This January might have been the busiest month we’ve ever had. With Andrew’s surgery and the beginning of our house project fast approaching, Andrew squeezed in as much work travel as he could. He was out of town for three of the four weeks, and I was starting to pack up our downstairs in preparation for moving out. I don’t think I sat down all month.
At long last, OUR HOUSE PROJECT OFFICIALLY BEGAN! Our contractors marked our new foundation lines…and then the weather pushed the digging back a few weeks. No problem! The project started and that’s all I’ve wanted for the last six (or seven?) years. I’m not sure when we first met with our architect, but it was well before I was pregnant, and Maelle is almost five.
Maelle made her own red tablecloth! Pretty sure she used up every red crayon we have, but I thought it was neat. We even ate out there a couple times.
We have a (very) small hill at the park across the street, so I took Maelle over a couple times to go down on her skis. She’s doing great! Just wish our winter hadn’t been so mild… (I know, I shouldn’t wish for that!)
In very uncharacteristic behavior, I went all out and built a fort for Maelle, complete with string lights and cozy blankets. She used it, but not for nearly as long as I hoped she would after all that effort.
Maelle loves the Large Family books, and one day she asked for a ‘pink cake.’ It took me a bit to figure out what she meant, but once I did, I thought it was a brilliant idea! I used yellow cake mix, strawberry jam, whipped cream, pink frosting and cherries to recreate it. It was delicious! Even Andrew liked it.
I went on a Bills run! I’ve been absent from weekend group runs, so I was glad to make time for this. I love my friends in run group and I’m always glad I went. Too bad the Bills lost in the playoffs.
Toward the end of January, I was starting to get a little antsy about all the packing up I had to do for our project. Almost our entire downstairs would have to be empty, and even though our start date got pushed back a couple weeks, I knew it would be here soon. When my mom offered to fly up and get Maelle to take her to my nephew’s first birthday party in Atlanta (I’d planned to go as well), I jumped at the chance. (Actually, I DIDN’T take her up on it initially, and then was SO THANKFUL when she could hear the panic in my voice at literally the last minute and she got on a plane THAT DAY to get Maelle.) I got more done in the week she had her than I’ve gotten done in years.
Maelle had the time of her life playing with her cousins Jack, Layne and Aiden. I was sorry to miss the party, especially since I hadn’t seen my family at Christmas this year, but needed the time at home to get ready for to move out.
As we get closer to the end of the month, life is getting more and more hectic. Our move-out date is the first week of February, I/we have two weekend trips and Andrew’s ACL surgery is scheduled for the 21st. We have A LOT of furniture still to move, and life is happening really, really fast.
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