I know this new house is not the place we’ll put down roots and grow old together, but I sure wish it was because I. hate. moving! I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone you actually enjoys it, but coming from someone who’s only moved four times in her life, all of which came after sophomore year in college, it’s simply dreadful. The packing isn’t the worst part, but the cleaning out stuff you haven’t seen since the last time you moved before you pack it away again. But yeah, the packing stinks too.

The kitchen was my Everest. Just the thought made me want to cry - so daunting and insurmountable. When you live in a small house with no storage, you make what you have work, so in my case it’s shoving as much stuff as possible into as little space as possible and hoping it stays put. So opening the cabinets was treacherous for my mother-in-law - she had to duck a few times as things fell from the top shelf, but she was a trooper! She didn’t complain once as we went through packages of expired Jello pudding, old vinegars, and only laughed once when she pulled out the bag of rotten potatoes that had fused themselves to the can of crushed tomatoes (to which I hung my head in shame, and remembered buying those potatoes three Thanksgivings ago. It’s amazing what gets lost in there…). But after a few short hours it was done and that was one huge item to check-off my list.

I do have to say what a great family I have. Everyone pitched in to help with packing, painting, hanging curtain rods, lining shelves, and watching Conner. We woke up Sunday, completely exhausted but it was humbling knowing what wouldn’t have gotten done if it hadn’t been for our parents. Thank you guys so much!

Conner has been such a trooper through all this. He’s had more than his share of playdates and I’m missing him so badly, but this will be a short season in our life and the end result will be very sweet. I still have to kick myself in the rear to finish packing everything before we move (while also being a wife and mother), but being at the house, working and preparing it really gave me the jump start I needed and just want to get to the finish line. So that thought alone will hopefully help me sail right through packing. We knocked out the living room last night and it killed me since it’s one of my favorite rooms in the house and now it’s practically stripped bare. But I needed to see progress in a room we spend 85% of our time in, let me think I’m doing a lot more than I am. Saturday is the big day, so please pray for my sanity!

On a different note, I had a dream last night that we had our baby boy. He was smaller than Conner was, and looked a lot like him. It was a really calming dream, especially amidst the chaos of packing and doing everything and then the after affects of not be able to sleep. And I can finally announce the new baby’s name since Tim gave the final stamp of approval. So at the end of June/first of July we will introduce our son Maxwell (Max) Timothy to the world. Conner and Max - goes together like ham and cheese, don’t ya think? I leave you with this picture of my oldest baby and his crazy bed-head that makes me giggle every morning.

Well, it took a week longer than we were originally told, but yesterday morning we FINALLY closed on our new house. Talk about a frustrating ordeal, esp. since it had nothing to do with us. We were at the mercy of our title company until they finally decided to do their job. *Huff, deep breath* But now we are homeowners once again and I can begin some important business: Nesting!

I have paint all picked out, curtains, rugs, accessories bought, now it’s just packing up the rest of our life, moving it, unpacking, and I can begin
enjoying this next phase of our domesticity. I’ve posted some pics on my flickr of the house as is, and will be posting pics of the rooms as they become painted and decorated (which I make no promises when that will be).

One thing that did help me keep my sanity amidst the constant phone calls back and forth between realtor, closing company, and everyone else who needed to be involved was crafting. I used to be so good at distracting myself when life got tough so I wouldn’t have to deal with anything. I’ve since learned that God gave us emotions so we can fully experience life, and no matter how ridiculous you feel at times it is how you feel in that situation, so really feel it, deal with it and then get on with your life. Once I shed a few frustrated tears about the house, I prayed about it and then began caring for my soul, and that was picking up a hook, some yarn, and crocheting.

I found a pattern for these cuties and thought, “That’s what my eggs have been missing!” I don’t know if you noticed, but it gets especially cold in the fridge, so why not give them some beanies to keep them…um…warm? I guess these are popular in the UK, and are for keeping your hard-boiled eggs toasty until you eat them. Even tho they seem kind of useless, I thought they were insanely adorable and had to give them a try. And only took about ten minutes to complete each one.

I’ve also been wanting to try making a pair of slippers, however I thought I would start small and try them for children’s feet first. It’s hard to find masculine things to crochet for your son, so until the good Lord gives me a girl of my own, I inflict these gifts on my friends with girls, like Chloe.

They actually turned out better than I thought - I had to make up the pattern as I went along since the one I had made boats instead of toddler shoes.

So that is all for now. And just as I suspected, letting the ink dry on the papers and having keys in hand has given me a renewed vigor for packing so that is what I shall be doing all weekend, with the help of my mother and father-in-law - we’re bringing in recruits! So you guys behave and we’ll be talking soon.

I started a packing list since everytime I would think, “I need to start packing!” I would sigh heavily, cover myself in a blanket and do a Sudoko puzzle because I just can not get into it yet. One of the first areas I knew I should tackle was my craft stash but that thought alone makes me so sad, esp. not knowing how long it would be before I could unpack that stuff and begin my crafty endeavors again. So for one last hoorah, I decided to put a batch of clutches in the shop to appease that part of me that needed to create something. I’ve said before how addicting these clutches are to make and I love making them, but usually when a batch is done my creative juices are content for awhile and I can just coast on doing smaller, more mediocre crafts.

I love the colors of these clutches since they remind me of an anticipation of spring. Nothing overly pink and lavender or yellow, but more muted and understated. I did the striped clutches, which at first I wasn’t sure about since they look like they belong in a Miami beach kitchen, circa 1987 (Golden Girls, anyone?), but that peach really is pretty! However once they were done I began to warm up to them a bit.

The other ones are sporting a crocheted cotton flower this time as apposed to a felt appliqué, which I actually love. I don’t know why I hadn’t tried those sooner!

I know I will go absolutely banana’s if I can’t have something to work on in the event I have a moment free from packing/unpacking, so I shall leave some hooks and skeins out so I can at least do some granny squares - something to make me feel like I’m not losing my crafting mojo! But this will (probably) be the last shop update for at least another month, and then hopefully I’ll be back in the swing of things with some sweet spring shwag. Click here to check out or purchase from the new batch!

This afternoon my husband is buying me the best Valentines day present. Technically, this will be the best V-day ever in terms of buying things, since he’s not only buying me a house, but he also bought me a brand new front loading washer and dryer! Is it sad that I’m so excited about it that I’m dreaming about it? I don’t know which I’m more excited about, having a brand new w/d, or having them on the second floor! No more trudging down into the basement - I can just walk across the hall. Builders these days - they’re geniuses!

Even tho we spent the better part of Saturday at the house and planning for the house, it really hasn’t hit me yet. And b/c it hasn’t hit me yet, nothing is packed. Part of me is very anxious and knows that once I start, all bets are off and Tim will come home from work and find a very exhausted Candace passed out on the sofa b/c I got a righteous anger about it and did it all in one day. The other part knows we aren’t moving for a few more weeks, and doesn’t want to live in a half-furnished house. Is that stupid? And honestly, I really don’t know where to start. I keep hoping I have a moment like I did when I was pregnant with Conner, where I wake up one morning and it just hits me like a ton of bricks and I think about all I have to do and then I (happily, yet hurriedly) get it done. I do think about that episode of Friends where Rachel moves out, and her parting gift to Monica is to let Monica be in charge of the packing, which Monica excitedly accepts. So friends of mine, where’s my Monica? Any hands? Now is not a time to be shy!

Another thing that has not hit me yet is having another baby. I still have a good four months to get used to the idea, but realizing that Kelly is now in her third trimester (didn’t she just tell me she was pregnant?? Where is time going!), and one of my close friends is coming up right behind her, then it will be my turn. I also remember with Conner, after the big u/s time seemed to jump into warp-speed mode and one morning I woke up with early labor pains, realizing my body was a ticking time bomb. It does help that I feel the baby all the time now - but he is still so tame compared to Conner. Conner fought from day 1 to get out of my womb and I felt every roll, every jab, every searing stab of his pointy little heels. This kid tho, I could poke and shake and irritate the snot out of him and I’ll barely get a poke back. Could it be a sign of things to come? An actual baby that is chill? I look at my friends babies who are that way and hear them talk about how fabulous it is to just hold a content baby and I think, “from your lips to God’s ears!” I love Conner and his fiery personality to death, and I realize he wouldn’t be the hilarious, spirited child he is today if it weren’t for the difficult infant he was, but oh how that would be amazing. Fast and pray for me people - FAST AND PRAY!

I don’t know if the time stamp is correct, but if it is you’ll notice this post is coming to you at 2:50 am. Pregnancy insomnia, oh how I’ve missed thee! And since my days are filled with the business of life and buying a house right now, this seems to be the only time I’ll have to post, which will be light for the coming weeks. But I can’t wait to post pictures of the house, and after 4 pm today I will certainly show the new house that God has wondrously provided for our family. Take care kiddo’s, and a Valentine’s Day card from me to you because I want to be honest with how much you mean to me.

So, I won’t bore you with the details of me nursing a fever and a sinus infection for most of last week and the weekend (but I will say it was brutal), or the details of packing that I just can’t seem to get into yet (I’m just waiting for that moment when a fire is lit under my butt), so I’ll just get right down to it: Our baby BOY!!!

Yes, those boy bits certainly can not be confused. I saw it before we even got to the peek-a-boo shot, it was just sitting there in all it’s glory. Conner pointed to it and said, “french fry!” which made me die laughing. And his sweet profile, looking very much like his older brother already.

It’s always so surreal at the big u/s - there is a completely formed baby in there, just waiting to grow and fatten up before the birth. And once the doctor gave the thumbs-up on everything, I could really just let it sink in that I’m having another boy. Tim and I were slightly disappointed since we were rooting for the pink team, but I felt an immediate peace about it and just marveled at my youngest son. I do believe pink and ponytails will be in our future, and I trust that the Lord knows what he is doing, so with that I just wait and enjoy being the mom to two boys. I will certainly have my hands full, but it will definitely be fun.

And for more of your viewing pleasure, here is my mondo belly at 19 weeks.

Yes, it’s not really that mondo - someone recently called it a “disappointment”. Could it be that this child will be on the small side and not feel like a semi passing through my va-jay-jay like Conner did? I’ve only gained two pounds so far, so one can certainly hope!

Okay peoples, I have been laid-up for almost a week and my house is in dire need of some TLC. I seriously can’t believe we’re moving in three weeks. I keep making my girlfriends who have recently done this tell me it’s really not that bad, but since I don’t even have the first box packed it seems so daunting. What do I pack first? And what if I need something I’ve already packed? Oi, I need to go lie down.