Our Life in Bins

It's funny how life can go from one extreme to another in a matter of days. For weeks we have been in high gear, overdrive, craziness, etc. getting ready for the "big move". It culminated with the "big weekend" of the dance recital and birthday party, then 2 days of the movers. Then.......nothing. Quiet. Somewhat bored. Nothing much to do really. We seem to not know what to do with ourselves. The 2 days with the movers were interesting. They sent a team of 4 people here Monday for the packing. They were really fast with the packing, and it was nice to not have to worry about that. But very strange watching other people pack up all of our belongings! Then Tuesday they sent 5 or 6 people here to load everything up on the truck. It was a huge truck! Then once they were gone we were left with a pretty-much-empty house! We have our sectional couch, which the girls are sleeping on. Then our friends let us borrow a mattress, which Michael and I are sleeping on. We also have 2 tray tables and a desk. All of our clothing is in bins. I told the kids it is like a campout (not so much!) We are all having our struggles this week, but we are getting through them. Now that we aren't busy, we have time to think about the fact that we are moving so far away. The kids are each expressing their feelings in very different ways. I think it will be easier for them once we are down there and getting settled.

The girls dance recital was beautiful. They did wonderfully in all of their dances, especially their duet (they are in their duet costume in the picture). The birthday party was great and the weather was gorgeous. It was really nice to spend the day with our friends and family. The kids loved the bounce house!

Oh and our remaining tadpoles didn't make it. They all died within a 2 day time frame. Very strange, but the way that I look at it, that's less that we have to worry about taking with us! The kids don't seem too bothered by it.

So now we are just counting down the days until we leave. It is definitely a time of extremes. Stressed to relaxed. Busy to bored. Happy to sad. But we are definitely looking forward to the adventure that lies ahead! Our next post will be from North Carolina!

The Countdown Begins!

Enjoying my oj and a few minutes of peace before household duties call....
I have known this move was coming for several weeks now but, in typical me fashion, I of course wait until the last possible moments to kick it into high gear! (those who know me well are nodding their heads in agreement.) So this past week has been really intense preparation for the big move. You wouldn't think it would be that difficult. The Army is sending us movers that will actually PACK our house for us before they move everything out. So you would think that I could just relax because they will take care of it all for me. Not that simple, I'm afraid. It seems that our humble little house has turned into a magnet for STUFF. And by stuff I mean a whole bunch of useless crap! Our 2nd (yes 2nd) dumpster is virtually full. They say that as long as they can throw a tarp over it and haul it out of here that we can fill it as high as we think we can. Oh I plan to take full advantage of that. The kids actually fight over whose turn it is to run out to the dumpster to throw something away. It's like it has become part of our family. How sad is that? We have made so many trips to the Salvation Army to donate over the last couple weeks that the kids are starting to think that is their new home. And the volunteers there are asking me what time I start my shift. And God bless my dad, he has been here on and off trying to help me navigate through the black hole that is our basement. And also the other black hole, the garage. So over the next several days we will continue on our mad mission to get this house ready for the movers to pack us up and move us out. I am pretty much hoping to have our belongings "pack ready" by the end of Thursday (This does not count several disaster areas that belong to my husband, those are completely his responsibility. I'm good, but not that good.)
Because after this Thursday starts what I have lovingly started to refer to as "the crazy weekend". Friday evening is the rehearsal for the girls dance recital and after that I need to tend to a Tastefully Simple party. Saturday is hair and makeup appointments for the girls to get ready for their dance recital Saturday night. They are in a total of 4 dances, 1 of them being a duet which is so precious it brings tears to my eyes! They actually look like they like each other when they do the dance, and it is about 3 minutes of them not fighting! Then Sunday is our big combo bday party for the girls. We expect lots of family and friends, and to the kids extreme delight, we have rented a bounce house. Last check of the weather forecast there was a 30% chance of rain that day. Every day I go to check the forecast a vein starts throbbing in my forehead....
Then a week from tomorrow the movers come! After they move everything out on Tuesday, the next week or so should be a breeze while we wait for school to finish. The stress of cleaning will be over. The only posessions we will have to worry about will be a couch, a couple of tray tables, an air mattress and some clothing. We will need to find things to do to keep us occupied like going to the park and out to play with friends. Not so bad! Our belongings are supposed to arrive in NC before we do, so hopefully JM will get a good jump on setting some things up for us. I am hoping by the end of July to be totally unpacked and settled in the new house. I am sure by August and September I am going to be so big and hot (by that I mean sweaty!) that I am not going to want to deal with any more unpacking! We are very excited that our niece Kasey will be spending a good portion of the summer with us. She has found a dance studio where she can take classes and we all love having her around. So we are looking forward to a fun summer! Probably the next time I post will be when we are in a virtually empty house!

Nicole turns 7!

Nicole turned 7 last week and we had a great time celebrating her birthday in North Carolina! For her special dinner we took her to a Japanese steak house. She was thrilled when they sang her "Happy Birthday", gave her special chopsticks, and took her picture! Then a couple of days later we hosted a cookout at the new house to celebrate with Aunt Brandi, cousin Camryn and a couple of JM's friends. It was a great trip and we can't wait to go back for good next month!
While we were down there we met with the people on base that arrange our move from NY to NC. We were surprised to find out that it will take 2 weeks for our belongings to travel from here to there! So we had to arrange for the movers to come about 2 weeks earlier than originally planned in order to make up for that time. So it is now crunch time in the Insetta house! (more like panic time for me!) The dumpster arrived today, and I'm sure I'll have no problem filling it right to the top!
And we have acquired some new "pets", tadpoles! The last time Melody was babysitting, they went into the cul-de-sac and discovered some tadpoles swimming in a big puddle. So we adopted 8 little tadpoles (which are now down to 6, 2 of them didn't take the trip to NC too well). They like to eat frozen lettuce, and the kids are just fascinated with them. JM wants to know what we are going to do with them when they turn into frogs, I'll be amazed if they make it that far! Nicole and Michael really love frogs, so it would be cool if at least one of them made it that far.....
So that's about it for now, hopefully will have time to post again before we move!

Sonogram results!

We had our 18-week sonogram today and everything looks great. The baby is healthy and growing well, and our due date remains Oct. 8. Nicole and Michael were there and their first question to the sonographer was "is it a boy or a girl?" She tried to take a peek but the baby wasn't being cooperative! So she went about her business taking all of the necessary measurements and showing us all of the various organs, etc. It was great to see the baby's face and moving all around. The kids persisted with "is it a boy or a girl?" and "are you almost done?" God bless this woman for being so patient! So after she ran down her checklist of what needed to be checked, she went back to trying catch a glimpse of the anatomy that we were all so curious about. She froze a picture on the screen and pointed out a little appendage to me. Dumb me asked "Is that what I think it is?" When she said yes I asked her if she was sure that's what it was, and NOT the umbilical cord. I explained to her that a certain someone would certainly have a heart attack if he was told we were having a boy and subsequently gave birth to a girl. She (again very patiently) showed me that the umbilical cord was clearly a very separate entity from our little appendage in question. Nicole was visibly irked that she was not getting her little sister! Michael said "Really? My very own baby brudder?" It was so precious! And of course daddy is thrilled! So much for "mother's instinct" because I would have bet money that we were having a girl!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I just love being a mommy and I love that there is a day to celebrate it! Some people might question the value of not having a job that has a paycheck attached to it. Well I'm here to tell you that my much-loved full-time mommy position is way better than any other paycheck-earning position I've ever had! (I know my husband is cringing as he's reading this!) Oh I get paid, that's for sure, just not with money. (Again, the husband is cringing.) Michael will tell me "You're the best mudder in the whole world!" Nicole will rub and kiss my rapidly expanding tummy. Kiera writes in a letter that I am the best mother because I do everything for her. Sure, it's not all peaches and cream. I do my fair share of yelling (by fair share, I mean a lot!) I lose my patience. I say and do things I quickly regret. I have things about myself as a mother that I want to improve. But I love my "job" and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! I feel very blessed to be where I am in life, and today is a day that I spend a lot of time reflecting on that. I also think about all of my other mommy friends, and those in my family, and especially "Mimi" up in heaven. I keep in my prayers all of those who ache so deeply in their heart and soul to be a mommy. I am also amazed to think that next Mother's Day I will have another little blessing to be grateful for.
We have had a nice day, we went to Mass this morning and then went to brunch with our friends. My husband got me a nice bouquet of roses. Kiera made me a lovely beaded bracelet and all of the kids made me cards. A very nice day for mommy! The rest of the day is "back to normal" - cleaning, packing, tossing, etc. Seems like a never ending process! I have to keep reminding myself that we didn't accumulate all this stuff in a day, so it will take a while to get it all sorted out. Yesterday we went to the zoo and had a nice time, the storm came in just as we were leaving so it worked out well! Tomorrow is the sonogram, which we are all looking forward to! Michael and Nicole will be coming with me to "see" the baby, and they are just as excited as I am! So the news on that tomorrow!

Mommy Loses to Elmo

Tonight I had a date planned. Not just any regular date, a date with the most special little man in the world. Michael and I were going to take advantage of the 1 hour of alone time that we get each Tuesday while both of his sisters are in dance class. So we decided to engage in one of our favorite pasttimes (especially mine!), eating! Tummies rumbling, we headed to Moe's (happy Cinco deMayo!) Imagine our surprise to walk in to find Elmo mingling with the customers! Michael got excited and ran right up to him to say hello. I thought that would be the extent of it and we would continue our date in peace. Michael hasn't watched Sesame Street in years, and we don't have any Elmo toys or books lingering around the house. Imagine my surprise when my son proceeded to "stalk" Elmo all around the restaurant! He followed him around while I stood in line and ordered our food, and continued to do so all throughout dinner. Sure, he came back to the table intermittently to grab a bite of food, but that was about all I got. So I spent most of our special "date" alone at the table, staring at my son's half-eaten dinner. Mommy loses to Elmo. But all was not lost. After dinner, as we were driving back to the dance studio, Michael asked me "Mommy, do you think that was the real Elmo or just someone in a costume?" I said I didn't know and asked what he thought. He said "the real Elmo". I told him that I thought he was right. He then said to me "Mom, you're the best mom." Maybe I didn't lose to Elmo after all.

Welcome to our blog!

Hi everyone and welcome to our first ever family blog! Since I am extremely "blog-challenged", I need to give a big thanks to my friend Karen for helping me set this up! I figured this would be a great way to keep all of our friends and family updated and in touch as we get ready for our big move to NC!

Right now we don't have too much exciting news to report. We are (or rather, I am) starting the unpleasant process of packing/throwing away/donating the entire contents of our house. You wouldn't think that would be too much work, our house is not all that big. But I have apparently become quite an expert at fitting a lot of useless stuff in a relatively small space! So over the next 2 months I need to sort through everything we have accumulated here in the last 5 years! Our new house is much bigger than this house, but it doesn't have a basement or an attic! (Apparently folks in the South just put all their extra stuff in storage facilities!) Since we won't be doing that, we really need to take just the important stuff with us. So I guess the garbage men will hate me and the Salvation Army will love me!

We have had a pretty low-key weekend. I hosted a Cookie Lee jewelery party last night. I was glad to see a lot of my friends and Kiera and Nicole had a great time picking out some jewelery for themselves! We went to church today and the kids have been playing outside most of the day. Our sonogram is scheduled for next Monday, so hopefully the baby will cooperate so we can find out if it is a he or a she! I have a feeling it is a girl, but the boys in the family disagree. Michael says that if the baby's a girl, he'll "stuff it back in til it turns into a boy"! I don't think so buddy!