She's Crazy....

She's cute, right? Yeah, she is, but she's also crazy!

So we went to Sports Authority last night to get a few things, and on the way out, Kate tripped and fell. I know immediately that this would make for a long night. No, no, don't worry, she wasn't terribly injured...but SHE thought she was. First, she made Josh look to see if there was a scrape because she just couldn't bear to look. He reported that there was a small scratch, but no blood was present. She whimpered all the way to the car and all the way home. When we got out of the car, she started limping. Except when she saw the frog and RAN to see it. Then she must've remembered about the scratch, because the limp reappeared. I asked her if she wanted a band-aid, but she said her scratch hurt too bad to put a band-aid on. Huh? Fast forward a few minutes later to bed time. The child is CRAWLING on the carpet. Crawling on the scratch that is supposedly so bad that it makes her limp. She also insisted on her knee being covered up with the throw from my living room when she went to bed. She said it would help her knee to feel better. Crazy, I tell you. Just crazy.

**please don't think I'm an uncaring mother--the child didn't fall hard enough to break anything (barely even broke the skin). She acts this way every.time. she gets a scratch. Crazy kid.

Ta-da!

So here's the house that has been occupying all my time for the past few months...

Front View

My very favorite place to sit in the evenings

Kitchen (this is what sold me on the house)

Living Room

I'm still having a hard time believing that this is OUR house. I'm not just borrowing it, no one is going to take it back....it's OURS. I loved our other house, but this one is just unbelievable. There is still A LOT left to do, but we spent all our money on the down payment, so we'll have to do things as we can afford them. Unfortunately, my personality traits do not include patience. I want every room to be perfect. Right now. Josh, on the other hand, is completely content with having to step around boxes to get to the laundry room, setting his alarm clock on the floor since the nightstand got broken in the move, etc. If only I could be a bit more like him and he could be a bit more like me....I guess that's why we compliment each other so nicely!

I'd like to re-introduce myself...

My name is Brooke, and I'm a terrible blogger. In my defense though, we've had A LOT going on the past few months. Let me re-cap what has happened since my last post in October....

I survived Thanksgiving in San Antonio with the in-laws, then spent a fabulous 10 days in the beautiful mountains of New Mexico over Christmas/New Year's. It definitely ranked up there with the best vacations ever (even though my kids HATED the snow and downright refused to go outside!)

This was Kate's reaction every time she stepped outside. I guess she's a Texas

girl through-and-through!

Avery was a little more tolerant, but still would have much preferred to be inside.

The whole crew (aside from my kids, who were toasty warm inside)

When we got back from New Mexico, Josh decided that we should put the house on the market and see if we got any bites. We had no real hope that it would sell, since it sat on the market for 6 months a couple years ago. But, with the tax credit ending in April, we decided to try. Here's the whirlwind part....

Feb. 19--house went on the market

Feb. 21--first showing

Feb. 23--the first people who saw the house made an offer! It was a terrible offer, but eventually we were able to find a price that worked for both parties. Getting to that point took a couple of weeks, so I was still having to keep the house spotless for other showings.

March 1-finally had a signed contract on the house.

March 1-20--searched frantically, day and night for a new home...failed. Learned that Josh and I have extremely different "must haves" when considering homes. His requirements were ridiculous (mine make perfect sense). He seriously wouldn't even look at houses that backed up to another house. He wanted to back up to a greenbelt. That eliminated 90 percent of homes on the market. Our marriage was under serious stress, so we decided to just stop looking and move into an apartment for a month.

March 20th--Said good bye to our first home and moved into a ridiculously small apartment.

March-April--Made offers on 2 houses, with no luck. Finally made an offer on a third house, and it was accepted. The house was in pre-forclosure, so the paperwork was insane. We not only had to deal with the seller, but the bank too. I can't even count the number of times we almost backed out. Oh, and the owners, being mad that they were being foreclosed on, decided to take the oven, ceiling fans, shower heads, thermostats, and drawer pulls before handing over the keys. Morons. So much for going out with dignity.

May 16th-finally closed on the new house!! It was a pain in the rear, but in the end, all the trouble was worth it. We got a fabulous house, and a killer price and already have more equity in it that most people have after 5 years.

Since then, we've been constantly busy with hanging ceiling fans, buying appliances, unpacking, painting, etc. It's been crazy, but I love it. Kate and Avery have made themselves right at home, and are loving having so much more space. The neighborhood is great too, with 7 pools and lots of ponds and walking trails.

SO....all that to say, I've been busy and blogging hasn't been on my list of things to do. Not to mention, we didn't have Internet in the apartment and for the first couple of weeks in the house. Life is calming down now, and I really do want to get back into this. I'd post a pic of the house, but I haven't downloaded any yet. That will come next, for now, I'm saying good night!

Holiday drama already?

So our family doesn't have the best record when it comes to holidays. Without fail, one (or both) sets of parents feels shortchanged, and Josh and I are run completely ragged. We go back and forth between J's parents and my mom's house so many times, we wear grooves in the pavement. Don't even get me started on trying to see my dad and step mom.

But that's Christmas. Thanksgiving is different. When I started working at The Salvation Army, I always had to work on Thanksgiving Day, so that meant Josh and I stayed here. My mom and little brother always come up, and once J's parents and sister even came. It worked for us. At least we got one holiday that we enjoyed. Well, Josh broke it to me last night that we're going to San Antonio for T-day this year. Did he ask me? No, he TOLD me. Yeah, I was not a happy wife. Here's our conversation:

Me: We should run the turkey trot on Thanksgiving

J:Yeah, I'm sure they have one in San Antonio

Me: What does that have to do with anything?

J: Oh, we're going down there this year.

Me: Huh?

J: Yeah, mom and dad sent an email saying that they're staying there, and anyone who wants to is welcome to come to them.

Me: Huh? Didn't you invite them up here?

J: Yeah, I guess they didn't want to come.

Me: Huh?

J: What?

Me: I gotta go running before I explode...see ya.

Seriously, I feel like my world is upside down. For those of you who don't know, I'm a planner. I like to have my calendar written out months in advance. I don't like surprises. Now, to be fair to Josh, he just wants to see his family for a holiday. We won't be with them for Xmas since we're going to a cabin in New Mexico (side note: we invited them to accompany us, but they declined). But seriously, why can't his parents come here? We invite them up here multiple times a year, and they probably come twice. It's not like he has several other siblings who would be left with no place to go if his parents came here. He has one sister, and we invited her too. Now I have to break it to my mom that we will not be spending Thanksgiving with her like we usually do. I hate breaking bad news to people (especially my mom). She really doesn't have any other family, so I don't know what she'll do for Thanksgiving now. Ugh.

Oh, and on top of that, I have to work until 9: 30 pm the Wed. night before T-day, so we'll either get to SA in the middle of the night, or have to leave Thanksgiving morning. I also have to work the Saturday after, so that leaves us fewer than 48 hours before we have to load the kids and dog back up and go home. Now that I think about it, maybe that's a good thing...

Kidless for a day

So my kidless weekend was AMAZING. We shopped, we ate, we shopped some more...then we ate some more. Unfortunately, my sleep wasn't much better than it is at home, thanks to a serious thunderstorm and a phone call at 7 am. That's okay though, who needs sleep anyway?

Josh ended up taking the girls to his parent's while I was gone. Wuss. I'm sure my in-laws were ecstatic that they got to see the kids while I wasn't around. I was a little worried about how Avery would do in a strange place without me, but apparently she didn't even notice I was gone. Nice.

I had such an amazing time, we've decided that we should have a weekend like this at least every 3 months. Surprisingly, Josh agrees. Yay!

Now we begin our crazy fall schedule...at last look, we have exactly 1 free weekend from now until Thanksgiving....yikes!

You do the math

My job is wearing me out.

"Job?" You say, "don't you just stay at home with your kids?"

Yes, I do. And let me assure you, that IS a job. It's not a sit on the couch and watch Oprah kind of job, either. Do you know how many times a day I get to sit down for more than 5 minutes at a time? I actually counted today, because I knew my readers would want to know. 4. That's right, FOUR. And, in case you were wondering, those 4 times were in the car. When I was in my house, I never sat down for more than 5 minutes. Not even at lunch. Oh, wait, I didn't eat lunch today.

Now that the kids are in bed, I'm actually sitting down, and I've had a little time to crunch a few numbers. My kids get up around 6:30 am. They go to bed at 7:30 p.m. That's 13 hours of awake time. For 11.5 hours, I am their sole caregiver. That's 57.5 hours/week that I'm by myself at my job. For the other 33.5 hours during the week that my kids are awake, I have assistance from Josh, but I'm still at work. Add it all up, and I'm at work for at least 91 hours a week. That doesn't include any nightwakings that might occur (which have been happening all too frequently lately!) No wonder I'm worn out!

Over the weekend, I realized that I need a break. I cannot be the mom and wife that I want to be unless I take care of myself and get some "me" time every now and then. I've been blaming Josh for not ever giving me time away from the kids, but really, a lot of it is my fault. I have this incredible guilt complex that attacks me whenever I even consider doing something for myself. Most of the time it stops me in my tracks and I just stay at home. Then when Josh takes time for himself, I completely resent him for it. Not good for anyone.

So...drumroll, please....I'm going away this weekend! Without my kids! Or my husband! I'm meeting my mom in Austin to shop and relax. I can't wait! Mom and I have been talking about a trip like this since Kate was a baby, and now we're finally going! And best of all, I'm not feeling guilty about. Okay, maybe a little, but I'm going anyway. Josh has NEVER been by himself with the girls for more than a few hours, so this will be an adventure for us all!

Little mommies