cleaning day

What a crazy day. Dave got up and early to meet with Dennis for coffee. When he got back, I had both kids in bed with me because they woke up while he was gone. Violet always gets to me before I wake up, and when Calvin wakes up, all he wants to do is lay in bed with me and nurse. Sooo...it was a typical morning in that way. Dave got home, decided to take the kids downstairs for me so I could shower, and he made eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast. Yum! He used the grilling thing on our stove to make the bacon. It tasted alright - a little weird to have grilled bacon. Anyway...then after we cleaned up breakfast, he got out the cleaning stuff and said "I think I'll clean the toilets in the house." So...he went to town cleaning stuff. He did all 4 toilets, then he got himself on some crazy cleaning spree, and decided to tackle all the bathrooms, every surface. I helped him some. But the tubs, showers, toilets, walls, mirrors, counter tops, even light bulbs all got a scrubbing. He took down the ugly gold light fixtures in the kitchen and eating area and cleaned them, and even late tonight, he went outside and is cleaning the house sconce lights by the garage. Earlier he got the riding lawn mower out to try it and mowed a couple strips of the lawn, then noticed me and the kids were outside in the gazebo watching him. He turned off the mower to greet us, and then somehow couldn't get it started again...which made him frustrated. He determined it needed a new battery, so he and Violet went to Walmart to get a new battery for it. Its too dark now to work on it, but that threw a little wrench in his lawn mowing plans. I got some great pics of the kids outside today in the leaves Dave raked.

sad moment

Dave and I were just working on the couch together. Well, not really working together, but sort of. I was folding laundry, and he was sitting on the couch wrapped up with something with work on his computer playing 80s music. We have been casually talking off and on, nothing really continuous or connected. I mentioned to him "I'd like to put a little bench for the kids to sit on and put their shoes on over there by the laundry room door." He said "Yeah, that would be nice to have." and then my thoughts wandered and I said "yeah, because Violet used to have that little folding chair in the entry way of our old house...whatever happened to that, by the way? Did it get flooded?" He stopped for a moment and thought. "Yeah, it did." And then there was silence. I just nodded, and kept folding. My thoughts wandered off about the flood, thinking about the house, what it used to be like to trudge up the basement stairs, and the routine of Violet being excited to sit in her little folding chair to take off her coat and shoes before entering the house. I can replay it in my mind like reality. Dave's words then interrupted my thoughts and said "I just had a sad moment. I just keep having reoccuring moments like this about the flooded house. Like that mention of Violet's chair. I can just think about it and get very, very sad." I said "Yes, I know, I was just thinking that. I had a sad moment too. I mean, it was Violet's little chair! She loved that squeaky little thing." *sigh*

silly V

I have been unpacking and organizing all morning. Violet even said to me "Mama, I drive you nuts." and then I responded by saying "Well, yeah, but I love you too!" so that's been our exchange all morning. I'll say, "Violet, you drive me nuts!" and she'll say back "But you love me too!" and another: I was explaining to Violet earlier tonight that the water had to bubble before we put in the noodles (I was making her some mac and cheese), and after I told her the water was bubbling, she excitedly ran over to me because I told her she could pour the noodles in. She poured the noodles in, took another look at the boiling pot of soon-to-be-cooked noodles, and said "Mama, don't bubble me. Its too hot."

my little escape artist

Calvin is my little escape artist. He somehow got past the 2 baby gates we have in this house and got to the top of the stairs yesterday w/o me even realizing it. When I discovered he was missing, I ran to the stairs as soon as I could, and found him at the top step, excited as can be! He was smiling and flapping his arms - obviously very proud of himself! I was so glad he didn't fall though. He can walk now! He's just 9 1/2 months, and can take 15-20 steps. Usually his attempts get him 5 or 6 steps but his longest was 15 or something like that. Violet fell down on the tile floor off the kitchen table chair the 2nd day we lived in this house. We winces in pain every time we pick her up from under the arms, we we have to avoid doing that. I even took her to the doctor because she seemed like it was bothering her so much, but it doesn't seem like anything is broken - he suspects a muscle spasm or a strain. Its a week later and it still hurts her.

I have these things written on a piece of scrap paper

and I want to keep them recorded here so I don't lose it. Violet was eating breakfast the other day and she said this: "Mommy, when I'm done with my oatmeal I will lay down on the couch and rest for awhile, OK?" and as she noticed I was writing on this scrap of paper, she said "Mom? What you do? Are you coloring? Or writing? For Uncle Jay or for Molly? or for Daddy or Mommy or Violet or Calvin?" Me: "Violet, you're silly." Violet: "No, I'm a cowboy. I'm a cowGIRL. I will show daddy - I will tell daddy i'm a cowboy, OK?" "I got my last bite!" "Mommy, my tummy is full" Her speech is amazing. I can't believe how much she's changed in the last 4 months. Just 4 months ago she was annoyingly repeating everything I would say to her, but now she's easily conversing with me, coming up with her own ideas and thoughts, and clearly communicating them.

just because we're finally here

Doesn't mean the pain goes away. I was looking at old photos today and really missing the water. I love the water. The beautiful sparkley river that was constantly changing. This house is amazing, don't get me wrong, or think I'm not thankful or that God isn't taking care of me and my family, but gosh, this is still incredibly hard. The flood is going to be our life story for the REST of our lives. We just want it to be over. But it won't ever be. People will always ask us ... so how did you end up in this house? And that will be the forever story. The flood. It will never go away! We are going through cruddy flooded crap every moment we get once the kids go to bed at night. We have thrown so much stuff away, and lots of clean things we have set aside for a garage sale in the spring. I can't wait to get organized!!!!! I'm afraid to put anything away, for fear that it won't be organized or I'll never get to it again. I have a desire to do everything right this time, after living in 5 different houses in the last 5 years (whoa), to ONLY KEEP THINGS that we use on a regular basis, and continually sift out junk we don't want or need.

We're finally at "home"

We moved on Saturday. What a day it was. I can't really explain it other than absolute craziness! I couldn't help move much because I was chasing after Violet to keep her out of people's way and holding Calvin on my hip the whole day. He weighs almost 21 lbs now so he was a big lug to haul around. We had tons of people come help. It was a BIG effort too. First we loaded up a 26" truck at the rental house and unloaded at the Briarwood house, then the crew ate lunch so graciously provided by Barb Anderson, then loaded up the river house and unloaded it at the Briarwood house in the garage. The garage was so full, that we didn't even have space to park our car in it! 4 stalls, and its chock full of stuff!! I feel a huge burden to get rid of stuff, big time. I just feel like we have way too much stuff. Dave feels the same way, so I'm glad we're on the same page. We have a different philosophy of getting rid of stuff, though. He prefers to keep stuff that may be useful or of value, and I'm like "just throw it out" or "put it in the garage sale pile already!" I want to do things right this time - now that we feel a great sense of permanency. I want to organize well, store things well, and just keep what we need and want, not extra stuff we don't use or don't like. Teresa Smith helped me set up the kitchen for a few hours the day we moved. That was a big help! I have slowly spent the next few days putting things away and organizing. I spent 4 hours working on our upstairs bathroom - I think I threw away a whole garbage bag of stuff that we had collected over time. Expired meds, hair things I never use, hair products I haven't touched in ages, etc. It felt SO good to get rid of it. When Dave and I were putting clothes away, we both got rid of a big box full of clothes we don't like anymore or don't fit. (sad to say that was the case for many of my things!) My mom was here Sunday helping put the kids' stuff in their rooms. So....I feel the basics are covered. We do have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do in the garage yet, but that will come with time as we have spare time. I'm just ecstatic to finally be here. I can't wait to be all done and organized. The river house is still our property and we are waiting for a possible city buy-out in the spring.

A sweet morning

I had a precious moment this morning. Violet walked silently into my room at 7 am loaded up with Elmo and 3 of her favorite blankets and her special yellow pillow, snuck into the side of the bed where daddy was missing (he's on a work trip right now), and whispered to me "Mama, I will go to feep in your bed, otay?" I mumbled "Ok baby" and she laid her head down and fell asleep for another 1/2 an hour with me. Awww....The sweet quiet moment came to an abrupt halt when she sprung up and said "mama! I'm hungy!!" Calvin even slept in til 8 am, and when I went down to his room in the basement, he was smiling and started jumping up and down when he saw me. What fun! I am so glad he wasn't screaming like usual.

Mama Ruth is 111 yrs old - our trip to Oklahoma and Arkansas

The timing of the trip was a little poor, considering we were just in Chicago 2 weekends ago, then Minnesota 1 weekend ago. We just can't seem to stay home long enough to get packed!! We made the yearly trip to Little Rock, AR to celebrate (what I think will be) Mama Ruth's last birthday. I could be 100% wrong....but she really said she is weaker and thinks this is her last year. The trip taking both kids on the airplanes was actually better than I expected. We bought a ticket for each child, so we could take them both on the airplane and use their car seats. That was the best decision ever. Its so nice to have them buckled in (and safer too!) on the airplane so they could sleep. Our first flight was Thursday (Oct 2nd) from Waterloo to Minneapolis. It was loud and quick. Calvin was pretty fussy. He did NOT like me putting earplugs in his ears. He seemed to be calmed by the paci most of the first flight. The 2nd flight was from Minneapolis to Oklahoma City, where we made a point to stop overnight at Rachel's apartment and see whats going on with her. The 2nd flight went EXTREMELY well. Both kids fell asleep for the entirety of the 2 hours we were up in the air. That was SO nice. Rachel met us at baggage claim in her blue scrubs fresh from school. We got settled into the rental car (Chevy Tahoe w/ 3rd row seat) and Rachel guided us back to the school, gave us a tour, and then we went back to her apartment for a chicken parmesan dinner she cooked. Yum! Her friend (well, boyfriend, I guess) Paul hung out with us too. The kids slept in Rachel's room (Calvin in a pack and play borrowed from Justin, one of Rachel's ortho friends) and Violet in a sleeping bag (which she ended up sleeping ON TOP of the whole night, lol). They slept alright. That night Calvin decided to wake up at 5:15 am like a crazy happy man, and I managed to stay awake and let him crawl around to burn off some energy. He eventually got tired and fell asleep from 6:30-7:30 am so I could get a little more sleep. Rachel, Dave and I all camped out on Rachel's living room couch, air mattres, and used her mattress from her bed on the floor. So funny! Good thing nobody snores. We drove to Little Rock together on Friday the 3rd. We had plans to make it by 4 pm to watch Mama Ruth go up in a helicopter ride. We BARELY made it. We pulled into the parking lot at Parkway Village almost at the same time the chopper blades started spinning and lifted off the ground. Everybody was there, and we all enjoyed ice cream cones and ice cream cookie sandwiches. Violet loved seeing everybody and easily went to other people she was familiar with - Great Grandma Rowena and Great Grandpa Loren, for example. We ate ice cream and waited for the helicopter to land. We settled into our guest room at Parkway for the night and quickly changed clothes to get ready for dinner that night at some asian restaurant...dinsome thensome or whatever. I was SO tired from all the travel and the long drive. The kids were also tired, whiney and melting down. I barely remember the conversations I had that night ~ my eyes felt glazed over. We were so anxious to get the kids to bed, so we left as soon as we could. The next day (Saturday, Oct 4th) was the regular luncheon at the country club. We sat at a table with Ruth and Michael, Sara Lincoln, Rachel, Jay and Molly. Grandma Rowena tried to get Violet to sit over at the kids' table with all the other kids, but Violet was too scared and nervous, so she sat with us. She ate lots of chicken and fries ~ in fact, I think she lived off fried chicken that weekend. Every kid menu we ordered from ~ that was the only thing she would have eaten. Calvin was OK - he was happy with little bits of food here and there sitting in his high chair playing with a floating balloon tied to his high chair. The country club had a nice cake, but it wasn't the traditional carrot/spice cake as in previous years. I found that disappointing, lol! I was lookin' forward to that cake! We took the kids back to Patty and Jim's house so we could put them down for naps. Dave volunteered to stay at their house while I joined the rest of the family on a walk across the bridge over the Arkansas River. I drove the big Tahoe with Grandpa Loren, Rachel, Jay and Molly in it successfully downtown with almost no wrong turns (I screwed up in the parking lot, but oh well). Dinner that night was a continuation of just conversation, talking, and socializing at Patty and Jim's. Danny Deislinger had a big catfish fry organized, so we enjoyed eating lots of food that night too. Sunday morning was a little crazy, but it went pretty well. Great Grandma Ruth was SO excited that almost everyone joined her at church. The kids did alright. Calvin was happy being passed from person to person and didn't make too much of a fuss. Violet was happy sitting with daddy most of the time, eating random snacks from whatever she could find in the diaper bag. People were generally impressed with our kids' behavior and said they enjoyed her presence. That was nice to hear! I specifically remember being at the dinsome thensome restaurant on Friday night ~ I asked Violet to go get her flip flops and put them on her feet. She said "ok!" and ran off. Ashley Abraham said "oh wow! She'll actually go do it!?" as though she didn't expect Violet to obey as well as she did. Violet got a big kick out of going on the airplane. I know she didn't really "get it" that the airplane was going really fast and really high ~ but she liked knowing she was going on an airplane and that she got to ride in her car seat. She especially loves to do EVERYTHING herself...including climbing up into her seat by herself, and doing the buckles. Sometimes she can get the whole thing, sometimes the straps are a little too tight and she can't quite get it done. She was a bit of a challenge to get her to stay close to us as we walked through the airport going from place to place, but I usually could steer her to stay close to me by asking if she could help me push Calvin's stroller. She absolutely loves to help with that kind of stuff. Also, she would get VERY excited at the moving sidewalks in the airport terminals, being able to get on and off them by herself, and anticipating another moving sidewalk, one right after another. She squealed in delight when she would notice another one coming up! She always "helped" us by pushing the elevator buttons and the buttons for handicapped people so the doors would open automatically, almost everywhere we went. She was pretty social, randomly waving to people and saying "hi!" She is so cute, growing up so fast, and I am just amazed by her!

Violet's first hair cut was today!

We went to Jiva SalonSpa this morning at 9:30 am. She did so good! Well, after a 2 second bout of crying when I tried to put her in the chair at first. She screamed, then calmed down when the ladies gave her a sucker and I sat with her in the chair at first. She seemed perfectly content with her sucker, so I got to set her down on the chair with a big booster seat on it. She lady's name was Diana, and Violet pronounced it "Dee-anna". She got a short bob just like my hair, with her hair slightly shorter in the back. I was sad to see her little curls go, but they were just looking so scraggly and weird - so Dave and I knew it was time for a new look. By the end when she was done, she was proudly announcing "I got a hair cut!" to everyone she saw! So cute!!