We're OUTTA here!

I don't know how else to say this, so I'll get to the point.  We're MOVING to Colorado.  There.  I said it.  No one can talk us out of it now, because the kids and I fly to Colorado with my mom on October 8 and Joe and my dad will be following with the dogs and my car and a trailer load of CRAP on Thursday evening.  Yikes.  It's a bittersweet feeling to get this news out there.

We wanted to tell each and everyone that we know and care about in person, but we haven't had the chance to yet.  We will be leaving behind relatives, friends, and some really lovely year-round weather!  But, we'll be moving to family, friends, SPACE, lower cost of living, snow days, snowball fights, sledding, FAMILY, space, friends, etc.  We'll be able to buy a house with a YARD - heck, maybe even a few acres.  Wow.  I COULD get a horse again - if I want to.  I had to sell my horses to move out here and I miss them, darn it.  But really, we're moving for the kids.  We want the kids to grow up in an environment where Joe doesn't have to work crazy, long hours to cover our bills, where they have room to run, clean air to breathe, LOADS of open spaces to hike, climb, bike, ski, or whatever in.  I want them to enjoy the thrill of waking up to a snow day and enjoying hot chocolate, playing in the snow, snuggling up inside by a fireplace and reading.  I want to see our fur kids running around and chasing rabbits, even though they have NO hope of ever catching one.  I want to FEEL like I can dress nicely and look good again - on a GOOD day in O.C. I look like the average woman here.  On a normal day - I look like a homeless bum next to the average person here.  Since moving to O.C. Joe and I have changed so much - some great stuff... some not so great.  We've both become more image conscious, drive expensive cars, and always want MORE.  We didn't used to be quite so needy and spoiled.  I don't think everyone here is like that, heck no.  But this is the land of plastic surgery, Hollywood, and detoxing.  Detoxing ALL THE STINKING TIME.  :-)  Ok, again, not everyone, just some people I know and love that think their bodies will never be clean and healthy enough.

Sorry.  Done rambling.  Joe will NOT be moving with the kids and I just yet.  He will continue to work here and fly to Colorado on the weekends.  We won't be seeing much less of him since he generally doesn't get home from work until the kids go to bed - or sometime after that.  The kids and I are leaving now because our house is so difficult to keep clean ENOUGH, tidy ENOUGH, and empty ENOUGH for all the showings we've been having.  It's nuts.  I'm constantly loading the kids into the stroller or the car, locking the dogs in the garage, clearing all the toys out of the downstairs, and getting ready for another showing.  Our life has been REVOLVING around them.  We have TWO offers now... so hopefully we'll get this place sold pretty quickly, but I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.  We've been down this road before and had the buyers back out two weeks before closing... so we need to get the chaos outta here.  I want the kids to have some stability, and mostly I want ME to have some sanity again.  I'm losing my mind!  I like clean and organized, but with two tornadoes and three fur balls - this is TOUGH.

Bleck.  This was painful.  I'm sorry to everyone we're "leaving behind."  We really do hope/plan to visit as much as possible.  We'll miss California.  And, we hope everyone will be able to come visit us in Colorado.  Seriously.  Please.  I'm begging.  I hate goodbyes.  I'm much to weak and sappy for that.  

On other fronts, we have had a few other things happening lately.  We had our first post placement visit (I know - it was WAY overdue... I'm sorry everyone!).  It was a breeze, and pretty wild to see our social worker for the first time since she completed our home visit and wrote our homestudy for us.  The kids were in happy, wonderful moods and it lasted about an entire 15 minutes or so.  She was amazed at how well they're doing and how smoothly things are going.  I was like, "Yeah, we're just such awesome parents, ya know.  How could things not be going so perfectly?  Duh!"  Ok, maybe I didn't say that.  I know it's really got something to do with how incredible Ezi and Livi are, and that's just about impossible to take credit for.  We are blessed with the two most incredible little miracle babies ever.  And trust me, it's not like I'm biased here.  ;-)

Then, the next bit of excitement was that Oli and Ezi had their 9-month birthday.  At nine months, we are truly awed at what our little Einsteins are doing.  I know as parents we're all impressed by what our babies do, but ours ARE amazing.  :-D  Ezra can now stand on his own (without holding ANYTHING) for a few seconds before losing his balance.  They climb all over everything.  Walking is on the horizon... gulp.  I think Olivia's working on her first word too... but that's still a bit hard to say for sure.  There have been a few times that she's said "Baaa" while holding a ball.  Just a short, sweet "Baaa" with no other babbling.  She also chased Joe down the hallway and shouted "Dada" but I don't know if it was just babble or not.  Probably babble.  But still.  They're brilliant.

Oh, and here's something to make you all laugh.  I was zooming around trying to get the 3 of us ready to leave the house the other day.  The kids were fed, diapered, dressed and ready to go.  I just had to slap some makeup on my face so I didn't look like walking death.  I bolted up the stairs and spent a whopping 2 minutes doing my makeup.  I heard a little screech out of Chloe, but nothing more.  When I came zipping back down the stairs, what I saw stopped me in my tracks.  My precious little Olivia was sitting in "the mosh pit" (what we call this big, huge square section of our couch) and was surrounded by Chloe's dog food.  She had a fistful in each hand and was as happy as a lark.  Chloe, on the other hand, was huddled in the corner of the mosh pit, skulking.  Olivia had crawled up the doggie steps (small steps onto the couch for Chloe and Cooper).  Yikes.  

I couldn't believe I left the steps down without me being in the room.  Stellar parenting, I know.  She's climbed the steps one other time (while I was there), and I've been working hard on teaching her what happens when you crawl off the edge.  She's learned to NOT crawl off the edge... but still.  Ugh.  Poor Chloe was so bummed about her food getting swiped.  She's been so sick again lately which is the only reason her food was left up there for her to nibble on.  You better bet I cleaned Livi's hands off and checked her mouth for any little treats.  Ready for the next test, Livi girl!  You taught me.

So yep.  This is the house of learning these days.  Kiddos learning, mommies learning, everyone's learning something these days.  :-)

Ok, time to end this post and get the NEWS out there.  :-)