On the 8th day of Christmas...

... I finally recapped Christmas.

Side note: So sad to see everyone taking down decorations already! EVERYONE WAS SO EAGER TO PUT THEM UP BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Christmas lasts until the Epiphany! You know the wise men were still men, right? Aka it took them a minute to figure out where Baby Jesus lay. They did not arrive the night He was born. Had a woman been in that little caravan, they would have likely gotten there sooner and maybe brought a little something for Mary as well - here girl, you look like you need a drink because you just gave birth in a stable and are dealing with postpartum messiness but instead, here are some expensive gifts for you to lug back home with you.

Anyways, now that I got that off my chest, let's move on to Christmas. We put up our dinky little Korea tree in NY, and then promptly took it down two weeks later when we moved out of our apartment. We were lucky enough to have the same movers that helped us move in, help us move out. They were quick and nice and efficient, and best of all, I did not have to actually move anything myself! A real Christmas gift, if I do say so myself. We thought we'd be outta there by the time we picked the kids up from school, but our timelines are always a little skewed, and of course we ended up not leaving until about 7:30. Our sweet landlord helped us move the final boxes out onto the truck and loaded kids in carseats as well. He and his wife have been texting ever since to check on us and make sure we got the mail they sent to us and asking about the kids. I really do miss them and hope to see them again someday soon! We took a very long and slow drive to PA that night since the moving truck could only seem to hit a top speed of 55mph....

On Saturday, we loaded the stuff we had stored in Steve's parents' basement during an ice storm; mostly holiday decorations and a deep freezer and a few other odds and ends, like 47 tubs of kids' clothes that I have meticulously washed and folded and bagged and labeled. I now know better than to part with kid clothes. THAT WAS DUMB, 2013 Jenn. Real dumb. The plan for the next day was to send Steve off to MN with the truck and the kids and I were going to drive down to VA to visit my sweet friend Sam and her kids that I haven't seen in ages, and a few other friends on the way back up. Well, the kids' immune systems had other plans. They were all hacking up a lung and sounding like chain smokers, so we canceled. I did not want to infect anyone and everyone right before Christmas. I was feeling kinda crummy too but then realized that maybe I could help Steve with the move.... We checked the return flight that we had booked months before and there were still seats (imagine that, Fargo to Philly wasn't sold out!) so we went downstairs and asked Steve's mom... Bless her heart, I don't think she had enough coffee in her system to realize exactly what was being asked of her. Because those three for five days equates to A LOT OF WORK. But she did not hesitate in saying yes. So we got to work throwing a bag together for me, writing out what Will's daily schedule/eating looks like, and giving the big kids a speech about how Santa hasn't come yet and we can still cancel this holiday if you don't act like damn saints for your grandmother while we're gone DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME. No one seemed terribly torn up over the fact that I would be absent for a few days and I think I was most sad to leave Will, as I've never been apart from him so long before. I'm actually not sure I've been apart from the other two that long either, but they talk a lot, so it takes away a bit of the sting. Hehe But my BABY. (tears)

Will was fine, of course. Turns out that someone other than me can keep him alive and well. Major blow to my ego. It was definitely nice to get away, even if it was super weird to not have any kids with us. We got about three hours away before we got a phone call that there had been "an incident."

It involved Molly using a handheld vacuum cleaner and sucking her hair up into it. As my MIL is telling me this, my only real concern was her hair. IS IT IN TACT?! She mentioned that she had to cut a small piece out but it wasn't noticeable. (And to be honest, I still haven't located the missing piece, so they did a great job with that.) I assumed that was all, but then she mentioned that the vacuum also hit her in the head and she had a cut. (This could seriously only happen to Molly.) So she sent me a picture of the cut and was inquiring with the neighbor doctor as to whether or not he thinks she needed stitches.

Well. My baby just can't have stitches! Not without me there! Coming on this roadtrip was such a mistake! I should be at home protecting Molly and her beautiful hair from vacuum cleaners! A threat I previously did not know existed!

My MIL took her to a children's hospital in Delaware. Steve was slightly offended that when he needed ten stitches under his eye as a child, that he was taken to the local hospital up the road, while Molly's tiny gash deserved a trip to a special hospital in Delaware. I mean, for real Steve, suck it up, it's just an eye. You have TWO, for cryin' out loud. Poor Molly only has one beautiful blemish-free forehead! It must be preserved!!

After speaking with my nurse friend and Steve and studying the picture we had, we decided that she did not need stitches, despite all of the people that were seeing this wound firsthand saying she did. It just looked so tiny! Stitches are so traumatic for someone who hates needles and doesn't have her mommy with her to comfort her. The ER doc was nice enough and agreed to wash it and apply steristrips, despite the fact that she thought she needed stitches. ("She's a girl. And it's her face." Yes. I see. She also has a personality and is notoriously clumsy and if she has a small scar, she can feel free to make up a cool story about how she got it when she's older.)

Anyways, spoiler alert, it has magically healed and even though I think it will fade away on its own, I still feel a small amount of guilt over whether she'll scar or not (and resent me for not going through with the stitches) so I ordered some Mederma cream to hopefully help it fade even more.

So Steve and I continued on with the trip.

I continued having complete thoughts and sitting in silence and having conversations with my husband and only feeding myself (and occasionally Steve because TEN AND TWO, safety first!) and it was so wonderful. Yes, we were going slower than molasses in the winter, but we were together and had so much time to just talk. It was wonderful. The first time in over six years that we've had that much time to ourselves without kids. If it hadn't been for all the not-sleeping and constant driving and heavy lifting and moving, it would have felt like a vacation! Maybe in another six years or so we'll get around to that.

The first night, we stopped short of Chicago, and it was frickin' freezin'! I got hotel coffee just to warm my hands up. I can't remember the last time I slept so hard. What is it about those king size hotel beds? They are so comfortable despite my germaphobic tendencies. The next night we had made it to MN. We stopped in a town about 45 minutes away because there are no hotels in the town we were headed to, and it just seemed like a good stopping point. We hit up McDonalds for a quick breakfast the next morning. As if Steve wasn't ready to fall in love with MN already, the decor in the McDonalds alone really sealed the deal for him.

Fish tables, camo-clad people everywhere, NICE people everywhere, American flags, etc. It's like he was born in the wrong state. After breakfast, we started on to our final destination.

Steve is pretending to be the pitchfork farmer from American Gothic, he's not actually mad. And I'm not actually drunk.

We met Rick's dad and wife at our new house and they were still finishing up some parts of it. (We were buying the house from them and they were renovating it before we arrived.) They had had quite a few farm-related catastrophes over the past couple weeks and were not as far along as they'd hoped they'd be when we arrived. Luckily there was plenty of space for us to move things in, and we also had to go buy a refrigerator in town. We stayed plenty busy. The next day we moved the rest of the stuff off the truck. I meant to take a picture of the empty truck, but apparently got excited and only took a picture of an almost-empty truck.

One last morning of sorting and putting things away and Rick's dad dropped us off at the Fargo airport. And look who we got to sit in front of!!

A layover in Chicago at Christmastime- I'm not even mad.

You know, traveling without children is actually VERY NICE. No one to worry about/feed/potty/entertain except yourself. A delay? Who cares? Let's go grab coffee and leisurely walk around the airport! I cannot express how easy and nice it was. SO NICE. VERY NICE. MUCH EASE.

See ya, Chicago! (in a few days. in a car. with a few kids.)

Once we were finally on the last leg home, my brain had time to think about The Next Thing. Not the baby growing in my uterus- that thought won't happen for a few more months at least. The next thing was Christmas! Three days away! Time to get in that jolly mode! Luckily I had gotten every gift off Amazon and had them shipped to my in-laws' house. Unfortunately for my family, I had not even started Christmas shopping. I like to think that they know and understand that I never have (and never will) have my shit together. Maybe one day. In about 19 years or so. We'll see.

Bright and early the next morning we had doctor's appointments! Yay.

Will's ONE YEAR well check (*sob*) where we found out that he is not so well. He had a double ear infection and the doc is concerned about hip dysplasia, so we will need to see an orthopedist in Fargo soon about that. He also still needs his 12 month shots since he could not get them due to being sick. We brought Molly along too because she could not seem to stop hacking up a lung.

She had pneumonia! Falalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

We managed to rally despite the circumstances and baked some ill-fated sugar cookies (seriously, sugar cookies are the WORST - to make, not to eat, obviously), decorate the tree, play some dreidel,  and write a letter to Santa.

Omg a crayon

Leave it to a box to entertain everyone

Snuggle time/football

Man, Sam was HOOKED on this game!

Time to "decoration those cookies" as Sam would say

Time to decoration that tree!

I asked Sam what he wanted to write to Santa. He said, "Dear Santa, I would like a remote controlled hovercraft. I would also like a new lego set. And-" Uh, son? It's Christmas Eve. This is not the letter where you ask for things. That ship/sleigh has sailed. This is more like a "thanks for dropping by, have a great night" sort of a note. Wanna say anything like that? "Oh."

What's that? Christmas Eve? Time to get started wrapping some gifts, I guess!

Cursive equals magical, right? Or maybe just illegible.

Sam caught me mid-chug with the milk. I sputtered at him to go back to bed and I don't think he noticed. Then Steve and I stood out on the front steps and chewed up and spit out all the carrots and apples so as to provide some evidence that the reindeer were here. Neighbors already know we are insane so why not.

Christmas breakfast

The kids were overjoyed with everything they received, despite not asking for anything. (And lest that sound holier than thou, they just kinda have no clue that you can ask for things, and they also don't have access to commercials so they have no idea what they should be asking for. I'm trying to keep it this way as long as possible because I'm a control freak, that's why.)

Sam got a nerf football, a karoake machine and a COLLECTION of Raffi CDs (apparently I really pissed off my mom?), a metal Hot Wheels carrying case (that he promptly loaded up with some cars that he lifted from my MIL's house), and a stocking full of winter gear! Yay. Santa brought the boring stuff this year. Luckily for the kids, my MIL stuck a Lego set in there too, and thanks to Dollar Tree, they each got about 10 Smartees, aka little kid sugar crack.
Molly received a little wooden horse stable with horses, a princess dress up set, some stuffed animals, and a stocking full of winter gear! The wool socks were a bigger hit than I anticipated, praise the lord.
Willie got a big ol' light-up music-playin' plastic walker, a soccer ball that also makes noise, and a car dashboard that - you guessed it - also makes noise! We are really lacking sounds at our house. My kids are just so calm and quiet at all times, we feel the need to inject sing-song nursery rhymes and whatnot to really help set the kid mood. Ha!

Trying out her new duds

Nice pic of Steve

Realized I can't handle decorating these things sober

I got to make Christmas dinner this year, and even though it consisted of really simple dishes, it was so tasty!

Last photo as an 11-month-old

No sooner had we wrapped up Christmas and it was time to start prepping for Will's first birthday. Luckily we had gotten some balloons from the Dollar Tree on the 23rd, so at least he'd have the requisite helium birthday balloons. We poorly wrapped his presents and I vowed to make him a cake when I had more energy tomorrow.

"Tomorrow" came darker and earlier than I'd hoped, and I started to realize that I don't really care about first birthdays. It's a great milestone, don't get me wrong. The first year has the biggest learning curve! But there is no real need to have a party. Baby doesn't care and Mama doesn't have the energy to put on some fancy show. So we gave him his gifts and he had a blast playing and soaking up the attention and then Steve and I went and picked out a $6 cake from the grocery store and called it good.

Ball pit was a solid $20 investment - an investment I highly recommend

I get points for remembering to buy a "1" candle though, right?

My sweet BABY!!!

The cake was terrible, as I fully expected, but honestly, this is the most elaborate first birthday party I've thrown yet. Sam ate a cupcake while Steve got called back into work and then promptly threw it up all over the living room rug (a mere six inches from the hardwood floor, I might add too). I bought a cupcake from Publix and split it three ways on Molly's first birthday because Steve was deployed and I was fresh out of shits to give. So a $6 CAKE (an entire miniature cake) and a group of people singing happy birthday is kind of a big deal, y'all.

The next morning, not-so-bright, but definitely very early (kids were up at 430 wtf), we set off for Minnesota. Or at least Illinois- as far as we could get in one day with three kids.

Happy birthdayyyyyyy we're gonna strap you in a carseat for 20 plus hours.

We ended up making it past Chicago and stopping at a hotel just outside of the Wisconsin state line for the night.

Dinner break

We made great time getting to our new home the next day despite some unexpected snow (or should we just always be expecting snow now?). When it came time for dinner, the kids asked where we'd be eating. Hahahahahahaha oh children. There is no restaurant in this town. Where will we be eating? Why the kitchen floor!

The enthusiasm is palpable, isn't it?

Will really knocked it out of the park and pooped at 4:40 the next morning, so that was fun.

And ever since then we've been getting back into our "normal" routine. We've been visiting with our friends and unpacking (furiously at first, but slower now that I'm feeling more put together and less energetic) and although today was supposed to be the first day of school, some overnight snow ended up cancelling school altogether! So we had a play date with our friends and shoveled snow and played outside. Even made a homemade pizza tonight. Freezing but really fun.

We got the hell out of dodge

So being sick and never sleeping and performing as the resident cow for the past year was really wearing on my sanity. You probably couldn't tell that from my last post though. So cheery as always, right? Anyways, my parents picked up on my impending trip to Crazytown and offered for the kids and I to come to Alabama instead! Which sounded like a FABULOUS alternative. I actually cried while my dad did a Santa voice on the phone with the offer. And I think that might have confused him a bit because he told Santa to scram and came on like, "Hello? Are you there? Do you understand what's going on?" Yes, I am just OVERWHELMED BY LOVE and can't make words right now. As much as I hated to leave Steve home for Thanksgiving, we both knew the trip would be good for everyone. So we loaded up and headed to the airport the next day for our flight down to Atlanta.

The last time Will flew, he was 5 months old, I think. A much easier, much more potato-y-er age than 10 months. He wanted nothing to do with anything that I brought. We ended up standing in the back with the flight attendant most of the time.

My mom picked us up at the airport and immediately took the kids to the bathroom. Bliss! We then drove just outside of Atlanta to a pickup truck and camo-packed Chick-fil-A where I got to go to the bathroom by myself and felt for a moment that I was on some sort of vacation. I mean, technically I was, but I feel like maybe life is hitting new lows when going to a CFA bathroom alone qualifies as a vacation.

I thought we had a while to go before we had to buy Will his own meal at a restaurant, but at the rate he requests chicken and bread, it appears I might be wrong.
We eventually made it home (about 4 hours south of Atlanta) but I lost my voice completely along the way. My throat didn't even feel scratchy! Just all of a sudden it started cutting out while I was talking to my mama in the car. And then sure enough it was completely gone. And it stayed gone for a solid 3 days. Let me tell you how hard it is to parent with no voice. I was mostly clapping like a seal or snapping my fingers and waiting on them to notice me before I could whisper yell and correct any behavior. Very frustrating. My mom told me on the way down that the other half of my Christmas present was that she and my dad put the crib in their room and they would be getting up with Will during the night while we were visiting. And I could sleep. By myself. With no baby. No breastfeeding. What. A. Gift. I honestly can't even think about it without getting choked up. Because it's not a gift you can just go buy at a store and be done with. It was a solid week of getting really crappy sleep and then getting up and "performing" all day. Big kids requested swing pushes and a million books and snacks and then cooking Thanksgiving dinner and hosting my four other siblings at the house, a football get together, etc. It was definitely the most meaningful gift I have ever received and I doubt anything can ever top it. I feel so undeserving of something as big as that, but I am so grateful to my mama (and dad) for giving it to me anyway. I like to think that one day when I'm logging a solid 8 hours a night, I can offer something like that to my kids. (Thank you, Mama. You really recharged my battery.)

The kids got straight to work watering flowers (and dirt) and digging up my mom's flower beds out front. If they weren't digging out front or having races, they were swinging nonstop on the swingset in the backyard.

A break for Sonic, of course

A quick stop to see Pops at work

completely fascinated by a door he can sit down at and still see out of- not a normal thing when you live on the second floor

My younger brother and his wife (and dog!) arrived a day after we did, late at night. And he was still up bright and early at 6:30 to play and read books with the kids. I was thoroughly impressed. His baby is due in January and I think he will make a great dad!

constructing something complex

who knows what all she's writing about us over there

He did special voices and everything!

he has no clue what he's doing

some pre-Thanksgiving artwork

this man child is the only reason I know Steve- incredible, isn't it?

Molly is his BFF because he spoils the snot outta her and is always up for a full body contact hug. Molly is a powerful hugger. Some would say a body slammer, but I think she just thinks she's loving you extra hard. (Oof)

Alabama in late November- trees kinda sorta changing, clothes out on the line, shoes (and pants) are optional

Will and Griffin- the dog with endless energy

Trix yogurt- not sure I'll ever get him back on regular ol' Greek

Just for one day I want her hair. (Ok, I'm kidding. I want it forever.)

On Wednesday evening, my older brother and younger sister arrived. Or as we like to call it, "fresh meat."

Notice the tower is taller and more elaborate than ever. Still can't get enough books. Bless his heart, he read them a million.

Turkey Day!!! We had a turkey the same weight as Will. We all agreed that Will has his weight proportioned much nicer than the turkey. A bit easier to carry around. It was the best turkey I think I've ever had, and I'm not a huge turkey fan. But this was great. Will wholeheartedly endorsed this meal by having two slices of turkey, two servings of stuffing, some peas, mashed potatoes, a roll, and a yogurt. I don't know how his stomach didn't just explode after the last bite but I've never seen him happier. We got him down from his highchair and he just rolled around and laughed and smiled at everyone. If this is the key to a happy Will, then our grocery bill just got a lot higher. *gulp*

Also worth noting- Will was completely weaned by Thanksgiving Day. A modern-day miracle indeed! I have a lot of thoughts on that but will save them for later. So SO happy to be DONEZO.

Holidays are no excuse to slack off on yard work, of course. Sam watered while this random neighborhood kitty acted unimpressed.

Black Friday came and I had big plans. My best friend from high school picked me up at 9 (what can I say, we like to get an early start) and we headed to CFA for coffee and then the Christian Mission for bargains. We used to hit up the Christian Mission all the time in high school for various costumes for school projects and also just for clothes to wear because we were poor and bored and had time to browse the endless racks of stinky clothes. This time though, we laughed our way through the ladies section, stopping to comment on how great this dress would have been for this class. We didn't pick anything up for ourselves this time. We did find quite a few good children's deals and I bought a China doll that I could have sworn was mine anyway but could not get confirmation from my mother on whether or not my actual doll had been donated or not. I bought it anyway. For $2.50 I was gonna have my memory secure. If I find mine in the attic, I'll just donate the duplicate right on back.

My mom, the kids, and I hit up Lowes to look at Christmas decorations and attempt to get some 99 cent poinsettias. No luck with the flowers, but the kids had a big time looking at everything!

Will enjoys this "no-shoes required" lifestyle. Might be why he hasn't really been bothered to walk yet....

Brittany and Haley came over later to run out some energy in the backyard with the kids. They *love* her. Pretty sure they are more careful and treat Haley nicer than they do Will.

Hello Kitty was a Christian Mission Black Friday find- and such a hit!

fair-skinned babes!

Night Two of Thanksgiving dinner. My final sibling arrived Friday evening and joined us for first leftovers. His wife is pregnant too and had schoolwork to finish (they live in Idaho) so he made the trip alone.

Oof.

Saturday was my sister-in-law's baby shower. Two of my aunts were able to come down and some of my mama's friends that I've known forever were there so it was really nice to catch up and talk with everybody.

Molly was SO EXCITED to attend this shower. This is her first real "girls only" event and I think she thought she might burst waiting for it to arrive. When she realized that it was mostly a bunch of ladies sitting around talking and eating, she seemed a little less than enthused to be there but some waffles and orange juice cheered her right up. I gave her my phone to take a few pictures too. Upon reviewing them later, it appears she had the camera set to time lapse, so there are tons of one second videos that will really make you sick if you aren't holding onto something while watching. She captured a lot, and in a very creative and bold way. Ahem.

Later that afternoon was the Iron Bowl. I can't remember the last time I got to watch it live but the kids made sure that 2016 wasn't that time either. Watching football to Molly is "bohring" so she, Will, my mom, and I hightailed it to Hobby Lobby to look for Advent candles. Or kill time. Something like that. Auburn ended up losing anyway. The lone Alabama fan was a very gracious winner. I guess when you're used to winning all the time, you get good at winning graciously. Every Auburn fan hopes for that "miracle" year where they can possibly upset Bama but it rarely happens. And when it does, I don't think we are the most gracious winners. lolz War Eagle anyway!

the whole gang (minus Steve and Celia, my brother's wife)

Will loves his Hodgie!

One of my younger brothers (and wife and dog) left Sunday morning and my older brother and little sister left Sunday afternoon. Sam was absolutely devastated by this. He lost his soccer pal, racing buddy, reading partner. All of my brothers were playing with Sam, but he took to Daniel for some reason and was especially sad when he left. So my dad busted out the riding mower for some leaf removal and let the kids take turns driving!

But you know I can't reach the pedal, Clark.

That evening we loaded up the suburban and took the kids to see Mr. Trawick's lights- a Christmas tradition since I was little. Sam and Molly were tired (gee, probably from waking up at 5:30 every morning) and thus, quite grumpy and underwhelmed by the drive thru light display that was a staple of my childhood (INGRATES), but Will was thoroughly pleased by everything he saw, which absolutely delighted me. Naturally, I forgot to take his 11 month photo, so when no one was right behind us in line, my brother hopped out to help me snag this photo.

Eleven months old?! How on earth is he turning ONE in a month?! It has flown by. And yet, when I think about how much I haven't slept, it kinda seems about right that we are approaching one year. I do feel like I haven't slept in a year. So I guess I'm ok with this natural progression. He is pushing himself up into a sitting position, crawls (in his own special way), eats everything in sight (including appendages if you don't move your hand in time), fist bumps, has THE GREATEST cheese face I've ever seen, and claps when he sees something he likes. We love him despite his poor taste in sleeping habits and look forward to his first birthday!

Eventually we had to make our way back to Atlanta. Sad faces all around. Molly kept telling me on the plane that she didn't want to leave Alabama. I told her we were already in Georgia. She maintained that even so, she still didn't want to leave.

My brother was flying back to Idaho shortly after our flight was scheduled to leave, so he helped us through security and bathroom trips and watching baggage as I ran around trying to get everything done before we boarded. A huge help! I realize now that I kinda took fewer and fewer pictures as the trip wore on, and I don't think I got any of this brother with the kids. Definitely regret that. His wife is having a baby in March and I think he is well suited for fatherhood too. (My brothers with babies on the way are twins and I think they will both be great! Can't wait to see the similarities and differences in their parenting though.) Our flight was delayed by an hour, and then a bathroom door broke on the plane, so we sat there for another 20-30 minutes waiting on them to fix that. During that time, Will decided to take a massive, incredibly stinky dump. Perfect.....

Will had another poop on that flight that took out his pants. This was unfortunate because I don't carry extra clothes when traveling. Not because I enjoy being unprepared but I literally don't have the bag space or arms to carry one more thing. Clothes won't fit. So if you have an accident, you have to suffer the consequences as well. Sounds a bit harsh for an 11 month old but it was 57* when we landed so he wasn't in danger of hypothermia or anything.

Exited the plane in style, wearing nothing but a jacket and some shoes. Doesn't he look thrilled to be alive? Sam looks like he's seen some shit too, but that's because he has (literally) and Molly can't understand why everyone moves SO SLOW and to be honest, I CAN'T EITHER. IT'S BEDTIME, PEOPLE. LET'S MOVE WITH SOME PURPOSE. Steve picked us up outside and we drove straight home, bathed everyone quickly, and they were all in bed and passed out by 10. Steve and I talked til midnight (idiots!) and Will actually slept through until 6. I hesitate to even share that because I know the events leading up to the 8 hour sleep stretch make it a total fluke, but what the hell, it needs to be documented. I got 6 hours of sleep and it was pretty heavenly.

So that was our Thanksgiving saga. It was a whirlwind but it was also super relaxing and fun! I'm not up for air travel anytime soon, but I do look forward to our next trip south. Now Steve is picking up our sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree so we can have some Christmas in our house for the next two weeks, then we'll pack it all up and drive to Philly, then Steve will drive to Minnesota! Hard to believe it's all happening so fast. I've prepared by making last minute Christmas cards and writing this blog post! Really contributing to this move. What can I say, I'm a team player! Team Documenting Memories, that is.