June 7

It's official! Hayden and I have plane tickets for June 7. David and our friend Mo will be road-tripping it with our car. They've always wanted to, so this is the perfect opportunity.

I'm off for spring break and I'm keeping Hayden home next week. Based on the way he's behaving today, I'm not sure how much I'll get done. I really need it all done except for the essentials. I also want to do things with him next week, not just work at the house. Guess it'll be a day-by-day thing

Moving On Up!

Yes, folks, we have a place to live in Vancouver! It's actually just down the hall from the guy we're going to church plant with. We had initially planned to live a little ways away to reach another side of the city, but this works out perfectly.

David was planning to make a trip back to Vancouver in May for a conference and to house-hunt. However, we didn't hit BUY on the plane ticket we were looking at just yet. The next day (no really, the next day), our friend said he knew of a lady down the hall moving out of the city and wanting to rent her fully furnished apartment until next June when her daughter moves back from Toronto. Thank you, God!

So while we'll be in an apartment, and not a townhome, we won't be in a high-rise, at least not for the next year! This allows us to replace furniture piece-by-piece and save up to get something a little bigger (maybe) later on. Since I'll be doing the majority of the cooking for our group and our missionaries, this location is perfect. It also allows me to take Hayden to events at the Nakoma Club--the community clubhouse/gym/pool/etc.

I'm very happy with our new "home." The colors the lady has are a little crazy, so we're working with them and redoing a few things. The master bedroom is lavender with black furniture. I wanted a black and white bedroom with red touches, so now I'm thinking black with touches of purples. I can't wait to go (thriftily) shopping!

Boxing up

I'm desperately trying to sort and box up our entire lives. I love to organize so this process would actually be pleasurable for me if I wasn't having to stop every 30 seconds to clean up a Hayden mess, get Hayden something, or watch Hayden do something! You get the picture. Hayden wants to "help," but it's more of a "let's-see-how-much-longer-I-can-make-this-process-last-for-mom." I'm going to start taking days here and there to work on my house without interruption. And noise. And incessant questions!

We still need to find someone to take our dog, Belle. I do not want another pet any time soon. I have enough to worry about without an animal, too.

On another note, today is our 5th year anniversary. Here's to an exciting next five! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Rambling...

Thanks to Pinterest and some new favorite mommy craft bloggers, I have what feels like a million ideas floating around in my head. Most of the projects look very simple and inexpensive, but we're very concerned about space when we move, so I'm having to wait on the majority...and that's killing me! I can't wait to be able to stay home with Hayden and do projects with him (now that I know good places to get ideas!).

I do much better when I'm busy. When I have a ton of things to knock out each day, I find I get more accomplished than when I know, "Hey, all I have to do today is organize this stuff and do the dishes." I've let Saturdays become lazy days, and I don't like the way I feel at the end. So I'm taking steps to prevent that. Part of what I'm doing is being more pro-active. For example, I'm about to reintroduce exercise into my life. I feel huge, gross, and ugly. My clothes don't hang right. My body is sluggish. My knees hurt. I want to be a hot, fun mom. Hot, but modest! I'm sick of being the biggest person in the room. I know I don't have the time I did in college. I lost 60 lbs. in college and I felt so alive! In organizing stuff for the move, I found clothes that I had forgotten about because I haven't been in them in 4 years! Yikes. That's embarrassing. And horrifying. I remember how easy it was to buy clothes the last few years of college because none of them had an X or a W as part of the size. I want that back! I know my husband will read this later, but I want to be consistent and push myself without having to have someone standing over me. Where has my willpower gone?

Church was good today. I really, really enjoy our Sunday school class. I'll be sad to leave these couples. I feel like we've finally started connecting with some of them and it's my own durn fault it took this long. I'm working on becoming more social. I have a hard time making small talk, especially with girls. I'm also working on my relationship with God; that's been a huge part of what's going on with me.

I'm looking into routines for us in Vancouver since we'll all be together much more each day. I've told David that I MUST have at least an hour each day to work out or run or just for me. Hayden is fantastic and brilliant, but he's a toddler. For example, he had a complete meltdown in the kitchen at breakfast because the corners of his pop-tarts were broken. Heavens! Then he'll say something so beyond age almost-3 that we're speechless. I'm debating if I want to try to learn sign language or another language, like Spanish, with him. He learns both at school, but I'm not fluent in either, so it would definitely be a learning process for us both. I figure he'll probably pick up French or Mandarin (or both) pretty easily in Canada.

On a random side note, I'm watching "A League of Their Own" while I write, and I just realized I'm so like Rosie O'Donnell's character in this film when it comes to sports--loud, vocal, over the top. I miss basketball and volleyball!

Out?

Here lately I've been strongly thinking about getting out of the blogging world. I just don't blog enough. I'm definitely not dedicated enough to do it daily. I have too many other projects going on to blog each day. I suppose I could blog weekly? That's a thought. I really enjoy the blogs I read and would like to add more, but it just seems time gets away from me each day.

I don't know. I just added pinterest to my life, so that may consume me for a few days! I have some crafty projects I want to do before we move. Just small changes--mostly to things we already own. We'll see!

Turning a corner

I have hesitated to say anything about the topic I'm blogging about tonight. Hesitated for many reasons. One of my greatest faults as a mother is that I play the game of comparison. I read my froends' blogs, Facebook statuses, you get the idea and I see where Hayden is in relation to their children. I shouldn't. I know this, and yet I'm a glutton for punishment!

Hayden is a very verbal, intelligent child. But we have struggled mightily in one area: potty training. Hayden has a great deal of Holloway in him. What do I mean by that? Holloway's do NOTHING until it is their idea or they are completely ready. So why was I surprised houseboy should be any different? Because since Christmas a YEAR ago he has been telling us, "Potty! Potty!"

I thought, "Awesome! He will be trained by 2! Sweet! We are looking' good." So we tried. And tried. And tried again...during every extended school break and the summer we tried. No luck. He wasn't ready. I backed off. I just knew when he went back to school this past August he would be trained within weeks because all of his friends were going and school usually helps with this sort of thing.

It helped alright. It helped so much he only would go at school! And then he started going at church. But he would not go a single time at home. Until tonight. He has finally decided to be the complete big boy that he is! I think he knows what he's done the past year with potty training but we are finally seeing progress. HE told us tonight he needed to go, took himself, did it all, and we celebrated. Boy, did we celebrate. We have a little way before we're 100%, but I feel a weight has been lifted.

I'm so proud of him. He'll be three in April so I know he's on track, but it's been so hard because honestly, he looks about 4. I feel like people look at me crazy with him in diapers/pullups. I know I'm imagining this, but I know some of you mommies have certainly felt his way about some issue!

Closer and closer

I haven't blogged in quite some time. To be honest, I've been going through a range of emotions and some are very difficult to express. Everything continues to fall into place but as the time to depart draws very close, sometimes our patience wears very thin. There's still so much o be done. I have yet to pack the first box. Hello, Mardi Gras break!!

We look everyday for what we are soon to call home. I want decorate in my head, but all I have is a faint, very faint, idea of what we will have.

My 7th graders state writing test is so soon. Do you honestly know how hard it is to teach hook, thesis and clincher writing skills when it just comes naturally? Sometimes I feel like Sheldon on "Big Bang Theory." There was one episode where he tried to teach Penny physics. That's about what it's like!

Pray for us. Many days are overwhelming. I'm planning a baby shower this weekend. Party planning is not my gift, but it has to get there for once we are in Vancouver!