turn the sound up

If you have a habit of turning down the sound I forgive you - I often turn down sound on music playing blogs too. However a new feature is matching a song to the top post or two. See if I did good.

Goodbye Wisconsin!

This is a real dairy farm not too farm from our house. I think it might be the model for the one on our license plate.

When we moved to Wisconsin almost exactly five years ago we didn't know much about the area, I had only driven through the state once, Hubby had only visited one or two towns briefly in the northern part of the state (northern WI and southern WI have a totally different personality) but we were excited. A new job that was allowing me to stay home with the baby -that baby just turned six - and all the potential of a new life waiting for us. Now we must say goodbye, no more farm fields dotted with red barns, no more wonderfully cool summers ( I've only turned my air on for three days this summer) and no more snow shoveling, though I'm not really sad about that.

Needless to say I won't be blogging for a few days and there is a good chance I won't have internet for a little while once we get to IL. Just know I'm packing boxes, wrangling kids and wishing I wasn't doing it at all.

Sonny Boy turned 6!

As promised pictures from Sonny Boy's 6th birthday. It was a quiet birthday. Hubby took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese, mom went shopping and bought the cake, gifts and decorated.

Post #100

if your counting.

We've been busy the last couple of weeks. I'm now starting to pack and get 4 or 5 boxes loaded a day now and have managed to paint Igor's room from the bright green it previously was to a neutral beige color and patch a lot of nail holes in the walls left from the previous owners. His was the only room that hadn't been painted and spruced up since we moved in. The room now looks very dull as everything is off the walls, the rug is removed and the curtain is down. Blah, I dread the rest of the house taking on that appearance so I'm putting it off so 1. I don't have to look at it, 2. If we have any showings it won't look so bare and stark. There may be some devlopments on the selling front soon, we'll see as the situation is complicated.

Hubby discovered on a new tour of the house we rented that only one of the rooms has closets. Fun, it also does not have a dishwasher, extra fun. However it's cheap rent and it will do for now. Hubby has promised to rig up some sort of closet and we will talk with the landlords and see if they'll pay materials for him to build a closet or two in the house. I'm figuring they might as they bought the house thinking they would flip it and got caught in the economy. They will have a hard time selling a house with no closets. I guess we should have looked closer at the house, however the kids were wild, we were tired and it just happened. Oh well.

This weekend proves to be crazy busy with the need to pack basement and garage, locate some boxes, mow the yard because it suddenly started raining again and the list keeps getting bigger, turn this off, turn that on, locate this, call there. All the fun of moving a large house you've been living in for 5 years and did not expect to leave for a long time.

This is the first move I've ever done I've not been at least somewhat excited about. I cannot remember being so depressed about moving ever. Previous moves have always seemed to be going forward to bigger and better, jobs, houses, and life. This one seems to be taking things down several notches.

Sonny Boy's birthday was last week. I'll post some pics soon, however I'm going to crash as I've had a long day.

Things about Motherhood Everybody forgot to tell you.

There are things about motherhood that for some reason are neglected to be shared with new moms. Everyone tells you how tired you'll be with a newborn, how bad the diaper can stink and how to get spaghetti off of the ceiling but there are some things for some reason are kept more secret than the launch codes for nuclear weapons. I'm going to debunk a few.

1. Kids will tear up everything in your home at one time or another. It doesn't matter that you tell Johnny not to pull on the blind cord 250 times, he will try it again and on the 251st time force you to replace a blind - however they will no longer make that blind anymore and you will be forced to replace all the blinds in the room so they will match. CHA CHING

2. Kids will argue even when you are agreeing with them. Don't ask me why they just will.

3. You will utter the phrase "Because I said So" way more often than you ever thought possible even though you swore before children you would never say that.

4. There will be days when it is 10 pm and you realize that you never brushed your teeth today.

5. Sex is something that happens on Grey's Anatomy. Not only will you not have time, you will be too tired and adding to the fact that you haven't washed your hair in two days or brushed your teeth in 48 hours doesn't make your inner sex kitten purr.

6. Even when you are lucky enough to land a babysitter for an evening out with your honey it turns out to be more work than it's worth because the house must be cleaned and all PJ's, toothbrushes, meals, snacks etc must be labeled and exposed for babysitter. The house cleaning part is because you don't want that teenage babysitter who is an acquaintance's daughter to go home and tell her mother just how bad your house is.

7. You are no longer allowed to be sick. Sorry can't happen, even with confirmed case of the swine flu you must get the kids up and going - if your lucky you might can sneak a little nap in when the youngest lies down but never depend on it because that will be the day your outstanding napper decides "Not Today Buster"

8. When your kids are under the age of 5 I defy you to go two hours without saying the words, "poot" "poop" "pottie" or "pee pee" for three hours.

9. There will be Legos under EVERY piece of furniture in your home. I am not exaggerating, even massive pieces that have a solid bottom will have legos under them. In addition your vacuum cleaner will have lots of legos in it.

10. Family members and in-laws will search furiously for the most obnoxious and many pieced toy in the store for birthdays and holidays. The louder or more pieces the better, and of course your stuck with it once it's opened at the birthday party or Christmas, no taking back the monster truck that plays "We Will Rock You" at ear splitting decibels once it's been opened on Christmas eve. The other side of the coin is that the family member will purchase gifts that are totally out of the age range of your child. Ride on toys for an infant that cannot sit up yet or a nerf gun that when fully assembled is taller than the child.

11. Little boys will shoot guns, even if they are not given guns they will shoot sticks or their fingers, it's genetic.

12 Boys will pee all over your bathroom. When you give birth to a male child - or bring one home - just remove all rugs and fuzzy things from the toilet area. It's also not a wise idea to put bead board around the toilet area.

13. Motherhood is lonely, there will be times when you wonder what the hell did I get myself into? You will long for the days of going out with friends and wandering home at 3 am and not worry that the kid will wake you in 4 hours. Your non-mom friends will not get that you are on duty 24 / 7 and your mom friends will be on duty 24 / 7. Even making a phone call becomes a challenge because my children see me on the phone as a challenge to see just how loud they can get.

Does it get better? I don't know. Some days I think, this is a breeze, I could handle five more kids. Other days I checking to see how many frequent flier miles I've accumulated and wondering how long Sonny Boy can sustain himself and Igor. I suppose it pays off in the end in 20 or 30 years when you have grandkids, then you can have all the fun of kids with none of the responsibility.

Pics from Grant's Farm

On the Road Again...

seeing things that I may never see again

I was on the road again....

And saw this guy going down the road in the St. Louis area in his vintage Corvette. On his way to a costume party in July? A REALLY big Vikings fan? Looking for someone named Helga? As we originally came up behind him all we could see was the horns sticking up out the T-top, when we passed he was too funny so I dragged out the camera and made Hubby slow down.

In other news of the day Winnie's Litter will soon be relocating to a small town outside of St. Louis on the Illinois side of the river. Seems like a nice little area and Hubby will likely go sign a lease on a little house tomorrow. While the house isn't our dream home it will be a roof for a few months while we settle and decide our next step. We will likely start the move in the next couple of weeks. Sonny Boy is most concerned that we will only have one bathroom in the rental, I'm most worried about some UGLY wall paper border that the landlord said I could change.

The house still hasn't sold and the couple that seemed as if they were going to bite have now stepped back and are going to wait. While they say we are still on the top of their list they are holding off for a couple of months. My real estate agent is pushing them because they are eligible for the 8K first time home buyer credit but to get that you must close by Nov 30, 2009 and if you've bought more than one house sometimes things get drawn out longer than you planned and I imagine there will be a run on things this fall slowing down the process, that's what he's explaining to them. Anyhow even if they don't pull maybe things will pick up as the deadline for the tax credit draws closer and somebody a little more together will make an offer. In the meantime we are going to let the house sit and be a storage for furniture that won't fit in the rental (and keep the place from looking too barren) at least till the end of November and hunt for a renter to supplement the mortgage and hope that the market will improve in a years time and re-list or Hubby's old job will miraculously call him back - I'm not holding my breath on that one.

While in the St. Louis area I took the kids to Grant's Farm. It was a fun day and Sonny Boy enjoyed the animal shows, Igor not so much. Darn blogger won't let me arrange pictures like I want so I'll put them on a separate post.

Get you motor running...

But don't get on the highway

The traffic will kill you

and the van is in the way....

Born to be WIILLLDD!

Heading down south to look at something to rent and try and figure out the school district we will be in at the very least. That way Hubby can rental search in earnest. Honestly he's pickier than I when it come to living accomodations so If he finds something he can run with it. We have decided to move in time to get the kids in school when it starts in the fall as I don't want to uproot them and I can't take the single parenting thing any more.

Still no nibbles on the house which is either going to cause me an ulcer or to gain 30 lbs. I'm a stress and boredom eater so stress and the lack of adult company, crappy TV and a cold summer has me packing on the pounds again, lovely.

Funny I have all these witty post that pop into my brain while I'm in bed trying to fall asleep but by the time I get around to actually writing they have slipped my mind. The following was my theme the other night.

Things You Never Thought you Would say

these are a list of things I have said recently that I would have never though would cross my lips before my first born. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Quit picking your nose and eating your boogers.

Get your hands out of your pants

Don't lick me

Don't lick the wall

Don't sit on your brother's head

Stop moving the furniture around the house

Wipe your rear end after a poop BEFORE you sit down on the bathroom rug ( I didn't actually say this one but hubby did)

Quit peeing on the bathroom wall

Make sure all the pee hits the water in the toliet

If you have a thought about somebody in the store WAIT till we get into the car to inform me of it.

My God you sure do have a lot of sand in your privates (hosing down the boys in the tub after a trip to the local beach)

Don't put that in your mouth

Things I knew I'd say but didn't realize I would say so much

Flush

Wash your hands

Put your clothes on

did you put on clean underwear?

Just how early did you get out of bed?

Geez that diaper stinks.

Pee and Poop go in the pottie not your diaper.

Do you need to go pottie?

Last but not least BECAUSE I SAID SO!

Notice how many of these things center around bodily functions.

Litter Happenings

Just thought I'd update on the kids. It's been a little while.

Igor is just a bundle of energy lately. I expect him to break into James Brown's "I Feel Good" any minute now. I measured him today and dragged out my old notes and realized he has now grown 5 and 3/4 inches since he's been home and gained about 10 and 1/2 pounds. I can really tell he's been growing as all of a sudden he feels like he's all arms and legs when we cuddle in the rocking chair at night. While I still wouldn't call the kid chunky he no longer looks quite so skinny probably due to the fact that the eating issues are getting better. Igor now will mostly eat a reasonable amount of food at a meal without it being a huge production. Don't get me wrong, he's still REALLY slow but I'm seeing progress. His favorite food that's not junk is oatmeal so it's dosed up liberally with butter, brown sugar and half and half, probably why he likes it so much. We are also slowly walking into the pottie training thing slowly. We should really be more consistent but he has the idea down. I think it would be a simple thing to get him into big boy underwear full time, however I just don't have the energy with my stress levels right now so he's trading off between diapers and pull ups and when I'm really energetic underwear. Igor's speech is really making progress as well, we are starting to get two word combos quite frequently and will copy you pretty clearly when you make him say a sentence to get something. All other aspects are good. We get a typical temper tantrum from time to time and he certainly test his boundries but for the most part he is really easy but energetic. Right now he prefers me to Hubby. Last week when Hubby went in to wake him from his nap he was very confused and upset that it wasn't me. Easy to see since Hubby is gone now so much and he's used to Mom being the one that does everything.

Sonny Boy is his typical self. Right now he's doing swim lessons daily at the pool right behind our house. He is making good progress but the kid sinks like a stone - takes after his dad who cannot float either. Sonny Boy's crawl is looking almost like a swimmer's and he can actually move when he does it, he's not far from saying he can swim. Of course Sonny Boy is still growing just not at the astonishing rate that Igor is. It is hard to believe he will be six in a couple of weeks.

I guess that's the update folks.