Back To Work

It's been quiet around here, but for good reason. <br><br>

I went back to work in December.  The company that I had been working for as a part time contractor asked me to come on as an employee.  I said that I could do that, but I could only work 20-24 hours a week and only go into the office 1 day.  They agreed to that, and so I started! <br><br>

I'm working Tues, Wed, Thursdays - the days that both kids are in school.  They go to school in the morning and then a teacher from their school gets them and brings them back to the house.  So far, it's been working out really well.  There has been some adjustments, but overall, I think it has been a smooth transition.  <br><br>

I am enjoying the work that I'm doing - it is exactly what I would want to do if I could type out a job description.  By Tuesdays I'm ready to go to the office and by Thursdays I'm ready to just spend time with the kids.  It really seems to be a perfect situation.  <br><br>

Also, our house went under contract at the beginning of January.  We are through the contingency phase, and everything seems to be on track to close at the end of February.  <br><br>

Where are we moving??  WE HAVE NO IDEA.<br><br>

Both Judd and I have been consumed with the decision.  There are NO houses on the market in our area. If a decent house comes on the market, you have to jump on it immediately.  A couple of weeks ago a house came on the market, we scheduled to go see it that evening at 6PM.  Before we made it to the house it had 3 offers.  It is crazy.  It seems to be a sellers market - which is awesome if you are selling your house - not so awesome if you want to buy.    <br><br>

We have been considering moving out of Dekalb county and down to Peachtree City.  The houses are big and nice, the area seems nice, the schools (on paper) seem great.  But, it is FAR away from everything we know.  And the one day a week I have to commute into the office would be awful - probably almost 2 hours to come home in the afternoon.  Plus it means starting all over - finding a church, finding a preschool, working out part time childcare, finding new friends.<br><br>

Luckily, we found out that our buyers don't need to be out of their apartment until mid-April.  So, we are able to rent our house back from them after we close on it.  That buys us at least another month.<br><br>

I'm determined to put it out of my mind for a while this week, though.  A certain little girl is turning 5 on Friday.  We are having a party on Friday night and my parents are coming into town to help us celebrate.   She is beyond excited about being 5 -"finally", she says.  She has watched a lot of her friends turn 5 and just can't wait.  I think I can wait, though.  5 seems so big.  She is this little kid now, all traces of baby seem to have faded.  While it has been awesome to see her grow and develop into this awesome little girl, I am missing my baby.

The Girl & The Boy

snotty noses and all. Just trying to keep it real. :)

More pictures to come around these parts. I'm starting to miss my camera - something I haven't felt in a while...

Happy New Year

The day after Christmas we expected my parents to come down and visit us for a few days. Old Man Winter had other plans and dumped a bunch of snow on the Northeast. They were able to reschedule their flights, but then those were cancelled. After that, they just booked tickets for Charlotte's birthday instead.

After much researching and VRBO request, Judd was able to book us a flight and a hotel room in Aruba for three nights. So, with about 15 hours notice, I pulled boxes out of the attic to find shorts and t-shirts for the kids and packed our suitcases.

We left early on Saturday morning to make our flight. It was a 3:15 minute flight to Aruba. I was dreading it. It ended up going OK. Max was happy with the iPad, snacks, and bugging his sister for a long time. They both ended up sleeping for the last part of the flight.

We landed around noon time and found a taxi. We made it to the hotel, but weren't able to check into our room. We found the nearest bathroom and changed into our bathing suits. We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun.

We spent the remainder of our time there either digging in the sand on the beach, walking along the beach, swimming in the ocean, or splashing in the pool. It was so nice to be in the warm sun. I completely lost track of time. It was so weird whenever I would see a Christmas tree lit up in the hotel lobby.

We ended up with a King room. They were able to give us a roll away bed for Charlotte and a crib for Max. It was tight, but we were able to fit it all into the room and everyone had their own sleeping space. Our strategy was to get the kids good and tired during our day's activities, then they would sleep great at night. It worked! Judd and I would put them to bed and we would turn out all of the lights and just lay there quietly until we heard their steady sleeping breaths. We would tiptoe out to the balcony and talk or read. Judd and I were in bed pretty early every night, but that was fine with me!

New Year's Eve is a big event in Aruba. They have tons of fireworks. Judd and I were sound asleep at midnight on NYE when we were awoken to huge fireworks outside our window. The kids slept straight through it, thankfully!

On New Year's Day, we made the journey back home. That flight went smoothly as well.

We were encouraged by this trip. It was a bit of a test to see how flexible the kids could be - how they held up with long flights and being out of their usual routine. They exceeded all of my expectations. They rolled with the punches. Hopefully we'll be able to do a lot more of these types of trips!