Life, Lately, From the Comforts of a Couch

After waiting forever and a day our stuff finally made it to us in Alabama. It was Christmas all over again as we watched our stuff being unloaded from the truck and opened boxes. We immediately set up our kitchen and living room after living in our master bedroom for a few weeks. The other half of Birdie's things arrives tomorrow. This mama FINALLY gets to set up her crib after all this time. I may not be able to sleep tonight from the excitement.

I was asked to be a leader for the young women in our church. While I'm so honored to accept this task it's also a little daunting. Having to learn everything while teaching lessons is a little stressful but I love it so far. The girls are amazing and it reminds me of when I was that age. (Just a few years ago, right?!) I've also made a few new friends that I can tell are going to be keepers. I love spending time with and learning more about them.

Our laptop bit the dust. Fortunately it's just an easy battery fix. Thank goodness for iPhones that allow us to get done what we need to do.

I'm not sure I will ever get used to Alabama's high sales tax, or the fact that they tax groceries. What the what? A good portion of my grocery budget goes straight to sales tax alone. We're also trying to adjust to not having a Costco. Major bummer.

We've been eating too many cupcakes and it really. Has. To. Stop. We've been taking advantage of the gym at D's base a lot lately. I'm the person that brings candy to the gym in my purse. Whoops. I can't help it... I crave sugar when I'm working out.

Birdie girl has cut her first tooth and her second one should be popping through the surface any day. Now that she's mastered rolling over from both sides she's been quite the show off. She loves to play with mama's spatulas, measuring cups and ice cream scoop. I've been building up a milk storage lately for D to feed her on nights when I'm teaching. I'm glad that she's finally learned to take a bottle so they can share that special feeding time.

D has started a fruit and veggie garden in our backyard. We're looking forward to eating all that he's planted. Speaking of our back yard- since only two sides are fenced we get a lot of doggie.... visitors. Our two, who alert me from their respective posts, want to play with and sniff these doggies. Usually I shoo them away. Today's visitor was a sweet coon hound who was at least 6 months old. (And ginormous!) Instead of shooing him away I played with him for a little before he wandered back home. (....and I might have named him Kevin...)

D's sister is getting married in Hawaii this fall. We're looking forward to a real family vacation. All of our extra pennies are being saved up for the flights 'cause it ain't cheap. Still sporting my pasty Oregon skin I need to work on a plan to gradually become tanner.

My pixie haircut is officially gone. I do miss it but I'm ready to have longer hair. I have enough to wear it half-up. I plan on adding some color to it in a couple months as, sadly, grey hair is creeping in faster than I'm willing to admit.

Sigh... The cupcakes are calling me...

Five... Five of the Best.

mila-bird is so sweet. so silly. so cuddly. the first tooth made it's appearance a few days ago. she growls, mimics us shaking our heads and can produce a fake cough. her laugh is contagious and slobbery, gummy grin is adorable. her hair is getting long while some of her clothes are getting too short. five months old and she keeps on growing. she's downright the best thing ever, and so we'll keep on lovin' her.

It's Lookin' Bare Around Here

As you can tell, our little virtual nest received a little scrub down. I wanted clean, simple and easy*. This is what I came up with 5 hours later after some thought. I'm still getting used to it myself. As the year goes on- or time permits- I might tweak some things here and there.  

It's challenging enough to blog with a baby but trying to redesign it? With codes and templates and lots and lots of mistakes? Psh. Tough stuff right there. I think a little pat on the back and some pb&j's are in order at this moment. 

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*Actually I wasn't planning on changing my entire blog. I was just playing with a few settings and ended up deleting my entire template. That was an awesome** moment. 

** Awesome= not awesome

Stuck in Transition

Since moving to Alabama our mental and emotional states have been on a wild roller coaster with only teeny tiny glimpses of the end. We don't know when the roller coaster will end but we know that the end is somewhere out there. Moving is always stressful and that's a fact.

Our first week here was filled with hotel rooms, house hunting, the flu, pent up dogs, humidity and eating out for every meal. We had a boost in our morale when we got the keys to the house that we'll call home for the next 4-ish years. Then the reality set in that we moved here with what we had in our car. The basics of living and feeding a family of three were not included. Thanks to the aid of lovely new friends we were set up with basic kitchen necessities, air mattresses, bedding and towels. "You love camping!" Devin keeps enthusiastically convincing reminding me. Heh. Sure.

Then the second week hits. Our morale... well, more so mine, is running low. At times it's tanking fast. We've had a heck of a time with a certain refrigerator, still camping in our house because our stuff just barely left Oregon, have to continue to rely on some friends for just about everything, wondering who took our outdoor trashcan and why (seriously), and a baby that's in the beginning stages of teething. All this on top of the daily life stresses.

I'm completely over being stuck in transition. I desperately want our stuff here. I feel like crap typing that sentence because I know that stuff isn't important. (Which I was reminded of earlier this week seconds after running over a squirrel with our car. "Well, our stuff taking forever really isn't important now that I know that squirrel's family is now missing a member," I thought. Being humbled comes in many forms.) But I can't deny how desperately I want to nest our home, hang up clothes in their closets, put rugs down on our floors and wrap Birdie's booty back in her cloth diapers. (I didn't know it was possible to get a headache from the fake baby powder smell that Pampers radiate.) I want to stop waiting and start moving forward. With every thought of frustration I have there's always one that follows that reminds me that things could be worse. It's true... it could be. I know that. I know that we're tried and tested in this world and, lately, we've been the recipients of a lot of pop-quizzes.

One of the great things about the blog world is you get to post only certain things and emotions that you want people to see. There are those blogs out there where the family is always put together, the house is always gorgeous and their life seems pretty fun all around. This isn't one of those blogs. I'm currently without makeup, hair not done, and jeans and a pajama top count as being dressed today. Mila is still in her pj's and I'm loathing the fact that my dogs are in the living room whining loudly to inform me that they need to go out. I know our fridge is leaking water onto the floor but have no desire to go clean it up. There's a bag of clean clothes that need to be put away and a pile of dirty diapers that need to go out. The dust on our window blinds are starting to form their own colonies. Also, I'm starving.

Hey Mr. Roller Coaster Operator- we're ready to get off this ride. Let someone else have a-go. One day we'll smile at this transition phase just like we've done with other tough situations we've been in. Just not today.

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Our Birdie smiles in her sleep... so we got that going for us. 

Life, Lately, In Snippets

> We had a great first Christmas as a family of three, surrounded by tons of family. It was loud, long, and chaotic. Perfect! This mama scored a new Nikon camera that has already been put to work. 

> On New Year's Eve we said goodbye to California and hello to the open road. With our stuff piled on top and various parts of the car we encountered 10+ hour long days of driving, 4 poop blow outs, two patient dogs and lots and lots of hotels rooms. 

> We stopped in Texas to visit our best friends and their expanding family for a day. They introduced us to Texas BBQ and we wore out their 4 year old and chatted like old times. (Like, the good chats that girls have late at night over bowls of cereal.) C & M- we're still obsessed with how comfy your guest bed was! 

> Saw some serious swamps and quietly giggled at all of the funny accents as we hit the southern states. ("Oh look at that BAY-e-bee!") 

> Our house hunting day was long, stressful and ended with me in urgent care with a 101* fever and early flu symptoms. Just when we were ready to lose it a house came our direction that left us crossing our fingers. 

> Over the weekend we splurged on a new Temperpedic bed and look forward to it arriving next week. We attended our new ward and found everyone to be very lovely and welcoming. We made some new friends and enjoyed a great meal at their house. 

> We've found that Alabama residents are very friendly and are serious about their Roll Tide. Like, dead serious. We enjoy their twangy accents and wouldn't be surprised if we picked up a little one during our time here. We can't go anywhere without people wanting to coo over or flat out steal Mila- bird. For the most part- we're letting them. 

> Doggies have been given the short end of the stick lately. Cooped up in the car and then cooped up in hotel rooms. Ugh. We hate it as much as they do. 

> It's already hot. We're still trying to get over how much our electricity bill will be each month. Plus, the sales tax is high. Ouch. 

> D loves his shop, coworkers and base. We're preparing ourselves for another 7-week separation sometime early this year. 

> My flu symptoms have been manageable up until a couple days ago. (Nicely timed on D's first day at work.) I spent all of Monday between the bed and bathroom. D had to take our dogs to work with him and was able to come home early to help me out. Fortunately, Birdie used that day to catch up on sleep. Thankfully I seem to be on the mend now. 

> More posts to slow come as I'm able. (And with more pictures if I can find my cord) 

Trio

These last few weeks have been insanely busy and very surreal. In addition to preparing for D's arrival back home there's Christmas shopping, packing, organizing, and tying up loose ends intermixed with soaking up time with family.

D finally made his way home over a week ago. We both don't do very well when separated so there was a slight awkwardness when he arrived. Not only do we sort of have to get to know each other again, but there's a new little girl added to the mix. And, honestly, I'm playing down the awkwardness quite a bit.

We filled our first few days with just the three of us running errands and having lunch together. D is already an amazing, sweet, and fun daddy. He's jumped right in and is extremely hands on. (There are many times where he wants to do everything.) I'm even impressed that he takes on cloth diapering and does very well. Mila-bird recognizes her dad's voice and finds him hilarious.

I love these two together. I love watching them play. I especially love watching them cuddle.

I love being a trio.

And Then There Were Three

All of a sudden you are over 3 months old, Miss Bird. Seriously?

You continue to be laid back baby that's easy to please, although we do have some fussy moments.

You discovered your loud singing voice. You enjoy serenading your mama at your 11pm feeding, sometimes lasting for almost an hour. I can't decide if you sing in the car to amuse yourself or cover up your mama's singing but, either way, it's down right adorable. You do it with such enthusisum that at times you sing yourself into dreamland.

You think your hands taste mighty fine, love to look at things while hanging upside-down, and have mastered the art of arching your back when displeased. You're starting to entertain the idea of possibly rolling over... but you don't seem to be in a hurry to practice.

We celebrated your first Thanksgiving, stuffed you in a bucket for your first professional pictures, visited your Nana and Papa, walked down Christmas Tree Lane, played with your first toys and continued to miss your daddy like crazy. It's become known around this house that you have a remarkable knack for being unimpressed at participating in many "firsts." But, a funny noise from grandpa or a glimpse of yourself in the mirror lights you up like a Christmas tree. Sigh.

Everyday we fall more in love with you, Mila.