checking in! hi everyone!

there’s just so much i want to talk about but i can’t shove it all into one post so… piecemeal, piecemeal.  we have to start somewhere.

so… hi guys!  i feel like i took an unintended two-ish week break but life was crazy, so it was to be expected.  doesn’t stop the blog posts from bumping around my head wanting to be put on paper (in the blogger post screen, as it were) so i hope to be churning them out with some regularity for the rest of the summer.  summer!  it is summer.  we haven’t really had, enjoyed, relished ours yet but august… august is our month, people.  august will not be spent unpacking but at the lake, the beach, eating ice cream, sitting on our deck, what have you.  (brief interruption: parker is currently at the stool–pictured above–where he spots his water gun.  i hear him whisper in this devious way, “whim.”  then, he fills it up, and goes after william to shoot him.  chaos ensues.)

we went to ikea today.  that’s kind of a no-brainer after moving in.  where else can you get like dish towels, toilet brushes, swedish meatballs, and a shelving system in one fell swoop?  speaking of, if you spent over $100 there, you got your meal for free today.  how awesome is that?  “fill up kids!  lindsey, open your purse and shove that plate of swedish meatballs in it!  i don’t care if it’s messy, dammit!  william, grab some rolls and lingonberry jam while you’re over there!”  but really, we got some good necessities without going crazy.  i always wince a little at our ikea total but i’m happy to report, this one did not make me wince.  (i almost got this kitchen island, having had my eye on it online for awhile, but seeing it in person it didn’t do it for me.  any tips on functional stainless steel non-permanent kitchen islands?  particularly ones you can sit at?  and that don’t cost a fortune?)

let’s carry on… moving feels really big.  it’s just such a thing, you know.  it’s emotionally and physically exhausting.  the first day i had these moments of utter joy interrupted by what are we doing?!  i think that must be how it is.  or, just me?  and the more time passes, the more content i am in this new place.  parker had been acting out and asking for our old house, crying when i would explain that we had a new home, but now that his things have made their way into this house, he seems to have picked up right where we left off.  it must be so confusing to a little kid.

speaking of that little kid, he turns three (!!) this wednesday.  i think we’ll have a very small something, but perhaps a bigger party and housewarming combined later on this summer when we’re a bit more settled.  i hardly have a thing for him, not that he really needs anything or cares one way or another, but i did get him this book which is completely awesome (thanks for the tip, sara!) and i got myself these shoes…… having absolutely nothing to do with his birthday.  (the sale price!  can’t be beat especially when one needs new sneakers anyhow.  wanted them in green but blasted 8.5 is too popular a size…)

william and lindsey really like it here and lindsey is off at a pool with neighbors as we speak.  she has girls her age right across the street.  you likely have no idea what a big deal this is and how she’s never had this ever.  our old neighborhood was boy-dominated and bless her, she took it so in stride.  i wouldn’t have been so gracious.  i think she’ll be much happier here.

well, it smells as though i have a dirty diaper to attend to and this little man is also asking to go for a walk so… signing off now.  but really glad to be here “chatting” with you all.  thanks for all the love you’ve shown me – with the pregnancy, moving, and everything in between.  you guys are awesome.