Another Transition!

Monday night was the boys' first night together in their room! Nathan had been sleeping in the second bathroom/laundry room in his pack-and-play, which was fine for him (he knew no difference at this age! haha) but was becoming a pain when trying to do laundry, put stuff in storage (we have a small "closet" in there, which is actually a stand-up shower BUT since the only bath is in the master bathroom and the kids don't take showers, we decided to hang a window curtain and make it a storage closet - it actually looks pretty good and is nice to have some extra storage!), and of course when wanting to use the second bathroom - it was jsut so crowded and was driving me a little crazy! So anyway, we started our new bedtime routine for both kids on Monday night!

We decided Nathan would go to bed first - so I nurse him around 7:45 for the night and he's in his crib (still swaddled) with his passy around 8:00... he's pretty easy,usually he's asleep within 5 minutes! His routine didn't really change, except that he's going down about 15-30 minutes earlier than before. Alex's routiine didn't change too much either - except that instead of doing it in his bed, we now read his two books and say prayers on the couch (usually daddy does this) and then I carry him to their room and tuck him in. So far, Nathan's been asleep when we go in and I just give Alex a few snuggles/kisses and cover him up and head out.

The first night Alex was a bit confused... he thought he got to SLEEP on the couch. So he was a little dissappointed when he found out he was going to sleep in his bed like normal. We also tried to explain that he had to be quiet... a lot of times he will talk to himself, play a little bit, or yell for us to bring him something or cover him up (or of course, sometimes he cries if he doesn't want to go to sleep or whatever). Since he was a little sad and confused, we both went in once to give him a little extra attention and help him adjust, and he did great going down!

Nathan is still waking up (on most nights) once... overall he sleeps 11-12 hours, but that's with one feeding in the middle of the night. (He has slept through the night 4 times now at different times... but usually these nights he only goes about 9-10 hours total). The first night Alex woke up when Nathan did, but went right back to sleep... the second night he didn't wake up at all, and the third night Nathan slept all night, so the middle of the night hasn't really been an issue so far.

The second couple of nights Alex was a little noisy going down and Nathan ended up waking up again both nights... i nursed him again since he couldn't settle back down. And in the mornings, Nathan is still getting up around the same time as normal (7 ish) and Alex is getting up a little earlier than he used to since he was sleeping about 30min or an hr logner than Nathan on a normal night.

So we're still working on it, but overall it's been a good transition so far! Nathan's pack and play is now in our room so that he can nap in there. Their nap schedules are TOTALLY different, so I don't think we'll attempt that for a long time! Nathan's naps are pretty sporadic still (usually about 4 a day ranging from 30 min-1.5 hrs) and Alex still naps pretty much from 1-4 every day (with me going in to get him at 4).

This whole room sharing thing was a concern of ours, so I'm excited that we're working on it already and that it seems to be going well so far! I figured the sooner we did it, the better for Alex's adjustment. Also, there isn't a whole lot of point in prolonging it since they need to learn to sleep in the same room eventually - better to do it sooner than later I figure! Oh, and Alex has woken up so excited to be sharing a room with Nathan - he thinks it's really fun to see him in his crib in the mornings :)

Wow, that was a long post to just tell about this transition, haha! I hope I didn't bore anyone toooo much ;)

Weekend Recap!

Alex loved having daddy home for the weekend! On Friday he was saying he missed daddy... here they are reading books together!

Nathan tried out his new high chair seat this weekend!! He loved being able to sit at the table with us :)

Alex tried to ride his bike on our patio (which is about big enough for two chairs and a place to store his bike and a few outdoor toys)... when I went out to check on him, he was a bit frustrated, telling me there wasjust no where to go haha. Here we are on the sidewalk at the apartment! He loved the hill :)

Cute boys :)

Playing with Nathan's toys never gets old - they are both so excited to lay in Nathan's playgym together! They still do this several times a day!

BUBBLES!

This weekend was fairly uneventful... we thought for a few minutes about doing something exciting and going downtown for a museum visit or heading to one of the national parks or something, but that thought didn't last long... it's been such a crazy past month that we really needed a weekend to finish settling in and to RELAX! So this weekend was spent sleeping in, relaxing on the couch, playing with Gary's new droid (which he is ecstatic about - this will be his toy to use on the train/bus/subway rides!), eating pizza, shopping for work clothes (the dresscode for Gary is now suit/tie or sport coat at the minimum if there aren't big meetings that day), putting the last of the furniture together (YAY!), hanging pictures on the walls, and just RELAXING!

Doctor Update!

A picnic at the park!

Nathan LOVED this view... so mesmorized by the trees and clouds... beautiful :)

First bath together, they both LOVED this!!

Morning cartoons on the boppy... Alex likes Nathan's boppy pillow!

We went to the doctor here yesterday about Nathan's head issue and she really wasn't concerned at all! She seemed pretty knowledgeable to me... she said it looks like something that we can totally correct by continuing what we're doing and that physical therapy wouldn't really do much at this point for him. She didn't think he'd be a candidate for a helmet at this point either. She said we COULD see a specialist if we are really concerned, but she didn't think it was necessary - So... I guess we will give it until his 4 month appointment and see if there have been any changes. In the meantime, we'll work har at keeping him off the flat part of his head and continue the neck stretches

I love this stage with Alex... as frustrating as he can sometimes be, he is really developing his own sense of humor and personality! I love that he has so many questions, talks about such random stuff all the time, and expresses his love for our familycontinually! Here are a few favorite things he's saying:

*Alex: "open this door mommy" (talking about a door on one of his hot wheels cars) Me: "it doesn't open" Alex: "I'll ask my daddy" (This is a VERY common occurance... if mommy can't do something, he'll ask daddy... daddies can do anything! )

*"I need to hold my mommy" - love this! :)

*EVERY nap time/bed time for the last few days, he asks if "NayNay" can pleeeaaase sleep in his bed with him.

*And everything is "MY ___________", "I NEED...", "A BIG one!", "A BLUE one", and "TWO mommy" (never just one of anything...)

And the next chapter begins...

Well, we're here!!! It has been a CRAZY week... here's how it went:

Tuesday: We packed the truck, and got the house compeltely cleaned and emptied out for the renters! This was done with the help of our AMAZING small group! How blessed we have been to be a part of such a loving, supportive group these past 3 years in KY. They happily helped load our truck (to the BRIM - NO WAY we would have fit everything if it weren't for the creative packing of these guys... ropes, bungee cords, and walls of boxes and furniture with every nook and cranny of our 26 foot truck was packed! WOW!) And the girls helped steam carpets, vacuume, pack last minute things, do the bathrooms, oven, kitchen cleaning, take out trash, etc, etc. We can't thank them enough for being such a blessing to us throughout the past 3 years - we have learned so much from them and have felt so loved. We are praying that we can find a church here that has small groups and that we can get involved quickly.

Wednesday: We got up about 4am and left the house by 5:30, headed to DuBois (where my parents live). We arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon after a long day of traveling (it took Gary about an hour to get used to driving the huge truck and car carrier, but he did GREAT!) After eating a quick, late lunch, some friends of my parents came over to help us for the evening (my parents already had plans to be at a church conference before knowing we were moving). We had 2 locations to unpack and unload: my parents house and the storage unit. This took several hours... we worked from about 3:30 until 8ish with the help of these friends (and their parents watched the kids for a while too, which was super helpful as well!) Gary and I were up long after that though, repacking the truck! Once about half of the truck was unloaded in storage (between outdoor toys/furniture/equipment, several large peices of hand-me-down furniture we had, and tons of my school stuff and random other junk that we didn't need to bring but weren't ready to part with) we realized that the truck couldn't travel all the way to Virginia the way it was! Everything would fall over since there was a tightly packed wall of stuff - it needed to be repacked so that things wouldn't shift and fall all over the place. Gary and I were up until about midnight repacking the truck.

Thursday: We got up around 7:00 and were out the door by 8:30 to head to our new home! We arrived around 2:30 (traveling is a lot tougher with a truuck, car carrier, antsy toddler, and a newborn - but overall, I'd say they did great!) and had to sign the lease and get our keys. Then the unloading began! We worked most of the day, getting everything except a few boxes and the mattresses unloaded. We decided to quit around 8:30ish because we were all sore, tired, and ready to relax. Alex slept on the crib mattress and Gary and I slept on the couch. A few favorite moments from this day:

*While figuring out how to fit the couch through the door into the apartment, I run in and give Nathan his passy while Gary thinks. All the sudden Gary starts yelling - "UH OH!!! HURRY!!" I come running out and he's like "sprinklers are turning on, what do we do???" and I say "GO!!!" and we pick it up as fast as we can and start cramming it as quickly as possible through the door - this was HILARIOUS! We were laughing so hard and Alex thought it was great! BUT it didn't get wet or anything :) I guess under pressure, it was a pretty quick job! haha!

*Alex LOVED helping unload the truck! He had a BLAST... he thought he was such a big helper, bringing in one small item at a time (box of tissues, ball, cleaning supplies, wipes, etc) and stacking them on the coffee table. We'd tell him what a big helper he was and he'd say so proudly, "yeah, I am" with just the biggest grin. As he'd come in with his "large load" he'd say "excuse me!" to get us out of his way - too cute! He also "helped" us with backing up the truck by waving his arms to show when to start and stop. He was such a trooper - unloading never got old for him either, he was working hard all day in the heat and finished with Gary the next morning too!

Friday: Gary did a dry run of the public transportation system in the morning... so we got up early and he caught a 6:45ish train downtown, then caught the subway to his work building (he got all the kinks worked out!) Problem with the train is that it only runs one way in the morning and the other way in the afternoon. So, the kids and I drove downtown to pick him up. It was a little tricky meeting up downtown since we don't really know our way around, but it worked out :) We finished unloading the truck in the morning and the Verizon people came to set up our cable/internet. I had my first grocery store run and then in the evening we went out for a celebration dinner and to run a few errands.

Saturday-Sunday: We spent these days putting together furniture, unpacking, organizing, running errands and getting Gary ready for work.

Monday-Tuesday: Gary started his new job! He's enjoying it and everything is going well!! He's pretty much just dealt with HR stuff and started some training so far. The best thing that we've discovered so far is that he can choose his own hours and work 9 hr days(and one 8 hr day) and then get a 3 day weekend every other weekend! So he'll be working 7:30-5:00 and then get every other Monday off! The train/subway commute takes a little over an hour, so he leaves here a little after 6:00 to catch a 6:15 train in the morning and get to work by 7:30... and he'll be home by 6:30ish (since he can't catch the train until 5:25). Even though it seems like a long day, it's 'not really much different from what he was doing in Cincinnati... he left for work at 7:00 and got home at 6:30 for his job there. Also, he'll eventually probably try a couple of different modes of transportation... he can take a bus from the mall, which he's been told is about a 45 minute commute or he can try "slugging" where he carpools with other people going downtown and they can ride in the HOV lanes, which may also be a little quicker.

I've been unpacking like crazy and as of Tuesday night had NO BOXES left!!! We still have the crib and bedframe to put together and another shelf, so Gary will help with those things this weekend. We also have things to put on the wall of course, and some other things that still need organized, but we're starting to feel much more settled!

So... it's been a CRAZY week, but we are loving our new apartment!!! We actually feel like we have plenty of space and it really doesn't seem THAT small.

The boys aren't really in the same room yet... we ended up putting Nathan's pack and play in the extra bathroom/laundry room as we were unpacking so that he could sleep and be out of the way... and it's stayed there ever since! LOL. It's a little in the way of the laundry and storage area, and you can't really use that bathroom, but for now it's working and keeping him out of our room and gives Alex his own place to nap/sleep since they aren't really on the same schedule at all yet. We'll slowly ease him into the other room I think over the next weeks. And Alex actually LOVES the idea that him and Nathan are sharing a room :)

Alex has been so cute about the "new house" He was so excited the whole trip and would ask frequenlty when we stopped if we were at the new house yet. When we got here he was just giddy with excitement - he'd be giggling and say "I'm SO happy mommy!" ADORABLE! He still asks when we leave the apartment when we're going back to the "new house"... I wonder how long he'll say that! I've been so happy with his transition here, he's doing great!

Keep praying for our transition and stay tuned for pics of the apartment! :)

And we're off!!

Today's the big day, we're loading the truck tonight!! Let's hope this rain stops or at least slows down! Please pray for safe travels and that everything runs smoothly over the next few days. Pray for our transition and for the kids' transitions as we make the move and settle in. We're feeling many emotions right now: sad to leave our friends and home behind, nervous about travel plans and everything falling into place, stressed about getting everything done these next few days and getting Gary ready to start work next week, and mostly excited to set off on this new adventure together!

2 Month Update!

We went for Nathaniel's 2 month check up today! Can't believe he is already 2 months old!! At the same time though, we've adjusted as a family to having him here and I can hardly remember what it was like without him! Nathan is such a part of our family already! Time is weird like that...

Anyway, here are his 2 month stats:

*Weight is now in the 40th percentile at 11.2 lbs - definitely a growing boy and GREAT eater!! (He's quick too, it only takes him about 10-15 minutes total to nurse!)

*His height is also in the 40th percentile at 22.5 inches long

We also had some concerns with a couple of things we'd noticed. First, we thought he had a tooth in the back (which would be really early and a strange place to get a first tooth). Turns out though, it wasn't a tooth at all, it was a totally normal cyst. The doctor wasn't concerned at all about it and said babies get them all the time on their gums.

Our second concern was the flatness of his head on the right side. The doctor was pretty concerned about how his head is looking... she said it's a cosmetic thing but that it's pretty early for his head to already be that flat. She wanted to refer us to a specialist to get it checked out and maybe start physical therapy. Since we're moving though, we'll have to find a pediatrician to see us right away and refer us somewhere near where we live. I'll probably try and call some places before we even leave so we can hopefully get in right away. In the meantime, she showed us some neck stretches to do with him and gave us some ideas of how to try and shape his head naturally (most of which we've already been doing - laying him so that he looks left and such)

Other than that, she was very happy with his growth and overall health. She was also very surprised with how social and smiley he is! He is "talking" and cooing a lot and smiles all the time! He has also started giggling! SO cute!

Here are some more things we've gotten to know about Nathan and a little update about what he's doing now:

*He started rolling over a couple of days ago at 8 1/2 weeks!! He has done it at least 3 or 4 times a day since :)

*As long as he's in a fairly good mood, he enjoys his tummy time and is getting really strong! He's doing a great job looking around, even from his tummy position :)

*He continues to look up to Alex - he loves to watch him and gets so excited when Alex pays attention to him. This is my favorite! :)

*He's sleeping about 7 hours at night now and then eats and sleeps for 3 or 4 more hours (on a typical night.... sometimes he doesn't do quite that well ;) ) He's going to bed around 8:30 and is up around 6:30ish

*He loves his play gym and bouncy seat best

*Nathan does not enjoy waiting in his car seat... once we're in the car and moving, he's usually happy or falls asleep though

*He still loves his passy! He goes right to sleep with it most of the time. We don't really give it to him much other than sleep times unless we're out somewhere.

Boxes everywhere!

These last couple of weeks have been filled with LOTS of packing, planning, and cleaning! We've checked a lot of random things off of our to-do list, but still have a lot to do (some stuff that can't really be done until the move gets a little closer - we're now only 10 days away from the day we load the truck!) Everything is a little harder when you have a newborn and a two year old though (and Gary is still working his job here through next Friday). I've been trying to involve Alex a lot in the packing and cleaning. He loves to help! He has spent time "labeling" boxes, along with pulling things out and putting things in boxes (which makes packing tricky)! I think he is starting to get antsy and confused though. He'll tell you we're moving to a new house and seems to understand somewhat what is going on. He's been really acting up the last few days though - I think he's just craving attentioin and wondering when we're actually going to go to this "new house".

Anyway, since I love lists, here is an update on what we're doing in list form :) :

*The house is officially rented out! (What an answered prayer!) This family found us on Craig's list and everything has been falling into place perfectly, including the timing! (Their moving truck will come pretty much right after ours leaves!) This has lifted a HUGE burden off of us!

*We've decided to get a storage unit where my parents live (4.5 hrs from DC) rather than storing stuff here or in DC. It's much cheaper and will be more convenient, since we will probably be at my parents' hosue more than we will be back in Cincinnati. (And storage in DC was about 3 times as expensive!)

*A lot of things will go to my parents' house as well... so this is taking a lot of coordinating! I'm trying to make sure to label boxes well and have started piles of boxes for each location around the hosue... since we will have 3 stops on the way to drop stuff off, we want to make sure that our boxes are loaded in the truck in order :)

*I've been doing a lot of visiting with friends... it has been a little surreal knowing that it will be the last time I see people for a while (even if they are older friends that I don't see too often anyway... it's different knowing that they are not too far away!)

*We sold a bunch of our downstairs furniture on craigslist. It was all stuff we got for pretty cheap when we were first married and stuff we weren't really huge fans of anyway... so we figured it'd be less to store and such :) It wasn't really going to fit in our new apartment (we need a smaller kitchen table). Alex was very concerned though about where we were going to eat. We set up a card table in the kitchen and have been eating out on the deck a lot lately :)

*We packed up all of my school stuff... this took a couple of days with my parents' help. Since I had to pack everything up to move to the new school that I would have been at, we had to basically unpack everything and separate my stuff from school stuff from trash and repack it all in personal boxes. When we packed it up, we just put everything in boxes and didn't really organize/go through anything... so this was a big job!

*My parents came for 3 days to help with stuff... we got our china packed along with lots of other random things and my mom helped with lots of cleaning (blinds, windows, vents, light fixtures, baseboards, etc.) My dad helped cover up nail holes in the walls and replace light bulbs and such... and we had lots of extra help with the kids of course, so i could get things done as well :) OH and we got to go on a dinner/movie date... which was much needed and so much fun! (even if i did fall asleep for about 1/3 of the movie from sheer exhaustion! haha)

*Gary's parents and brother/sister-in-law will be in town this weekend to knock some more things off the list - fixing up the deck, moving boxes/furniture, cleaning more random things for the renters, more packing, taking care of kids, etc!

So, I feel like things are really coming together... mostly I'm just ready to go ahead and make this move and start settling into our new home/routine! We're feeling tired and things are stressful around here - I think we're all just ready for the next step... just a week and a half until the big move begins!