We moved into our new house about a week ago! Just in time for Christmas! Unfortunately our furniture and belongings, though in the area, cannot be delivered until January 7th! Apparently it's a busy time for the moving company and that was their first opening.
We have two little folding chairs and a tiny patio table of the little boys' I bought this summer. We have a cheap camp chair, an exercise ball and a cooler for Sterling and I to sit/eat on.
Sterling bought three small mattresses for the boys' future bunk beds with trundle underneath. We are sleeping on those. Other than that we have no furniture in the house!
The up sides to being in the house...1. we have a house! We won't close on it until January 6. But it's good to be out of the base hotel and have a big back yard.
2. Our ward seems wonderful. Lots of young families (middle aged and younger) and so friendly!
3. Our bins and things are no longer in the van taking up space...we have room in the house for all the belongings I drove up here from Logandale.
It has been really cold most of the time we've been in South Dakota. There have been a few days that got pretty warm...very few days. It was beautiful and snowy on Christmas Eve and Christmas day! And the temperature went up so it wasn't too cold either. Day after Christmas the snow is melting...more than I've seen since we got here.
Tiberias did not like the new house. Maybe because he's sick of moving. Maybe because we have no furniture so it makes him feel insecure even more.
He has his dad back...we are all together as a family. But he worries. He doesn't want us to split up...even if he's just going outside with dad for a few minutes...he wants mom to come too.
He denied this as our house for quite a few days after we moved in. "We didn't move here! This isn't our house."
Tiberias has slept in the same room as me the whole time Sterling was apart from us. Then we came to South Dakota and he slept in the living room of the hotel while Ster and I were in the bedroom but we didn't have too many problems. When we got into the house however, he began to have hard nights. He has nightmares and is freaked out about his door being closed. We don't close his door...so he can feel better. But he still wakes up more than once a night yelling "don't close my door" or "is my door closed?"
If he hears any noises he starts yelling or crying because he's scared. He wakes up randomly and yells "mom!" or "Wake up!" or something.
I am use to Ty waking up scared at night...he did that even at my parents' house and Ster's parents' house when I slept in the room with him.
So being use to it I wake easily at the sound of him yelling. Sterling usually wakes up later...like after I've already rolled out of bed and gotten my big pregnant body to the bedroom door.
But Ty's waking (like 5 times a night) has been getting worse. So Sterling has stopped being understanding about it and just telling him firmly that he has to be quiet and go to bed. He will just yell to Ty now through the wall "Go back to sleep!" It think it's helping. lol.
It is hard being so pregnant with pains/aches and trying to be comfortable enough to sleep then having Ty wake me atleast five times a night.
He may start to feel more secure and at ease in this house once we get our old furniture and things...unfortunately that's still almost two weeks away. Blah. I'm crossing my fingers that the moving company will have someone cancel so we can have our delivery date moved up.
We have spent a lot of money, buying things to move into the house (paper towels, disposable plates, towels, mattresses, broom, vacuum, etc) that we are tight on money. And we don't have much furniture coming so a lot we will have to buy. And we have a lot of rooms to furnish. So money is a bit of a stresser right now. We will be spending our money on the house and furnishings for probably a year. That includes the big tv we plan on getting by next Christmas, the swingset for the backyard, and a shed for the backyard. Not to mention that wall between the kitchen and living room that we want to tear down and replace with a counter/island or the garage we want to build for our driveway.
With all the snowy weather they have here I thought most houses would have garages. However, all the houses that are older do not have garages. The newest houses do.
With the stress of money we have not yet bought an infant carseat or baby wipes. With over three weeks until the due date of the baby we are waiting another week or so before making those purchases.
In Italy I was so happy! Every day was wonderful. We had a home, routines, friends, a wonderful life. I did pretty well to stay happy over the summer without Sterling, I think. Being homeless and looking for a place to live late in the pregnancy I was not exactly "happy." I was optimistic, avoiding stressful thoughts and feelings. Just waiting. Waiting to find a house, to get our stuff back and to have this baby.
Now we are in the house but I am not yet able to feel the joy I felt every day in Italy. We are in a mostly empty house...waiting. Waiting for Winter break to end so we can enroll Lachoneus in school. Waiting for our stuff to come so we can start to settle and help the boys feel more secure. Waiting for the time for my parents to come out and visit to help us with the boys and the delivery of Athena.
So basically we have nothing to do for two weeks then it will be A)close on the house B)Get our stuff C) my parents come out and then D) Athena's birth.
I'm not sure when the winter break ends for Luke to start school. Their website was not helpful at all.
I must be crazy not to be completely happy right now. My husband is amazing! So sweet, romantic and wonderful. My boys are getting older which I love...Luke is so helpful!
Tiberias is doing great to keep his underwear dry all night. He is my difficult one though...poor kid. My life is hard when his life is hard.
I blame my not being in "happy" mode every day on the pregnancy. My aches, size, and readiness to welcome Athena into our world. It's hard making the little boys wait too...I'm so excited for them to see and meet her!
Sterling has had a week off of work to house hunt/inprocess. And then time off for Christmas. Monday he goes back to work. He's only gone to work a few days since we've been here but I always miss him when he's gone.
During that time I do school with the boys. I have not done much school with them but I plan on cracking down on it when Luke gets into school. I worry Tiberias is behind on his preschool education. He really needs to learn his ABCs. I've been teaching him them for like a year but he struggles with them.
We had an amazing Christmas holiday even without our furniture or Christmas decorations. We had snow outside, homemade goodies in the house, a posterboard Christmas tree the little boys helped make decorations for and a whole cut out paper Nativity story scene on the wall too.
We are so blessed!
This morning I realized that I need to be better to my soul. I have not been reading my scriptures which will strengthen me spiritually and give me patience for my children. And I have not been practicing singing! This morning I realized I need to sing! It fills me with joy!
So today I practiced singing and tonight we are going to read the scriptures as a family. We need to do this every night.
Right now the boys and Ster are watching a cartoon together...laying on the floor. Ster and I will probably watch a tv show together on the laptop while the boys watch their movie on the tablet. Then we'll get ready for bed and read scriptures.
There are things I could do to prepare for Athena if only...if only I knew which room is going to be hers! Ster wants her room next to ours upstairs and I want hers to be the one in the basement right at the bottom of the stairs. I don't think the boys could handle being so far from mom and dad all night.Ster thinks that may be what Ty needs. But no...he needs to feel secure to get over his night terrors. In time he will be. Putting him farther from us will just make it so we have to go all the way downstairs to put him back to bed or comfort him.
Athena will be in our bedroom in the bassinet for like three months anyway. But I have decorations for her room that I could put on the wall if I knew which room is going to be hers. Plus, we have to close on the house before I can put holes in the walls.
My mom is bringing up the crib. So we don't have anything set up for her yet. When our belongings come we can cover all the outlets which we need to do soon because Ty keeps trying to put stuff in them.
We'll be able to set up the bassinet.
So much to do but we can't do anything yet.
