Do We Live In a Bakery?

We've gotten so far in our unpacking that I actually put a few pictures on the walls today. Our room is still a disaster, but it's low on the priority list.

Another sign that we're settling in? I made a batch of bread and a pot of beans. My house smelled oh-so-good today. I'll need to play with both recipes a touch because of the difference in altitude and humidity here, but they were certainly better than microwaved chicken nuggets and fast food.

The title of today's post was courtesy of Cooper and Phoebe who both sampled the bread shortly after it was pulled from the oven. As they sat and ate the still-hot slices of deliciousness, they asked if we lived in a bakery. Then we talked about the hours that bakers keep (which are the opposite of my own) and how fun it would be to have such a variety of bread to choose from.

Someone to Watch Over Me

I was emptying the dishwasher yesterday (because we have a dishwasher now!), when Phoebe used a sharp voice and told me to stand up.

I looked at her and asked why.

"Because," she said, "you'll hurt the baby if you bend over."

I assured her that the baby would be fine with me bending over. It's nice to know she's concerned about her younger sibling, even if she is a little bossy in her approach.

Details

Thanks for the congratulatory messages. We're all excited, perhaps Phoebe most of all. She tells anyone who will listen that she's going to be a big sister. And she's started marking time by two events: her birthday and when she becomes a big sister.

A few of you asked about how I'm feeling and the due date. Well, I held onto this information for quite some time before sharing. As in, I'm about halfway through the pregnancy. Since we're keeping up the tradition of us moving while I'm pregnant (seriously), I've been very thankful that this move has taken place during the energy-rich second trimester. Or at least, as rich as one's energy can be while growing a human.

Sometime after Christmas baby number four is expected to debut. All of my kids have been late, so due dates are really more of a nice idea than something I pin my hopes to. Also, we don't know if (as Phoebe says) this is a blue baby or a pink baby, but we'll find out. Moving to a different state and switching insurances in addition to switching doctors has delayed that whole process.

The first trimester? It hit me hard. I've never been as tired as I was this time. I was lucky that Bryan was home this summer because I could do little more than get cereal on the table for the kids, then crawl over to the couch and lie there. And I really hated food. A lot. No particular food aversions (except maybe hamburger, shudder), all food simply sounded disgusting. At least, it did until I made myself eat something. Then most things were amazing and delicious (except, again, hamburger).

If you look back at pictures I've posted during the past few months, you'll discover that I'm usually holding Phoebe, thus hiding my midsection. Disneyland pictures? I wasn't technically showing, but I had already started to get kind of soft around the middle. Also, I was really sick, so now when I think of Disneyland I get just a little nauseated. And I couldn't go on several of the rides, which bothered the boys because they wanted to share those fun experiences with me and they didn't understand why I was the one that always stayed with Phoebe while Bryan got to go on the exciting attractions. When we told them our news about two months later Peter said, "Oh that's why you couldn't go on rides! Why didn't you just tell us?!"

Upgrades

As the movers carried in our stuff on Monday, Bryan and I each had a checklist to note that everything had arrived. The men who packed on the Provo side had to mark any damage so that we couldn't claim they had hurt our belongings when really they had been that way to begin with. I noticed something as I marked items off my list.

Most of our stuff is junky. And old. And worn out. Not all of it, but a lot of it.

Since moving is expensive, many of those things will need to make do for some time before we can replace or repair them. But we have upgraded on a few things.

Instead of a chest of drawers, for the last year the boys have been using industrial shelving with laundry baskets. They had a penchant for climbing on, then subsequently jumping off said shelves. We went and got a real chest of drawers.

Phoebe doesn't have a chest of drawers either, but rather a cube with four open shelves, also cube shaped. (Cubed but missing two sides because it's open in the back and front?) You can buy drawers for it, but we had only gotten one. In the other three slots we were using empty diaper and wipes boxes. While unpacking we couldn't find those boxes and, thinking that the movers had thrown them out, we went and bought three real drawers for the unit. They're lavender and Phoebe loves them. Oh, and I found the other boxes today. Oh well.

We've had one other upgrade, this one major. Our car had been on its way out for some time, so a few days before we left Utah we replaced it.

It's fancy. Well really, it's the base model, but it's fancy for us.

And look, we'll even have room for all four of our children.

A Work In Progress

The kitchen is mostly unpacked, as is Phoebe's room. The boys' room is kind of unpacked, but not organized. I just started on my room today. It's usually the last to get done. And the living room is almost all in boxes still, which is probably what prompted Cooper to say during dinner, "So, are you guys going to start unpacking boxes soon?"

I bit my tongue and said that we were working on it.

Reasons for the Cop-Out Posts

For more than a week now I've been blogging from my phone. That's how long we've been without real internet. Bryan has been tethering to his phone for his web-needs, but I've been relying on my phone.

Have you ever typed out a blog post on a phone? It's a slow process. That's in part why my recent entries have been... concise.

The other reason is that I'm just plain worn out. This whole unpacking thing takes time and energy. And that's time and energy that I might at one time have spent blogging.

An upside to being so tired its that I've been going to sleep much, much earlier. I noticed I looked a lot better than I have recently and I thought maybe the humidity was agreeing with me. Then I remembered that I've been in bed by 10:30 or 11:00 each night. Folks, that's a good two hours earlier than I had been going to sleep.

Funny how going to sleep will make you look refreshed. It'll cut down on your internet/blogging time, but you'll look and feel much better.

For Keeps

Last night while I was getting Phoebe ready for bed she grinned at me and the following exchange took place.

Phoebe: You're my mom.

Me: Yes I am.

Phoebe: I'm going to keep you forever!

Labyrinth of Boxes

The movers arrived with our stuff today. Looking at the mass of boxes and remembering the emptiness that we had just this morning, I think I'd rather have no stuff and space.

And that is all.

Generations

After we moved out of our little apartment we went and stayed with Bryan's grandparents for a day. Their backyard is magical. There are secret paths to run down and little statues all over the place. There's even a tree to climb.

They were an hour from where we lived, but now that seems like a short distance. We'll miss being so close to them.

Oh, and we made it to our new house today, in case you were curious.

More Bounce

Today, in addition to getting on the road, we took care of a few errands. The kids were all in desperate need of haircuts and our local shop specializing in haircuts for kids doesn't have any locations in the Northwest. So we made appointments.

The boys now look very tidy. Phoebe's hair was tricky. It grows faster in the back than the front, leading to a natural mullet. And it's a little wavy. And very fine. The cut is a little more  drastic than I had anticipated, but also adorable. And her hair looks much thicker!