Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Being in the military, it’s normal to move every two or three years.  We have moved numerous times in our ten year military career, but this time we are moving by choice.  Right now we are renting a house and have been for the last three years.  There have been some “issues” with our landlord, so we feel it’s best to move and start a fresh chapter with our next set of orders here in the same town.

We’re moving about a mile away so we’ll still be in the same school district and close to all of our favorite parks and friends.  Our new landlord is a friend of ours, so we are sure to enjoy the new place and be free of any troubling issues.  However, this little disruption growing in the Gulf of Mexico might impact the move.  We’ll just have to hold on tight and hope Isaac blows far, far away.

My husband and I have talked to our kids about the move.  Jack went through one move and adjusted fine.  Now that he is older and understands a little better what moving entails, I’m hoping he’ll adjust well again this time.  So far he is happy about it.  There is a great play set right in our back yard and the street is much quieter.  He’s excited to ride his bike on our flat road and driveway where as before we had hills and more traffic on our street.  Both Jack and Tate picked out their bedrooms and are excited to set up all their toys and belongings.  Jack made me promise him one thing:  “Mommy, please make sure all my Legos make it to the new house.”  I assured Jack all of his Legos will make it to the new house just fine.

We have not moved in a while, but we are excited for the fresh start in a new house. We are trying to make this an adventure for the kids so they are excited. Hopefully we don’t get a hurricane for a housewarming present.

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
“Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most…” (If you’re a Sandra Bullock movie fan, you’ll recognize the quote… if not, it’s from Hope Floats)

I’m sitting here writing this post in the midst of mad chaos. The movers are coming in the morning, hopefully around 9:00 in fact. There are boxes everywhere. And as much as I hate to admit it, there’s still a lot of stuff that hasn’t been bagged, boxed or tossed yet. It’s going to be a very long night.

But what I’m thinking about the most is the fact that tomorrow will be Andrew’s last day at his daycare. He’s been there since he was 4 months old. Everyone knows him, even the teachers who haven’t taught his class yet. They’ve all been amazing with Andrew…

When he was a baby, he refused to nap unless he was curled up on Miss Lee. They were about as concerned for him as we were when he was hospitalized with the mystery fever back when he was 10 months old – and about as relieved as we were when he was able to return to school. He learned to walk there, learned all of our names and how to spell them, and all kinds of other wonderful things. They’ve helped to turn him into the amazing little boy that he is today.

Of course, being there, he also learned early on about the booty and that you should shake it, about nose picking, and other such fine skills.

We’ve celebrated birthdays, holidays and all kinds of milestones together. They were the first non-family people that we trusted to watch Andrew during parents night out. (And yes, I was totally traumatized the first time.)

He has loved it there. They genuinely love him. And there isn’t a week that goes by when I’m writing one of these posts where Andrew doesn’t tell me that I should say he loves all his teachers. The kids adore him and swarm him the second he walks through the door each day. He’s like the mayor of munchkinland…

It’s so hard to believe that tomorrow is his last day… I’m totally going to cry.

Okay… I’ve stalled long enough. Time to get back to the boxes.

Wish us luck. There will be great things in store in the future…if only we can get through the move tomorrow!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
So Andrew got to visit the new place on Saturday. It was so cool watching his reaction to the place. He walked up to the front door with a little trepidation, but when we told him he could go in, he threw the door open and burst in like the hurricane Andrew we all know and love him to be.

He ran from room to room going “WOW” and “THIS IS GREAT!”

He checked out every room upstairs and, despite trying to steal the master bedroom for himself, seems quite satisfied with the decision to sleep in the blue and yellow room NEXT TO the big one.

He has big plans for the basement. “My trains can go HERE” and “My trucks can go over THERE.” “How about my art table can go right…about…here” (right in the middle of the hallway).

Andrew proudly introduced everyone to the backyard. “LOOK at all this room! It’s so cool! And I’m going to have a playground!”

He’s actually excited about packing up. He has to personally supervise the packing of all his stuff so he can be assured it’s not getting tossed during one of mommy’s cleaning jags. (They don’t happen often, but I am my grandma’s granddaughter, and I can ruthlessly get rid of just about anything if the mood strikes… But don’t worry – there are no Mantle rookie cards for me to dispose of like she did ;))

It’s awesome that after 2 years of looking, we finally found a house that, as of next Friday, we’ll really be able to call home. I’m excited to be able to give Andrew the room to run around he so desperately wanted but was lacking in our townhouse. But probably the coolest thing about all of this was watching my dad pitch to Andrew in the front yard…

Yes, it all comes back to baseball. I told you from the beginning baseball is like a second religion in my family.

Anyway, I’m sure there are boxes to pack somewhere so I better get to it! Have a great weekend everyone

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
We closed on our house on Thursday. FINALLY! But as I sit here at my computer typing this post, watching Hubby and Andrew play hockey in the house while Andrew screams the lyrics to Santa Claus is Coming to Town at the top of his lungs, it seems like nothing has changed.

The next few weeks will be a whirlwind of packing and getting the new house ready for our arrival. I still don’t think Andrew understands. He knows that we’re moving. That he’ll have a new room, a backyard to play in. That we’ll be closer to Nana.

What I don’t think has set in – no matter how many times we try to tell him – is that he’ll be leaving the daycare he’s been at since he was 4 months old. The teachers he loves, and who love him to pieces, won’t be at the new daycare come April 1. His friends, who swarm him the second he runs in the room and fall all over themselves to be with him, won’t be there either.

I’m not sure how to make him understand that one. And I’m dreading the first drop off in April when it finally hits him.

But, in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the fact that he seems to LIKE packing, and that soon we won’t be spending an extra three hours a day in the car driving back and forth to work.

Have a great weekend everyone. It’s my turn to be the goalie!

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
We’ve been looking for a house for almost 2 years now. First down in this area, and then up north once I changed jobs. I honestly thought that we were never going to find anything and keep doing this insane commute every day… But the good news is that we’re getting close to being done with that!

The bad news is that we haven’t even begun to think about things like finding new pediatricians, new places to take Andrew on rainy days and – probably most importantly – a new daycare provider. It’s the stuff you don’t really think about until you REALLY need to think about it. I mean, we just got out of attorney review. Just did our inspection on Tuesday. We don’t close for another month, assuming everything continues to go well.

And if we don’t go check out the daycare place across the street this Saturday when they have their open house, they probably won’t have any spots left for Andrew – not just for April when we’re actually needing him to be in a new place – but for next SEPTEMBER. WHAT? People are booking spots now for September? I guess it’s the kind of thing I’ve had the luxury of not thinking about since we’ve had Andrew in the same place since he was 4 months old.

Which brings up another concern… He’s going to be somewhere new. Somewhere that is unfamiliar. Where everyone in the entire school doesn’t know and love him. Where he isn’t going to be the favorite kid of everyone in the classroom. Someone else will already have that role and Andrew will have to try to fit in.

I know. We all go through this at some point. And he’s still young enough that he should be able to do it easily. But I still feel badly that he’ll have to go through it.

Anyone have any ideas on how to make the transition easier on him?

Have a great weekend everyone

This week we are preparing to move back to the home we left nearly half a year ago. Brady’s daddy has been living there, so we have only been there to visit; we just have not been living there. But now I have bought it from him, and we are going home. I sit here and wonder how we will explain to Brady that he and mama are going back, but daddy won’t be there. I have been giving him little bits of information throughout the past month, but seeing it in reality might be different. I think divorce is hard on a child at any age, but I think Brady, at age 3-4 years old, is going to be OK. He understands why we left, why he lives with his mama, and why we won’t be back together. He gets it that he will continue to see his daddy and that daddy loves him very much.

I plan to paint the walls and get all new carpet. Daddy was a bit particular about the walls, so the new color will be a welcome change. I am even going to try out those sticker decals (in construction trucks, of course). I might even put some Thomas ones around the playroom. I am trying to make it look as different as possible.

I hope in the long run that this is best for Brady. His friends are there, kids whom he has seen at church, the pool, and other places while we have been living at my parents’ house. It is kind of scary to go back, but at the same time, it’s exciting. There are some “not so good” memories within those walls, but I plan to start to make our own memories, our own traditions, and our own home. Wish me luck!

After a week of driving cross country, and another week of unpacking all of our belongings, I can finally say that we are settled into our new home. It’s something that couldn’t have come soon enough.   I must admit, it feels so good to have our life back again (and in order).  We cooked our first homemade meal, and after two weeks of fast food, grilled chicken never tasted so good!

Jack has been handling this move so well that sometimes I wonder how a two year old can cope with this much change when at times I’m having a hard time.  I guess he is just oblivious to the fact that we uprooted and moved 2300 miles.  As long as he has his train tracks and trains he is one happy little boy.  It was like Christmas all over again when he opened all the boxes labeled “Jack’s toys”.

Now that we have the house in order, we are going to go explore our little southern town and show Jack a new community with new places, parks, lakes, and so many other fun adventures he can experience.  I look forward to discovering these adventures with him.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

My family and I have been on the road for the past week, seeing all different parts of the country.  From the flat desert to rolling hills blanketed with green trees (something we have missed the last few years) to cities with bright lights.

As Jack gazes out his window, he is amazed with all the different scenery.  He loves the trees and the farms and the wide open fields.  He also pointed out every train we have passed by.  It’s a great feeling to see the excitement run through his blood when he sees and learns about new things. I’m sure you have experienced the same with your child.  I’m glad he has been given this opportunity to see the country through his own eyes.  At his age, I can’t imagine what is running through his brain.

Blogging by iPhone from Mississippi. I’ll catch you next week!

We have been planning a cross country move over the last few weeks.  Needless to say, it has been more than a little hectic in our household.  We have been scheduling movers and packers, shredding four years of paperwork, changing our address on umpteen different websites, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.  Although it’s been a little stressful (okay a lot) things have been running pretty smoothly.

The big challenge we are facing is trying to prepare Jack for the change.  This is the house to which we brought him home from the hospital,  and this is the house that he first rolled over in, took his first steps in and gave us that heart-melting grin in.  It’s a bit sad to say the least, but I’m looking forward to new milestones and memories we will make in the future.

This week, the packers will enter our house and begin to pack up every single item (including the trash if we let them) we own.  If Jack sees me take apart even just a piece of his train track he one unhappy camper, so I can only imagine what he’ll do when he sees a stranger taking apart his entire room.  We have been telling him about our big move and making it as positive as possible.  He appears to be excited so I’m only hoping that emotion continues.  I mean, what child wouldn’t be happy getting a brand new bedroom to play in?

The trip will definitely be an adventure we’ll never forget.  I hope Jack will remember at least bits of it in some way shape or form.  As I prepare myself for the worst, I’m grateful that we will be together as a family and able to laugh, cry, sing or scream our way to our new home.

Wish us luck!