Wired

I'm wired.

I **THINK** Scott and I just accomplished the most difficult transactions associated with moving (besides the emotional side-effects, which will eventually need tending to... but for the moment I'm not quite there yet).

#1: We THINK we sold our home, for the price we wanted to the buyer we wanted
#2: We THINK we bought another, for the price we wanted, posessing the features we wanted

Does it get much better than that?

This Sat- tonight we spent in Rochester, Minnesota - our future home. We spent two solid days looking at homes, then a half-day writing up paperwork for the offer and counters. Then we splurged, by celebrating at the Mall of America today (in Minneapolis). In the midst of hunting for and finding our dream home there in Rochester, we were in correspondence with the buyer of our home here in Clintonville... we did some re-negotiating after the home inspection. And decided on a purchase price, signed the paperwork, faxed it to all parties - closing that deal too!

Closing date for our home here in Clintonville: June 25
Closing date for our home there in Rochester: June 26

Back to my question, does it get much better than that?

Now, I want to temper my hyper-ness with the reality that our desired home in Rochester has yet to go through an inspection. But it seems in great shape - owners took great pride in their house, as is obvious - so we do not predict any probs.

Jackson had no input on the house in which he will likely spend his early years. But we made a decision on his behalf, as he was busy being loved on by 6 different people in Columbus over the weekend. The guy was given good care by Emily, Liz, Nancy, Katie, Ricci and Diane - how lucky we are to have people in our lives so willing to step in and love Jackson. THANKS!

We feel very fortunate. It all is falling into place nicely. Maybe this transition won't be so tough. But then again, as aforementioned, I haven't quite addresses the emotional aspect of the transition.

But there'll be time for that too.

For now, I'm wired. And stoked. And pumped. And psyched. And picturing what new furniture we need. And where to put it all. And what paint colors might look good where. And what flower beds I'm going to tend to first. And. And. And...

A beautiful day with friends

Yesterday Sophia's grandma was in town, so I was off duty! It feels so weird whenever I don't have Sophia to look after on my typical Tues/Thurs routine.... like "what am i gonna do now!?"

A quick bit on that topic, while I'm thinking of it: Staying home with Jackson this past year has been interesting in that way. In one minute I feel like I have NO IDEA how to fill the time. There seems so much of it. And no urgency. So I find myself piddling it away. And then in the next minute (even more so now that there's a bit of chaos in selling our home, etc), it feels like there's far more to do than there is time to do it. And I'm like a productivity-machine. Time is just a funny little thing. We all have the exact same amount of it. And we all look at it in such different ways, choosing different priorities with which to fill it. Am I the only one who thinks "time" is a tricky little thing?

OK, so I'm back to yesterday.

We got the opportunity to spend some time with Em and Becky at the Replogle home. Jackson is instantly entertained when around other little dudes and dudettes. He LOVED watching Hannah, Kaiya, Cassie, and Charlie (although he wasn't moving much, poor little guy had a fever)... he didn't pay a great deal of attention to Austin. Probably because his Mommy was infatuated enough for the lot with that babe! Ahhhh, babies just get me all warm and fuzzy inside. I LOVED holding that little 8 lb bundle of joy. I told Em and Becky, it's kinda hard to even imagine that Jackson and Duncan were EVER that small. We all agreed that's a common Mamma phenomenon.

Then, I visited with Becky (Smith, that is), since I was so close to Otterbein. Jackson showed off his crawling (correction: dragging) skills on the OC Alumni Office floor. And his "thug" sag look (I think I got a little ambitious in thinking these 12 month shorts would fit him).

Then later in the evening Theresa and her crew visited for dinner, a walk, and play time in the back yard. Almost 3 year old Ellie is pictured below eating a chocolate covered strawberry... she's ALL OVER IT!

It was a beautiful day - both weather wise and friend wise!

Grandma Lynette got this great mini card table for all the grandkids whenever they visit. Jackson, as you can tell, is ecstatic.

Not all cheese is created equal

I like to switch up Jackson's breakfast meal frequently... sometimes cheerios, sometimes buttered toast, sometimes baby cereal, sometimes apple sauce and yogurt... I've even introduced cheese toast.

Now, you should know that not all cheese toasts are created equal.

Until this morning, I had been using straight-up cheddar block cheese, which when sliced and melted in the broiler provides a nice coat of grease on top. I'd break the cheese toast into pieces and that grease coat would help the little nuggets of yumminess glide RIGHT down Jackson's throat.

TODAY was halarious, though. I splurged at Kroger this week and purchased the cheddar single squares... this morning, it made for a convenient and fast b-fast prep. Except, we all know that when that stuff melts it becomes very, very, very sticky. It took about an hour for Jackson to get that breakfast down. Because every bite got stuck to the roof of his mouth. So he'd make this surprised face every time. Then scrunch his little nose up in a semi-frustrated, semi-tickled way. Then began his strategies to dislodge what he wanted so badly to taste and consequently swallow: coughing, shaking his head, etc. He was diligent, I gotta give it to him. We finally settled on large gulps of milk after each cheese toast bite - in combination with Jackson's newly acquired fancy tongue work - to get it down.

I may regret this teachable moment in years to come. Sounds an aweful like a lesson in the art of french kissing (you shoulda seen to mastery of control he had over his tongue!).