moving day

today is the big day. I'm way too tired to even think about it so please pray for all of us today. I seriously am not feeling like I'm going to make it right now. Hopefully I feel better after my shower.

OH man

So I am realizing that I only have a few days left and so much to do still. I am trying to focus on what I have accomplished and know that even though I probably won't get everything done that I wanted to do before the move (mainly sorting through clothes and boxes of stuff in the garage), I did get a lot done. And that's something to be happy about. No matter what, I got rid of a lot of stuff. Still though, I wish I could have gotten it all done. But I should have started earlier. I was just not motivated enough until we had a place lined up.

Now I'm down to the nitty gritty stuff that I really don't want to do. The kitchen is almost done. So we are living on really simple foods until moving day. Bought disposable dishes and stuff yesterday so I can pack everything up. So I had this great idea to break everything down into a list and I figured that would make things easier for me... instead it just overwhelmed me as I kept adding more and more to that list! LOL

I have got to get to work. I really need to focus on getting this stuff done now! There is no more time for procrastinating. So with that I say good bye for the day :)

A little practice

Today I had my hospital tour and the whole family came with me. I think the girls were really hoping to see a baby but the nursery was empty as all the babes were with their mommas. I was glad to get a look at the place though and just get a run down of what their procedures are here. Every hospital is different so it's good to have that tour. This is something I really wish would have been offered to me when Jenna was born. Maybe it was and I just didn't know... who knows. I'm just glad that is all behind me! :)

There is a really nice little family lobby area with tv and toys and a computer that must be online so that will be great for posting to my blog and Eric can post when the baby is born and all that. The postpartum rooms have two beds so Eric can stay there with me which will be nice. Eric is getting excited, I am getting nervous! I just don't want to have to deal with labor and delivery again.

We got a little pack of diapers (Pampers, my favorite) and wipes and the nurse who was so sweet to the girls gave them each a bag full of premie diapers and a bottle and a teddy bear. So they came home and went straight to work practicing diapering and feeding and just being good mommies. They were so sweet.



Alright, we're going to watch a movie now so I'll be seeing ya!

Nothing interesting

Just wanted to say hi :)

I took the advice of my mom and Biancka and took a rest day today. I really just stayed in bed most of the day. I caught up on sleep and the only work I did besides making meals for the family and damage control with the kids was laundry.

So tomorrow I'll be ready to get back to work.

This house is ours... This house is ours....

I'm so excited! We got the call today that our application was approved so the house (well half of it anyway) is ours! So we officially have a new address and are back in Minnesota! There were a few reasons that staying in North Dakota was not an option for us, and I am so grateful for the way things have worked out.

I accomplished a lot today. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I wore myself out though. Was out in the garage for 1 1/2 hours getting rid of furniture (don't worry, I used a dolly) and going through 8 years of girls clothes. I tell you, we have WAY too much in the outgrown clothing department. It's ridiculous! Now that we're having our last kid, and it's a boy, I can finally get rid of these old baby clothes. It's sad though :(

Not much else to say. If you want my new address just send me a note at ashscraps at gmail dot com

nite!

I'm having no fun... no fun

I was just thinking of a little ditty Michelle Tanner sang when she was grounded.

But truly, this is no fun. Not that this is a surprising revelation or anything, but still. I just keep thinking, I only have 4 weeks (maybe 5) left before Alex is born and I'm doing this?! It sucks. I want to be having fun with the girls and just enjoying the end of summer because God knows soon I'll be stuck inside day in and out with frigid temps and nasty snow.

Oh well.

Today my main plan is to get some cleaning and laundry done. Probably pack a few boxes but nothing too overwhelming. The cleaning is enough. I have to do dishes and clear the counters. Also the kitchen floor is nasty so that will be done. I am using resolve on the carpets in the really bad areas and it looks much better. Laundry is insane so I'll be washing, drying, folding and packing that today. Plus cleaning the bathroom cabinets which have already been emptied. I just need to scrub them out.

Our place is a bit of a disaster right now and we have two apartment showings this afternoon. I'm doing my best to keep things in decent order but my goodness, they have been showing this place for nearly two months and not leased it yet so at this point I figure if they aren't getting any takers when I work hard to clean then what's the point? At this point I don't really care. We have to pack and packing means mess so too bad for the management. If they don't rent this place before we move out it won't be my problem.

Alright, enough procrastinating. Later!

looking good

Things are looking good for this new place. We called today and were basically told we just need to pay our late fees to our current management company and the place would be ours. Well, we don't have $345 laying around (that's 1 legitimate late rental payment, 2 incorrectly marked as late rental payments *grrrr* and 3 $75.00 month-to-month lease fees that we didn't realize would be a part of switching to a month-to-month lease when our one year lease was up) so we called the management and they said we could just use our deposit to pay for it. So we called back the new property place and told them. Our leasing agent basically just has to call up the credit check place and get an approved application back from them and the place will be ours. Did that make sense?

So it looks like the duplex is ours and I'm very excited! I just cannot wait to get out of this apartment and all moved into our nicer, newer place. The moving is going okay. We got a lot of boxes down to the garage and I have 2 bedrooms plus both bathrooms all packed with the exception of the neccessaries that we will need until we move out. Those will just all go into the truck last so that they are the first things pulled out.

I have also gotten rid of about 14 boxes worth of stuff that we didn't need. And this is only so far. I still have several areas to go through and I know our kitchen will be full of stuff we don't take with us.

I know all this moving and packing blogging is boring but it's really all I have going on right now. It's all I do most of the day. Tomorrow is the last day of Eric's weekend so we need to get a lot done while he's here. I'm getting to one of those points in the process where I don't know what to do next. I hate that. I think part of the problem is just all the furniture sitting around. It takes up so much space and makes me feel like I still have so much to pack.

zzzzzzz

I'm falling asleep at the computer. I am just taking a break from working but I really don't feel like going back to it at all now. I have been taking it more slow today than I tried to do yesterday but still it's exhausting.

However, I have gotten the spare room completely emptied and cleaned! Our living room is stuffed full of boxes and there are toys strewn all over the floor, but one room is immaculate and that does help motivate me to keep at it.

The girls room is what I'm working on now. I figured their room would be fairly easy, especially compared to the room I just finished. Mainly because everything that is in there is stuff that belongs in there and is easy to pack and label. It's really just toys, clothes and beds. There are a lot of boxes up in the closet shelves that I know will mostly go to the Goodwill drop-off so I'm actually almost done with their room already and I just started an hour and a half ago. I'm planning to clear it out except for matresses on the floor, a bin of toys, and a hamper. Jenna's dresser is out in the living room so I'll just put their clothes for the next two weeks in there and get Marah's dresser down to the garage. I may even be finished tonight but most likely it will be tomorrow morning that I finish it up.

I do wish that the entire apartment wasn't gettting completely trashed in the process of all this packing, but I guess I'll have to deal with it. There is enough to do without worrying about keeping it all neat and orderly in here. As long as my packing stays organized, which so far it is, I'm good. I care about having an organized new place, not about keeping this place neat and tidy right now.

Okay, I think I have to take a rest.

blah, this is exhausting!

Since Eric is working 10 hour days I'm forced to do a lot of this packing business on my own, and man oh man is it exhausting! I'm struggling with not feeling overwhelmed right now but it's tough.

Yesterday I started tackling the spare room. Mainly because that's where a lot of our boxes are and they were mostly full. So I went to work, going through each box and sorting everything into keep, donate, toss piles. I got all but one box sorted out and that last box will be easy to do so I'll do it first this morning. I ended up with 8 empty boxes to start packing with. In my hallway right now are 2 full garbage bags of trash and 7 garbage bags and 3 small boxes packed full with stuff to take down to Goodwill. And that is mainly from ONE room! Granted, this room has been essentially untouched for the last year so I knew most of it would be going. It feels so good! I'm a little scared to tackle the garage but I think I'll work on that this weekend with Eric.

Actually, I prefer to declutter without Eric around. He's much less ruthless than I am. I can't get through to him that if we haven't used it in 2 years then we obviously do not NEED it. We can't take it with us when we die and I really hate to think of leaving a ton of junk for my kids or relatives to have to sort through. We have been dragging around these stupid baseball cards for what, 10 years now! They are just throw into boxes, not protected at all and it drives me insane. Eric refuses to part with them and I just hate them. They take up valuable space, and for what? Do I think that Eric will EVER go through those boxes to see if there is anything of value in there? No. I've tried so many times to get him to get rid of them but to no avail. Oh well. I guess I'm stuck with them.

I was so tired last night. I really did work pretty much all day while Eric was at work. I know I overdid it. I went to bed at the same time as Eric which doesn't happen very often on a work night. I'm glad I did though, since the girls woke up at 7 this morning. So today is another day. I plan to finish up the spare room, clear a space for boxes and small furniture in the living room, and clean the spare room. That's the plan. We'll see how far I get. I also need to go to the store, make some important phone calls/plans, take Jen to gymnastics and take care of dinner. All while keeping the kids from going crazy from boredom. Wish me luck!

Looking better

Things are looking better on the home front. We have not gotten a call saying that they could not process our application because the unit is already reserved so looks like in that area we are in the clear!

I really hope that we will get this place. I really like it a lot. It's a good size for us and the only things that are lacking are a second bathroom which I will definitely miss but can deal with, and a washer and dryer. It does have hookups though so we'll be on the lookout for a good deal on a used set.

The kitchen is a great size and the dining area is also plenty big. There is a little alcove area that might work for our computer desk and a large storage closet which is always needed. The bedrooms are on the small size, but we're used to that and as long as we have 3 we can deal with the smaller size there. We need to find bunk beds for the girls so that they will have more play room but there's time for that too. Everything looks like it's been remodeled in the last year or two so it's all very nice, much nicer than what we're living in now and while it's on the second level of a two story house, it's only a 6 step incline since the lower level is half underground.

Anyway, we both really loved it and we're getting excited! Now to just get all this stuff packed! I'm working so hard to get rid of our clutter, packing boxes and bags to donate to the thrift store and then trashing what's unusable. I really want to move in with what we love and need, not all this stuff that's been sitting unused for over a year in both our spare bedroom and our garage. We just have too much stuff and I am not going to be taking all the junk to our pretty new place.

Anyway, please continue to keep our situation in your prayers. We have 2 1/2 weeks to be out of here and we really need to have a place to go! :)

love to all

You've got to pray

We looked at a duplex yesterday evening and oh man, I fell in love! It's really very nice, the nicest place we will have lived in if we get it so I'm very anxious and excited... but nervous! I am trying not to set my heart on it yet. The reason being that I'm kind of concerned that it might not be available any more. For some reason I can't get a real clear answer on this and I don't want to go into details about that right now cause I'm tired and just want to go back to bed, but I wanted to ask if you're reading this would you please just say a short prayer for our family that we would be able to rent this place? We really want it and it is getting down to the last minute here, pretty soon we are going to be homeless (or living with in-laws which I don't want to do).

Thanks :) I'll keep you updated.

Amazon's Picnic

We had fun at Amazon.com's annual family picnic this past Sunday. They kept us entertained with lots of fun for the kids, games and prizes and food. Okay, I was the least entertained of the four of us, but hey, I'm pregnant and it was freaking HOT!



Jenna was brave enough to go in the dunk tank, which was really surprising.


She was nervous though. Funny, she plugs her ears as she falls in the water, not her nose :) That's Jenna.


Marah has a weak throwing arm. Sadly, I wasn't much better LOL


Jenna was ready to race, but her partner was a teeny little girl, so they came in last.


She still had fun


Eric's team was behind but the man jumped into that bag and took off! He was so fast that I couldn't get any pictures of him going across the lawn because I couldn't find him in my screen! His team won :)


In the Princess Bouncy Castle


She makes friends with all the kids.


She is a bean pole. She looks like a gymnast!


I entered the dessert contest, and while mine was totally the best by far (I'm not lying) I didn't win because someone made Better Than S.E.X. cake which is so easy to make it's not even funny. They won... damn. I was really disappointed. Lemme tell you, I worked way too hard on those dang cake balls and they really took all day and made my kitchen a HUGE mess and it was hot and I was going on 4 hours of sleep so needless to say, it was a stressful experience. However, the result was awesome and so I dealt with it. The way the contest was run was incredibly stupid anyway, so I had a feeling I wouldn't win. Whatever. I made Vanilla Chocolate Lemon Raspberry Cake Balls and I will never do that for a picnic contest again LOL

Marah made a necklace and a little colored sand jar and lost both items at the picnic. I don't know how that even happened. Jenna spent most of the day standing in line at the dunk tank. Eric spent most of the day manning the dunk tank and I just stood around, bored :)

After the picnic we went to Thief River to visit Eric's parents. We planned to only stay one night but that turned into three for me and the girls. We visited with friends we hadn't seen in a year and that was very nice. The girls got sick on Tuesday and so I stayed with them while Eric went home since he had to work the next day. Jenna was the sickest I have ever seen her, poor thing. It was miserable. Marah didn't get as sick as Jenna, thankfully, and so far Eric and I are fine.

Now I'm going to go relax and enjoy my Starbucks cause it has been a LOOONG day!

cause I love her