Yardsales, visitors and rolling over!

Had our yardsale yesterday. It was HOT and sunny. Most of the traffic was in the AM so I called it quits at 1pm and took the rest to Good Will. Finally! My dinning room is clutter free! Made just enough money to go buy the under the bed storage containers on wheels that now house our shoes and extra linens. YAY! Boxes in corner of bedroom are gone!

After that I decided to spruce up all the little flower gardens that border our side of the house. Felt so good to get my hands in the dirt! Lots of weeding, some transplanting, some hedge trimming. Looks great and can’t wait till we can buy a few bags of mulch to top it off! Slowing starting to feel like home inside and outside now.

First house guests came in the evening! Tara and Jess. Yay! Missin’ the girls! They apparantly are magic because this morning as we were all sitting around watching her play I wanted to demonstrate to them how she does NOT roll over although I've been trying to teach her to all week long. Well. She made a liar out me! Every time I put her on her tummy she rolled over on her own. 6 times in the span of 20 minutes! Yay Ella!

Other updates on the babe:

We recently discovered that she LOVES drinking from my camel back water bottle!

She also loves eating. She really likes to hold the spoon and eat off of it herself. So far she eats rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato and peas. She seems to like the sweet potato and peas the best out of that bunch. Fruit will come soon and I’m sure she’ll go nuts over that!

She LOVES being outside. She still adores the jumparoo. She now plays well in an exersaucer. She still loves to lay on the floor and play with toys. She tolerates tummy time for a little longer these days and does do some mini push ups…but only when she gets aggravated!

And here's the rolling over in action!

Reconnecting

FRIDAY 6/26/09
Reconnected with an old friend today. So great to see her and talk wit her. With her we can just pick up where we left off. We have a lot in common and I love that she is so actively growing in her relationship with the Lord. She encourages me and we always spur each other on in good spiritual discussions! She has two little ones now. One 4 and one 2. Last I saw her, her oldest was just a year or so old!

Went to a praise and worship time at the church. Jason stayed home to put the little one to sleep. What a refreshing time. God really met me there. He’s been so present in my life through this whole move, showing me His love and grace and inviting me to rest in it. Speaking to me in so many different ways….through His Word… through a book I’m reading…through friends…through the lyrics in the music tonight…all echoing the same things over and over… I love it when His voice is this clear!

Homesick!

6/23/09
It’s Tuesday, tomorrow we will have been here one week. It was a stressful morning. Went to a women’s Bible study. Ella couldn’t nap, she was fussy, there were tons of people there, it was hot and kind of chaotic. By the time I left we were both absolutely wiped. Ella zonked in 2.2 and introvert me felt like I’d had my fill of people for the next year!

Got some serious pangs of “homesickeness”. Started to think…will I ever fit in down here? Will I ever find my niche? Will I ever find women with whom I can have close, real relationships? Will I ever feel like this is home? I’m missing my ladies!!! Prayed a lot. Talked to Jason when he got home. Let a few tears roll. Reminded myself of all of the reasons we’re doing this.

Even though I felt like hibernating, went out with all the women again to a “girls night out” at the movies. We saw “The Proposal”. It was pee-your pants funny! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Good medicine! The evening was more low key than the morning, had good conversations. Really glad I went.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

We tried out our first church down here today. Very different. Different is not bad….it’s just different. And I’m such a creature of habit that it made me miss CCOD very much! First twinge of homesickeness!

However some friends of ours go to this church and invited us over for lunch at their house along with all of their family. Was so nice to be included in their gathering. We had a wonderful time and felt very loved!

But I digress…I really wanted to write about Father’s Day. It has made me reflect a bit. So many fathers in this world are at worst abusive, or completely absent, or not involved very much in their children’s lives if they are around.

But not Jason. I can sincerely say that having Ella has brought us even closer. Watching him with her makes me fall even more deeply in love with him every day. When you see the two of them together it is obvious that she melts his heart. It has been so neat to watch her bring out a whole new side of him. Who knew that like the flip of switch such a monotone man would make ridiculously expressive faces and high pitched sounds, would read books in funny voices and sing songs, would stop in his tracks to say “awww, she’s so cute”, or “those are cute noises little girl, cute noises you make!”.

And he’s not involved just for the fun parts. His intuition as a father is so in tune. He is often dead on when it comes to knowing what she needs, or wants. When it’s been a rough day he takes turns with me watching her so I can nap and then we switch so he can nap. He also takes turns with me getting up to get her in the middle of the night. He’ll bring her to me to nurse and then take her back in when she’s done and then I’ll do the next one. And on Saturday mornings he gets up with her and lets me sleep in a few more hours! I am so blessed to be married to this man! Honor and respect and appreciation he deserves today and every day!

Saturday 6/20/09 Martha Stuart Watch Out!

SATURDAY 6/20/09: Oh man guys! I can’t even stand myself right now! I’m so stinkin’ crafty I make myself a little nauseous with Martha Stuart-eskness!

We have way more windows in this place than I have curtains for. Sooo, I create! Because I can’t paint little swirlies on the wall between her butterflies and dragonflies I used ribbon!
What was once one long valence for Ella’s room, is now two for her two smaller windows.What was once two shower curtains is now four window panels for our two dining room windows.
And what was once an old pair of tab top panels has now been transformed into two tie up curtains and one valence for the kitchen windows! And all done with a great used sewing machine that a friend from church gave me for free! You can’t beat that with a stick. I am SO in my element right now. This is Sarah’s happy place!

Jason is…take a wild guess….fishing! He’s exploring a local river. He hasn’t been fishing in 4 days. The man is having major withdrawls! He needs to figure out where all the good fishy spots are in our new neck of the woods so he can uphold his status as fishing guru exdrodinaire!

Hit a wall working on only 6 hours of sleep, but pushed through. And for all intents and purposes… I can say we’re done! YAHOOO!

Tuesday 6/16/09 Mullets Rock!

TUESDAY 6/16/09: The movers showed up at 9am. I kid you not. This is who moved us. Sawyer from Lost (only with one rockin’ mullet!), Jessie Metcalf (the gardener from Desperate Housewives that Gabby was having an affair with.)and Mario (yes, like from Super Mario Brothers)


They finished at 6pm, we cleaned, packed up the last bits and headed out around 8:15. Way later than planned. We got to our new place at 11:30 after a more than sketchy late night stop at the Biddeford Irving to nurse the babe. Awesome!

When I started blowing up the airbed (At 11:30pm in a duplex) it literally sounded like a jet engine! Jason insisted on plopping things down loudly on the floor as he unloaded and Quinn was meowing like a mad dog checking out his new place. “Sweet!” I thought, the neighbors will adore us already!

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WEDNESDAY 6/17/09: Movers arrive at 8am. Unload everything by noon. Our queen box spring has to be sawed in half in order to fit up the cute little stairway. The boxes are piled SOOOO high I’m totally overwhelmed. Literally CANNOT get into our bedroom. This is the view from the door of the master bedroom:

True to form I push through and just start tacklin’! Got the kitchen, bathroom, our room and part of the baby’s room unpacked.

Saw our neighbor out front in the a.m (Lets call her Abby). I apologized for the noise. Apparently there’s a cement wall in between the two sides of the house and she didn’t hear a thing last night (or she’s just being really polite). Praise the Lord! We have had several good little conversations.









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THURSDAY 6/18/09: Sarah’s my name. Unpackin’s my game! Got Ella’s room completely unpacked. Unpacked all the books. Unpacked all the office stuff. Sorted, sorted, sorted. GIANT Goodwill run! Many trash bags filled! OH MAN I LOVE PURGING STUFF!!! Jason started on the basement and worked late into the night!

Observation: We are in young couples with babies mecca! Our four closest neighbors all have small children, toddlers, newborns or are pregnant. Wednesday evening, 10 gagillion moms went walking by our cute little place strolling their little babies along. I wanted to run out of the house every time one went by and yell, “HI! I’M SARAH! I’M NEW HERE. I HAVE A BABY TOO! WHAT’S YOUR NAME!?” But then I thought people might think I’m a little touched and not want to play with me….so I’ll try to meet them in a more reserved way. But I really am SO excited!

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FRIDAY 6/19/09: I got up early with the babe. When Jason woke up he took her and I got crackin’ again. Unpacked living room stuff, craft stuff, bedding and linens. Jason brought up many a huge tote from the basement, which I sorted and only kept a handful of things. YAY!

Was revved up for another Goodwill run when I had a brilliant idea….lets yardsale the stuff we think is sellable. Wavered… thought, “NO! Can’t stand stuff piled in the dining room. Must purge!” Went back the other way… thought, “You can handle it for a week or two. Think, you can make money AND meet everyone in the neighborhood!” Decided to yardsale! Still took a giant load to Goodwill and filled many more trash bags!

Empty totes going back to the basement feels SOOO good!

Time for decorations! Put up pictures, nic nacs, and curtains. MMmmmm, starting to feel like home!

I'm BaaAAAaaack!

I almost cannot contain my excitement at the fact that I am online right now. I not actually back. I'm at a local super cute coffee shop that has free wi-fi. However our internet at home should be up and running by mid week this week.

I know, I know you all miss me like crazy and your life hasn't been the same without me or my blog. Never fear people! I've been typing blog posts and saving them, so once I upload them all you'll have enough reading for the next week and a half!

Here’s a fun praise…Tuesday and Wednesday are the days we were being packed up and unpacked. Those two days the skies cleared and there was dry sunny weather! All other days surrounding those…rain, rain, rain. Thank-you God!

Other than that, I’ll give you the highlights day by day!

A Few Last Tidbits....

Well, we said goodbye to Gabby with quite a bang today. I was nursing Ella when I heard gut wrenching, awful, evil meowing sounds. (Jason tried to put Gabs in a cat carrier by himself...not a good idea) Then I saw one lightning streak of black and white make a bee line for under our bed. Next, Hunter came running in beside me, head low and tale tucked between his legs. That's because he was being chased by a giant, puffed up, ANGRY Mr. Quinn (our other cat...who this morning bore an uncanny likeness to the cat pictured at left.) who was coming to Gabby's defense by chasing, hissing, growling and and beating our 65lb. golden retriever with his front paws.... Whether Mr. Quinn thought Hunter was trying to hurt Gabby or merely decided to take out his frustration on the dog because he can... is still unknown. But all of this got an immediate bottom lip reaction from Ella and she started bawling.

"Lord Help Us if this is any indication of the move to come!" Is all I could think.

After helping Jason put Gabby in her carrier he was off to deliver her. I'm at home (a.k.a. the chaos zone) finishing up some last minute things, enjoying the babe and reflecting.

She had one shot today. Didn't even cry! She's so lovey and happy all the time...except if anyone but Jason and I hold her! Oh, how I hope she outgrows that quickly! I so want others to be able to enjoy the love that she is! She is talking up a storm. She likes to make this funny sound with her throat...sometimes blows bubbles, attempts zurburts, sticks out her tongue, and is now saying "gagagaga" all the time!

Jason and I feel so loved. Scott and Esther had a bonfire at their house for us last Friday night. Four other couples that are good friends of ours came and it was the perfect last little gathering for us! Cute kids running around...good food...men being manly tending the fire...good girl talk...good discussion...much laughter...and s'mores to end the night!

On Saturday we got together with Kevin and Wendy for breakfast. We've known them for a while but not really gotten to KNOW them until we moved out here. And even though we've only been here a short time, we feel so connected to them. We have so much in common. After filling our tummies the boys went to move things and the girls stayed back. We, AS ALWAYS, had great, real, edifying, thought provoking conversation. Love it!

Sunday we were one of the announcements....they let everyone know it would be our last Sunday and expressed that they'd all miss us. Then my mom, sister and I went out to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday, then drove around to look at camps for my mom. It is far too rare an occasion that all three of us women are together. So it was great! And then that evening our small group held a kind of going away BBQ and gave us a lovely card with well wishes.

These are the things in life that matter. These are the things that are priceless. Wonderful Family. Great friends that care about us. Great relationships. Great connections. Great conversations. Time spent together. Kind words. Help given. Love shared. Oh how blessed we are! Our hearts are full!

These are the things that are hard move further away from! O Lord I know that you go before us, making a way for us, preparing our path. Thank-you for that!

I suppose I shall be signing off for a bit. The movers come early tomorrow morning. After they are done, I will clean, and we will head down to our new place...spend the night there and greet the movers in the morning! Don't know when we'll have internet so, so long for now!

Insanity

The Definition of Insanity: Living in my house right now.

A conversation Jason and I JUST had:
JASON: Sarah, where is my trimmer. Did you pack it?
ME: What trimmer?
JASON: My beard trimmer!
ME: Which one!? You have like three! Whatever, I retract that question. The answer is no. I didn't pack it. It doesn't matter which one your talking about. I didn't pack ANY of them!
JASON: Then where is it?
ME: I don't know! It wasn't my day to watch it.
JASON: (totally under his breath) You moved it. I know you did.
ME: Oh yes. Yes you're right! I forgot. I wanted to trim my beard yesterday! I SO did NOT move it!
JASON: Well it's not where I put it last. (clanking, rummaging, rummaging, clanking...silence.)
ME: Well?
JASON: I found it.
ME: MmmmmHmmmmm.
JASON: But it wasn't where I last put it and I still think you moved it.
ME: Oh man. If you blame me for one more thing that you can't find I'm gonna....I don't know what I'm gonna do....but it won't be good. I NEVER TOUCHED IT!
JASON: Well fine. If I'm wrong I'm sorry. I'm just sick of living here. I can't take it any more!
ME: I feel your pain!

It's a good thing the movers come early Tuesday morning to put us out of our misery!

Seriously people. The boxes are piled SKY HIGH. This morning I was in the kitchen/dining room (which is open concept to the living room) and I hollered to Jason thinking he was in the bedroom. Nope. He peeks out from behind a mountain of boxes and was all, "I'm sitting RIGHT here on the couch, you don't have to yell."

And anything that is not in boxes is totally out of order. Everything is filthy dirty and not even worth cleaning. There's so little floor left actually exposed that you'd just be vacuuming, sweeping or mopping one meandering little trail through the place. I swear it's causing my neat freak brain to seize right up!

We eat off of paper plates that food juice just soaks right through and we break like 12 plastic forks each night at dinner. If I hear the snapping of one more plastic utensil I might just lose it!

And it's a little unhealthy how RIDICULOUSLY excited I am to unpack, sort and organize! Oh, man...my heart's all a pitter patter just thinking about it!

Just have to survive through Monday.... Inhale... only one more day....Exhale.... Just have to survive 'till Tuesday morning.... Inhale... Tuesday is not far away... exhale... Oh sweet Tuesday come quickly!

Change!

Maybe I did it in order to outwardly reflect the inner life change we are going through.

Maybe I did it to symbolize this major transition into this thing we call mommy-hood.

Maybe I did it because I was tired of always throwing my hair back into a messy bun.

Maybe I did it because the little chicklette was having way to easy a time grabbing chucks of the long locks.

Maybe I did it to finally get all of my old dyed hair off and see what my natural hair color really is.

Any which way you cut it (yes, pun intended!) I got my hair CHOPPED! It's about the most stylish hair cut I've ever had. I feel so chic! It's easy to do. It's really cute and for the time being I'm lovin' it! May not keep it this way forever but it was definitely time to get out of the mommy zone with the forever pulled back messy pony tale and make a change! And I don't care if you hate it! You better lie through your teeth and tell me it looks FABULOUS anyway!

HALF A YEAR AGO!

I cannot believe I had a baby HALF A YEAR AGO! I'm feeling like I can officially no longer lie to myself by saying, "It's okay if you're not in great shape...you just had a baby". I did not just have a baby. I had a baby HALF A YEAR AGO! (Hence, I have instated some work out goals and some reasonable alterations to my eating habits that will not affect nursing!)
Just had her check-up today, where she wailed an angry little wail the whole time Dr. Jack was holding her. SO funny! She's 26 1/2 inches and 15 1/2 pounds. 75th percentile for height and 50th for weight. I'm thinking she's gonna be a tall string bean like her daddy!She is getting better at sitting up with each day. Still LOVES to bounce and she likes to practice standing while we hold her. Still not so thrilled with being on the tummy and taking her own sweet time with rolling over, pushing up and other things (however we were assured she's perfectly healthy and fine developmentally). She has great hand eye coordination and wants everything in sight! She's particularly enjoying banging and rattling things now. She gets quite excited about rattles these days. She absolutely loves to read still. She sits through multiple books, turning the pages and kicking in delight and grabbing for the pictures! She is just as adorable, and fun and lovely as ever!

Ready

My last day of work was last Thursday. It still has not sunk in that I'm not headed back to work this week. I got my first job was when I was just about 15 I think...teaching ski lessons at Hermon Mountain...and from then on I was always employed, and in school and sometimes doing an unpaid internship in addition. It's not that I won't be working (any stay at home mom will tell you it's one tough gig!)....It's just so weird to think that I won't be on anyone's payroll or punching a time clock. I am beyond grateful for the amazing privilege of being able to be a full time mommy. I have felt like my energy is so split between work, and Jason and Ella that none of them really get the me that I want them to get. To be able to not be pulled in so many directions will be wonderful. To be able to focus solely on my family is beyond amazing! Focusing on her spiritual, emotional, educational and physical development as well as the spiritual and emotional health of our family and my relationship with Jason is a hearty task. One that I do not take lightly, one that I think is worthy of all that I am and one that I am anxious to begin without other distractions.

I feel like I am in waiting. The place we are in now has always felt like a holding take to me. It feels that way even more so now with boxes piled high, things strewn about, plastic tableware and all the homey-ness packed away. I cannot wait to be settled down south. To greet the day by picking up my beaming child, to send Jason off to work with lunch and a kiss, to take walks to the park, to play in the backyard, to eat dinner together as a family and discuss our day, to relax with my hubby each evening, to have weekends together where we're not just trying to catch up from the week before, to be rooted in a church there, to serve in the community, to build great friendships....

I know it may seem idealistic to some of you, and no it won't be perfect, but we will have those things and it will be imperfectly great! I feel like I've been loosening my grip on the life we have up here and shifting towards a looking forward to what is in store for us ahead. I feel ready. I feel like once we get settled we will be "starting our life" as a family with children. It's like we haven't been able to start it yet because we've been in such a state of constant flux since before Ella was born. I long for stability and simplicity and a slower pace. I long to plant roots, to begin this new chapter in our lives that will hopefully be a very long one. I am so sad to close this one...but I can now truly say I feel ready to begin the next...

FYI: The movers come June 16th! In case you're doing the calculations...Yes. That is 8 days away!

A Boating We Shall Go

We decided to take Ella for her first boat ride! Earlier this week we scooted over to a pond that's 5 minutes from our house and tried out a friends motor on the back of our square stern canoe.

We slipped Ella into her hot pink super safe life vest, courtesy of my momma (thanks mom!), and puttered around. The verdict? Either she loved it or was just too tired to care.When we first put her in the life vest it was HILARIOUS. One of those had to be there things. But it was essentially like putting her in one of those sumo wrestling suits. She was all cinched in there with arms and legs just dangling out uselessly. She looks a ridiculous amount like my baby pictures in this shot of her!She just went with the flow and chilled...this is what she did the whole time: