Babies, babies, everywhere!

We have been around several babies in the last week or so. They are all so sweet and cuddly! It gave me a touch of baby fever. That is until their mommies start talking about how exhausted they are. :) Clayton did pretty well with all of the little ones. He wanted to hold them and talked "baby talk" to them. (Thanks to all of the new mommies for entrusting their babies in the arms of my crazy 2 year old!) Here are some pictures of Clayton cuddling with Baby Reagan, Baby Collin, and Baby Ethan.

The Many Faces of Clayton

Here are some pictures that I took of Clayton yesterday. He is really into making faces and being silly. Anything for a laugh. What a nut!

We are trying to work on potty training. :( It is really trying my patience. He will do really good for a day or two and then do terrible the next. Maybe he just isn't ready...

Clayton has adjusted to our new surroundings very well. I think that Sydney (the dog) had more trouble than he did! She whined and cried and had trouble sleeping. Meanwhile, Clayton hasn't shed a tear and has slept like a rock.

We're off to the neighborhood pool. That is Clayton's reward for going "number 2" in the potty. :) Have a great day!

"Cheese" Face
Happy Face
Silly Face
Mean Face
Surprised Face (Check out those tonsils!)

PS Does anyone know how to make a collage (like they do at the picture places) out of these? I want a black background and some text and these 5 pics.

Movers are your friends!

We finally got everything moved! It was a positively painful experience, I must say. We grossly underestimated how hard that it was going to be. There were a few hiccups in our plan...

1. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. We all sweated gallons and took breaks whenever possible. When we left our old house for the last time (at 1:30 am) we were both really sad. Wade said, "I think that I could cry right now, but I am so dehydrated that I can't spare a tear. he he he
2. We thought that we would be able to move everything with a 26 foot moving truck. When Wade and his Dad went to pick up the truck, they realized that it was a standard. Wade doesn't know how to drive a standard, so his poor dad had to drive this massive truck all over the metroplex. Thanks Terry!!!
3. We couldn't fit everything into the moving truck, so my bro-in-law and sis-in-law went and rented us a trailer and loaded it while we were unloading the moving truck. What a mess! Corey & Leigh - Y'all are awesome!

It was one of those "character building" experiences, to say the least. The moral of the story... movers are your friends! I promised my in-laws that we would never attempt to move without professional movers again. Terry, Marsha, Corey, and Leigh Ann were all VERY helpful and never once complained. I am eternally grateful to them all.

We are slowly, but surely, unpacking. I'm sure that we will get it all organized just in time to move again. :) I don't have any new pictures to post. (I know what you are thinking, 'Who is this girl and what has she done with Sarah?') It just wasn't really an event that I cared to remember on film. he he he

Sidenote: I did have a very good birthday, despite the moving dramas of Saturday. We went to dinner with Wade's family and had a relaxing day of unboxing. Thanks for all the phone calls, cards, and emails!

Preschool Dropout?

It occurred to me last week that I needed to find Clayton a new preschool. I LOVED the school that he was at last year. They did such cute things and he really learned a lot. I found out about it through family members and word of mouth. I only know a few people in the town where our rent house is, and they all have little babies (not toddlers). So... I looked on the internet for a new school. Most of them were full, but I finally found one that had an opening in their 2 year-old class. We visited yesterday and it is really cute. It is at a church and everyone there was really nice. They have themes each month (Oct- fall festival, Nov - Thanksgiving feast, Dec - Happy Birthday Jesus party, Jan - Community helpers with a visit from a firetruck and firefighters, Feb - Valentines party, March - Animals with a petting zoo, April - Easter activities, May - end of the year parties with a bounce house). I hope that he enjoys it. So... he won't be a preschool dropout after all.

We are officially closing on our current house tomorrow and will be moving to our next house on Friday and Saturday. The DSL is going to be set up on Wednesday next week. So... I won't be able to post anything until then. Wish us luck with the big move! Email me if you want our new address and phone number. :)

A Place to Call Home (for 6 months anyway) :)

We are still packing and getting ready to move into our rent house. We have now packed 60 boxes (see pic below) and it feels like there is still sooo much to go. I am now dreading the fact that we have to do this again in 6 months. Most of the stuff we will leave packed in boxes and store in a spare bedroom. But, it still stinks to have to move it all twice. YUCK!

I am attaching some pictures of the rent house, also. It is a cute house. It will definitely do the job for the next six months. I am so glad that it fell into place and that we won't be homeless. :) There are a few community pools, a playground, and a pond in the neighborhood. I'm sure Clayton will enjoy all those things.

Better go. Packing calls...

House hunting, packing, and more packing

When our house sold so quickly, we went into panic mode trying to find somewhere to live. We knew that we wouldn't be able to find a house that we loved and close on it in 3 weeks, so we started looking into renting. I thought, "We'll rent for a few months, save some money, it will be fine..." Boy, was I wrong. Apartments sure have changed in the 5 years since we were renters. They offer all of these crazy services now (which you pay for, of course, in the long run). Several ones that we looked at had tanning beds, massage therapists, and a concierge to handle dinner reservations, dry cleaning, etc. One of them even had a *free* continental breakfast M-F and *free* wash a fold laundry service (drop you dirty clothes off in the morning, pick them up that same evening). All of these places, of course, cost more per month than our house payment. :( The few that would allow us to do a short term lease were ridiculously expensive and the ones that were affordable wanted us to sign a 1 year contract. It was very stressful!

Just when I thought that we may be homeless as of next Friday, my sweet hubby pulled through (as usual). He found a great rent house that is in a neighborhood that we were planning on looking in. We did have to sign a 6 month lease, but that will give us plenty of time to shop the neighborhood and to decide if that is where we want to live. We will also have access to all the neighborhood pools, a golf discount (for Wade, of course), and there is a pond and park just down the street. It is also going to cost considerably less than the apartments that we were looking at. Wade and I both feel a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. I must say, also, that driving to that neck of the woods in non-traffic hours today was miserable. I don't know how Wade made that commute everyday in traffic for almost a year. He is soooo much more patient than I.

Can I tell you how hard it is to pack a house full of stuff with a 2 year old? I seriously think that he unpacks boxes as fast as I can pack them. It is like an I Love Lucy episode. I pack a box, turn my back, and it is unpacked. He always has that cute little grin and a, "I sorry Mama, I help you" that I can't resist. He has been very good through all of this. I am praying that it isn't to hard on him to transition to a new home. Hopefully he won't be laying on a couch in 20 years telling a therapist about how displaced that he felt as a toddler. :)

Better get back to packing... Did I mention that I will be moving/cleaning next weekend on my birthday? We will also be moving again in 6 months, which falls on Wade's birthday weekend. Do we know how to celebrate or what?!?!?