Lots of changes

Much has happened since I last posted. We sold our house after 22 days on the market! A week later we made an offer on another house and it was accepted without a counter offer. We are very excited about it, although we have a busy month ahead. Chelsea is going to Allentown, PA for 2 weeks for work, so I will be here packing and holding down the fort. I took the final for my summer class today, so I am finished with school until Aug. 25 - oh, did I mention that's our closing date?

The new house is a lot bigger, although we are giving up some kitchen space. It has 3 bedrooms on the main level and one in the basement that will be Chelsea's office. We are putting in another bedroom for the guest room/my office, also in the basement. It's on a cul-de-sac and near a very nice park, so lots of play space for the boys. It is also on the east side of town which will be an adjustment for us because we currently live on the west side. According to my sister, we will soon be living on the "right side" of town. It's only 10 minutes away...I think we'll live.

I'll send out the obligatory mass email announcing the change of address. We'll wait until all the t's are crossed and the closing is scheduled, not merely estimated. Things are generally going well. I'll post again and update the antics of my crazy kids and maybe new pictures if you're lucky.

Lessons learned...sorry, Mom.

The house has been on the market for 2 weeks now, with very little excitement. But I have learned that having a clean house is actually pretty nice. Yes, it takes effort to keep it this way all the time, but it really takes less time than it did when it was messy! Of course, it helps that we have a 16-foot POD in storage packed with a lot of our stuff. Overall, I believe that this has been a good lesson in cleanliness and I plan to carry it over to the new house. Sorry, Mom, that it took this to teach me to be clean, and not 30 years of effort on your part to impart your wisdom. We'll see how long it lasts after we move. :)

A.J. is finally joining the ranks of the not-so-lazy. He can roll over from belly to back, a feat that he has been capable of for quite some time, but seemed to not be interested in moving at all. He can also sit up unassisted for short periods of time, as long as he doesn't look up. It's nice to see that at nearly 8 months old, he has decided that there is more to life than laying on one's back and eating one's feet. He is also able to eat applesauce, bananas and occasionally squash without immediately projectile vomiting. This is a big step for a baby with reflux. Maybe someday we'll be able to take him off of his incredibly expensive Prevacid!

As for Keavan, as I write this, he is sleeping in the backyard in his very own tent, next to his daddy in his very own tent. Although we took Keavan camping on the beach for 4 days when he was 7 months old, we decided not to subject AJ to similar torture when his bed was 20 feet away, so I am sleeping inside to keep an eye on him. Yes, that's the reason that I am sleeping in my bed, rather than outside on the ground. Chelsea's a good daddy, no matter what you may have heard.

Need a house?

Our house is officially on the market. It's been crazy busy and I think we spend all of our time cleaning now, but it looks good. Click on the blog title to check out our online listing. We have our realtor walk-through tomorrow, so hopefully we'll start getting some traffic. Keep us in your prayers that we survive this whole ordeal and get some much needed space in a new house! I'll keep you posted.

Our hearing child!

We took AJ to Cardinal Glennon last week and got some great news. He can hear just fine! He has some moderate hearing loss in the lower tones, but they believe it is due to residual fluid behind his ear drum and is not really an issue. He can hear speech tones very well. The best result was that his brain responded to 70 decibels in his "bad" ear!! That means that the cochlea (inner ear) is intact and functioning. We no longer need to do a CT scan because we know that there is something inside his little closed-up ear. We will do something with it in a few years, but right now, it's simply not an issue. We are so very blessed with our beautiful boys and I thank you all for your thoughts and prayers over these last few months as we waited for answers. God is listening!

Houston, one day closer to you!

Ah, it is hot down here in Houston, TX and I have one more day until I get back home or rather to St. Louis to meet Bria and the boys. I am about 8 months into my new job at Air Products and Chemicals and I lilke it very much. It is a huge departure from my last job but in mostly the good ways.

I have been able to travel the world in my last job, but I get a chance to see my growing family all day, every day now and its great.

It is true that I missed my anniversary again this year, but I will try for next year!!!

I also got to see Chuck, my only brother, this week and do some catching up with his family. The boys will be out of the house before they know it. It seems like only yesterday that Alex and Dillon were Keavan and AJ's age.

They are 17 and 15 now. That makes me feel a little old when you put it that way.

That is all for now, I will be adding my two cents every now and then.

chelsea

30 years and 1 week

I just completed my first week of being 30. Honestly, it doesn't feel any different than 29. And actually, since I spent more than 1/2 of year 29 pregnant, 30 feels a lot better. Chelsea's and my 7th anniversary was on Monday. He sent me some beautiful flowers. As usual, he was gone. We think we've been together for 2 of our 7 anniversaries. But since it comes only a week after my birthday, it gets glossed over anyway. Isn't it good that we don't get caught up in the details?

We are going to St. Louis this weekend. AJ goes to Cardinal Glennon for his hearing test on Monday morning, so we are making a weekend out of it. The boys and I are driving to Kim's (you can view her blog via the link on the left) Friday morning, then meeting Chelsea at Bonnie's when he flies in from Houston that night. We get to see the newest member of our family on Saturday. My cousin, Brent, and his wife just had a new baby boy, Logan, a couple of weeks ago. Then Sunday, we are going to the zoo. Should be exciting! Check back next week for pictures and details of our exciting trip.

My next addition to the blog will be a stress0meter to keep track of how crazy my life can get before I lose it. I start school on Monday, the first day of which I am missing because of AJ's appointment. Our nanny quit on me, so we no longer have childcare for AJ. We are putting our house on the market in a couple of weeks. So if anyone can figure out how to add a few extra hours in the day for Chelsea and I to work and make sure our children are not rotting in front of the TV, let me know!

Keavan at 3 1/2

Our big boy is growing up so fast. He is very smart and very active. He can add any 2 digits under 10, write almost all of his letters, spell his name and he knows all of his phonics. We are working on reading skills and he has a few sight words. He loves puzzles and playdough and dressing up in costumes. He is very much a boy because everything lately is a gun and he is usually pretending to be some sort of super hero. He also enjoys dressing up in his friend's sister's Disney princess dresses though. He is definitely our little drama king. He played soccer in May and Chelsea was his coach. I should say that he wore a soccer uniform and ran around the field with his friend Austin, completely oblivious to the game going on around them. Oh well. At least they weren't watching TV, right? Speaking of which, are any of you familiar with the show Kai-lan? It's like Dora, only in Chinese. Now he is teaching me Chinese words to go along with the Spanish ones he sprinkles in to everyday usage. Thanks Noggin.