Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The haps

This is what the "haps" is looking like lately.




Paperwork up to our eyeballs. We finally have all the passports, all the medical exams, all the background checks, all the applications, and all the paperwork including copies of christmas card pictures and a detailed timeline of our marriage, all complete, all packaged up and in the mail just waiting for our visas to get approved. When we're wrestling for 3hrs with all four kids in a doctor's office, when I'm getting blood drawn for the second time and when we're spending evenings behind a stack of papers instead of zoning out in front of the tv. We're like 3 missed episodes deep in The Office. I just have to sneek a quick peek at this picture and then I'm reminded that it will all be worth it.

The kids have been in fort heaven with all the boxes.  I'm thinking that filling our toy room with boxes instead of toys in our next house is quite possibly the best idea I've had to date.

And Ryder getting his passport photo was quite possibly the cutest thing to date. I mean, just look at him...


It's just a shame that the pictures turned out more like mug shots.  Grumpy old man who said they weren't allowed to smile even though they really could, I do not heart you.


After dropping $40 on those hideous pictures, we learned that they needed 5 more copies so instead I figured out how to do them on my own and I wish I would have done that in the first place. $3 later and some pretty freaking adorable pictures of my kids, if I do say so myself.



The neighborhood had a garage sale which was perfect timing.  It was so nice to declutter and get rid of alot of stuff, including the last of our newlywed furniture.  That futon, dresser and Shopko bookshelf had long worn out their welcome.  Maybe I should have been more sentimental...oh, that's the vase you bought me on our honeymoon? Haven't used it in years, get rid of it. Oh, the stuffed animals you won for me at Circus Circus when we were dating? Way too many stuffed animals, get rid of it.


I'm just ready to get back to normal life. To have my head back again. I feel like I am so distracted with my thoughts all the time.  Like the other day I was dropping the kids off at carpool and thinking about everything I need to do and then I started driving away with the poor neighbor kid hanging halfway out the door. I have a hard time sleeping at night, my mind is racing and I keep waking up having the same train of thought as if I never slept. It's so annoying.  My poor kids have been sooooo neglected lately. Like 10 hrs of straight tv neglected.  Like I forget to change Ryder's diaper neglected.  Like when I'm at Costco and wonder why the employee is mopping up water under my cart as I'm walking away, only to realize when I get to the car that it was pee leaking out of his massively full diaper.  Sure hope that poor employee just thought it was a leaky sippy cup. Time escapes me as I'm trying to get everything accomplished and several times I look over to see Ryder like this and realize I passed naptime.


I'm just banking on lots of quality family outdoor time in New Zealand to replace all these less than stellar memories.  Even though this whole move could become a full time job, life is still happening all around us and I'm trying my best to come up for a breather and enjoy it.  Dance is winding down and after a record breaking tv marathon day it was so nice to get out as a family to watch her perform at a local school carnival then enjoy a picnic in the park.  It was food for the soul.


Jayden was quick to remind me that I have never chaperoned a single field trip in his entire school career.  The guilt set in and Jason arranged to work from home to watch the kids so I could spend the afternoon with a cute little group of boys at the natural history museum.  When I looked at my to-do list I was regretting volunteering, but that quickly dissolved once I saw the excitement in Jayden's eyes that I was there.  Most productive day I've had in a long time.


I'm really going to miss my calling as an activity day leader, it is hands-down the best calling.  We've got a huge group, but each one of those girls is so sweet and has found a place in my heart.  We took them on a little hike for one of our activities.


We dog sat our neighbor's dog for 2 weeks and the kids were in heaven.  Ryder walked around all day calling for "Zooooeeeyyy" in the cutest voice on the planet.  Still haven't heard the end of "when are we ever going to get a dog??"....


We've been spending a lot of afternoons in the pool.  It's Ryder's favorite thing to do, although he never really gets in, just likes to run around with goggles on.  And every kid needs a cliche goofy goggle picture, so now I can check that off the list.


The primary hosted a daddy/daughter dinner and dance.  Can't say enough about how much I love seeing those two spend time together. 


We are so excited that my brother Tyson got accepted to dental school down here, but are sad to be moving like a week after they move down.  At least they'll still be here for two more years after we get back. We had fun with them when they were down here house hunting, though.  John is the best baby and made me realize that maybe crazy kids aren't the norm. They were so nice to watch our kids while we continued our endless pursuit to find winter coats in a desert that is on the brink of 100 degrees.  This opposite season thing is proving very challenging to prepare for, but I finally caught a break at the outlet malls.  We got to watch John while they went out for their anniversary, and I'm thinking they got the raw end of this whole kid swapping deal.


Dawn spent the afternoon doing crap projects with Maddox.  She quickly learned that Maddox's version of crap projects is him telling you what to do then sitting back and watching while you do it because he is just too "tired".  She definately won some serious brownie points with this elephant get up.  I mean seriously....


The boys had their fathers and sons campout and considering this is the only picture I have as evidence that it really happened, then it doesn't get a whole post of its own. They look pretty happy and Maddox's cheeks are about as pinchaliscious as ever and there were no pooping issues, so it went down as a success. 


While they were gone Tyson was so nice to watch the babies while us girls went out on the town.  We introduced Dawn to the cupcakes at The Coffee Shop and we even had a 70 yr old Lady Gaga sighting in Forever 21 (Dawn, you need to text me that pic!).


We checked the kids out early from school for an "appointment" on the lake.  It was an afternoon well spent.


We also spent one morning mooching off the Power Ranch splash pad.  Ya know, just hanging out in our swimsuits then telling the kids to make a mad dash over as soon as one of the residents swiped their card to activate it.  We were pretty stealth.  So that's that.  T-minus six weeks and we'll be sitting on a plane headed to the other side of the world.  Just hoping I survive the next six weeks. 


4 comments:

nicole said...

Oh Jamie, I feel for you. You are right in the thick of the worst part of moving overseas. oh wait, I haven't moved back yet, so that might be the worst, but pretty soon you'll be living the dream :)

and side note about the passport pics - I've also heard that you're not supposed to smile in them anymore, and all of my friends have no smiling ones. but mine is smiling. And when we went to china, both entering and leaving, the immigration person had a hard time believing the picture was me, and made me smile to check, and then proceeded to make me feel like total crap because apparently I look sooo much older than my five year old picture. Anyways...you can get through this!

Ronnie said...

It WILL be worth it! You can do it and it will totally pay off. I am in love with that place and I have only seen pictures and heard amazing stories. You are such a brave momma and your kids will definitely love you for that.
And I know Canada you can't smile so maybe it just depends on the place...
Yours are definitely adorable!

Chelsea said...

you should have called me! I would have totally let you use my splash pad card.

Love the passport photos! so glad the visas finally straightened out, and whoa, its all happening SO FAST.

Janessa said...

Hang in there!!! You're good to take some time in between all the craziness to make some memories. I was totally laughing out loud at the Costco story! That sleeping on the couch picture is too cute. I way love the passport pics you took. Super cute! Ryder did look pretty darn cute getting his picture taken though.