Boy Birthday Pictures and Another Moving Update

I feel like I'm flunking at adulting right now. It's been seriously crazy, and I think both Darreck and I are starting to reach our limit. For the first time, possibly in my life, I'm dreaming of fall, complete with schedules and predictability. We're slowly making headway on the house projects, and we even have a fully functioning fridge now. Even better, the roof didn't leak during the last big storm. We have carpet installed in most of the basement, and the new electrical line is going in for the stove tomorrow. I should have a working stove by this time tomorrow! Woohoo!

Yesterday we finally had enough of dealing with people and problems, so we headed to the hills- literally. We went and took a short hike in the Sluice Boxes, which was honestly more work than fun. I figure, however, that if we want our kids to hike with us hardcore someday, we need to start training them. This was Jack's first time walking along, and he was very easily distracted. He'll get there. After the hike, we ate dinner at Aspen campground, and Max out-ate everyone in the family. That boy already eats like a teenage boy!

I also wanted to head up to the mountains to take the boys' birthday pictures. Max's got lost in the moving mix, Jack's I simply didn't get around to, and Luke's birthday is right around the corner. I saved myself some time by knocking them all out at once. Getting three boys to behave for pictures is no small feat. It was barely controlled chaos, but I kept reminding myself that we really only need one good shot of each boy. Luckily, we got more than that. It worked out- surprise, surprise. It always works out.

Jack's Second Birthday

I had such great plans for Jack's birthday this year, none of which came to fruition. I was going to do a vehicle-themed party with a layered cake inside his actual Tonka truck. It was going to be adorable, but life and moving intervened. We ended up at Burger King during lunch because that was the only time the majority of the family could make it. Even then, both grandpas missed the fun. Luckily for him, Grandma Linda made Jack cupcakes, and he really did enjoy playing in the play place. I love two year olds. They don't care about having a perfect party. They care about having cake, bless their little hearts.

It may have been a lackluster party, but he sure did love his presents. The theme was definitely bubbles this year. He got bubble machines from both grandparents along with a strider bike from my parents and a toy shopping cart from us. So much fun! Darreck had to work for blind camp in the afternoon, so Jack got to spend the entire afternoon playing with his loot. It was little kid heaven.

We are so grateful for our curious, inquisitive, mischievous, lovable little man. He has the sweetest temperament, and loves to cuddle and read books with us. He's at the stage where he loves to destroy the house and make messes, but that's mostly a result of his desire to know everything about everything. He's also learned to defend himself against his brothers, which gets him in trouble from time to time, but I can't really blame him. His two big brothers are a little rough with him. Lately, his vocabulary has been really cute. He loves to say yes and no with this adorable, dead-pan, big-eye look. Jack also likes to point out and name everything he knows the word for- truck, car, turtle, train, cat, dog, and on and on. His favorite toys are cars, and his favorite foods are chicken nuggets and french fries. If you ask him to tell you his name, he proudly proclaims, "Roo-Roo!"

We love our Jack-Jack so much! Happy second birthday Jackaroo :)

The Moving Chronicles

Despite the world conspiring against us, we actually moved into our new house. It was a very, very long three month process that I don't ever want to repeat, but I'm glad we had the opportunity to do it. We had to switch mortgage lenders midstream because our first broker kept making mistakes, so everything took longer than it should have. In the end, I'm just glad everything worked out. It looked very doubtful for a while there.

Once we finally got to closing, the real fun started. The plan was to rent a Uhaul and move on Saturday, but Darreck and some buddies from work changed up the plan and did everything with trucks on Friday. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't get to pack the last few miscellaneous loads. It was a total mess. On top of that, the piano wouldn't fit down the stairs which totally upended my plan for my studio. I think I handled it with grace and dignity- kind of a first for me :)

Our first week in the new house did not go smoothly, however, The fridge was broken and needed repaired, the gas range had to be tossed and replaced, the sprinkler system needed a professional reset, and the roof leaked, wrecking some drywall in the upstairs bathroom. Luckily, we found good Samaritans all along the way, especially Kayla's debate coach who fixed our roof without any compensation. He was an incredibly good guy.

We're unpacked now and things are starting to settle down. We still don't have a stove, but all will be well soon enough. I'm ready for everything to be fixed and unpacked and more homey, but now we're waiting on the carpet and paint for the basement to get done. It's still going to be awhile. For the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the fall. Someday soon things will feel normal again.