Merry Merry Christmas!

We played Santa last night and filled his little stocking with two balls, crayons, monsters inc coloring book, little Sesame Street figurines, and a mike Wazowski ornament. We also set up his "big" (affordable) farm house with animals and noises and more balls.

He came down those stairs and Bryan got video and he went right for that farm. He said all the animals names and put the balls down the silo (even tried to shove a pig down too). It was so cute!

Good thing we're with the grandparents this year, so Bradley got truly treated to a good Christmas! He got great stuff, we got great stuff and we've spent the whole day with family loving on each other, cheesin' for pictures and taking naps.

Merry Christmas! It's a wonderful one this year. :)

The new home

I'm sitting here with a glass of cabernet folding laundry and watching Love Actually in my new home.

I can because Bryan came up early. He drove up Tuesday night and within the last 36 hours, we have unpacked everything, hung up all our pictures, and cleaned up. The house is done!!!*

We are home. We've had our friends Isaac and Julia over twice for meals. Last night, I made a salad, homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade garlic bread with craft beer and two kinda of wine. We ate on real plates. Drank wine from glasses. Sat at a table with a tablecloth with pretty salt and pepper on it. It was home.

Today, I went shopping with Julia and we took the kids. Half great, half nightmare. Toddlers are wildly unpredictable and so very quick to change moods. Multiply by two (how and why do people have more than one kid?!?)

Bryan was so sweet and hung up all our pictures, decorations and art. He was not too pleased with my precise directions, but it looks great and it's over! It's up. It's done!

And now I can relax and fold laundry and enjoy my movie (and perhaps some pie). I'm home. We're home. This is home.

Note: pictures when I clear space on my phone!

*except curtains. We need to buy some rods and double check the length from our last place.

We made it to Champaign.

Hello from the new apartment! We landed Saturday and got the keys and promptly went to our friends house for food, drinks and a nap for the baby.

Yesterday, the movers brought everything into the house, so naturally, I stayed up so very late to unpack everything. I finished the kitchen (boy, am I glad we minimized!), the dining room and the living room (save for electronics and picture frames).

It feels so nice to have our stuff again. We've been living with friends for a week now, and it's great to be in my bed, drinking from our cups, sitting on our couch, playing with Bradley's toys and using my bathroom stuff. It feels like home!

Tour coming soon. I love it. It's freezing (literally 0 degrees) and snowy, but it's home. I am so happy.

Alert! The kid knows we're moving!

Okay, I'm not sure he knows what it means to move, but I think he is understanding that something is happening. Something big.

Toys are disappearing. Decorations are disappearing. Parents are packing.

So our baby has become so clingy. He's always a mamas boy, but since Thanksgiving, Bradley has been calling Mama and giving hugs and running for me and sitting in my lap.

(Side note: Wow, now that I read that, it's the sweetest thing I've ready, but I've been encouraging him to play with something or be with someone else, but maybe I need to just soak up this love because he might really need me now and also he won't always want this. Wow, tomorrow I'll hold those hugs longer.)

He knows something is happening. 

We've tried explaining the idea of moving, teaching him the sign for moving and talking about it. But I think nothing can prepar him.

Tomorrow, we have pods coming. Then we have movers coming. Oh, and Bryan teaches until 1. My babysitter is in class and my friend is sick. Bradley and I will attempt this (praying for a nap for him while all this goes down). But I'm not worried. I'm not stressed. We can do it. 

And we move so soon. Saturday. I can't wait to see what it's like. This chapter was short. Onto Chapter Champaign.

Tip from the husband: don't worry.

Okay, as wives are known for doing, I share my opinions with my husband about everything, sometimes including opinions about how he could be better. Ha!

Well, Bryan just handed me one.

"Don't worry," he says.

Oh yeah, don't worry. How? Howwww? I just don't know how not to worry. And also, now? We are moving! In less than forty eight hours! 

"Just don't worry. Just relax," he says.

Well, I'm going to try it. I'm going to pack up the remaining things in my house, unpack from our last trip, coordinate the pods and the movers, take my Chinese final, perform my last comedy show in Oklahoma and fly to another state this Saturday. And NOT WORRY.

Let's see how it goes. Experiment: Listen to Husband. Commence.

Only after this photo dump from thanksgivings!