Life Lately

Well September was a crazy month, in more than one way. Here's what happened...

-We moved. Obviously. This is what has taken over our lives for the last month. A jungle of boxes... I had 2 full days off after we moved while the kids were in daycare and I got a lot of stuff unpacked, but it still took us a month to really get settled. And actually, we still aren't completely settled yet... we do a little something every night after Owen goes to bed, and bust things out on the weekends.

-Part of the problem was we bought a lot of new things for the house. Thankfully we made enough from the sale of our townhouse to do that.. we needed some new furniture (we actually didn't even have dressers for our bedroom) so we took one big ol' trip to Ikea. Neal said this pile looked like "torture" to him.

-So needless to say.. we've had a lot of furniture putting together parties. Austin loves to help!

-September also brought the Devil's disease... (aka Hand Foot Mouth) into our house. Seriously. It's pure evil. It's a virus, so you can do nothing until it runs it's course.. your kid is miserable, drooling everywhere because it hurts to swallow the drool, doesn't want to eat, drink, or sleep and did I mention miserable?? Owen missed over a week of daycare and Neal and I both missed 3 days of work each. It was rough. Owen got some popsicles to help with the mouth pain, and was in somewhat happy spirits at times. He got it bad, poor baby. He had 1 big sore on his lip, 2 on his tongue, 5 on his chin/neck, and several spots on his hands and feet. We are now healthy and he's back to being happy and I hope that disease never comes back!!!!

-Owen must have gone through a developmental leap recently... because his comprehension is really impressive. He's not saying words yet.. but the kid really understands what we tell him.. which of course turns into a fun game of "let's see if I can tell him to do this and he'll do it." So far he follows instructions for: getting his shoes out of the shoe bin, bringing you his cup for more milk or water, putting his cup on the table after a drink, sitting down to get his shoes on, and throwing things in the garbage. He is DELIGHTED with throwing things away and will grin and clap for himself and do his stomping happy dance after.

I need to add though, that the following are things he chooses NOT to listen to and comprehend: don't hit the dog, be nice to the dog, don't touch the dog food, leave the outlet alone, give that back to brother, don't hit, don't pull Mommy's hair, be gentle, come back here, leave that alone.. you get the idea.

-We are having another Indian summer this year.. weather in the 80's all the way into October! It's much more enjoyable this year when I don't have a nursing baby I'm wearing all the time and hormones making me sweat more than usual. This year we are loving the warm weather and getting to play out in our new yard in the evenings.

-Austin has been in a very affectionate mood lately. I say "mood" because we all know he can switch.. remember the months he spent not "liking" me and being a bit mean to me? I'm sure that will come back at some point.. but for now, he's been overly sweet. Random "Mommy, I just love you!!!" statements and wanting to cuddle more. One of the days Owen was sick I kept Austin home too and while Owen napped Austin wanted to pick flowers in the backyard and make a "pwetty awangement" (aka- a bunch of petals ripped off and put in a bowl. It was a thing of beauty.)

-Owen one day decided he hated his high chair and wanted nothing to do with it, ever. Even if it meant he would get to eat. So when we were at Ikea I saw a little kids table (it was only $20!) and we got it for him. He likes being able to get out of his chair when he wants, and big brother joins him a lot for breakfast in the mornings.

-Austin loves to brush "do" my hair (put hair clips in and take them out) so I ask him to brush my hair often. It's a win-win. I LOVE having my hair brushed and played with and he thinks its so much fun. He takes it quite seriously, too.. as you can see.

So that was our September.. emptying boxes, putting together furniture, dealing with the Devil disease, and enjoying the warm weather!