August 2012 - Everything else

WARNING: August was a busy, busy month; this post is quite long! If you don't want to read it all, scroll and look at pictures. There is also a summary of the month at the bottom of the post.

I have already posted about what the kids and I were doing for the first few days of August. To tell the story of the rest of August, I need to back up a bit.

As I shared before, at the end of May, Husband lost his job. The day that he learned this would be happening, I started looking for a new job for him online. The local newspaper in the city where he'd be going to school in the fall just happened to post all the classified ads online, so that was helpful. I had been looking occasionally up to this point, but now I meant business! The very day that he learned he'd only be able to finish out the week at his old job, I checked the classifieds and there were two postings for full-time, 2nd shift maintenance jobs on the campus of the university he'd be attending. When he got home the next morning (remember, he was working night shift at the time), I told him about these jobs and he sat down and filled out the online application, and together we wrote an awesome cover letter to go with it (we could upload one and submit it with the application). 

And then weeks went by and we heard nothing. The listings disappeared from the classified ads, and we continued to look for employment elsewhere, believing the jobs had gone to someone else. Though he put in many applications, we heard nothing from anyone. Not a single call for an interview. We wondered if the fact that the address he listed was hurting his chances of employment, because we were living almost 3 hours away and thought that employers might see that and disregard his application because of it. (We did make reference on each application to the fact that we'd be moving as soon as he found employment, though.) It was a frustrating time. 

At the beginning of July (!), Husband received a phone call one evening while we were visiting at my parents' home. It was from the university's housekeeping department, and they asked him to come down the following week for an interview. We had thought the positions were already filled, but apparently they just took forever to go through the applications and decide who to invite for interviews. We were cautiously hopeful. He thought the interview went well, and was told that they had another week of interviews for the two open positions, and they'd be back in contact after the interviews were complete. 

A full ten days following the interview, we finally got a phone call! They were notifying us that they were going to call references that day, and that Husband should get in touch with those people he had listed on his application. Shortly thereafter, I received the following phone call from a friend of ours, who is a former coworker of Husband's and one of his references: 

Him: So, I just got a phone call from the housekeeping department at [the university]. They wanted to know what sort of worker [name] is, and I felt like I should probably tell the truth, so I went ahead and said a whole bunch of good things about him.

Me: GOOD!

Haha.

That evening, the housekeeping supervisor talked with Husband again and asked for permission to run a background check, which she said would probably take a few days and then they'd let him know if he'd be hired or not.

It was almost a week before we heard anything. Then, on July 31, the night before the kids and I left on our trip, he got the call. HIRED. This was such a weight off our shoulders. We knew it would be a difficult year, because his school schedule isn't exactly easy (he's a chemistry major and only has core classes because he completed his associate's degree), and he'd be working M-F from 4pm-12:30am. His class schedule was already put together, and he begins at 8am every day except Thursday and is taking 16 credit hours. So yeah, a bit nuts, but he was just thrilled to know he'd be able to support us, after all. We weren't sure what we were going to do before he got this job.

The next day, the kids and I left for our trip. We got home Sunday evening, and Tuesday afternoon Husband left because his job started the next day (August 8). A couple of weeks before we heard back about the job, we had signed a lease on a place just a couple of miles from campus (total leap of faith; the landlords were nice about the fact that we didn't have the full deposit up front, and allowed us to split the amount in three ways and pay with our first three months of rent). The previous tenant wasn't leaving until the 15th, though, so Husband left for work without knowing where he'd be able to sleep for the next week or so (we ended up moving on the 18th, which was a Saturday). He ended up being able to sleep on his supervisor's couch, though, so all's well that ends well. 

I'd been packing here and there all summer (the books had been boxed up for ages, as had outgrown baby boy and girl clothes, extra towels and bedding, my kitchen stuff...), but I really started packing in earnest after Husband left for his job. My mom came down a couple of days to help, and my mother-in-law kept the kids while my mom and I packed. 

Saturday was the third birthday of our friend Jane (the little girl I used to babysit full-time), so we went to her party and then spent the rest of the weekend and the first part of the next week at my mom and dad's house. Here are some pictures from the party (there are quite a few because my child kept making hilarious faces):

Time for presents. Jeric's crazy face.

Jeric and L watching Jane open presents.

Jeric and L's mom. Miss this lady. :(

The three of them opened the biggest gift together.

What Rosebud did during the party.

L and his big brother K are frightened by the intensity of Jeric's desire for cupcakes.

Jeric singing to Jane. (In the background is part of Jane's mom. I miss her, too.)

Tired and not so excited about cake and ice cream.

From the weekend we spent at mom and dad's:

Rosebud and Nana (that's how Jeric pronounces "Anna" -- we're working on that; he can say it correctly, he just forgets).

The kids and I returned on that Wednesday (the 15th; incidentally the same day that Rosebud's first tooth cut through) to continue packing. My mom helped that day, then came again on Friday to help with the last of the packing. My mother-in-law watched the kids, except when Rosebud was cranky and needed to sleep. She was a bit congested (I think largely because she was cutting her second tooth) and couldn't sleep well unless upright. (My mom brought me my very own Ergo that day! Like the one we borrowed from Joni for our Florida trip. Rosebud spent a good chunk of Friday being carried in it, and she slept in it quite soundly, which was awesome.)

This picture comes from one of the last few days before our move. I didn't have my camera nearby so I grabbed the webcam and took a still, which is why it's blurry.

My parents and my in-laws were all planning to help us move. My dad and my father-in-law both have pickup trucks, and my mom has a van with removable back seats. We planned to borrow a trailer for both trucks, and the kids and I would ride down with my mom in her van, along with a whole bunch of our stuff. Husband was still away working. Because of his work schedule (M-F 4pm-12:30am, as I said above), we discussed that he would get the keys to our place and stay there Friday night (the 17th), then would not make the drive to help move, but would meet us there the following day when we arrived. 

Imagine my surprise when he walked in the door at 1:30am! That crazy man had been planning to surprise me all along! And my in-laws were in on it! :) Originally, he planned to leave at 12:30 after finishing at work, which would have had him arriving around 3:30. But his boss found out about his plans and told him he could work from 2-10:30 instead, so he left at that point and arrived at 1:30. 

I mentioned we meant to have two trailers, but only ended up with one, so it was a good thing Husband came back! My father-in-law took furniture in his truck, and he and my mother-in-law left before the rest of us. My dad filled the bed of his truck and the backseat and front floorboard of his cab, plus he pulled the trailer with most of the furniture. Jeric rode with Grandpa and watched a movie on the portable DVD player. Rosebud and I rode in our car with Husband. I sat in the back with her, so we had the front seat, one side of the back seat, and our (very large) trunk. Because the kids and I didn't have to ride in the van with my mom, she took out both rows of back seats and we packed that thing full! It had at least as much stuff in it as one of the pickups. In the end, we did have to leave a few things to be brought down later (as I write this, most of that has made the trip, but our bookshelves are still at my in-laws' house and I miss those things!) but we fit more than I'd expected. 

It was a long trip, but we made it and had everything well-enough in place that we were able to make a run to the grocery store that evening for perishable foods and other things, like a shower curtain. 

And the rest of August was spent in a whirlwind of unpacking, settling in, and helping Jeric adjust to a new home when he'd just left the only home he could remember and could no longer spend time with his Nene every day. And of course, Husband started school in addition to work, which means that we hardly ever see him during the week. And Little Miss Clever Rosebud started doing this constantly just a couple of days after we moved (she did it for the first time the night before the move):

She'd been doing a sort of swim-crawl (she'd get on hands and knees and kind of throw her chest forward to the floor to move in that direction, then get back up on hands and knees and repeat) since she turned 6 months (instead of just scooting a bit), but figured out how to pull to a stand and cruise along the furniture by 6 1/2 months. She also figured out how to walk while holding our hands about this time. This child just can't sit still!

And that's our August! (It only took me almost two weeks to write this post.)

Summary, if you skipped down:

July 31: Husband receives job offer to work maintenance at the university he'd be attending beginning fall semester. His hours are M-F 4pm-12:30am.

August 1-5: Kids and I on trip to Florida.

August 8: Husband begins his job. Kids and I still at in-laws'; packing begins in earnest with help from my mom and mother-in-law.

August 11: Jane's birthday party, then kids and I head to my parents' for the weekend.

August 15: Return to finish packing by that Saturday. Rosebud cuts her first tooth.

August 18: Husband surprises me at 1:30am by driving back to help with the move after working the 2-10:30pm shift. We get an early start the next day and are all moved in by evening. Thanks to father-in-law for driving his truck, my dad for driving his truck with a trailer (and letting Jeric ride with him), and my mom for driving her packed-to-the-brim van, while Rosebud, Husband, and I rode in our car.

August 20: First day of school for Husband. I begin my life as basically a single mom during the week (though we see Husband a lot over the weekend). Jeric does surprisingly well with the adjustment to his new home, though he misses seeing Nene and Papa almost every day. Rosebud begins pulling to a stand and cruising along the furniture (as well as holding our hands while walking) at the ripe old age of 6 1/2 months.

We moved! :)

Since it's been nearly a month since I posted and a week and a half since our move, I decided today would be a good day to update the blog. Jeric is taking a nap right now so we'll see how far I get before he wakes up. FAIR WARNING: If he's asleep a while or happy after he wakes up, this could be a very long post. If you don't want to read it all, skip to the end for a bulleted list :)

Jeric and I flew from Utah to North Carolina on 30 April. That was a busy day! My father-in-law had flown in the afternoon before and helped us finish getting the moving truck loaded. We all slept on mattresses on the floor that night but woke up before 5am so that Husband and his dad could drive the truck and our car to Cedar City, UT, because Husband had decided last minute that he didn't want to sell the car, after all. Cedar City (3 hours away) was the closest place with a car dolly. The men decided they wanted to get there pretty close to when the place opened at 8am so that they would be sure to get it. And they did. They did 19-hour driving days and arrived at my in-laws' on Sunday evening. They had decided to go the southern warmer route on highway 10 instead of 40, and it's kind of a good thing they did, because otherwise they'd have been in Tennessee during all the flooding. (All of that is so devastating. I can't imagine.)

Back to Jeric and me. After the men left that morning, we went back to sleep on the floor because I couldn't do any cleaning until 10ish when Ruth was coming over with her cleaning supplies - mine had all gone in the truck! She brought breakfast and we cleaned. Didn't get to vaccuum because my neighbors' was broken -- I just picked up the big stuff as best I could. I felt bad that it wasn't completely clean! Just before noon the bishop of the singles' ward we had served in came over with his wife and their truck to take our pile of DI (Deseret Industries, like the Goodwill of Utah) donations. After they left we got in Ruth's car and ran a couple of errands on the way to the airport for our 3:30 flight. It was 2:00 before we got to the airport, which made me a little nervous, but we got through security no problem and made our flight. Security was interesting, though, because I had to take the stroller since I had to take the carseat for the drive. I'd rather have strapped him to me in the Moby, but oh well. There were several other young families on both our flights.

Jeric did GREAT on the planes (we switched planes in Denver). By the time the first flight took off, he was tired and hungry so I nursed him during take off and he went to sleep and didn't wake up until everyone was standing up to leave the plane! Hurrah! On the second flight he played quietly for a long time, which is surprising because he is a squealer. (Ugh.) Then he took a little nap and woke up for the final descent. He got a little fussy because his ears were popping, but no screaming or anything. I just nursed him and he was fine. :) Jaw movement helps a lot with ear pressure.

My parents and sister were waiting for us (we were delayed about 30 minutes) and we stopped to get me some food. Then we started the 2 hour drive to their house, but it took about 3 hours and we didn't arrive until after 3am because Jeric did NOT want to be in his car seat and we kept having to stop and take him out to calm him down - he screamed the first two hours before he finally fell asleep. Poor baby. We were all pretty tired the next day, but we survived :)

We have spent a lot of time with both sets of parents and have seen all our siblings (except Daniel, of course, though we did talk to him on Mother's Day), siblings-in-law, nieces, and nephews. And our own grandparents. It has been a busy time, but we love being close to family.

Unpacking is going very slowly. We are living in Husband's parents' basement for the time being. It has lots of room, but isn't set up as a separate apartment, so we're improvising a bit. I unpack when Jeric lets me.

Speaking of Jeric, he isn't officially hands-and-knees crawling yet, but he scoots around on his backside in a sitting position if he wants something. I think he has been too heavy to support his weight on his hands and knees yet, but he's working on it and can now get to his hands and knees and rock back and forth. More exciting, last night he pulled to a stand! I couldn't believe it. Of course, he has always preferring being held upright in a standing position to being laid down on his tummy or back. I wouldn't be all too surprised if he learns to walk before he crawls. He is growing so fast! Jeric has also communicated with us a little bit (he has waved bye-bye a few times and shows us which toy he wants), so we have started using some signs when talking to him and sooner or later he'll start using them back. Should be fun!

I think that's all, so here is the bulleted-list summary I promised those of you who didn't have time to read the long post, or just didn't want to :)

• We moved away from Utah on 30 April. We miss our friends but love being with family. Jeric and I flew that day, but Husband and his dad drove and arrived the following Sunday evening (2 May).
• Unpacking takes forever.
• Jeric scoots on his backside instead of crawling, and pulled to a stand last night. He may walk before he crawls! We shall see.
• Jeric also communicates by waving bye-bye and grunting to tell us which toy he wants, so we are starting to use baby signs when talking to him. He'll figure out how to use them back eventually.
• The end. :)

More moving details

The next couple of weeks will be busy:

16, 18, and 19 April.
I'm working tonight, Sunday night, and Monday night, and then I'm done with my job! Work is an adventure because Jeric and Husband usually come with me -- Jeric sleeps better when Mommy is around, and Husband is less stressed out. It works.

21 April.
Wednesday evening my mom is flying in.

22 and 23 April.
Thursday and Friday are BYU's graduation ceremonies. I graduated in December and received my diploma in January, but there are no ceremonies in December so I am "walking" in April ceremonies.

24 April.
Saturday night I'm planning to foist the child upon his grandmother and take my husband out for an anniversary date -- she doesn't know this yet but I highly doubt it will be a problem -- thanks Mom! :) Our 2nd anniversary is Sunday the 25th.

26 April.
My mom is flying back to North Carolina.

27 April.
We pick up our moving truck.

29 April.
My father-in-law is flying in.

30 April.
1. Early in the morning, Husband and his dad will be leaving to drive the truck back to North Carolina.
2. Late morning (we hope), the landlord will come and do our final checkout with me.
3. Mid-afternoon, Jeric and I are catching a plane. After a brief (very brief) stop at the Denver airport, we land in Raleigh at 10:55 pm local time.
4. My parents will be picking us up from the airport and we will be staying with them until Husband arrives with our stuff.

2 or 3 May.
Husband will arrive with our stuff and we will move into my in-laws' basement for the summer.

I'm not so much looking forward to all the packing, but we are all so excited to live close to our immediate family again!

Moving!

In less than 3 weeks, we are headed back East, permanently (we think). Since I finished school, there is really nothing keeping us here other than the wonderful extended family members we have loved living near and our amazing friends. But, we feel strongly that Jeric should grow up closer to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins -- all of whom live in North Carolina (except Daniel, who is on his LDS mission in Colorado until October).

So, as soon as Husband's semester is done, we're out of here!

I'll write more details later.

1, 2, 3, 4

1. My diploma came the day after I got that email, and Ruth gave me a frame for it, and it looks fantastic.

2. Last night I felt like a single college girl because at about 9:30 I decided I wanted homemade oreos (very, very, very bad for you, I know, but I haven't eaten many and plan to share with new friends in our new ward). So I went to the store to get the ingredients that I didn't already have in my cupboard. I was baking until about midnight. Oh, the craziness! Next thing you know, I'll be buying ice cream and sitting on the couch eating it out of the carton with a spoon while watching weepy chick movies.

3. Our records have finally moved into our new ward. We have talks in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. And I think they're going to call me to play piano somewhere because a member of the bishopric came up to me to ask me if I played the piano and then said, "Don't you love hints?" And since I had to answer honestly that I do play (though I am very out of practice), well, we'll see...

4. Jeric will be 5 months old on Tuesday. When did that happen? He's outgrown most of his clothes, too. He loves to squeal and growl and puts anything he can get his hands on straight into his mouth.

I'm still here.

We're in the process of moving. We're mostly in moved in, and almost moved out. I'll post pictures when it's all done.

We're moving

In a couple of weeks, we are moving.

I'm not going to tell you the name of the city we're moving to for security purposes, but it's several miles south of where we live now. (If you're curious/want to know more, leave a comment with your email address.)

We can get into our new place on November 1 (it's a Sunday so we probably won't do more that day than drop off a couple of boxes and measure so I can decide how to arrange the furniture) and we don't have to be completely moved out of our current place until November 14, so we'll have a couple of weeks to move everything, clean here, and unpack at the new place. That will be nice, especially since it's a mid-semester move.

And, luckily, it's right off the freeway, so driving times aren't that different for Husband to get to work or school. I'll be driving significantly further to get to my school, but that will only be for a month or so before I graduate, so no big deal.

We're really excited! It's a big step up from where we live now. It's a 3-bedroom duplex.

Things that make me really happy:
1. Dishwasher (hurrah!)
2. Washer/dryer hookups (so we're saving up for those)
3. An actual dining room
4. More counter space and cupboards (unfortunately no pantry, so we'll have to adjust there)
5. Not on the 3rd floor
6. Trashcan and mailbox outside the door (no more hauling the trash to a far-away dumpster or walking far away to get the mail)
7. Two parking spaces that are ours
8. One bedroom for us, one for Jeric, and the other will be the office/guest room (currently, it's one for us and Jeric, one for the office/guest room/most baby stuff)
9. The landlords are awesome, then they have a little baby boy too! He's 3 or 4 weeks younger than Jeric. We are very fortunate.

There's probably more, but that's a good list for now :)