Oy. Since September?

Where has the time gone?

We're nearly in April and I'm so mad at myself for not regularly blogging because the kids just grow way too fast. And you swear you're never going to forget all the funny and cute things they say/do but it's impossible to remember it all. Ah well, another thing for them to go to therapy over I suppose.

Let's see ... where are we?

I guess I'll start with me. I'm turned 32 a couple of weeks ago and it was a lovely weekend. The first sight of spring as usual and we spent the majority of it outside. The house desperately needs an exterior makeover so we've gotten started on that. Ripped out several ugly shrubs and planted some things that remind me of home. When the beds fill in I will share some pictures. Finally found curtains for our bedroom and we're pretty close to finally being finished in one room. Up soon is building (yes, building!) our nightstands.

I'm more involved at Williams than I ever thought I'd be and really, truly enjoying it. Recently took over the workroom and I bizarrely look forward to my shift every other Tuesday to go and make copies. Perhaps it's just the sense of accomplishment. Or the quiet. Probably more the quiet than anything else.

Started spiritual direction this week and it was great. I felt like she understood me perfectly and it was nice to make a connection with her. Mom's coming in this weekend so I'm anxious to share with her my experience.

Jason's doing great. Work is work but he's doing quite well at it. He's been working his butt off around here lately and I'm much appreciative of all his hard work.

Hayes is growing up before our very eyes. He and I had a "date night" last night and went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid together. We'd read some of the book together so it was cute to share that experience with him. He says he'll always go on dates with me though when I said, "Even when you're in 11th grade?" he said he wasn't too sure about that. (7th grade was fine though, so WHEW. Got myself a few more years of dates.) He's doing really well in school. All A's thus far on report cards and watching his little mind grow is truly fascinating. We really lucked out with his teacher this year. She's been really good with him. I love being in their classroom to read.

The twins just turned six which I really cannot wrap my head around. If I'm quiet enough I can still hear the blood-curdling scream Mary Beth let out as a newborn that had Mom and I in a tizzy. ("Is it normal for a 2-week-old to be able to do that?!" Little did we know ...)

In all seriousness though, Mary Beth has done some true growing up this year. She isn't whining nearly as much and even though she's still very.much.a.girl, watching her become a big sister has been amazing. She really loves Eleanor and it's precious to watch the two of them together. Tonight, they were in the tub together and as Mary Beth laid down to rinse out her hair, Eleanor grabbed hold of MB's legs and squeezed as tight as she possibly could. Moments like those are why I wanted New Baby to be a girl. There's just nothing like a sister. MB was having some issues in the fall with the free-writing exercise they do at school but I'm so relieved that they seem to have passed. I was worried about her for a while. I'm still surviving being a Girl Scout leader and I enjoy the time that we get to spend doing that together. I could do without the sheer volume of noise at the meetings but that's a whole 'nother can o' worms.

Sam is still our little Sam. He's got two best buddies in his class though one actually moved to North Carolina today. Funny enough his name is Sam and he's got a twin sister too. Small wonder "the Sams" hit it off though they wouldn't be the three musketeers without Jackson. I do think Sam is a little relieved to get to just be "Sam" now instead of "Sam P." because a few weeks ago he got more than a little irritated with Mary Beth for calling him "Sam P." ("Marebeeeeeeth! You don't need to call me Sam P at home. I can just be Sam!") Sam has really grown this year too. He's reading like it's nobody's business and I can't even believe we were worried about his smarts at one point. I'm anxious for them to start doing math because it just clicks for him.

And what can we say about Eleanor? Remember that post where I gushed all over her and how much we adore her? Well nothing's changed. We're raising an absolute monster and the worst part of it is that we're AWARE WE'RE DOING IT BUT CAN'T STOP! She's so stinkin' cute I don't think a single day goes by where I don't say, "I could just eat her up!" Because I could. Wouldn't even need a dipping sauce.

We're not the only ones who adore her though. A couple of weekends ago we were invited over to some friends' house for a get-together and Eleanor made quite the impression. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you she had grown men who didn't have any children reading her books, holding her and generally entertaining her (or maybe it was the other way around). And at one point she had about 25 adults watching her dance. The girl knows how to worm her way into your heart. She's just got it. It's going to be something to watch her grow up. 18-months already too. Say WHAT?

I'm honestly going to try to write more often. I swear.

Really.

Happy, Happy Day!

Mary Beth just had her first appointment with her new cardiologist in Houston. And it seems the last of the three heart murmurs she was born with is now officially CLOSED! We are done with cardiologists!

Yay!

So much to report!

We're getting more settled in our new home with each passing day. And we're about to embark on two awesome milestones next week!

The twins start kindergarten and Ella of the Nores (Sam's favorite nickname for her) turns 1! And of course Hayes starts 2nd grade at his new school (his 4th since Kindergarten; something's wrong with us) as well!

But first things first. Sweet, sweet Eleanor leaves us in amazement every single day. How is it possible to love a baby so much? She's unbelievably perfect and we both feel insanely blessed of the circumstances that led us to be able to appreciate one tiny being so much. She's quite possibly the happiest baby I've ever met and she's actually quite funny. She knows it too which makes it that much cuter.

Here's an example of our entertainment:


And another:


It's hard for me to believe she's almost a year. My how time flies. But at the same time, when I think about how much has taken place over this past year, it seems like she was born a decade ago. I'm so very appreciative of her keeping us grounded on what's important through that trying time. There's nothing like watching a child, who sees everything in life as something full of wonder and amazement, to keep you grounded in the present. Those kids ... they hold the secret to life's joy. If only we could stay in that mindset!

Quite possibly the best part of having Eleanor has been watching the kids with her. They absolutely ADORE her. Hayes will often tend to her in her crib if he hears her wake up -- either bringing her into the gameroom (and closing all doors, locking the gate, and putting away small toys she shouldn't have access to) or bringing her to us. They feed her, help bathe her, walk her around in her stroller, and truly take joy in how cute and funny she is. She loves them too. So much, in fact, that it was only recently she started offering kisses (of the open-mouth variety which is one of the cutest things about babies) to Jason and I. Before that, they were reserved for her very much adored brothers and sister. (On that note, she only just started saying "Dada" this week too. It was "Mama mama" on repeat for months.)

The older three are adjusting extremely well to life here in Katy. They've made friends in the neighborhood and it's cute to see them developing these relationships outside of their threesome. I'm anxious for them to start school for a variety of reasons, though I'm a little sad too. Jason and I were just talking about how them starting school is really the start of our "life" here. We'll have playdates and sleepovers and meetings and a sense of community involvement. Whereas now we just sort of sleep in Katy.

I got to speak with the twins' teachers yesterday and I'm extremely impressed with both of them. I talked with Sam's longer because I wanted to voice our concerns about the way he learns (and his inability to sense the need to go to the bathroom). Her response was incredible and I feel very confident that he's in the right class. There will be 17 students in her class, one of which is also named Sam and has a twin sister! How perfect is that?

Tomorrow night we go for "Teacher Meet & Greet" so we'll meet Hayes's teacher then and get to know the twins' more. I'm excited about that venture. Then they start school on Monday and all system's are go!

I'm feeling very pleased with our decision to buy this house. I absolutely love that we'll be walking to school (3-4 minute walk!) and I'm feeling confident in the school's teaching practices (like a large focus on phonics).

More to report quite soon ...

And she's crawling!

Eleanor started crawling two days ago and Jason was home to witness the whole thing. It was so adorable. We were sitting there watching E rock back and forth and all of the sudden, just like a foal learning his footing after birth, she slowly put the motions together and started to move around. And then (!!) she put herself from the crawling position to the sitting position and it wasn't by accident either. It's like she's been formulating this in her head for a few weeks and finally got to put it to practice.

It is so darn cute to watch her develop. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I wish she'd put this off for another few weeks. Which leads me to ...

WE HAVE A CLOSING DATE!

May 14th we close in Lafayette. And as of now, our plans are to close in Katy on the 15th.

Initially we were supposed to close on the 30th and rent from our sellers until closing but they wanted a ridiculous amount of rent ($3000) for a week so we said thanks but no thanks.

Three weeks from today we'll be moving into our new home!

We're out of inspections!

And I'm convinced that our buyers are the best buyers in the entire universe. They did not ask for a single thing. Not a THING! (This, in comparison, to my friend whose buyer demanded that every little thing be repaired/replaced on the inspection report, which was done by an inspector who really loves his job. In the end, the buyer backed out and my friend and her husband are worried sick they'll lose the house they're buying).

So tomorrow, me and my little Easter bunnies will hippity hop over to Houston (after Easter Mass, of course) to get settled for our big day on Monday!!

The amount of love I have for this baby is overwhelming.

It really is. And the pure amount of delight we get from this child is nothing short of astounding. It's not limited to Jason and I, either! The kids adore her and her antics just as much as we do.

Tonight I was in the cry-room at Mass with Miss E, not because she was crying but because she was yelling at the top of her lungs in the middle of Palm Sunday readings, and once I got in there I let her down on the floor because that's what she was really wanting anyway. And as I was giggling at her up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, I received a look from a grandmother type that is reserved for obvious first-time mothers enjoying their first baby: that reflective smile that lets you know they're thinking about how much they enjoyed their babies at this age too. And the look perplexed me a bit being that I haven't received it since Hayes was a young tot, but then I realized the other three were still in Mass with DeDe and so it really did look like I was a first timer!

I'm glad, though, that I'm getting to enjoy these moments with her. They're so precious to me and I hope that I remember them always.

I'll definitely remember tonight's dinner, that's for certain. I took the twins and E to Picadilly to eat after dropping Hayes off for art class at the Little Paintbrush and since I'd forgotten to bring Eleanor anything to eat, I got a side of mashed potatoes for her. In the middle of dinner, Sam had his typical "OH NO I'M GOING TO PEE MYSELF" face on so I carted him off to the bathroom yelling over my shoulder to Mary Beth to watch the baby.

I came back to Eleanor slinging mashed potatoes in all directions because she'd gotten a hold of the spoon. Oh dear. All I could do was laugh. Eleanor was having an absolute blast and I totally ruined her fun (and she let me know it) when I removed the spoon from her clutch and wiped her full body with half the pack of baby wipes.

(me, laughing) "Mary Beth, I asked you to watch her!"

(MB, proudly) "I did, Mommy! She didn't go anywhere!"

Hmmm. Perhaps I'll leave more explicit directions in the future?

We have a tooth! (7m6d)

Eleanor's first little tooth broke through this morning and I couldn't be more relieved. Yesterday was a day of no naps and loads of fussing so I knew it was coming ... but that was possibly the quickest teething episode of any of the other four.

She's growing up right before our eyes and I simply cannot believe how fast it's going this time. She can't quite sit up unassisted, though she's certainly close. And yesterday we caught her rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. She'll be crawling before we know it.

I can hardly believe it myself.

But we just got another full price offer on our house! Amazing!

One contingency down; one to go!

They've got the year's lease signed on their house. Now we are awaiting confirmation from their lender that the money for the down payment is complete.

We've gotten verbal confirmation that the money was released from the insurance company but we want actual, concrete confirmation before celebrations begin.

Oh, God, please let this happen quickly!

On a funny note, I just got a call from a childhood acquaintance who has seen our house (saw my diploma on the wall, whoops) and her house recently went under contract so she was wanting to get more information about the contract we're under. She was quite excited when I told her we were still accepting offers. But I've just spoken to Ms. Penny and their contingency (selling their house even though it's under contract) is a way worse one than what we've got going on here.

Either way, it's nice to know this acquaintance's interest might light a fire under our buyers!

Update to come ...

House #1 went "Option Pending"

And I'm really okay. It would have been a great house for us and a very smart financial move since it's at the bottom of our price range. But I have a feeling I would have started to feel cramped before too long. And I know from living where we are now that cramped is not a good feeling.

So now my focus shifts to our buyers and them moving along in this process. Because my eyes are affixed on a gorgeous Colonial that has Perkins all over it. Over the course of the last few days my emotions totally shifted to envisioning us in this house and the more I look at it the more I feel it.

Today was a rotten day otherwise. Eleanor and I came home from Houston with colds and I'm exhausted. Probably mostly exhausted from the previous oh, say 16 months? Pregnancy, birth, new job, selling house, Jason moving, doing it alone with four kids, and so on and so forth. So it was bound to catch up with me health-wise at some point, right? He's coming in tonight so hopefully I'll get some rest tomorrow or the next day. I feel like I could sleep for a week straight.

I'm looking forward to the time when Eleanor is no longer requiring this late-night feed around 10 pm so I can hit the hay when the kids do at 6:30. We have so much ahead of us that it's tiring to just think about it.

I'm trying to remained focused on what a blessing this job is for our little family during this troubling economic time. Because it really is huge.

Tomorrow's another day ...