Closer to home

So we are getting there, things are really starting to feel comfortable around here and generally resembles a home. We even had our first dinner guests over tonight, it was lots of fun to show of the house and all the hard work we have been putting into it. Of course we still have many more rooms to paint, a garage to clean and organize, a few trips to the dump, and some general decorating to do BUT we still have accomplished a whole lotta stuff in a short period of time. Whew.

Things otherwise are going pretty well, the MR has acclimated remarkably well. Now being in our own (baby proofed) space I can really see just how stunted his life was staying with my parents. He has more freedom to express himself now, and does, and he has far fewer boundaries here. So very nice, for us all. He has also been going through a language spurt, which has been fun and frightening. He has become such a little mimic, we really need to mind our mouths more so than we already (kind of) were. It's incredible to watch him put things together, where did this little person come from?

I am just so so relieved to finally have a home for my family. A place of our own where our MR and our future family can thrive and grow. Being out of my parents place aside, just knowing that this is home makes life a million times sweeter.

On a separate but important note- be sure to stop over and wish Carrie good luck and send some good vibes her way. She is the midst of making her way towards number two *hopefully* with an upcoming embryo transfer. Wish her well in giving her little K a little sibling:).

P.S.

Thanks for the lovely comments, promise I will start returning the favor as soon as we get the internets set up at our house (hopefully tomorrow!). Reading, and commenting on, blogs while at work is generally frowned upon :)

Consumed

Just a quick post to let everyone out there know that I'm still here, just incredibly busy and lacking home internet services until Thursday. This past week has been one long blur of move-in events. We have been up into the wee mornings putting on second coats of paint and unpacking like mad, all to try and smooth things out as quickly as possible and create a stable environment for the kiddo. It's been very reminiscent of when we left Spokane and came down here originally, it's been pretty rough for the MR. He has been pretty resilient in general, but it has been a lot of change for a little body. This need to provide comfort and routine once again for him is what has allowed me to stay up and finish just one more task, that and an extra vanilla latter here and there.

It has all been well worth it though, things are really starting to come together. Everything, pretty much, is baby proofed and the MR has his own room all set up as well as a playroom. He can run all through the house and I don't have to worry about what he might be getting into or reprimand him from getting a hold of something he shouldn't have. I guess it has been revolutionary for both him and us.

Here some sneek peeks into what we have been working on, we still have a bit to go but have managed to pull together quite a few rooms- as well as totally empty all our boxes. More later this week, when the internets returns to our home.

Diez y siete

MR was seventeen months old (yesterday). I think, don't correct me if I am wrong, this was the first month where I didn't manage to write his monthly post on the exact day. Yesterday was a strange day in general, so I will let it pass.

I cannot describe just how much our child has changed. I have never been under the impression that MRwas anything other than human- but it is truly shocking, and thrilling, to be able to interact with him on a human level. He responds to simple requests, like sitting down to let me put on his shoes or take his diaper off for bathtime. He asks, sometimes prematurely, to be all done with meal time. If he wants water, he asks. He gives hugs and kisses, and says buh-bye when we leave and say goodnight. He dances to music and will repeat back little pieces of songs when you sing them to him.

We are not the only ones in this relationship aware of this new level of interaction. He can read us just as well as we can him. He knows what actions elicit laughs, and he understands what events can lead to sympathy. The other day he was playing around inside his playgate area when he stumbled and lightly bumped the side of his head against the side of the gate. It was nothing that should have led to crying, and probably didn't hurt at all, but he knew that bumps and falls mean crying and hugs. He looked to me to see if I had noticed his stumble, and finding me less than sympathetic he returned to the same spot, turned his head, and intentionally bonked his noggin on the side of the gate when he knew I was watching. He then proceeded to cry. The kid's no fool.

Next month he will be a year and half old, which is incredible to me. Somedays he seems so much older than that, others I can't believe how far he has come from being a squidgy little babe. Happy seventeen months bug.

I've been thinking

I have been debating whether or not to discuss politics here. The idea is frankly daunting to me, because I worry that people will take my discussion of my views as a desire to contradict theirs. Not true. I think that any healthy discussion requires two sides, and it definitely needs a common sense of respect between the two. I don't want to turn off anybody who doesn't share my point of view, so if you would rather not deal with my opinion or feel discovering that my voice is contrary to yours would (negatively) affect your opinion of me, don't read on.

Sarah Palin scares me, she truly and bone-jarringly frightens me. Truthfully, I could live with McCain for president. He might not be my first choice, but he certainly wouldn't be my last. Though many of his positions do not align with my own, he seems to be a man of the middle ground- someone capable of compromise. So it concerns me that he was so willing to completely capitulate to choosing Palin as his running mate. I know there has been much discussion surrounding her role as a woman, especially as a mother. Yes she has a special needs infant and a pregnant daughter, two very challenging charges for anyone. I might not think it wise of her to pursue such a high powered position when faced with so much in her personal life, and wouldn't choose that path for myself. But, and it's a big but, that's her choice- not mine. I would no sooner presume to choose what is best for her than I would like her to choose what she thinks is best for me or for any woman. Enough said.

This person is not qualified for the job that she is seeking, and it disturbs me to think that she would be just one heartbeat away from the presidency herself. I wonder if Americans would so roundly support her, find her so unfailingly desirable as a candidate, if they knew she would actually assume the mantle of full leadership. There are so many more qualified, and not necessarily more liberal, options out there. They challenged Obama as fluff and nothing more than an appealing celebrity. Now that they have their own they see no reason to discard the question of qualified years. The blind momentum it has all taken on is appalling.

Alright, off my soap box.

Sending out summer

As usual, I have lots to say and too little time to say it. Things continue to be busy round here, BL and I actually just returned from a loooong day of painting. We finally got the keys to OUR house and have been spending the last few days madly painting in a wild attempt to get as much done as we physically can before the new carpet is installed this Thursday. We have so far managed to finish painting our bedroom and MR's bedroom, so atleast he and we will have a haven even if the rest of the house is still a work in progress. It makes me tired just thinking about how much more painting I would like to do, but I am ridiculously glad to even have the opportunity to be painting our walls in our home. Yay.

Regarding the totally non-house and certainly non-baby related pictures dotting this post, BL and I spent this past weekend with some old friends just being a couple in their mid-twenties. So of course there was lots of drinking, late nights, and plenty of good humor. We invited four other couples with whom we are all good friends with to come out to the family cabin in Idaho for one last fling before summer truly ends. It was strange, and refreshing, to spend a weekend sans-kiddo and con-husband. We certainly missed MR, especially since the cabin is covered in pictures his Nana has taken of him, but we can all agree that adult time has it's (necessary) place too.

We really needed the break to help us refresh and prepare for the rough weeks ahead. The kiddo managed just fine without us as well. I had been worried leaving him, it was the first time both BL and I had been away from him and for multiple days. He stayed with BL's parents, who took very good care of him. I am sure there was some major spoilage that occurred, but he seems to have come out just fine.

Wordless Wednesday: Lunch Break