So Much...

There's so much to think about, so much to write about, so much to share.  I'll just never have the time to cover it all.

So here's just a few pieces.

Let's focus on the positive.

1) Over the weekend, I put all of the girls' clothes, shoes, and accessories into their dressers and closets.  I sorted out what they had outgrown, labeled it, and put it in storage.  We got some really great deals at Old Navy on a fall wardrobe for N.  So, now each girl has appropriately sized clothing readily available, instead of in an inaccessible random box somewhere.

(Yes that's right, it really did take me until a week after moving in to get this accomplished.  It was a pretty big job, especially with kiddos underfoot.  It feels great to have it done.)

2)  Look at our cute little kitchen!

N likes to stand on her step stool out on the porch and pretend that she's at the McDonald's drive thru window.

Adorable, right?  (See me focusing on the positive here?)  But... do you notice something missing?  That's right-- no dishwasher.  I find myself getting behind on unpacking because I'm spending such a large amount of time cleaning up after every meal... especially now that C is using dishes, too.  We've been doing some research on the right way to make the purchase, and I'm quite confident that this will be one of our first home upgrades.

How dependent we become upon technology, huh?  How did our grandmothers ever manage?

3) We tackled the yard.  We had help from my amazing family-- my parents and brother and sister generously spent their Labor Day helping out with mowing, weeding, and pruning.  They also loaned us their lawnmower and weed whacker to get the job done.

(We hope to purchase these things ourselves very soon, but... well... there's just a lot to be done, and spending time researching and shopping for lawnmowers just hasn't happened yet.)

We trimmed back a ton of Virginia Creeper that was... well... "creeping" into the yard.  Believe it or not, there is a stone wall under all of those years of vine overgrowth.  Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to see it?  Soon enough...

Our willow tree got a haircut (thanks Uncle Ben!)

(I can't take credit for any of the yardwork.  The only jobs I did were keeping track of the kids and preparing snacks and beverages for the yard workers.  Allow me to reiterate that we are overwhelmed by the help and generosity of my family!)

We are also coming to terms with and trying to figure out solutions for a couple of different infestations in the yard.  See all of that poison ivy creeping up the willow tree in the picture above?  Yep... turns out it's all over the yard.

There's more of it growing around the retaining wall by the driveway!

We sort of knew this when we bought the place.  Now we just need to find a workable, safe solution.

(Anyone have a goat we can borrow?  Word on the street is they love to eat poison ivy.)

We also have lots of yellow jackets who just love our apple trees and have built lots of nests on the back of the house so they can be close by.  Luckily, they don't seem to be too angered by our presence yet.  We didn't have a single sting among they yard workers yesterday.  Thank heaven!

Back to the positive...

4) Our neighbors have been SO friendly and welcoming.  Yesterday the man across the street loaned M a rake for the yard, and shortly after that the woman from the house up the hill brought over a fresh basket of garden vegetables, herbs, and flowers that her 12-year-old daughter had arranged artfully for us.

Wasn't that just sweet of them?

5) In kid news, C has had an explosion of new skills lately... she has learned to sit up, she's trying to learn to crawl, she's eating new foods, and she said her first word (Mama) around the time that we moved.

Look at the little chompers on this monster!!

I love the 8-9 month age.  Such a time of discovery!  Unfortunately, it's also a time of bad sleep.  She's got a lot on her little mind.  Mama is about as exhausted as I've ever been, with all the moving and unpacking and mortgage stress and lack of sleep with kiddos adjusting to a new place.  Luckily, I've been through the rapidly-developing-baby phase of no sleep a couple times.  I know that it will pass by and we'll all be well adjusted and sleeping better in a few months.  So I'm trying to just enjoy this cuteness before she grows up on me:

(Please ignore my idiotic babbling in this video; I was trying to get her to say her words for the camera, and the best way to get her to talk is to speak her language, if you know what I mean.)

So... we still have a to-do list a mile long, but we're slowly getting started on things.  I'm trying not to be too worried about it.  In fact, today I'm celebrating.  Do you know why?  

We closed on our mortgage on Friday.  We own this house.

Today is the first day in about six months that I haven't had to put my children aside to make several mortgage- or housing-related phone calls or emails.  And that feels so good.

We've had a quiet morning of nothing but the ordinary: playing, crafting, grocery shopping... and now all three girls are taking long naps and I'm taking a break from the to-do list to write this.

We have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is the outpouring of help and generosity that we have received from dear friends and family throughout the moving and adjustment process.  I hope those of you reading this know who you are, and know how deeply we are thankful.  Words just can't express it.

And now... on to the next project!