Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Right This Moment.

A little catch-up post - grab your frappe and relax!

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Jake and I celebrated 7 years on the 15th.  How did this happen?

Here's to 70 more!

Some days we feel like kids, and other days we look at eachother with disbelief as we realize we're very close to our thirties.

Like the time we were pulling into church and I said "I'm 27...right?".

"Honey.  You're 28."

"So I'm going to be 29 in 2 months?!?  Oh my gosh."

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We put our house on the market on July 2nd.  Long story short - after 4 showings and 1 craptastic offer, we got an offer for full asking price on July 12th.  That's 10 days on the market.  We're still in shock. If everything goes through, we'll be closing on August 30th!

Fun Fact: The buyers names are Jake and Ashley.  I can't make this stuff up.  We prayed that people 'like us' would come to look at our house.  We prayed this because our house is not really fit for anyone middle aged or older (because of all the steps), and too small for a growing family.  So really, young newlyweds were our target.  After some Facebook snooping, we learned that Jake & Ashley D. are young newlyweds.  And either they have a baby on the way or they just like to post photos of ultrasounds :)

So that's the good news.  The bad news?

The house that prompted us to list our house (because we loved it!) went off the market.  And the little old lady has decided she's not ready to sell.  Of course.

That makes us practically homeless.

Okay, well not quite.  More on this story later.

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I said goodbye to this little lady a few weeks ago.

She's a beauty, isn't she?  So glad I got to do some photos before her time here was up!
I loved having her (and now miss her conversation throughout the day!) but with all of Carter's appointments & therapies & lessons over the summer, it just didn't seem fair to always be dragging her along.  It was kind of a hard decision, but looking back I think it was right for everyone.

Miss you, Little Princess!

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Family vacation is quickly approaching.  We are practically counting the seconds.

St. Germain 2010

St. Germain 2011

St. Germain 2012

Knowing that 'St Germain 2013' is right around the corner makes me giddy - come quickly, August 17th.

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Carter started swimming lessons four weeks ago.  I didn't say anything initially, because....

...our first lesson is something I'd like to forget.  He hated it.  Which means I hated it.

Carter loves the water.  He does not love being told what to do (kick your feet! blow bubbles! over here please!).  I didn't realize it then, but I'm pretty sure that's what all the fuss was about.

The second lesson, well - I think I heard angels singing.  He didn't fight it {as much}.  He didn't try to pull Ms. Liz's suit off {as much}.  He didn't scream {as much}.  Now we're approaching lesson number 5 - and I can bring a book and wait in the lobby :)

THAT is a beautiful thing.

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Lately we've been busy cleaning out my dad's house - preparing it for an estate sale and what not.  This has been hard work.  And it's not even 'fun' hard work (like spending the day doing yard work for a cookout or clearing out a room for a fresh coat of paint).  It's un-fun hard work.  Which makes the hard work 12x harder.

But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I've never seen anything so beautiful.  We can hardly wait to be done with this.

We think we have a buyer (well, two, actually) and are hopeful that once it's cleaned out we can sell it and close out the estate.  Which means it's done.  Finished.  Thank you, Lord!

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So to recap - in the last 30 days we started swimming lessons, had a sleep study (This needs no commentary - Carter cried. That is all.), listed our house, sold our house, frantically searched for new house, had an anniversary, had two hearing tests (Why two? Because Carter cried. A lot.), said a good-bye, started speech at the hospital (Found something that doesn't make Carter cry!), cleaned out my dads house (Read: emotionally exhausting), and that brings us to right this moment.

Right this moment - Carter is in bed.  Jake is on his way home from a loooong day.  My brother-in-love just mowed our lawn.  And I'm here.

And now I'm done.  Congratulations - you are caught up.  How has your month been, friend?  Good, I hope.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Quiet house - windows open - book on couch.  Now!







Friday, July 05, 2013

From Carter, With Love.

Hi, blog readers.  My mom asked me if I wanted to take over the blog today.  It's my dad's birthday.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to.  Then she told me I could have ice cream.

So here I am.


Do you know my dad?  He's pretty great.  He likes sports.  And fishing.  And being with me.  Oh, and he likes my mom, too.

Every day when he comes home from wherever he is all day, he wrestles me and makes me laugh.  Sometimes he wrestles me so much that I cry, but maybe I just cry to see if my mama will come running.

My mom tries really hard to make me laugh during the day, but she's just not that funny.

My dad also likes to take naps with me.  I don't nap anymore, so I don't know why we do this.  Maybe he just wants me to rest after a long day of driving my mom crazy playing.  I don't sleep.  I play a game on the ipad.  He sleeps, though.

Having a dad is pretty fun.  He doesn't tell me 'no' as much as my mom.  And if I smile at him just right, he'll give me almost anything.


Dad - Happy Birthday.  One year away from 30.  I heard you and mom talking the other night - you said that 29 doesn't look like you thought it would.  But it's good.  Oh so good.  

I hope this year is your best yet!  Who knows - maybe this year we'll get to move.  Or get a dog.

Or a kid.
Because, let's face it, mom could use some more work to do around here.  Like you always say - she just sits on the couch all day!

I love you, Dad.  You're the best, best, best.  And I'm not just saying that because you're my only dad.  Because, well....you're not.  But you are my favorite.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Dad, if we DO get a kid, can it be a boy one?

Love,
Your Best Bud




Monday, July 01, 2013

Little Boy

There was a day (many, actually) that I wondered when Carter would really start to 'get it'.  I don't even really know what that means - but to me, it looked like a little boy acting like a little boy.

At 19 months home, I can just now say that it looks like Carter is starting to 'get it'.  I realized it as I was on bath duty the other night.  He had the empty bubble bath bottle, and he was pushing that little thing around like a boat.

This is a big deal.  Some of you know this.

Also a big deal?

"shuuuuurrrrrrrr, shurrrrr, sshhhuuuuurrrrrrrrrr...."

In unison.  Playing boat.  Making boat noises.  That looks a whole lot like a little boy to me.

It took us 18 months to teach Carter how to play like this.  And some days, I really thought he might never catch on.

Saturday night I told him that tomorrow we're going to church, and then after that, Daddy & Uncle Ben are taking us on the boat. He looked right at me - a smile came across his little face - and he said "Church, row-row-row (like the song/boat)!!!!!".

I told him once, and he understood.  And could verbalize it back to me.

This is a big deal.

Carter is understanding so many things.  He also understands the concepts of time-out, stay here, stop/turn around (when we're walking or outside)....these are all areas in which I seriously underestimated his level of comprehension.

Also?  This.


This is a big deal.
This is a BIG deal.
THIS IS A BIG DEAL!

Just a few weeks ago, I mentioned to a friend that I just didn't know what I was going to do.  I told her that Carter would not walk alongside the cart.  I have tried it.  Many times.  He would dart here & there, with no concept of 'stay by mama'.

I explained that dude is getting big, and I won't be able to lift his meaty little body into the cart forever.  She encouraged me to try it again.  So we did.  And then this.


I wanted to hug every single person as we walked through that store.  I wanted to tell them how proud we were - how huge this was.  How I doubted him, again.

But I didn't.  I just let my eyes fill up with tears (because - really - this is a big deal).

He can do so much.  He understands so much.  So much more than we know.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Don't doubt this guy.  He CAN.  He WILL.  Just give the dude a chance, Mama.





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