Still Alive!

This is the first time I have opened my laptop in over a week!  We finally got internet hooked up at the new house the other day.  Get ready for the longest update ever.

Speaking of the new house, we're all moved in!  On Friday (12/21), we closed and moved all of the boxes into the garage followed by the furniture into the house.  The next day, Chris, my parents, and a couple of my parents' neighbors helped to paint the main living area of the house--the den, kitchen, living room, and hallway.  All that is left is the bedrooms, which will get done eventually.  Next, we worked on trying to unpack while also decorating for Christmas.

Our Christmas decorations were a little sad this year, but they happened!  We bought a half-dead tree for $6, I couldn't find the stocking hangers until after Christmas, and we draped lights where we could.  I honestly had been a little envious of everyone's pretty decorations, so I was glad to have a few days of Christmas in our own place.  Certainly not Pinterest worthy, but it was our home--it was us together--and that made it perfect.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house with my sister's family and also my aunt's family.  We have spent a couple of Christmas Eves by ourselves, so it was nice to be around family this year.  Also, we haven't had Christmas with my family in about seven years.

Christmas itself was kind of rough for us.  I was up until 12:30 am putting together Eliot's train table, which is to be expected, but as soon as I finished, Eliot woke up screaming.  Not crying.  Screaming.  He kept on for over three hours.  I had not clue what was going on.  I tried comforting him, giving him milk, being stern with him, and so on.  Nothing worked.  Then we noticed that whenever we came close to touching his ears, he said, "Ow! Hurt!"  Now, I doubt he came down with a double ear infection so quickly--he has never even had an ear infection.  However, he has been working on his top two-year molars, which his frequent diapers can attest to.  Chris got the babe some medicine and he was asleep within an hour.  This was nearly 4:00 am.  I was texting my mom at 6:00 am to let her know not to come to our house first in the morning, so I don't think I actually fell asleep ever.  Christmas Day, I was exhausteddd and happily took a nap with Eliot on the couch.  Poor Eliot!

We did have a good morning, though!  Eliot loved his train table, so it was totally worth it.  And he got most excited about finding two packs of Gushers in his stocking.  We spent most of the day watching new movies on our new big screen TV that my parents gave Chris and me for Christmas (and our birthdays.  and our anniversary).

A couple of days after Christmas, Chris's parents came in town for about a day and a half.  We enjoyed spending time together, showing them the "new" things in Chesapeake (they used to live here too), and playing with Eliot.  This morning sickness has really been getting me down lately, and I unfortunately had to go lay down a few times while they were visiting.  I can't seem to eat anything despite being hungry.  My nausea builds up all day until I find myself in the bathroom getting sick after dinner.  Maybe I have some kind of virus too (and maybe this is what made Eliot feel bad on Christmas Eve night?), but I have gotten sick more times in the past week and a half than I did my entire pregnancy with Eliot.  Man, this all sounds like a blog of complaints.  I don't mean to whine.  Maybe I just need to let my guard down and admit that it has been a little rough lately.

The new house has been so much better for Eliot, though!  In Lynchburg, he was limited to the den and dining room since our stairs were wooden and spiral; also, the stairs to the basement were dangerous.  I didn't like him going upstairs alone because I never knew when he wanted to come down.  Here?  No baby gates!  He runs around with the dogs chasing him.  He loves going upstairs to the room over the garage alone and plays.  He seems way less bored.  One time, it was too quiet and I found him jumping on our bed and watching himself in the mirror.  OK, so that isn't too safe, but it was really cute.  Plus, the yard is SO much bigger.  The dogs aren't little terrors like back in Lynchburg.  Before, they'd go out and bark all along the chain-linked fence.  Here, we have a picket fence, which I thought might be a concern, but there are so many trees and so much to explore that they only bark when the neighbor's yorkie is out--and that isn't very often and is easy to get them back inside.

Everything about the house has been great so far.  And Chris has been working super hard to get the rest of the house organized.  He spent all day (ALL DAY) organizing the books.  And I didn't help at all.  I'm a horrible person (or I'm just sick).  Chris has worked so hard and never asks me to lift a thing.  And that's what we've been doing!

Coming in July...

It has been almost a year since we first started praying for our second baby.  I remember hoping I was pregnant at Eliot's first birthday party.  That would have been kind of a small age gap, but I always wanted my babes to be very close.  I wasn't pregnant, though.

In May, I was.  And then in June, I wasn't.  I never knew just how heartbreaking that can be or how raw I could feel.

So when I felt that my heart and body had both healed and we tried again, I was scared.  And it didn't happen right away.  It took months.  But then I learned in October that I was pregnant.  I felt hopeful; I felt terrified.

For weeks, every ache was accompanied with overwhelming fear.  I constantly thought I was bleeding, but I wasn't.  I prayed all the time.  With Eliot, I had worry, but not like this.

Today, at 12 weeks, we had our first doctor's appointment.  I didn't intend to wait this long, but the doctor in Lynchburg didn't want to see me until the 12th anyway, so we figured we'd just wait to see a more permanent doctor here six days later.  I knew I had been growing and happily enduring early pregnancy symptoms, but when I saw that baby tumble around on the screen with his or her arms waving, legs kicking, and heart beating...  Heart beating...  Well, I finally felt at ease.

Coming July 2, 2013.  Robinson baby number 2.  :)

My Life Packed in a Truck

I don't really feel like writing, but I figured I probably should before I get lost in the whirlwind of changes around here.

Well, we made the move--at least half of it!  It wasn't always smooth.  It didn't always go as planned.  But it worked out.

Friday night, after we had been packing for days with only taking breaks to eat and let Eliot nap, my parents arrived at our house.  We had done so much, but still so much remained.  How how how?!  My parents got to helping us pack right away.  I think they finally stopped at 11:00 pm because we ran out of boxes.

On Saturday morning, we got a phone call.  We were supposed to pick up the moving truck here in Lynchburg.  They said we'd have to drive to Gretna.  Where is Gretna?  Is that by Roanoke?  Or Danville?  Or Charlottesville?  I guess it is kind of by Danville and an hour away.  Chris and my dad got back with the truck right after the movers arrived.  Great timing.  Stressful, but it worked out.

Chris's parents arrived not too long after we got started.  His mom watched Eliot while my mom and I packed and cleaned.  Chris, our dads, and the movers loaded the truck.  After three and a half hours, the house was finally empty.  I don't have much experience with moving, but I think we made pretty good time.

After lunch with Chris's parents, we went to the house one last time.  We walked around, loaded up the pets, and locked the doors. Three and a half years of memories.  We asked if we had made a mistake--we loved our home, but the truth is that everything felt smaller as the rooms grew more empty.  And when the house was free of all of our belongings and bare, it felt the tiniest it ever has.  It was a great home these past few years, but we would have outgrown it quickly.

Chris and I drove separately.  I had Eliot in the back along with all of the pets--Chris's car just didn't have any space.  I was very, very nervous because Eliot does fine for the first two hours of a road trip.  Then the next two hours, he needs attention and entertainment.  However, he fell asleep right away (he hadn't napped all day and it was 4:00 pm) and went in between being asleep and awake (but not crying) throughout the drive.  It really was not bad at all.

On Sunday, we had the final walk through at the new house.  Every time we saw the house previously, it had been covered in leaves.  I mean, TONS of leaves.  We tried to kick them around to uncover the mysteries of the yard, but this time it was all cleaned.  We had known that the house had some great landscaping with great trees and bushes, but, man, we didn't realize all of the details.  There are brick walkways and pavers all around.  There are flagstone walkways and river stones.  The yard has three Japanese maples, hydrangeas, and so many more plants that I can't recognize.  I'm a horrible gardener (horrible!) and just can't visualize how to landscape, so I am really excited that the whole yard feels like a cottagey garden.

Chris and I have had a lot of grading to do with the end of the term, but we wanted to do something fun with Eliot this morning.  Realistically, we haven't gone off on a "fun" outing where Eliot could run around in a couple of weeks.  Poor Eliot has endured all of our packing and moving and watched a lot of TV.  So, this morning was an aquarium day.  Eliot was happy to run around, check out the seals, stare at the crocodiles, and watch the fish.

We still have to drive back to Lynchburg to close in a couple of days, but we could only get help moving on the weekend.  And then there is the process of moving into the new house and painting.  I'm taking it one day at a time and focusing on my grading too.  We're almost there, though, and I think getting all of our stuff here was probably the hardest part!

Mistletoe Market and Packing. Neverending Packing.

Well, we didn't end up doing any of those things on that list aside from the Mistletoe Market last weekend.  Ha.  We have been so busy and I haven't exactly been feeling the best.

It was fun to go downtown one last time.  We weren't counting on enjoying a carriage ride--those lines are killer.  Instead, we just wanted to watch the horses come by, so we bought an apple turnover from the bakery, Chris picked up some coffee, and we watched the horses do their thing.

Eliot was saying, "Hor-seee!" the whole time.  On the way home, he said, "Bye-bye, hor-see.  Bye-bye."  It was so sweet and kind of sad.

I've tried to spare everyone a bit of the moving babbling.  I know there really isn't too much to say.

Chris and I have a lot of books.  We teach English for a university.  We have our M.A.s in English.  Yeah, a lot of books.  It took thirteen banker boxes for our books on our bookshelves.  And that wasn't even all of them. 

Boxes are everywhere.  I'm the kind of person who can't think when the house isn't tidy.  It is kind of driving me crazy a little, but I'm trying to remind myself that it is just for a couple more days.  Eliot loves it though.  So much to climb on.

And unpacking takes way less time than packing, right?  RIGHT?!  Ahhhh!

Tomorrow night, our parents are coming in town.  Saturday morning, the truck-loading begins.  And ends.  And then we're off!  So, we have just one more day of packing, which makes me both hopeful and kind of nervous.  Can we get it all done?  We've done so much, but is it enough?  I guess we're about to find out.

I Feel Like December is Already Over

I haven't been reading blogs.  Or writing blogs.  And barely keeping my eyes on Facebook.  Lots going on over here!

Selling a house while also buying a house out-of-town is tricky stuff.  Throw in a work, a toddler, other distractions that I will mention some other time, and kind of thinking about Christmas a little...  Yeah, it's been a lot.  I have only gotten about three stress headaches, though, so that's good!

The new great room during our home inspection

Honestly, despite being time-consuming, this whole selling and buying process has been going really smooth.  Both home inspections went fine--minor issues to deal with but I think everyone expected that.  I got all of our paper work together.  Up next:  appraisals and termite inspections, which I really am not worried about for either of the houses. 

Did I mention that I haven't even started packing yet?  We have TWO WEEKS until we load the truck, lock the doors for the last time, and head to Chesapeake.  Then a week later, we will drive for a day trip for closing.  And the next day we close on the new house.  And then it is three days til Christmas.

Where has December gone?  Oh, wait.  It's the first.