Boxes, babies, and cards- oh my!

Well well well. Quite a bit has happened since we got back from our Thanksgiving vacation in Alabama. One of the last things I did while I was down there was to take advantage of the abundant childcare and whip up a last-minute Christmas card. Steve had an appointment in Philly the day after we got back, so I was able to use the guy who printed our cards last year. Super cheap and he had them printed and ready to go in less than 24 hours! I'm only sad I can't use him again next year. Anyways, since my turnaround time was so tight, I had one afternoon to get a shot for the back of the card. Naturally it was pouring down rain and dark as night at 3pm so they turned out real nice.... (eye roll)

Sadly, this one did not make the cut. Not at all what I envisioned for a Christmas card photo, but oh well. There's always next year, I suppose! On the topic of Christmas cards, I just realized this morning that I printed the wrong "new address" on every last card. And when Steve said, no big deal, just stick a note in there about your mom brain and the correct addresss, I realized I'VE ALREADY SEALED UP OVER 100 ENVELOPES. And the kids applied multiple stickers to every envelope. And I hand-wrote every address (sloppily). Naturally. Suggestions for how to make this right are welcome. I obviously have no clue where I'm going. Besides crazy, of course.

Even though I don't know where we're headed, I am doing my best to prepare us to get there. After multiple friends checked in to see how the packing was going and I was giving them looks like

I thought maybe I should pack a few boxes since that seems to be expected of me two weeks before a move. I packed one box in the kitchen (sealing up my little microwave bacon plate before needing to cook bacon that night of course) and admired my work. Lovely. I am the picture of organized and put together. LOLZ

Steve isn't concerned at all. He says, "Oh we have two weeks! We'll just pack up a box or two every night! We don't even have that much stuff!" Which is true, but I know my energy level pretty much nosedives after getting the kids to bed, so I thought, maybe we should use this weekend time and our television babysitter to get as much packed as possible. So we got the majority of the kitchen packed and the closet and the living room. Not much upstairs besides the linen closet and clothes so I think the rest will be smooth sailing! Hopefully.

The box fortress has grown since this photo was taken

I would say that I hate moving, but that's a lie, so I will just say that I hate PACKING and most especially, I hate packing (and unpacking) the kitchen. I am extra hand-wringy over the kitchen this time because there is no dishwasher waiting on the other end, so unpacking it will take literal AGES to accomplish with hand washing and air drying. Boo. You know it's go time when my fridge is naked like this.

I got the kids' school pictures back!!!! And omg they are better than I imagined. So cheesy! Such weird smiles! I love them.

Say what now?

Whatchu said?

Obviously I went with the most basic background ever. Kinda regret not going with the nighttime cityscape background but I think this is ok too.

A random picture one of the kids took of Steve furiously scrubbing the stove. As you can see, the stove accounts for about 60% of our overall counterspace and Steve likes to keep it sparkling. He uses some of that good old fashioned elbow grease to really make it shine. I kinda do that clorox wipe once over on it and call it good. Definitely not up to his standards.

And oh, hey! We like to celebrate big life changes with more big life changes around here!

I'M PREGNANT. YES. AGAIN. 

My face still pretty much resembles Will's here. A complete surprise but we are excited! Although our house in Minnesota is small (and just got a lot smaller!), overall I think we will have more room to breathe and grow and we know that this first house is temporary, so that is comforting too. The big kids (Will is now lumped into this category at the ripe old age of 11 months) will all share the room upstairs and Steve, the baby, and I will be downstairs. Sam and Molly already share a room now (and have since they were really little) and now that Will is sleeping through the night (HALLELUJAH THANK YOU JESUS (and Mama!)!!), I don't foresee it being a problem. Everyone I know shared a room growing up and I like to think it builds character. Heh. Anyways, pregnancy-wise, I frequently forget that I am, I can't keep track of how far along I am (must download pregnancy tracker on my phone!), and have the name of an OB in Fargo, but haven't called yet to make an appointment. I've seen a doc here once for the initial appointment (and to get that ultrasound to confirm that there is only one!) but I don't think I will have time to see them again before we leave.

We are leaving New York on the 17th (that's 12 days away! GAH!!!) and driving to Philly. Steve will continue on to MN after getting the rest of our stuff out of his parents' basement and the kids and I are going to visit a few friends along the East Coast for a few days. Steve will fly back from MN a few days before Christmas (after unloading everything into our new place in MN and setting up the important things like beds and coffee maker) and we will celebrate Christmas and Will's birthday (26th) with his family before packing it all up and heading out west for good! So much busyness and change coming up during an already busy season. I'm doing my best to try and keep things somewhat "normal" for the kids even though it's anything but. We set up our tiny little Charlie Brown Christmas tree from Korea and there is a small tree in the kids' room but that is it for Christmas decorations this year. Hoping to see the tree at Rockefeller Center before we leave! We are T minus a few days from eating nothing but takeout, and I'm not gonna lie- I'm looking forward to it here. Taking advantage of all the delicious home delivery food options while we can. There isn't even a diner in the town we're headed to so we'll obviously be straddling that fine line between "taking it all in" and "avoiding obesity" with a side of "holiday weight gain." Uufda!