Lighten up, Mom!

I'd be so embarrassed if you stopped by right now. Turns out 4 years, while not that long if you're a home owner, is a long time to settle into a rental. We are tentatively moving in a few short weeks, and we were smart enough to know that packing has to start like, now.

We have so much stuff! We have so much. So many toys. So many clothes. So many boxes in the basement and the garage, filled with yearbooks, wedding photos, and things I thought I'd use.

We did a lot to this little rental. We're replacing light fixtures we took down, as well as blinds, shower curtains, and knobs. We're patching holes in the walls from the TV mount and that time I threw an IKEA tray a tad too hard while trying to clear off our bed. We replaced that broken soap holder tile in the bathroom {I was trying to get the last of the shampoo out of the bottle}. We still have a list that's a million lines long of things to get done. I'm not complaining. Just whelmed. We're excited to be {tentatively} buying a house!

Speaking of the house, a small update: the home was appraised at value with no conditions {that's good}. The underwriting processed just fine and now we're just waiting to get to closing without a hiccup. That's it! Still not certain, but my 45% certainty that this will go through is now about 75%.

So we have to act like we're moving soon, at the very least.

Last time we moved, we had one child. Eisley was one year old. We didn't realize how much of a challenge it would be having THREE kids this time around. Not only is it hard because we're simply outnumbered, but Eisley and Violet are old enough to notice--but also too young to really understand.

They say moving homes is a big deal for kids, it effects them emotionally. I'm not surprised. This is the only home Violet has ever known. Paxton too. So with each item Justin or I have put into a box, there has been drama.

That's wearing on us, I won't lie. We can't pack a darn thing without one--or sometimes both--of the girls having a coniption fit about it. We have to talk them off a ledge every single time. "Don't you want your stamp set/baby clothes/swimsuits to be at the new house with us?"

We've never experienced moving with kids before.

The poor things. We've grown frustrated with them many times recently for just being kids. Because Justin and I have been having some seriously serious talks, and the kids are always around.

{We agreed: on the list of the few things that MUST be done when we move into our new home is putting a lock on our bedroom door. Sometimes we just want to be able to talk without being interrupted. We recently even hid in our tiny walk-in closet just to be alone for a brief moment and kiss talk while they couldn't interrupt.}

Most evenings lately we've had some variation of a talk that goes like this...

Everyone is preoccupied, Justin thinks it's an okay time to bring something up.

Justin: So Ed {Realtor} emailed today and said--

Eisley: HEY DADDY!

Justin: --hold on, I'm talking to mommy, please don't interr--

Eisley: DADDY!

Justin: Eisley, just wait patiently for me to finish speaking!

Me: What? What did Ed say? {Me, thinking the worst, of course.}

Justin: He said--

Violet: I'm a Quesa-Kitty!!!

Justin: Girls! Go play in your room while I talk to Mommy!

Eisley starts toward room. Violet ignores order.

Violet: I'm a Quesa-Kitty!!!!

Me: WHAT DID ED SAY?!?!?

Paxton: {Fusses quietly for a toy out of reach.}

Justin: He just said--

Eisley and Violet: PAXTON'S CRYING!!!!

Me: EVERYBODY BE QUIET!!!!

Paxton: {Now really crying because I yelled.}

Everyone Else: {Silent because I yelled.}

Justin: He just said that the homeowner said we can keep her grill--

Violet: I'm a Quesa-Kitty!!!!

Justin and I: YES, YOU'RE A QUESA-KITTY!!! WE SEE. THAT'S NICE!

Justin: She just wants to know if we want her to leave the grill.

Me: That's it? {All that interrupting and yelling over a grill? Meanwhile I'd thought Ed had called to say we'd lost our contract or something.}

Of course, sometimes it's more serious. Things from the loan officer or home insurance quotes we need to talk about. But you get the point. We can't have a conversation about this really serious stuff without being interrupted by what the kids think is important: Paxton "crying" and *Quesa-Kitty.

So you see, it's been a frustrating procedure. Biggest purchase of our lives, reams of papers to sign, lots of things to discuss, three kids interrupting all the way.

Bless their hearts. That's the worst part, is they're just being kids and then I feel horrible for not getting more into the fact that my daughter is holding a tortilla up to her face and pretending to be a Village Inn dish. Instead, she gets snapped at.

Don't tell me I'm the only mom who's done that? Regret blowing your child off for something that was annoying at the moment but you later realize, they really wanted to share it with you. They wanted to make you laugh. Maybe lighten you up a bit.

And darn, if you didn't need to lighten up too.

Cheers,
Heather


*Quesa-Kitty was a dish my girls both refused when we went to Village Inn with my pastor's family recently, after seeing the Passages Bible exhibit in the Springs. Of course they both refused to order it, but have been talking about it since. Go figure.

Violet, trying on my jewelry