There's no place like home

 

There’s no place like home.  Yep.  That’s right.  And I will be quite honest…. None of us even know where our home is at the moment.  We have successfully lived in 3 houses in the last 10.5 months and it’s a lot to take on, especially for the boys.  John Brantley has spent a lot of time upset, usually at bedtime, crying because he wants to go home.  I think a portion of this is attributed to the fact that his outside play toys haven’t been moved from our rental house because of all the rain.  The other night he started saying, “I want to go to the old house.”  Ford wanted to know what he was saying so I told him.  The next thing I know Ford is crying too!!!  He said he missed the basketball goal at the old house.  I told him maybe he could ask for one on his birthday on May 1.  That’s not too far away, but in a child’s eyes it really is.  And to top it off, Trey started in on me too.  Last night I walked into the living room and he was lying on the couch.  He said he wasn’t sure about our new couch (I think he meant the comfort level) and felt like Bitty.  I asked what that meant.  He said he missed home too.  I thought, “CRAP!!!”  We have spent a year building “our” house and now everyone isn’t settled.  It’ll take time.

Honestly, a BIG part of the problem is…. We moved about 2 weeks too soon.  We still have builders all in our house.  It’s a mess.  They have tracked dirt in, beat hammers everywhere, taken doors down and rehung them swinging other directions, ripped apart my kitchen etc.   It’s a HUGE mess, people.  Our kitchen still isn't in complete working form, and I am sooooo grateful for those people who have brought us supper.  It has meant the world to me. 

I can't even make myself a pitcher of unsweet tea!!!!!!!  Hopefully I'll be able to use it this week.  Hopefully.

Gosh, I almost forgot the most exciting part!!!!!!!!....  So we moved last Saturday and as I have stated, things have been hectic to say the least.  Well, after we got all the offspring to bed on night #1 we sat down to enjoy the peace and quiet and discuss what all needed to be done the next day.  In true Jill fashion, I started some laundry.   Why not, right!?!?!  Well, I thought the washing machine sounded loud.  And it was loud.   After a few minutes I went to check on the situation and we had a FLOOD!!!!!!!  The movers didn’t stick the hose for the water down in the hole and it was pouring all over my floor.  Thank goodness it’s concrete floors and we used a ShotVac to get some of the water up before that broke.  We opted for towels…lots of towels.  And will you know that after all the nightmare, the dryer wouldn’t work.  I thought a lot of not nice words.  A lot of them!!!!  Trey fixed the washer and the electrician fixed the dryer.  He had a bad switch on the breaker box.  Night #1 was not my idea of fun.

 

Kids....

 

Tomorrow Annie will be 3 weeks old.  My oh my, how did this even happen???  I feel like I have lived in a funk the last three weeks.  I do.  I have been trying to cope with sleep deprivation, a newborn, two small boys, a husband, moving, and the fact that I was sliced open like a Christmas ham.  I am about to toot my horn… I am pleased to announce that I have acted very good so far.  I don’t feel terribly crazy (post-partum fun) and I haven’t slowed down yet.  I think I deserve to since I did have major surgery, but I haven’t had time to.

Back to Annie.  For the first 15 days she slept like a champ.  I mean sleeping like 90% of the day.  This was a huge blessing considering that was during our move.  On day 15 she pretty much came to life, if you will.   She still sleeps more than my boys, but not 90% of the day.  We went to the doctor when she was two weeks old and she passed all of her tests with flying colors. 

Weight: 7 lbs. 14 oz. – 25^th percentile    (birth weight was 7 lbs. 3 oz.)
Height: between 20 ¼ and 20 ½ inches- 50^th percentile
Head circumference: 36.5 in.- 25^th percentile   (Might I add, the boys both scored 75^th on the head)

Her naval dealy fell off at day 18…. Finally!!!  She’s waking up twice a night to eat.  Usually she manages to pee or poop all over herself, while being changed, during one of those feedings, so we have to have a complete wardrobe change.  This is always a fun activity because she detests changing clothes and then she is wide awake by the time we are dressed again.  She cries when it’s bath time.  Hates that!!!!  She gets pretty ticked when she ruins her britches or if it’s time to eat.  I think it’s safe to say she likes to be held and cuddled.   We do that a lot!







The morning that she turned 2 weeks old

Annie met her new friend, Maggie, last night.

The Bitty Man has done better at this big brother business than I thought.  He hasn’t been jealous.  He’s intrigued by her.  Sometimes I catch him doing things he shouldn’t like: putting a whistle in her mouth or trying to share his sippy cup of milk with Annie.  He likes to hold her, know where she is, and assist with bath time.  It’s hard to balance his needs and hers at the same time sometimes.  He’s still very much a baby and dependent on me for so much.  He says, “I need you” a lot of times when I am rocking and feeding Annie.  I have mastered holding them both at the same time.  Going up the stairs isn’t possible though.



The other night I asked him to go upstairs and get the white soap.  Well, I heard all kinds of commotion.  He tried to carry two white soaps and some Johnson’s soap down the stairs.  Maybe he put one in his mouth, I don’t know, but he started crying.  I asked what happened and he was hollering that he had soap in his mouth.  I laughed, took a picture, and then we got water to wash it down.  Naturally, all the fun stuff happens while I’m feeding.

Bitty and cousin Jack playing a ditty.

Bottoms up!!!!!

Then there’s sweet Ford.  He has done exceptionally well with being a big brother two times.  And might I add that he takes this job very seriously.  He is pretty self-sufficient.  He can get himself something to drink or eat.  He can go to the bathroom alone and work the dvd player (we still don’t have cable).  He is also helping in the potty training with John Brantley.  He is just as excited as Bitty is when he tells someone or uses the potty.

He will be starting baseball this week.  This is the real deal city league baseball.  We have moved on from the church and are about to start playing some ball.  I love baseball and can’t wait to see my little man out on the field.  I pray that his OCD obsessed self with being the best will simmer down a bit.  Otherwise it might be a long hard season and life for that matter.

I have enjoyed my therapeutic blogging time here with y’all.  The layout of the blog didn’t go as I planned because I’m at Trey’s office working on this post.  Hopefully, we will have internet soon.