Passport

Eli's skipping his nap today on a trial basis only. We've been putting him to bed at the usual time (8:00ish) and he manages to stretch out the bedtime routines for a full 45 minutes or more (books, warm milk, snuggles, multiple hugs and kisses, more warm milk etc, etc). Still not tired, we hear him wandering around upstairs. Two nights ago, he got into my nail polish (I intervened before that became too disasterous), and this morning I found fresh marker drawings on the upstairs bathroom vanity. So, I'm going to try letting him skip his naps and moving up his bedtime by an hour and see how that goes. I could be in for a rough evening tonight. Meanwhile, Erich just called and told me that it cost him $135 to replace his passport (!!!!) Yikes! His old one got ruined in the wash. He was bummed because it had all of the stamps from the exotic places we'll probably never go to again (Egypt, Turkey, Belgium etc). I know that a passport is kind of a necessity when you live 20 minutes from the Canadian border. Notwithstanding that, I really hope we have a chance to actually USE the passport someday soon. Traveling is not nearly the priority it used to be, and I'm actually a lot less interested in flying around the world than I was in my younger days...BUT, I realized today that I haven't been out of the country in over 3 years. Not even to Canada or Mexico. That's a huge lifestyle change for somebody who has seen 33 countries in the span of less than 10 years. Another example of everything changing when kids come along...

Househunters

I wish we could go on Househunters, and have somebody show us 3 fabulous, move-in ready homes all in our price range. After seeing the homes, we could convene over coffee and discuss ugly backspashes and commuting distance, then come to an agreement and sign an offer. As it is, we are combing internet sites and coming up with a great big nothing. There seem to be a lot of very small, outdated houses on busy roads, and then a few 5 bedroom mansions available - not much in between. Listing our house absolutely terrifies me. I really don't know if I can keep it clean enough and ready for viewings with the 1 and 2 year old tornadoes living here. Right now we're filling out real estate paperwork but I have a feeling things are going to start moving really quickly. Eli's starting to pick up on the idea: We'll be driving and he'll randomly point out a house and say, "Mom, I like that one. Let's move there."

Long time no see...

Ah, where to start? Such a busy couple of months. I just wrapped up my adjuct teaching position at Baker College. Teaching adults has been really enjoyable and rewarding. After the last day of class, my inbox was full of appreciative notes from students. Hmmm...that never happened when I was teaching teenagers. I was asked to teach again this next quarter; however, that won't be possible due to our upcoming move! Can't release details on that just yet - information will follow in due time. Very exciting. We celebrated Nolah's 1st birthday on Halloween - she was a fairy and Eli was a shark. Erich and I were Snooky and the Situation. The day after her birthday was when I'd say she began to legitimately walk. Christmas was a little less busy due to eliminating/consolidating/moving a couple of the celebrations. I missed seeing everyone and all the excitement of the multiple parties but this year was so much more relaxing and enjoyable as a result. Erich has been scrambling to finish up all of his classes. He is down to just one (a relief - he's been gone 2 - 3 nights a week this entire year). Graduation is scheduled for April 29!!! I'm so proud of him. A 60-hour MBA from U of M is no small accomplishment and he's worked very hard on that in addition to a demanding job and two newborns arriving in that time. Meanwhile, I'm still at my position at Hands Across the Water although I've put in my notice and am going to become a full-time stay-at-home parents starting the second week of April. I'm actually excited about it - we'll see how things go this time around. The kids are older now so I'm optimistic that it'll be more fun than it was the last time I tried (when it was just me and an infant all day long). Eli and Nolah are doing well. We took them to Florida earlier this month and they loved the boat, the beach, the pool, the manatees, the pelicans (etc). They made friends with everyone in the complex. We'd take walks and bikerides, never getting too far because Eli insisted on stopping to chat with everyone he saw. Dinnertime was always a little rough. Eli's never been a good eater and Nolah's not a big fan of sitting still. They are otherwise doing well. The trip to the endocrinologist (for Eli's small size) yielded nothing abnormal. The doctor thinks he'll probably just be a "late bloomer." Nolah was hospitalized for 3 days at the PICU at U of M in mid-December. She had a bad croup infection and was having difficulty breathing. It was a horrible experience and I have a new admiration for parents who have chronically ill children. She's fine now, though. Even her eczema appears to have disappeared. She's still her sweet self, as she's always been. Eli still cracks us up every day - still loves to "fix" things with Daddy and has the most outrageous imagination I've seen. Finally, I've received my new license, and I am now an "LMSW." Erich and I celebrated with dinner at Saltwater (at MGM Grand in Detroit) while my parents watched the kids. I recommend the fried brussle sprouts. Okay, well happy spring, and hopefully another half a year won't elapse without a post. It's fun for me to read about what was going on with our family in the past.