So, mid November we finally found a home to buy. It's in our same town of Monrovia, about a mile and a half from the house we were renting on Ivy Ave. It fit our criteria of: a new build, three bedroom, outdoor space for Myles, garage, in the ward boundaries, in a good elementary school boundary. Well it wasn't going to be good timing, but my life rarely has good timing. We entered Escrow on the 20th and had 25 days to get the loan done and funded. Mind you this is the start of holiday season. NOT a good time to move! I began packing almost immediately knowing that it was going to take some time with three little ones.
Meanwhile all the kids got sick. Audrey came down with a 104.9 fever on the 1st of December. I take her to the Pediatrician who send us to the Emergency Room. NOT what you want to hear when your baby is slightly lethargic and only 6 1/2 months old. She was tested for the flu, a UTI, and Pneumonia, all negative. No reason her temp. should be so high. Sent us home without an explanation. The kids are now trading cooties back and forth. Someone is always sick and I'm STILL packing.
Another week passes. My mom is now in town to help me out with the rest of the packing and the kid care. She is a life saver. I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. I don't know how the children would have survived without her. She was their mommy for 6 days. She packed, cleaned my old house, made dinner and fed my kids, and was a major support and help to me and Bjorn.
We start moving on the 16th of December. My brother Ryan and my Dad come into town on Thursday night and work like dogs to get my "punch list" done. They build storage in my garage, a lot of storage. They install my ceiling fan in my master bedroom, take out the glass doors in my kids bath, install a curved shower rod in the kids bathroom, patch and paint various holes in most of my walls. Then they paint accent walls in my master bedroom and living room, and build more shelving in my closet. They install towel rods in my bathrooms, and wood blinds in my kids rooms. It was a lot of work and they helped move furniture on top of all that. We unpack as much as we can, re-pack for a trip to Utah. Then three days later close the door and leave for a week of vacation for Christmas. It was hard to leave an unpacked home, but it was a much needed break from a month long job of moving. Oh, and the kids are still sick. I get sick as soon as we get to Utah. I'm out of commission for two days. Bjorn's back is still bothering him, so no skiing for him. But we did get lots of needed rest. Thanks for a great Christmas mom!
We arrive back home for New Years. We beg off for New Years Eve, just too tiered. But we did have friends over for a New Years day BBQ. It was a great day. We still had sick kids.
Last week we went back to the doctors to see if we can get a handle on all this sickness. Audery ends up with an ear infection, and a lung infection. She gets a round of antibiotics. The other kids are sent packing without anything. Two days pass and the other two are sounding just as bad as Audrey so I call and get them all on the same medication. FINALLY. I can't wait to have healthy kids!
The unpacking is going well. I only have a few more boxes to go. We've been shopping for furniture and are almost set. We are waiting for a dresser and chair to arrive then we will be complete. I've found a large mirror for the living room, a new bigger book case, a clock, Washer and dryer, a hall bench with storage under the seat, three rugs. One for the kitchen, one for the living room, and one for the hall. I still have to get a fridge(eventually), curtains for the master bedroom, finish the kids shower curtain, sew a pad for the hall bench, buy bath towels, and we need to hang our pictures and other things. It's all starting to come together and I hope our life is coming together too. It's hard when you don't feel settled. I promise to post house pictures. I was going to do "before" and "after" photos, but I didn't get the before shots done and now there will just be after pictures...way after.
Hope you had a nice and relaxing holidays!
