April Update

I hate to post without pictures, but I just don't have any new ones downloaded right now.  I took some super cute ones of Jonah just yesterday, so I will try to get around to it.  Since Dan and I are the only people in the world without smart phones (we don't even have texting), we actually have to plug the cord into the computer and wait for it to download in order to have access to share them. Poor us. :)

Big News:  Our house in North Carolina is closing on the 30th!  The entire last month has been filled with different little things that need to happen before the house sells:  phone calls, paperwork, paying for a bunch of little things, etc.  I'm am so grateful that Dan is so handy because I had never before had to hire anyone to do any work in our house.  Do y'all know how expensive plumbers and handymen are?  It's crazy!  Not that they don't deserve the pay for their hard work, I was just very surprised how labor adds up so quickly.  I should say thanks to Pops for teaching your son to be a self-sufficient fixer!  One big thing that Dan was able to help with was moving our furniture out of the house.  We had brought the majority of our "things" here and put them in storage while we're living with my parents, but we left the house staged with some things.  Dan and my dad went to NC last Saturday and then moved it into storage here.  Needless to say, it was a long day for them.

The final walkthrough for our house is happening this afternoon and it had better go well because we have already spent SO much money fixing one big thing (adding more supports under the deck) and lots little things that the inspector decided needed to be fixed (replacing individual roof shingles, buying longer drain spouts, etc.).  Things that we never knew were "problems" and never would have fixed if we were staying in the house. 

Anyway, we are (despite a little bit of whining above) super grateful to sell the home. :) We are also very excited that our sweet little house won't be empty anymore.  We know that the buyer will love it just like we do.  I didn't get to go to NC with Dan and my dad last Saturday because Jonah's a high maintenance baby (more about that in a minute) and I would only have been taking care of him and not have been any help at all. I was really sad not to get to go in the house one more time and say goodbye.  I'm sentimental like that.  We lived there for 6 years, and we have so many good memories there.

The Next Phase:  Now we will be able to find a rental here and buy a minivan.  We are very excited about both!  Dan is hoping to get to drive my Camry before the weather makes driving his little Mitsubishi without AC unbearable.  And I would love for the kids to be spaced further apart in the car so that no one accidentally kicks their baby brother in the face while throwing a monster-sized, terrible-twos tantrum in the backseat.  Jonah was fine btw.

Kevin and Elena Update:  Having 3 kids has not been an easy thing to get used to for me.  Elena and Kevin both dearly love Jonah.  They are generally gentle and always very sweet with him.  However, Elena really struggled to adjust to her new normal.  She was throwing these random, hour-long, unprovoked tantrums about everything.  It was really crazy.  Thankfully that stopped right around the same time that Jonah turned 5 weeks.  Things have been much better since.  Kevin has adjusted really well to Jonah.  He's been his normal, loving, impulsive, two year old self except when he's copying Elena's past behavior.

Jonah Update:  Up until Sunday, Jonah cried almost non-stop whenever he was awake, and didn't sleep during the day unless he was being held.  Saturday afternoon, I bought a baby swing at a consignment store and that really helps with naps.  He'll sleep in the swing sometimes - allowing me to have my arms empty for several hours a day.  Also on Saturday, I bought Mylicon (anti-gas) drops for him.  I had tried them with Elena, and they made zero difference with her fussiness, so I wrote them off.  About 2 weeks ago Dan mentioned that we should try them since J's reflux medicine wasn't helping.  It was clear that he was in some kind of pain, but we weren't sure exactly what was going on.  I now give him the Mylicon after every feeding and he is like a different baby.  He must have been having horribly painful gas issues.  Pobrecito. 

Jonah's still not an easy baby like Kevin was, but the last few days have been totally different from the previous 6 weeks (He's eight weeks now and he was a sleepy, little angel during week 1).  He smiles and coos and enjoys laying on a quilt or in a bouncer awake for up to 15 minutes before he cries to be picked up.  We can hold him and talk to him and see his smiles without any crying now.  He's sleeping better at night (he usually does a 6-7 stretch) and during the day.  He used to routinely squirm and scream and suddenly wake up in the middle of sleeping.  The past 2 nights in a row, I have gotten him asleep without any crying.  Woo-hoo.  We are all hoping that he continues to feel better and be happier.