Boxes, boxes, and more boxes.

We finally made it to our new home and we LOVE it!

There are a few things I have learned over the past 5 days that, I think, are worthy of sharing:

1. NEVER schedule a move during March Madness.

2. If you do schedule a move during March Madness, tell your husband that the Direct TV people could not come to set it up for at least a week. This way he is focused on helping to set up the house and not focused on watching Michigan, Butler, Duke and West Virginia.

3. Refrain from having the internet hooked up until AFTER about 2 weeks. Same idea as #2. It is easier to procrastinate online than finish unpacking that dish pack.

4. Hire a babysitter for the first week. I like to get it done so that I can put my feet up and enjoy. It is not "done" until the last picture is hung and the last rug is placed.

5. Make sure there is a map in the car. I know, rookie mistake, but the directions seemed easy enough. 80 to 5 south to 198 east. Well, I ended up on 99 south and almost had a mental breakdown. Thank goodness for good friends who can talk me off the ledge and give me good directions (thanks T)!

My hands are raw from cardboard boxes and packing paper, so I am taking the night off to get caught up on the internet. Tomorrow is a new day with a new list of things to get done!

Fun times

This has been a fun couple of days! Here are a couple of pictures of when we took Michael to the park on base. He loves that bucket swing, he could sit and swing for hours. I really love the big smile that he is giving both of us as he comes to the top of the swing. So fun!

The picture of the jet was Chris arriving back to the flight line, today, after flying his final flight with TOPGUN in the F-16 Viper. Michael, Uncle Mikey, and I got to be there to see him taxi in and park. He was then greeted by a bunch of his co-workers for congratulations and bags filled with water! He got soaked, but loved every minute of it. It is certainly bittersweet leaving this command and heading back to a fleet squadron. We have really enjoyed the wonderful people and exploring the areas nearby like Lake Tahoe. We are now off to new adventures in a new part of the country!

Is it possible?

That a bag of frozen breast milk in the freezer had me in tears yesterday? Yup. You read that right. It is only 5 oz. and I just cannot bear the thought of throwing it away. I mentioned to Chris that I just cannot bear to throw it away before we move and he was so sweet to recognize that I was about to cry so he gave me a big, long bear hug. I don't know why I am so emotional over this bag of milk.

Maybe it is because I recognize that, soon, Michael won't need me anymore for this nutrition.

Maybe it is because I see him growing up so fast and all I want to do is slow time down.

Maybe it is because it makes me think of the emotions my own Mom went through with all 3 of her children in the nursing and weaning process. I wish everyday she was here to talk about this kind of "stuff."

Or Maybe it is because we are about to embark on a new chapter of our life, one in which Chris will be deployed a lot, and I cannot bear the thought of him missing one minute of Michael's life.

As for that bag in the freezer, it is still sitting there. It will have to go by Thursday, when the movers pull the plug on the fridge. But I promise you I won't be the one throwing it away.

3 days to go!

The packers are showing up on Wednesday! That is only 2 more "sleeps" or nights before they arrive! I have been busy organizing things around the house in order to make their job a little easier. We will go ahead and take down all pictures and wall hangings. Then I group together all of the pictures/picture frames, etc. I will also make sure all the toys are in one place, clothes are organized, and draperies are taken down, cleaned, folded and put with the other linens. There is always so much to do! But I enjoy it. Or I should say, I don't mind it.

At present, I am sitting at the breakfast table with Michael. He is chewing on a bagel while throwing his strawberries and kiwi over the side of his high chair to Katie and Lucy to dine on. Unfortunately for me, they don't like fruit so much. So I will be down there picking it all up!

Happy Monday to all!

Table tops are no longer safe

Michael has taken to reaching on top of all side tables, kitchen table, etc and pulling everything off the top! Today's infatuation: pulling all of the Kleenex out of the box. Geez! Here we go!

Wednesday's nap time

Yesterday, I put Michael down for his nap. As usual, he fusses for a few minutes before he falls asleep. After he quieted down, I went to check him on the video monitor. He was sitting straight up in the back corner of his crib. This is a super odd position for him to fall asleep in so I had to go in his room to make sure he was OK. He had, in fact, fallen asleep sitting straight up in the back corner of his crib with his Mr Bear in his hand. I guess he was that tired!

A few minutes later I checked on him again and his head was slumped down. He was out cold. Rest assured he was still breathing so I did not move him. Eventually, he figured out that this was an uncomfortable position so he extended his legs and arms out and got more comfy. It was so cute.

Today we are headed into Reno to get both cars serviced prior to the move to CA. It should be a good day with Chris and Michael making some fun stops in Reno.

Movies

About every 3 months, Chris and I go on a Blockbuster binge. We walk through and rent a bunch of new release movies that we have not seen yet. This month we picked up: The Hurt Locker, Food, Inc., and Couples Retreat.

I just quizzed Chris on thumbs up or thumbs down on the movies and his response was: In between. This response did not surprise me as many times I ask Chris a question his response is usually: Yes and No.

We were excited to see The Hurt Locker because it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards last week! It was a war movie so we expected a lot of blood and guns, but as a whole the movie did not "Wow" us. We actually thought the scenes were pretty predictable. At the end, I made Chris promise me he would never want to join the Army and become a bomb detonator. God Bless the men who do that job. They need special angels looking over them, for sure.

Couples Retreat. Again, we thought it was pretty predictable. Nothing to write home about. But better than flipping through the TV channels for 2 hours.

Food, Inc. This one was interesting. I give it a thumbs UP. Chris did not watch this movie, as he was not interested. I, however, have had a handful of friends who have stopped eating meat after watching this movie. So I braced myself for the worse and watched it. The first half of this documentary was pretty gory. After watching it I have decided to buy more organic meat. I think this will be easier to do once we live closer to more stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I am also going to try to cut out red meat. Save it for special occasions, like dinner at Ruths Chris, for example. We will be eating more organic chicken, fish, and vegetarian dinners. This is better for our waistlines and hearts anyway.

On a non-movie note, we are 8 days away from the packers showing up for the move to CA. I am super excited about this move! I can't wait! And since the time change over the weekend, Michael has decided that he only needs 1 nap a day. This change certainly requires more energy and planning on my part but so far it has been good.