Summer of Craziness - and our obsession over a workable routine

We thought last summer was challenging. The birth of our second child brought a lot of new challenges into our lives as we learned how to best use our time to meet their needs and ours. We seemed to be able to slide into a routine while Tina stayed home from work with the two boys. Then I took second quarter off and stayed home and we settled into a different routine. Some time in January we hired a nanny and Tina started her new job. We thought that we were moving into a more permanent routine. Turns out there were a couple of problems. One, Tina's 'perfect job' turned out to be less than perfect and two, we felt like we were running crazy to just keep up with stuff. In other words, what we had was not sustainable.

Then a new governor (and legislature) took office. His genius plan was to balance the budget on the backs of public workers (making a special effort to gut rights and benefits for public school teachers). This heaped a whole lot more stress onto an already thread-bare situation (I like mixed metaphors). So in late March I (Derek) started browsing the web for a different job in a new and different state...and I found one. To my surprise this new school wanted me on staff. Not only that, it is a 5-day boarding school that had a spot for us to live on campus rent free. Add to this some other nice job perks and the fact that we are now less than 2.5 hours from family vs. the previous 10 hours and it seemed to good to pass up.

So about a week ago we sold our house AND moved. We are far from settled and I wouldn't say we are stress free, but we are excited to start something new. Most definitely we ache like amputees for the people we moved away from. Henry asked me tonight, "Is it dark where Levi is or does he still have day?" I could barely answer his question without tears (but I have them now). I'm not sure how much he understands but he does know that his friends are far enough away that we can't see them very often anymore.

We don't know what all adventures await us at our new location. Hopefully we'll be able to update this blog more regularly again as we move into a routine that works better for us.

And now. Pictures!

 Boys at home prior to the move.

 The chaos we lived in as we packed up. And I might add a HUGE thanks to our parents for the help in the move. My mom and dad (Howard and Cathy - pictured) helped us with packing and loading and Tina's mom and dad (Delmar and Janet) helped us with the unloading.

 The moving trailer before loading (short note on this - we surprised ourselves by only using 14 linear feet in this trailer to pack nearly all of our belongings!)

 Outside our new residence (we will be sharing this with about 25 high school girls - yikes!)

 Henry riding around campus.

 Henry looking pensive.

Priceless photo of Tina and the boys.

Happy Birthday Hans!

1 year

I really can't believe that Hans turned 1 year old today.  This past year has flown by as both boys have made our lives fun, fulfilling and crazy all at once.  Hans has his Dr. appointment tomorrow so we'll get all of the official numbers then but here are what we know about Hans at one year old:

1. Loves balls
2. Loves his brother and is sad whenever Henry leaves
3. Loves to make you laugh
4. Has two teeth and two more on the way
5. Can take steps on his own and loves the independence of moving on his own (walking or crawling)
6. Loves to be outside
7. Not the best sleeper or napper (not too unusual for this age)
8. Seems to wear his emotions on his sleeve (he is very happy go lucky until something doesn't go his way--then he makes that known to everyone)
9. Has reddish-colored hair.
10.  Loves to eat many kinds of food, especially anything that can be chopped into finger foods.
11.  Moves faster as he gets tired.
12.  Has a good start on using a leg hook to climb things (Yikes)

We look back and are amazed at how quickly he has changed from an infant to a little person with some understanding of the world around him.  Even though we have not done a great job this year blogging each week, we do still have all the pictures to document those changes.  We will try to do a better job in the next year updating our lives with posts including photos and videos.  We have quite a few changes coming our way in the next few months.  In the meantime, we are trying to celebrate birthdays (Henry's is coming up too) and all of us being able to spend more time together since school is out. 

 Week 51--loves balls

 Loves outside

 Loves his brother (feeling is mutual)

 Loves outside and brother.

 Ditto.

More balls.

Weekly Pics

Some interior pictures of our house for posterity. We are in the process of trying to sell it.

It's spring (sort of) so here are some pictures

Again we have failed to keep up to date on the blog. I'm sure down the road when Hans begins to compare how he was treated to the way we treated Henry this permanent record keeping will come back and bite us. Some highlights with the boys.

Henry is increasingly helpful (and sometimes argumentative). He continues to amaze us with his memory, thoughtful questions and sensitivity. He also is LOVING riding his bike and continues to get more adventurous. We did a little hiking on mother's day (pics below) and he had a great time riding off road.

Hans is increasingly mobile and energetic. The 'little bugger' is into everything, pulling up on things he shouldn't pull up on, climbing stairs he shouldn't climb and wanting things he can't have. He's also a cut up. It seems he already takes great pride in getting one of us to laugh. He really enjoys feeding himself (cheese is a big favorite). He has sprouted two teeth so far and is probably no more than 2 weeks away from walking (already stands for a bit without holding on to things).

The last three pictures are shots of our house. In case you didn't know, we are moving. Anybody wanna buy a house? It comes with a matching chicken coop (and we'll throw in 5 laying hens).