Alive and Plugged In

Yes I am still alive, which is saying something. I thought everyone knew of our travel plans (or at least our move out date: March 1st) but apparently not. So we moved out on Thursday the 1st. What a feat! Thank you so much all of you good friends that helped clean, watch kids, and pack our van fuller than we ever thought possible. After leaving behind half of the stuff we hoped to take, and watching our friends move into our home, we set off around lunchtime. We each had a tiny cubby hole in which we could sat. We got to see the St. Louis Arc up close, pretty cool. The second day, we stopped to see my Grandmother. I really wish we'd had the mental capacity to plan the trip a little better, because as it was, we only got to stop for lunch with her. Had we thought it through, we could've driven just a few more hours the day before and spent the night. It was good to see her though, really good in fact. It hadn't occured to me, but we hadn't seen her since two Christmases ago! So Chloe was a whole year older, and she got to meet Everett. I'm really glad that we had a picture of her to remind Chloe about her, so she warmed up pretty quickly. Mental note, when traveling through Oklahoma, have about $10 in cash for toll; can you believe that?! Anyway, after a WHOLE lot of nothing besides the largest cross in the western hemisphere and "Everett Road" we finally made it to Arizona. The kids did amazingly well on the trip too! They both conked out right away in the hotels and...well, Everett didn't like the car, but after he learned to sleep in his carseat, it wasn't so bad. Oh, each night when we'd get to our room, Chloe would jump onto one of the beds and sprawl out so excited to get out of the car and have her own big bed like Mommy and Daddy. We also made it only having eaten out once. I'm pretty proud of that fact and my meal-planning talents.

Arizona was nice. We got to hang out with our friends, mostly at the pool. D's wife has been in and out of the hospital threatening early labor with her twins. So that's all any of us wanted to do, and it was great! Chloe and D's daughter got along really well and played together nicely too. Tuesday, however the tides changed. Life suddenly got insanely stressful. I got a crazy awesome new swimsuit and hope that one day I'll get to wear it. We went to In-N-Out for the best burgers in the west, but before we got to eat, Chloe started vomiting. She didn't stop for the whole rest of the day either. The next day we all laid around until the evening when we went to D's sister's house for haircuts and pizza. That night, Chad and I found ourselves vying for possition with the toilet and trashcan...well, Chad had to puke in the sink while I was on the toilet with my face in the trashcan. Too graphic? It gets worse...He and I spent all of Thursday in bed. Poor Everett was abandoned and hungery because I was dehydrated and unable to care for him. I laid on the couch with Chloe, still lethargic while Chad was in bed upstairs calling my cell phone every time he needed something. I in turn would ask D to take it up to him. D and his Mom took good care of us and were very gracious hosts. Friday, we were well enough to travel even though Chad had some new bizaar rash on his legs, and I had the beginning of mastitis. Chloe and I had a lazy little swim that morning before heading out. We left a horrendous germy mess for our poor friends to clean up, but we got to the Grand Canyon just before dark. I gotta say, it wasn't very impressive because we only had time to go to the very tip of it as we went around it. I've seen more impressive at the Little Grand in GA.

So that was a bummer. After that, everything started to sink in. I wasn't going back to my home with my friends, I didn't get a fabulous vacation, I didn't even get a good view of the Grand Canyon. Instead, I was on my way to a dumpy, bare mininmum 2 bedroom apartment with no friends and no outlet at the end of the day when the kids were hard on me. I was pretty grouchy and entirely ungrateful for the many blessings we'd had up to that point. That night, we made it into the mountains, through the snow and were headed back down the last mountain to the city we intended to stop when we got a flat tire. This was around 11pm no more than two minutes after checking to see that our phones did NOT get service and only 8 miles from our intended city. Not too many cars were passing by. But we prayed really really hard and despite my moments earlier prideful and ungrateful attitude, our Father in Heaven saw fit to bless us. Chad was on the roof trying to get our blankets down for the night when a car came by. I got out with Everett to wave it down when he got down and started waving too. I started to go back to the car to keep Everett warm when the Spirit told me to turn back around so I did and she stopped. We are so grateful for her compassion! Chad was able to use her headlights to change the tire and get us to a hotel. The next morning, he woke up super early to get a new tire and get the van repacked. We raced on to our new home town and got here just before the apartment office closed for the weekend. Our apartment wasn't ready though, so we had to kill another hour and a half while they finished. We finally got into the apartment and had to spend the rest of the day cleaning. That night, Chad went to get more supplies only to discover that our van was gone. Yes, the van, with 4 new tires, our lifeline, was gone. Turns out, they tow if you don't have a permit here. They neglected to give us a permit when we moved in. But we got it back late that night and spent most of the following day cleaning also. Yes we had to work on the Sabbeth. This place was somewhat filthy, but it's now starting to feel a bit like a home, complete with a small washer and dryer and dishwasher. I'm very excited about that.

Chloe was an angel on the trip. During the flat tire, she was very quiet, sweet and brave. As we got back on the road she said, "Chloe was VERY quiet." She was and we were grateful! Since we've been here, she's been...well, she and Chad are still a bit sick, and she's been a bit...needy. Everett's been very needy. On our trip he cut teeth #3 and #4. And the room-sharing thing is no good. I generally have to put Everett in our room until he falls asleep, move him, and hope that he settles back in. Chloe's done pretty well with not having her room locked.

And I have hope that one day Everett will sleep through the night (even if it is a year from now.) I just decided to officially start him on solids. I've been dreading it, but decided that his first table foods should NOT be given to him in Mexico. Oh, also in Arizona, we discovered that he's allergic to soy; at least I think it's soy. I haven't tested to be certain, but it was something in the formula. Could my children please be more difficult to care for? So the part about not having an outlet at the end of the day, boy that is rough. I have no way of recharging myself in order to keep giving, really no way of being productive either. And it's still way too cold to think about going swimming. It's only just warm enough to wear jackets and go to the park and no van half of the time. Big fat bummer!! Anyway, I know it'll get better, eventually. The fact that we have internet is a huge step in that direction...