Not only was he wearing clothes that had belonged to my boys (which made me both incredibly happy and sad), but seeing his tininess and knowing I couldn't be there made me hurt so bad. Jason and I have brainstormed ways we could convince all the ones we love to move here with us, but I just don't think it's going to happen. ;P A perfect world wouldn't be so big. I've said to a few people that there is no perfect solution anymore, now that my family is spread so far (and that includes our friends since they very much became family in the absence of having our families nearby). My heart will be torn no matter where I am.

Adorable baby Samuel in one of my favorite onesies

I am adjusting to being a stay-at-home mommy (for now, at least). The August/September transition was a bit strange for me. For the first time since kindergarten the back-to-school ads and hype did NOT apply to me! And even as such I was apparently not immune to the back-to-school nightmares. For me it's always a dream in which I end up being forced to teach a high school class. If you know me well, that says enough. If you don't know me well, let's just say the one year I spent teaching high school probably scarred me for life. ;P In any case, I'm enjoying being able to spend time with the boys as well as spend some time taking care of myself. I've been doing some yoga classes, which I've really enjoyed, and my lung function has been higher than it's been in a while.

Drew has been adjusting very well. He still talks about a couple of his friends from Georgia, but he's always happy to report he now has another best friend (who happens to live right across the street- awesome!). His new friend is a few years older, but graciously plays with Drew. The two seem to have very similar thinker/reader personalities, so they get along well.

Drew's not in preschool this year even though most children start prekindergarten at age 4; because of the timing of our move (plus the loss of my income and higher prices here), we just weren't able to swing the Pre-K thing this year. I'm "homeschooling" him, and it's very much a quote/unquote kind of thing. I was really good about it for about 2 weeks, and since then... well... he spelled watermelon randomly on his own, so I'm just going to hold on to that and hope I'm not screwing him up. ;) In any case, he's been more or less teaching himself to read, sounding out short words or picking out the words he recognizes in the books we read. Our biggest concern is that he refuses to hold a pencil in anything but a death grip; by this point children ought to be getting close to the "tripod" pencil grasp. He's never been very interested in coloring or drawing, so has very little hand strength and control (I won't deny that some of that probably has to do with the use of the iPad- as much as we limit his time with it, I know it's still had an impact). I've been trying to encourage him to build with Legos or Unifix cubes and to do little activities with tweezers or tongs to help strengthen his hands in hopes that his writing skills will develop alongside his reading skills.

Otherwise Drew is just enjoying being a 4-year-old. I am still reminded daily that this child is a near duplicate of me, but I do love to watch him think, play, and grow. His favorite thing right now is superheroes even though he's never watched Batman, Superman, or any of those other comic-book character shows. His two favorite shows are Team Umizoomi and Paw Patrol, both of which involve a team of characters that help "save" people, and I think that's where his main superhero obsession comes from. He plays pretend all day long and he's quite often a superhero that has to save someone. I think those are some of my favorite moments in the day- watching Drew go off into his own world and seeing his imagination shining.

Here are some adorable pictures my neighbor took of Superhero Drew during trick-or-treating. (Another neighbor had piled their leaves for pick-up on the sidewalk instead of the road)

Even Superheroes fall

But they always get back up again.
And yes, he really was this happy. :) No posing here.

James is growing up much too fast. It's hard to believe he's two already! He loves to do anything his big brother is doing, which is cute at times (when he wants to clean up his dishes after meals) and frustrating at other times (he's ready to give up his booster seat, crib, etc. because of Drew, but we're not ready). The two of them mostly get along, though, of course, they have plenty of fights as well. I actually recently took away ALL their toys in hopes of calming the incessant fighting over stuff. Turns out it's not the stuff that's the problem as they quickly began fighting over things like hangers and car window shades. :P And for the record, before anyone thinks I'm cruel or something, I do plan to give the toys back. It was kind of an experiment/lesson (and let's just say I'm probably the one doing most of the learning).

James is talking more and more each day, and starting to string words together. He now says "truck" quite clearly (instead of with an "f" sound at the beginning) which is both fortunate, and sad. Walking down busy streets with a toddler screaming the f-word is quite embarrassing, but I will admit we all got a bit of a kick out of it, and there's the growing up part that makes me sad. I remember when Drew used to say "aw-hum" for awesome, and how sad I was when one day he suddenly said "aweSome!".



James is proving to be quite a sweetheart. A lot of people think he has a football-player build, and because of that they assume he's a tough guy. While he does play much rougher and harder than Drew did, he's still a softy. If anyone gets a bump, says "ow!", or even just coughs or sneezes, James will ask, "Mommy okay?" (or "Drew okay?" or "Daddy okay?") with a very concerned look and will not rest until you say, "yes, I'm okay" at which point he says, "okay!" and happily goes back to playing (as someone who coughs a lot, this can get old. ;P). He's also a bit of a neat freak. While Drew likes to line things up and organize them (but could care less about clutter), James is the one who can't stand a mess. If he spills a drop of milk on himself or on the table he screams until he gets a paper towel to clean it up. If a crayon (that he's not using) falls to the floor while coloring, he just can't continue until he picks it up.

We've done a bit of traveling in the last couple of months. I've made two trips to Georgia (solo!), one to sell our house, and one to visit Stacey's new baby boy. We also made a trip up to Canada for my cousin's wedding and had a great time visiting family. I'll hopefully do a post soon with some travel pictures. I have some beautiful ones from Canada that I know my grandma would like to see (though I've already shared quite a few here).

We're buckling in for the coming winter. I keep hearing it's going to be a harsh one. Either way, we've already been shocked by the cold weather that's already come (snow on Halloween!?). Neither of us are completely foreign to it, Jason having lived in Wisconsin until he was 12 and me having lived in Canada until I was 10, but approaching it as adults who will have to shovel driveways, clear cars, and bundle children will definitely be an experience. I am definitely looking forward to doing things with the kids like sledding, building snowmen, and skating, though... all the things I missed when we moved to Georgia. Let's just hope it's not the bitterly cold winter they predict that will make all of that rather difficult...