So far so good

I made it to Arizona. Left Maryland yesterday after a lovely day in DC. I scouted out the Holocaust museum with Isaac in my Bjorn, while my dear friend Elsje took Austin and her boys to a nearby park. The museum was very graphic, somber, touching and insightful. I can't begin to understand what any of those people went through, or how they have recovered from such horrible circumstances. I am grateful to know that most of them have gone to heaven by now, away from any nightmares that they may have experienced here. They had an actual boxcar that the Jews rode in for days, pieces of hair that had been shorn, their leather shoes that survived the cremation, videos of their liberation and stories of heroes.

The movers loaded up the big Allied truck on Friday. Isaac and I stayed there the entire time, and thank goodness for good neighbors who took my boys for a few hours. It got to be SO COLD INSIDE MY HOUSE with the doors open and the movers in and out. Inside it was 50 degrees, outside was a warm 40!!! Isaac was so cold, and b/c we had packed up our "cold" clothing to come to the desert, it was pretty miserable. I did my best to wrap him up, but he was very fussy.

Jared left early Saturday morning with his dad (who arrived from AZ to caravan with Jared). So, in tote are Wesley and Wrangler. Jared is still driving...was crossing through OK and TX today. We packed up a fun backpack for Wesley for his long drive across the USA. So far so good. I am so glad that I don't have to make that looooon drive. I don't do well on long road trips.

I had my own adventures in the airport. Austin had fallen asleep on the way, so naturally he was a MESS when we arrived. The double stroller accidently got packed up by the movers, so I was definitely short handed to carry in my luggage + kids.

So, this was the scene: one woman, a screaming and crying 3 year old on the floor, a baby in a bjorn crying, one large luggage and two carry ons. I dragged Austin around from line to line, explaining to him what we were doing. He kept crying that he wanted to go home. Asking him to take off his shoes at the security gate was another challenge, and putting the shoes back on...forget it! It was more difficult b/c I had a baby strapped on my chest, so I couldn't carry Austin around or help him out much.

We made the FULL flight to AZ. I am grateful it had no layovers. 5 hours in the plane was long enough. There was not one empty seat, so the air got mucky really quick with all the people. I was in the middle seat with Isaac and Austin was an energetic and figety toddler by the window. Isaac slept the entire time (what a joy that was!!) and Austin moved from floor, to bathroom, to seat, back to floor. He finally fell asleep the last 20 minutes of the flight (of course it was near midnight DC time). He refused to walk off the plane, but was just crying. Poor guy. As a result, I used a wheelchair to get to the baggage claim section! I loaded up with my boys, carry ons, and they wheeled me out of there:)

I met up with my best girls Arianne and Leslie. Having them welcome me in was what I needed. This big transition to AZ is a bit scary at times, especially now that Jared will be gone. But, knowing that I have their support really builds up my own strength.

We of course stayed up painting toe nails, drinking Sonic limeades, and watching American Idol. I got to bed by 3:30am (DC time). Austin also stayed up super late, and today fell asleep on the floor during Primary at church. I hope to get him back on a schedule soon enough!

So, here I am in AZ. The weather is sunny and warm. I will miss the green forests of Maryland, the deer, the fireflies, friends and the many cultures. I loved working with so many different types of people and educating myself more about our nation's capital and the history it has. It was also very refreshing going through an East Coast winter! New experiences and adventures are coming here in AZ...I will post pics of our house as soon as our camera arrives. I do love that it was a delightful 80 degrees today. I was sweating in my "winter" dress at church...it's been so long since I have walked around barefoot or turned on a ceiling fan.

I hope that Jared, Wesley and Wrangler arrive safely!

Packed Up

We had the packers boxing up all our junk today....so glad it was not me! I was tired just watching them...

To bad we have no toys, tv, utensils, computer or other important things out. Not sure what we will do for the next three days!!! We are living out of our suitcases for the next week. My boys are going to have to be flexible and creative with their living conditions!

Stressin'

This is a big week....we are moving!!!

I am trying to plan out how exactly this week is going to go in my head before I get too overwhelmed. I am so grateful to finally have Jared back at home with us to help out. I don't think I will ever take his presence for granted, especially now that it will be limited by his commute.  I am also so grateful for good neighbor's who have offered to help us out...

Sunday: Last day at church. Take a side dish to our Linger Longer after the church service. (Hot dogs always are a hit!). Say good-bye to our dear Elders. Say good-bye to a few members...and avoid awkward good-byes with everyone else. Go to Virginia to have a BBQ with Cynthia Patience, my cousin, and her dear family. Pick up my wheat and buckets for food storage that I ordered...500 lbs and 10 buckets!

Monday: Work out. De-clutter the kitchen, nursery, toy box downstairs and garage (we fortunately have moved so many times that we don't have a lot of junk. In fact, some things never got unpacked from our last move!) We also want to go to the Holocaust Museum in DC. We'll take the metro one more time and enjoy our boys. Hopefully we won't get too wet by all the rain in the forecast...plus Austin has a nasty cough and Isaac is congested. FHE with Elsje Dennison (and she's even making us homemade pizza! Yum~)

Tuesday: Go work out with my trainer Dave. Work 1/2 a day, continue to organize our stuff for the movers. Rosa will watch the boys in the afternoon. Set things aside for the next few days in suitcases as things are getting packed up tomorrow. EAT ALL THE FREEZER FOOD WE CAN! Do some more laundry. Set up someone to come and clean up our house when we leave. 

Wednesday: Work out. Movers come in and start packing/boxing up our stuff (they even pack up garbage if you are not careful to throw it out beforehand). Work 1/2 day, Rosa's last day. 

Thursday: Last work out with Dave. Movers finish up. We will then be limited by no toys, furniture or kitchen accessories. Boys will go in the afternoon to a Jeri Nyborg's and play, work 1/2 day while they are gone. 

Friday: Last work out. Finish up that blasted root canal...get my porcelain crown put in. Movers start loading up the moving van. Work 1/2 day while they boys are at Eljse's house.  Glenn Wilson arrives from airport (he'll be driving out to AZ with Jared, Wesley, Wrangler and cousin Joshua). We will have only air mattresses available. There will be 7 of us sleeping on the floor at my house? I don't think so. I will opt to go to my VT house, Corrinne Nelson, to sleep with the baby. 

Saturday: Somehow get things organized? Work 1/2 day? Send the boys to a neighbor's house, the Briggs,  b/c the house will be bare. Leave for airport around noon with Isaac and Austin in tote. Plane leaves at 6pm...long flight with the babes...arrive in AZ to spend the next few days with lovely Leslie Boley. 

Sunday: Jared starts his journey in our Tahoe, while pulling his car. It will be a rough road trip wtih just the clothing on their back, some junk food along the way, movies and lots of miles.  I sure hope they arrive safely!!!

We are very excited for our move to AZ...mix it in with some anxiety, nerves and curiosity.

A shout out for family

I meant to put up some pictures and mention how lucky I was to have so many family members in town this last month. 

Highlights:

Dad and Olga came in from Mexico. We shared

 some fun times with tortillas, hearty soup, snow falling and hugs.  They were so helpful to get up with the boys in the early hours and help out with meal times. 

Mom and Oscar (he came all the way from Argentina) stayed for a week as well. My mother was so helpful with the boys; puzzles, play dough and books were some favorites. We stayed up late the day before Isaac's blessing and made some  yummy Argentine food for our guests. Empanadas (Oscar's recipe) and an arrollado. Thanks for all your help! How happy it makes my heart to hear them all speak Spanish together:) I am grateful that my boys can communicate with them. 

Isaac's blessing was the following day, February 22nd. My sweet cousin Cynthia came out with her five kids from Virginia and was great company to have over. We also were happy to have the Canon family, the original missionary who brought the gospel to my mom in Argentina 58 years ago! They now live in the area, so what a great connection we made there. 

Carol and Glenn Wilson came and stayed for a week as well. Both sets of parents were able to attend the blessing, so it was ideal that they overlapped like that. "Pipa" (Glenn's nickname) was always up for wrestling with our boys, spoiling them with donuts and going for walks. Carol is really good about just sitting down and talking with Wes and Austin. Oh how they love it! They also made some fun food together; bread shaped like bears, green smoothies and meat patties. 

My house is a bit lonelier now these days....

Life changes...again...

We are going from this....

To this....

The Wilson family is sticking with our nickname of being "gypsies." We are moving AGAIN. We are leaving from the Washington DC area to back "home" in Arizona. This is move #14 in 6 years. We lived in AZ two years, three houses, and two states ago. We leave in TWO WEEKS.

Jared has done a fantastic job out here in MD with DirectBuy. Our corporate offices have recognized his job well done, so when a new location in California came available to continue doing the same thing, we decided to take the leap of faith. 

Jared will be living in California, while I move back to AZ with my boys. I will no longer need to work! He will commute back home every weekend to be with us. This is a big sacrifce for both of us. I will start a new journey of single mom of three small boys. Jared will become a working bachelor, far away from us!

I am already nervous about how I am going to do. I suppose it won't be that much different than what I have been experiencing these last two years with DirectBuy. Jared's work schedule has required 60-70+ hour work weeks, late nights and weekends. I am used to doing the bedtime routine alone and being creative with Saturday activities as he worked.  The nice thing about it though was that I knew he would eventually be home, we could sleep in the same bed, and that he was only a few short miles away if I needed him. 

I am going to need to be very courageous and supportive in this new role. I am thrilled about being closer to my friends in AZ, getting lots of sunshine, being in our home and raising my little gentlemen. But I am worried about how Jared will be on his own; what will he eat? Will he feel lonely or overwhelmed with no one close by?(We worked so well together here in MD as a partnership, so I am sad that he'll be all by himself). Will he be safe commuting via plane and car every weekend? How will our boys be affected by not being with papa everyday?

Thank goodness for webcams and technology. We can chat everyday and I can see him! How did the pioneers ever do this? Or the families separated by war? I must be strong like them! I don't know how long this situation will be. He left for the week to go check out Cali today, so I guess this is just another taste of what is to come. Only right now there's a bit more juggling b/c of my newborn, I am working all week long and I need to start preparations for the move (like eating all of our freezer food!!!) Thank goodness Rosa is around to watch my boys.

One thing I need to stop doing is comparing our situation with others. I have always wanted my hubby around daily, home at night for meals and bedtime stories, and helping out with chores on Saturdays. This is not my lot in life. At least not right now. I am to learn more independence, more trust in God, more happiness in my children and more faith that we will have that "ideal" family lifestyle soon enough. 

So, as my children are now sleeping soundly after a fresh bath, and my sweet chunky babe Isaac is asleep on the couch next to me...I need to continue to count my blessings. I am devoted to having a better attitude, to have more patience with my toddlers as they run wild during those evening hours right before dinner (and usually drive me mad!), to not get scared at night when I hear the house making noises, to not feel overwhelmed when I visit the grocery store with three in tote, or when I am the one in charge of disciplining wrong behavior. 

I do have a beautiful family. I have a loving and devoted husband who is working so hard to get us ahead in life, and allowing me to be home where I belong and want to be. I am grateful for excellent health, a strong testimony in celestial marriage (for those nights when I scare myself that something may happen to one of us while we are separated), for good friends and family to keep me company, and for life challenges that stretch me beyond my limits.

I fly out with the baby and Austin in two weeks, and Jared will drive across the country with Wesley, Wrangler, and his dad. 

And so it begins...To be continued... 

February Pics

Lots went on in February....

Elsje Dennison threw me a "mama shower." Yummy veggies, pedicures and gifts. Thanks!!!
I was so happy to be giving a pedicure to another pregnant girl! I can now bend over just fine;)
To my surprise, Wesley had taken my camera out and shot several "self portraits." I am glad that the camera did not fall and break in my sweet 5-year-olds hands.
Austin sometimes wears his undies backwards....his skinny bum is adorable, thong style.
It snowed 4-6 inches this last weekend...in March! The weather is in the teens still, very chilly, wet, snowy and icy. I am ready for Spring!
Austin had fun playing in the snow...and was ready to come in shortly after.
He loved laying in the snow and feeling the texture.
Our neighbors. They slid down our steps with some snow saucers.
My handsome Austin, day of Isaac's blessing.
This is a sweet picture of Wesley admiring Isaac. He LOVES to hold his baby.
A wonderful picture of Jared and his parents Carol and Glenn, who came out from AZ.
My mother and Oscar, her fiance. Making arrollado and empanadas for Isaac's blessing day.
We visited the National Zoo in Washington DC. Too bad most of the animals were hibernating! Zoom in and check out Austin's facial expression...so classic.
Here I am nursing at our nation's capital...overlooking the Washington Monument. It was freezing, and I was not excited about those cold chills through my shirt!!!!
We breed big bellied babies. I love how chunky Isaac is getting.
A side shot of Isaac's blessing Sailor outfit. He is also balding.
Oh how I love to see his little drool marks.
One of my best friends, Leslie Boley came out from AZ for a visit.
I took her downtown to be a tourist in the tundra (or so it felt!) She had left behind 90 degree weather in AZ, so this was quite an adjustment.
Vietnam Wall. A very somber and reverant place to be and experience. We met a Vietnam Vet who talked to us about his experiences. How grateful I am to all vets who have served our country. My heart always is so full of gratitude.
Outside on our deck; our family and friends who came for Marc Isaac's blessing day.
A proud mama.
Our family the day of the blessing, at church. Handsome men! (Notice how Wesley is posing like a model...he loves to get his picture taken). Jared gave a beautiful blessing for his sweet baby.
My sweet sailor baby.

It's after 12am and I really ought to be sleeping and NOT blogging! Baby is going to wake up any minute for another feeding, I have not taken the clean laundry off of my bed yet, I need to get ready for bed...and yet...here I am uploading pics! I am tired just thinking of how quickly this night will pass me by. Enjoy!

Three Hour Root Canal

I had part of a molar chip off sometime back in 2007. Ignorant me, I didn't get it taken care of right away b/c I could still floss the majority of the food out of the tooth. I then got pregnant. Pregnant women + dentists do not mesh. They would not take care of my broken tooth the entire time b/c of the x-rays that had to be taken. Soooo....we are now in 2009 and what did I end up with? Yep, a good ol' root canal, soon to be filling and crown.

Let's admit it...no one likes the dentist. There's an awkward silence as they are jabbing into your mouth. I feel insecure about how close they are to my skin pores. Do you open your eyes and stare right back at them, or do you close your eyes and 

pretend to actually be relaxed? How can anyone relax when those chainsaw sounds are so close to your ears? I always leave smelling like latex gloves or metal. 

I headed over to the dentist on Tuesday.

Day One: (1.5 hours)

4 shots for the numbing....the drilling began...WAIT! I can still feel the pain!!! 2 more shots...

x-rays

Lots of drillings

Smell of burnt teeth

Scrape, shove and jab

Staring way down into my mouth

My poor jaw had to stay open, unassisted for the entire time (very sore, two days later)

Don't ask me questions when I have so many instruments in my mouth!

The end result? I have long and narrow roots, not to mention that there were FOUR nerve endings. After shoving the little metal sticks back and forth, my dentist told me she couldn't reach down to all of the ones at the bottom....so....I would need to go to a specialist. You mean I got this numb, from my eyebrow-ear-jaw for nothin'? I left with a taste of METAL in my mouth, couldn't open my jaw, ate only a few things that day...like yogurt and pudding.

Day Two (1.5 hours)

The "specialist" asks me if I have been in a lot of pain...um, no. Should I be? What is going on with my teeth? I have all sorts of questions for her, but can't ask them b/c she is too busy agressively putting in more huge needles for the numbing into my mouth. 

She then asks me if I have tall people in my family? No, why? She tells me that my roots are soooo long. What does that mean? Is that okay that my teeth have long roots? I have no idea!

More x-rays

Drilling (besides the burning teeth smell, I now listen to what sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard right by my ears)

Digging...this lady is literally holding my head down as she shoves those pliers in and out...scary!

Microscopes

More scraping

More x-rays

Patching up

Done? 

Almost. $500 later I am out the door (and that is with insurance). I still have to go back for a filling and crown. 

Moral of the lesson? Get to the dentist 

if your tooth cracks! I haven't had a cavity since high school (thank goodness), I am a daily flosser, I brush daily...but, I still couldn't avoid the attack of the root canal monster. I must be getting old.