Goodbye Wisconsin, and why moving is hard

We are gone from Madison.  I still have pictures and events from Wisconsin to post.  But it's official--we no longer live there.  Goodbye, Wisconsin.  Thanks for the truly wonderful, happy three years, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart (and not in that I ought to be polite and positive on my blog kind of way).

Right now the movers are unloading the truck at our house here in Ohio.  I'm in the hotel room while Sara takes a nap and David and Mary begin their second (or is it third?) hour of Sponge Bob this morning.

Moving is hard.  There is a reason why it's right up there with death and divorce.  Every move has been difficult, but I think this has been the hardest, for me anyway.  We've had some hard moves, logistically and emotionally.  So I've been trying to figure out why this one feels worse. (And maybe the other ones were just as bad, if not worse, and I've just blocked it out!)  Allow me a moment to reflect on the challenges with this move (and to wallow a little in self-pity) ...

We were selling a house and buying one basically simultaneously.  Being under contract on two houses was a new twist for us with this move.  While everything went super smoothly at both closings, we didn't necessarily know that ahead of time.  Against our better judgment we chose to do our financing through USAA on the new house.  While it turned out just fine, we had little reason to believe it would.  (USAA has such stellar customer service in every other area!  Their mortgages are a big, fat exception.  Next time we will do what we did with the house in Wisconsin and find a local lender.)  In addition, the house in Ohio was a for sale by owner deal, so it meant more work and research on our part.  There has been a cloud of worry over our heads that a contract (or two!) would fall through.

We have high maintenance children, not including Sara.  David and Mary are driving me crazy.  Crazy!!  (I know this is difficult for them--but the whining and complaining and bickering and flat-out disobedience certainly isn't helping matters. How did I manage to raise such needy children who live in desperate fear of the possibility of being mildly bored for three seconds?? Never ask me for parenting advice because I have obviously failed.)

We have a baby.  While Sara is sweet, mild, and easy-going, she is still a baby.

David and Mary are school-aged.  It's a hard move emotionally for them.  They are leaving behind wonderful schools and good friends. (And I am really stressed out about their schooling.)

This was supposed to be an easier move.  I wasn't emotionally/mentally prepared for this to be a "start from scratch" move.  When we moved to Wisconsin, we knew we would be going to Dayton, Ohio in three years.  We'd lived there before, and we had friends there.  This was going to be easy, as far as moves go.  I would have friends right away, my kids would have friends right away--maybe even down the street.  I would know where everything was, no GPS or Google Maps needed.  I would know where to go shopping and where to take the kids for outings.  The familiar is so comforting.  But then we didn't move to Dayton--we decided to move to Cincinnati instead.  I am not doubting that decision, but I will admit that I'm feeling discouraged about starting all over.  Who will my friends be?  Who will my kids' friends be?  Where will I do my grocery shopping? Will I ever not be completely disoriented on these roads?  Chris and Leslie are in Florida this week, so hopefully this feeling will start to go away when they get back...?

We loved our house.  I loved our house in Verona.  It wasn't perfect, and there are some things about it that I'm happy to leave behind.  But it was pretty darn close to my dream house.  And this is the first time we have left a house we loved.  While the house in Ohio will be more functional for this next stage of life, I really liked our house in Verona.  And we worked hard to make it a nice place to live.  It's hard to leave that.

Wisconsin is pretty great.  I'm speaking generally here (things to do, scenery, weather, culture, food, etc.)  I think it's really important to have a positive attitude when you move.  So I'm only going to think/write this once and then I will put it out of mind and focus on all the great things about living here:  I like Wisconsin more than Ohio.

I am boring now and have no sense of adventure.

Roots.  I think this gets at the heart of what is hard about this move.  We put down roots.  We bought a house, we were involved in two school communities, we served in our church community.  We formed and nurtured friendships.  And then we left.  I feel like we ripped ourselves out of a network of friendship, support, and service.  I really wanted to enjoy that network a little longer!  This move is probably the hardest on me.  Greg finished school; he got his PhD.  He has some serious closure--it was time for him to move on.  Even David and Mary are at kind of a natural break in their schooling.  But, for me, I feel like my life was just beginning.  (When I look at the future--and the subsequent moves--I feel so tired.  Is this my life?  Just as I finally get settled, really settled, I have to leave again?  And again?)  The fact that we were not living among Air Force families made it harder.  When a lot of your friends are in the military, it's easy to leave, because they are leaving too.

We need a vacation!  This move has been hard because it's been so simple--Point A to Point B.  Usually (with every other move, I believe) between Point A and Point B we went to visit here, there, and everywhere.  We have spent time out West and/or in Texas with friends and family.  I wonder if that buffer of vacation helped?  This time we spent one night in Chicago.  The kids had a great time at the Field Museum, the Hancock Tower, and the American Girl and Lego stores.  We love to do things with our kids in Chicago, but I'm not sure negotiating through and around the city with 2 packed cars was exactly relaxing for Greg and Alisa.  Our last week in Wisconsin was so busy.  It was full of lots of good things--time spent with friends and kind farewells.  But we probably could have used a quiet weekend of family time instead of rushing here and there in a big city.  (We were so happy to have nothing to do on Sunday afternoon.)

So I think those are some of the reasons this move has felt especially challenging.  But I guess all moves are hard ...

The good thing is that I don't have to do it alone.  Moves are stressful for families, but I also think they bring you closer.  You rely on one another for friendship and comfort and companionship.  You serve one another.  You gain a new appreciation for each other.  I am grateful for my family.  That we can do this together.

Bathtime

Yes, in the midst of all the craziness of moving I am posting pictures of Sara.

We've been bathing Sara over the kitchen sink in this big, unwieldy baby tub since week one.  These pictures were taken over the weekend, in the middle of the moving prep chaos.

She's outgrowing the baby tub, so I've started putting her in the bath with Mary.  Mary thinks it's the greatest thing ever.  And so does Sara.  (It's Mom and Dad who think perhaps it's not quite the best idea ever.  Sara is so little she just sort of floats away.)

So cute.

Now back to moving ...

Moving week

Quick update:

This was the view at our house this morning ...

Last week we prepared for the movers.  (My obsessive-compulsive tendencies come out when I'm getting ready for packers.)  And over the weekend we packed our cars and the suitcases.  (This is our simplest move yet.  Everything goes from point A to point B--nothing going to or coming from storage and/or overseas.  But it has felt like the most work--I'm not sure why.)

Monday the packers came.  (Incidentally, Mary thought the Packers were coming!  As in, the ones from Green Bay.  No wonder she was confused about what was going on.)  We moved to the hotel that evening.

Tuesday the packers finished.

Today they loaded the truck.

Tomorrow we finish cleaning.

Friday morning we close on the house and head to Chicago for one night and a little fun.

Saturday we'll hit a museum in Chicago and then drive to Ohio.

Monday we close on our house there, and Tuesday the truck will deliver our stuff.

Meanwhile, we have been saying goodbye to people.  There have been dinners and play dates and gabfests and swimming and gatherings and pizza and good company and hugs and kind deeds.  Thank you, thank you to all of our dear, dear friends.  This still holds true.  Thank you most of all for your friendship.  We love you very much, all of you.  My heart heavy because we are leaving, but full because I feel so blessed to have had people like you in my life.

Sara wakes up

This is Sara asleep in the pack-n-play in our bedroom.

I love that little piggies poking out.

Doesn't a sleeping baby just melt your heart?  So sweet.

Look!  A baby taking a nap.  In a bed!  It's a miracle, at least in our family.

This is Sara waking up from a nap in her crib.  I love to go get my sweet baby after a nap.  Sometimes she sleeps so long that I miss her!  And she's always so happy to see me.  Just warms the soul and brightens my day!

Sara videos

An effort to have some sort of record of Sara's babyhood.  (This is really for me and my kids, and maybe my mom.)

Mary holds Sara in the hospital

Mary reads to Sara on her first night home

Sweet David and 2 month-old Sara  gazing at each other lovingly

Sara, age 3 months, giggles for Mommy  and then Sara goes serious

Sara, age 3 1/2 months, tries out the excersaucer ... with help from David and Mary

Mary plays peek-a-boo with Sara, age 4 1/2 months and Mary makes Sara crack up

Mary and Sara play "police" (Sara is almost 6 months old)

Sara loves to kick her legs (a day shy of 6 months old)

Sara's funny baby noises, age 6 months

These are all very sweet to me.  Especially the ones of the David or Mary interacting with Sara.  What great kids I have.

Sunday Sara with Her Siblings

Sunday Sara

and finally 2 Timothy 1:7

You might (or might not) want to read parts 1, 2, and 3.

Leslie had stopped by an open house that morning and was excited about the house.  While it was a little odd looking on the outside (true), she said it was great inside (also true).  Most importantly, it was in the very community where we most wanted to live--and it was only 5 minutes from Chris and Leslie.  It was For Sale By Owner, so she had met the owners and talked with them at length--about the house and even more about us.  (Leslie sold us to the owners!)  They said they hoped to hear from us and gave their contact information to Leslie, who passed it on to us.

I knew immediately this was the house.  In the car on the way home from Chicago I looked up the listing and called the owners.  They were thrilled to hear from us--and so quickly!  They could tell we were serious right away.  We talked for a bit.  They explained that they would soon be empty nesters.  They had planned to sell the house in a year or two, but had suddenly felt like they should sell it this year.  So they hurried and put it on the market.  It had only been listed for two days--and already they had a lot of serious interest.  I explained that their house was exactly what we were looking for, that I trusted my sister-in-law's opinion (which is so true--she should be a real estate agent), and that we wanted to put together an offer for them right away.  (Crazy, right?  But it felt normal, really.)  I further explained that we were out of town but on our way back--we just needed a little time to get back home and put together an offer.  (We'd never been involved in a For Sale By Owner, so we had a little research to do too.)  They explained that they had other offers coming in that weekend, but they would keep us updated and that they hoped to see one from us.

The short of it is this:  They received two other offers that weekend--cash offers--but they accepted ours!  Wow.  And do you want to know why?  Our late closing date.

Because of the late closing we'd asked for (without really knowing why) on the house in Wisconsin, we had to ask for a late closing date on the house in Ohio.  It turned out the owners didn't want to move out until later in the summer.  Our ridiculously late closing date was like a Godsend.  (It was a Godsend.)

Here a couple of other tidbits:

Because we (Leslie) found the house so soon, we hadn't had a chance to find an agent.  Since this was a FSBO house, not having an agent worked in our favor (along with the late closing date).

Because it was a FSBO deal, we had to put  together the contract by ourselves--which happened in the middle of the night.  (I think we finished at 2 am.)  We were so clueless.  My dad the lawyer gave us some good advice (some of which we followed and some of which we didn't), and there were resources online. But it still wasn't enough.  If only we had a complete Ohio real estate contract to use as a template ...Wait!  We did!  We had a copy of the contract our Dayton-area agent had drawn up for the little house we had tried to make an offer on in Dayton.  Another Godsend.  Seriously.

Also, thank goodness we'd felt that sense of urgency--and that we'd continued to act and press forward.

Even that Montessori school in Dayton worked in our favor.  It got me to Chris and Leslie's house!  They'd moved to Ohio after we had left the first time, so I'd never been there before.  It was a million times easier to take the step of faith to live there (and buy a house I hadn't seen) because I had visited back in March.  I had a picture in my head.  I knew it was a beautiful, wonderful area.  I knew it was a ward where we would be happy.  I knew that Greg's drive to Dayton would be bearable--because I'd done it myself.  Most of all, I knew that I wanted our families to be close.  I really don't think I would have been capable of considering living there if I hadn't visited a month earlier.

I am generally not one to ascribe every little thing that happens as "the hand of the Lord."  I tend to think that life just happens, and, while God is watching over us, He's not a micro-manager.  I also believe that He doesn't always give us specific guidance, even on decisions that seem very big to us (like buying a house).  But I have to acknowledge that in this particular case, my general beliefs do not apply.  I cannot doubt the Lord was working in my life on some very specific things.

A few weeks after all of this--after we had a contract on both houses--Greg and I were asked to speak in church.  We were assigned to talked about Proverbs 3:5 and D&C 6:36, which also happen to go along nicely with one of my favorite scriptures, 2 Timothy 1:7.  As I prepared my remarks, I experienced an impression from the Spirit that, in this case, the hand of the Lord had been very involved, that God had been carefully arranging things for us to end up in the right place and in the right house. I had the specific thought that He had quietly prompted the owners in Ohio to put their house on the market a year early, and in that particular week.  I suddenly realized how many little things (small and simple things) had worked together in our favor--from when we put our house on the market here to our morning spent in the temple instead of choosing a real estate agent.  God had worked a miracle in our lives, and I could not deny it.

So I am taking this opportunity to thank God and acknowledge His hand.  And I am reminding my future self to "doubt not, fear not" and instead "trust in the Lord."  God has given me "a spirit ...  of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  I know God loves, and, perhaps more importantly, I know God cares.

... and Doctrine & Covenants 6:36

This is the long, boring (but important to me) story of the our house in Wisconsin and the one that will become our home in Ohio.  Part 1 is here. And part 2 is here.  This is part 3, and the last part will come soon.

David and Mary at the Chicago Temple in April.
This is the day we learned what house would become our home.

Since we would not be buying the only house that made any sense, Greg and I expanded our options.  We considered schools we would not have considered before.  We considered houses well outside the ward boundaries we wanted to live in. We looked way above our price range and way below our price range.  We went back to the drawing board and considered renting or even base housing.  But the feeling was always no, no, no.  But still we couldn't shake the sense of urgency. We must have gone through the decision-making steps described in D&C 9:8 a million times, only to experience again and again the big fat stupor of thought described in verse 9. It felt like we were walking in circles.  In the dark.

Finally, one day the obvious dawned on us.  We had enlarged our search so wide that we were considering homes halfway to Cincinnati.  We realized we shouldn't live halfway to Cincinnati--we should live all the way to Cincinnati.  We should live near Greg's brother!  As soon as the thought entered my mind, I felt peace.  The darkness and despair disappeared.  Suddenly, I felt like I was moving forward instead of stuck turning circles.  Greg called his brother, who was in London at the time, to talk to him about it.  And I talked to Leslie.  We all felt this could be a really special time for our families, to live close to each other.  I can't believe how light and happy I felt!  And I felt a confirmation that this would be a blessing for both of our families.

Leslie immediately jumped into action helping me understand the area,  like school and church boundaries, as well as desirable neighborhoods and communities.  She helped us with real estate agent recommendations, and, in the meantime she sent me listings of houses in good locations and offered to go to any open houses.  The only problem was that the market was piping hot in the community we wanted.  It was the kind of situation where houses were selling within hours!!  I felt stressed about being able to buy a house in that kind of environment.  We knew we should plan a house hunting trip to Ohio soon ... perhaps that very weekend.  But we felt even more strongly that we needed to go worship in the temple that weekend.  We had so much going on that it seemed unwise.  Except that the feeling was so strong that it seemed unwise not to go.

So that Saturday (our house had been under contract for only a week--it seemed like the longest, most intense week ever!) we piled everyone in the car and drove to Chicago.  Greg and I took turns at the temple.  I took the kids to the nearby children's museum, and he took them to lunch while I was inside the temple.
When I was inside, I felt such peace that moving to the north-eastern suburbs of Cincinnati was the right decision.  I felt it was important to live as close as possible to Chris and Leslie. I felt peace about being able to buy a house in the right community.  Most of all, I felt God's love for me and my family.  I knew I could trust Him.  He was taking care of us.  I had no reason to fear or doubt.

When I walked out of the temple, I had a text from Leslie:  She had found our house!


P.S.  D&C 6:36

Proverbs 3:5 continued

Sara with Evan and Eliza at their home in Cincinnati, March 2013

Once we had an accepted offer on our house here in Wisconsin, we could get serious about looking for a house in Dayton.  Even though we weren't particularly excited about buying a house--we especially weren't excited about having to sell another house--we had crunched numbers, debated, and discussed, always coming back to the idea that we should buy instead of rent.  Because we had lived there before, we knew the area quite well, and we thought we had an idea of where we wanted to live.  We decided we wanted to return to the same church ward as before.  There were two areas outside the ward that attracted us, but, ultimately, we felt it was important to go back to our old ward, and we were excited to be close to the friends we had left behind.  We felt we could move forward knowing we would buy a house and knowing what neighborhoods we would consider.

Now I need to go back in time for a moment.  Back in February I had decided it was time to get serious about Mary and what the heck she was going to do about school.  (By the way, February is usually way too late to make schooling decisions for the following fall.  Remember that, parents of young children.  My excuse was that I'd had a baby and temporarily checked out of life.)  I'd communicated with some people at the school district I thought we would move to, and, while they were very helpful, caring, and professional, it became clear to me that Mary would be better off at a Montessori school for another year.  (I write that sentence like it was no big deal.  The decision was agony.  I lost a lot of sleep over Mary and school.  Heck, I still lose sleep over Mary and school.  I probably lose even more sleep over David and school. And, yes, I even worry about Sara and school.  I clearly have a problem.)

It was obvious which Montessori school she would attend, so I contacted them to schedule a visit.  They were totally full next fall, with a long wait list.  I remember hanging up the phone, shocked.  I knew very well that February is late in the game.  But I had agonized about the decision!  How could there be no space for her??  I felt panicky in my chest and sick in my stomach.  And, then, those feelings melted away ... and I felt peace.  I knew that things would work out for the best for Mary.  I had to have patience while those things worked out.  But God was aware of her (and me) and it was going to be okay.  (By the way, I still don't know for sure what "okay" will be.)  The school had agreed to look at Mary's application and file it away.  They promised to give her preference the following year.  But, surprise, a few days later, after they had received the application, they called to tell me they really wanted Mary.  They created a space for her! So I scheduled a visit for a couple of weeks later, and they agreed to hold Mary's spot until we had a chance to see the school.

That's when the girls took our road trip to Ohio.  Sara, Mary, and I.  (What was I thinking?!  Sara was congested and in the middle of her fussiest phase.  I was sleep-deprived and utterly exhausted--this was in the middle of getting our house ready to sell.  Mary seriously saved the day with her helpfulness, patience, and positive attitude.)  Mary and I (and Sara) visited the school.  Mary loved the school.  I, on the other hand, had some pretty serious reservations about it.  I shoved my reservations aside because I could see no other alternative.  I knew it was a blessing that there was a space for Mary at that school--a door had been opened for us, so we passed through the door, even though it still felt like we hadn't yet reached the light.  There was no doubt in my mind that public school in any Dayton area district was not going to be a good fit for Mary the following year, so after our tour of the school, I registered her there.

Even though we weren't ready to look seriously at houses in Dayton yet--our own house wasn't even for sale yet--I kept having the feeling I should look at a few houses with our agent while I was there.  So she met up with me for an hour after our school tour and we looked at a few houses--in a neighborhood that met our needs and seemed to make a lot of sense.  Unfortunately, the houses we looked at had some serious issues and were quickly crossed off the list, but we weren't really in the market so it didn't matter ... yet.

As it would turn out, the most important part of our trip was staying with Greg brother's Christ and his family in Cincinnati.  It was a fast trip, but my sister-in-law Leslie convinced me to stay an extra day.  Leslie and I are close, and it was so great to hang out with her.  It was good to see Chris and the way he serves others.  And I loved seeing my niece and nephews.  They are such good, good kids.  Eliza lovingly took Mary under her wing.  And Luke and Evan were just as sweet as could be with Sara.  Best of all was the feeling in their home.  There was a feeling of love and peace and faith and dedication to the Lord.  Incidentally, I also: went to church with them, made the drive to Dayton and back, saw what the area where they live is like.  But, of course, at the time I didn't think much of any of that.

Okay. Now let's fast forward to mid-April.  We accepted an offer on our house, so we were in a position to look seriously at homes in Dayton.  That very weekend we discussed what our plan should be. We wouldn't be moving until the end of July, so we had plenty of time. We would schedule a time to go house hunting later in the spring.  But we felt this great sense of urgency!  And we could not shake the feeling.  We needed to find our house in Ohio ... right away!

Now I am going to try even harder to make a long story short.  (Believe it or not, I've been trying all along.)  Suffice it to say, Greg and I felt we needed to find a house almost immediately but we didn't feel good about anything!  There was nothing in the ward and schools we wanted that we felt comfortable buying.  The obvious thing to do was to wait ... but we still felt that sense of urgency.  We discussed and debated for hours on end.  Finally, one morning we woke up and realized we should buy a house I'd seen back in March that was still on the market.  I had immediately crossed it off the list back then because it was too small-- just over half the size of our current house.  But everything else about it made sense.  And we realized, though we would have to make some sacrifices and change some of the ways we lived, we could make it work.  Greg and I talked about what we would have to do to downsize--we even went through the house and noted much of the furniture and belongings we would have to shed.  Then we called our real estate agent to put together an offer.

We felt confident in our decision.  We knew we had carefully considered many, many factors.  And this house clearly made the most sense.  In fact, it was the only one that made any sense.  We felt good about our offer, but also nervous.  I remember kneeling at my bedside and praying very specifically, "Father in Heaven, we really believe this is the best house.  We have done our best to make the best decision we possibly can.  We feel good about this choice.  So if buying this house is not the right thing, it is in your hands now, and I will trust that you will take care of us."

Our offer was not accepted.  In fact, due to one little accidentally missed email, the sellers didn't have a chance to see our offer before they had accepted another one.  It was disappointing.  But also a relief--I felt this was the Lord looking out for us.  Only I was totally confused.  Because we were back to square one.


To be continued again ... final post coming soon.

Proverbs 3:5

This is the story of two houses, the house we live in now and the house we will soon live in.   It is not a particularly interesting story.  But in all the hub-bub of preparing to move and all the anxiety I feel on the verge of such a big change, I felt like I needed to take a few minutes to write down the story of the two houses.  To remind myself of how the Lord takes care of us and how He blesses us.  

When we bought the house here in Verona, we felt peaceful about it.  This was back in 2010 when the economy was terrible, the markets were practically frozen, and no houses were selling.  It seemed crazy to buy a house when we knew we would have to turn around and sell it in just three years.  It was hard to imagine the real estate market ever being back to "normal."  It was hard to see how we could plan on being able to sell the house at all, let alone avoid losing a ton of money in the deal.  Logically, it didn't seem like the best idea ever.  But we knew renting was not going to work, and we felt strongly that buying a house was the right thing to do.  We would just have to trust the Lord that it would all work out.

We right away knew this was the  house.  It didn't have all the bells and whistles of some others.  It didn't make us swoon.  But it felt like home.  We felt comfortable and peaceful, and right away I could imagine our life here.  I knew we would be happy here.  As we moved forward with the purchase of this house, I felt a confirmation from the Spirit that we would be able to sell it and it would not be a financial hardship.  Sure, over the short years we have been here I have worried about selling the house.  But it was my choice to worry.  God had already told me not to worry.  (Yes, I have an addiction to worry.)

Suddenly, when Sara was a month old, we realized we needed to get serious about selling our house.  We started preparing the house, chose an agent, and came up with a plan.  We decided to list the house at the end of March.  There was some debate about it.  Spring was late this year, and the market would be slow until the temperatures warmed up. It could perhaps be to our advantage to wait and list the house later, when things were hopping ... if they got hopping.  We decided, no, we felt like we should list the house early.  Greg especially felt strongly that it was the right thing to do.  

We had a lot of work to do.  Our house has been well-maintained and we've tackled some projects here and there since we bought it, so there was nothing major to do.  But it was important to us that our house be in tip-top shape and show well.  After months and months of our lives being in disarray (I wasn't super productive during my pregnancy), there was a lot of sorting, repairing, organizing, cleaning, arranging, donating, and disposing to do.  (A LOT!!)  Of course, this all happened when Greg was in the middle of the most intense writing phase of his dissertation.  And we had a baby who wanted to be held all the time! Miraculously (let me say that again, miraculously), we managed to get our house on the market just before spring break.  We got the house as pristine as possible and then took our mess and fled to Texas for 10 days.

Going to Texas was a great idea.  We had a million showings while we were gone!  I was so glad we weren't there.  I couldn't imagine having multiple showings every day while we were trying to live in the house.  (Little did I know...)  I will be honest:  Of course I hoped we would sell the house while we were in Texas.  But, alas, not a single offer the first week. (I knew it was a lot to hope for, but I couldn't help it!)  It was still the dead of winter in Wisconsin, so, while there were a gazillion buyers prowling around Verona (which is a highly sought-after area), no one felt like biting--on anything.  So we returned to Wisconsin and to a house that we would have to keep perfectly clean and organized.  Eek.

Once we returned home, we continued to have multiple showings nearly every day.  Apparently there were a gazillion more buyers looking in Verona.  It was insane.  Our house was not our own.  Our lives were not our own!  My kids couldn't have friends over.  My kids couldn't bring home their schoolwork--it went straight to the recycling bin.  No laundry could be piled up.  No baby paraphernalia left around.  Meals could rarely be eaten at home.  I couldn't make any plans or appointments lest I need to get the house ready for a showing.  I did nothing--NOTHING--except clean my house.  Insane, I tell you.  And not sustainable.  I was going to break.  Our whole family was going to break.  I had no doubt our house would sell that spring.  But I wept at the thought of our lives continuing like that for another month or two. Wept and wept. Would one of these two gazillion people who were tromping around my bedroom and opening my closets just please buy my house?  

It was an odd spring, our agent, who has been selling houses in Verona for 20 years, explained.  She said there were tons of buyers.  But they weren't buying.  They all just kept looking and looking and waiting and waiting.  Since nothing was selling, none of them felt like they had to act.  Even though it would probably end up being a seller's market once the weather broke, for the time being all the buyers felt like they had all the time in the world.  Our agent (and Greg) predicted (correctly) that once the first couple of houses sold, they would all get snapped up.  But in April it was like everything was frozen in place as we all waited to see who would bite first.

Meanwhile, Greg and I both had the impression that we needed to spend the summer here.  Originally, we had thought we'd get out of here as soon as school was out and spend the summer crisscrossing the country, possibly leaving Greg behind to finish up his dissertation.  But the feeling was strong that we should stay here until August.  We didn't know exactly why ... perhaps Greg would need a lot of extra time on his dissertation, or we needed to continue to fulfill responsibilities and foster friendships here, or our kids needed the time and stability.  Whatever the reason, we trusted that God knew best.  So we agreed that we would compromise on price to get a late closing date.  (If we ever got an offer ... )

So our house was only on the market about three weeks.  (I have to remind myself that three weeks is not very long--how fortunate we were.  But it felt more like three months!  Or more like an ETERNITY!  Deep down I felt peace that it would sell, but my surface emotions were all stress, worry, and exhaustion.)  When we received the offer on our house, we considered it carefully.  And we knew what we should do.  Very quickly.  Almost immediately the thought of how we should counter popped into my head.  It was a clear, peaceful, calm, confident feeling deep inside (in contrast to the anxious, tight feeling in my chest that I often feel but I have learned is not the Spirit).  Greg felt good about it too.  Countering as we did required trusting in the Lord, but we have learned (sometimes the hard way and sometimes by seeing great blessings) that the Lord knows best!  Our counter was accepted, and we felt very fortunate.

Besides the waiting game on this end (lots of waiting--we asked for a three month closing!!), we needed to find a place to live on the other end.  With an accepted offer on our house, we could finally get serious about finding a house in Ohio.  More stress and worry and despair were coming.  But so was a great blessing. 

(Now I need to go to bed.)  To be continued ...

P.S.  Proverbs 3:5

Bobcat and belt loops

Last night was David's first Pack Meeting!  He received his Bobcat and four belt loops awards.  Hooray for David!  After the awards, the kids did a cool treasure hunt about courageous heroes.  David loved it all.

David receives his Bobcat.

Congratulations! (Doesn't he look sharp?)

David shows off his belt loop awards:
Archery, Badminton, Ultimate, and BB Shooting 

Heavy weight?

Monday was Sara's six-month well-baby appointment.  She weighs 14 pounds 10 ounces.  Hooray!  This puts her in the 20th percentile.  Hooray, hooray!  (David and Mary have lived their lives on the 20th percentile weight curve.  Now Sara has joined them as a 20th percentiler too.)

 

Sweet Sara is a dream baby.  I owe that girl a thousand posts about what a sweet, mellow, content, easy-going, normal baby she is.  But right now I am instead going to briefly mention one of the few challenges we've had.

Due to a number of factors, by the time she was about three months old Sara was not gaining weight like she should.  Normally I wouldn't worry myself about a silly growth chart.  But this time I knew deep in my heart, with my "mother's intuition," that she wasn't getting all the calories she needed.  I spent a month pumping to try to increase my milk supply, giving her lots of extra feedings, and trying to supplement with bottles of breast milk and formula.  It was stressful adding the feedings and finding time to pump, and it was all made even more difficult because Sara could not figure out the bottle.  (Sara is such a normal baby in so many ways.  I guess her quirk is being like "What the heck is this???" anytime we tried any kind of bottle.)  But she was gaining weight a little faster with all that effort.  But it seemed like a lot of stress and work ...

Finally, when she was five months old I packed up the pump and the bottles and we started cereal.  I definitely think solids are overrated, and age five months was early for me to take on that endeavor.  (I loved Mary--she refused to eat anything she couldn't feed herself.  So we skipped the whole pureed baby food stage.  She just had breast milk until she was nine or ten months old.  It was awesome.)  But it felt like the right thing to do, feeding Sara solids.  (I believe strongly in "mother's intuition.")  So with reluctance, I fed her cereal and formula.  And she LOVED it.  She's gaining weight like a champ now.

So that's the story of our sweet, super normal Sara--who is not so normal, after all.  (She can't handle a bottle--too complicated?--but she's a champ with the spoon.)  Oh, Sara, we love you.


(These pictures were taken on Monday, the day of her appointment.)

Ballet class

A few weeks ago it was observation day in Mary's ballet class.  Normally, we can watch through a mirrored window.  But on observation day friends and family are invited into the studio to watch the class.  It's not a performance, just a regular class.  This time our whole family came.  

We all enjoyed seeing what Mary does during a typical class.  Greg was especially impressed.  I realized that I'm the one who always takes Mary to ballet, so he had only a vague idea of what class is like.  He said he liked watching class better than the performance.  I have to agree that there is something special about ballet class.  The children are concentrating and focused but it's also joyful--not a silly, saccharine joy but an inward joy that comes from working hard in a loving environment.  I wish the pictures I took captured that glow of happiness and satisfaction in the students.  (Greg and I left and thought, "David and Mary are each having the same experience!  Karate and ballet are so similar, especially the programs they are in."  We told this to David and Mary, who, of course, were deeply offended that we would dare suggest any similarity between ballet and karate.  Oh well.  Best to keep some observations to yourself as a parent.)

I have some video footage too, just some short little clips.  (And I used a decent camera so this footage isn't terrible, but I now realize I should have put the little clips into one video.  Next time.)

Warming up at the barre

More practice at the barre  (I love to watch them work at the barre.)

Ballet class

Pirouettes  (Little girls doing pirouettes--so sweet!)

Leaps

Mary's famous ballet leaps (Mary is known for her leaps in this summer's class.)

Mary's teacher, Miss Charmaine, is very sad we're leaving.  She had hoped to be Mary's teacher for years to come. After class on observation day I talked to her for a while.  It was good (and perhaps a little overwhelming) to hear her thoughts about Mary.  We will miss her and the wonderful program she has.