Goodbye my faithful Taurus

Well Randy and I have had a few minor issues with our car for awhile but nothing that made it un-drivable, until a slip on slush had our ass end hit a curb at less than 5mph. Our unibody was so weak that it is now bent, aka, shot. So we began the hunt for a new vehicle. We surfed Craigslist for an hour or so and Randy called one and said I think I found one. We made arrangements to have his mom take us down (75 miles one way!) and made absolute certain we had all the stuff to transfer our current registration over so we could drive back. After the DMV we were the happy owners of a 1996 Chevy Blazer. About 10 miles down the road 1 of the brake lines blew due to it sitting for awhile and the pressure so it was ever so fun driving back with only front brakes, I tell ya. When all was said and done though we did make it back in 1 piece and now it is sitting in my driveway. Randy will be replacing the brake line tomorrow after work since he’s running on no sleep and needs rest before his shift tonight. It has a remote starter and brand new tires on it (less than 300 miles) and routine maintenance. We only paid $1,000 for it as well.

Gracie had her 4 month appointment tomorrow as well. She got her shots again and cried for all of 30 seconds. As soon as I handed her to daddy she was content. She is 24 inches long and weighs 13lb13oz. The doctor LOVED my cloth diapers. He had me show him how to use them (inserts in pockets) and then said he liked them and they were much better than disposables against the skin. Here is a picture I just took of her. My flash on my camera doesn’t work anymore (idk why) but it’s why pictures are few and far between now.

All moved in

Well, we’re all moved in and I’m less than enthused. We went through the walkthrough yesterday and turned our key into our landlord. She is mailing our security deposit back to us within the next 2-3 days so I’ll be expecting that. It was saddening for me. I liked my apartment, the location, and being out on our own. Now I’m back at my parents house and it is SO crowded here. Randy and I have our bed in the hallway in the corner where it fits, Gracie sleeps in her crib in my mom’s room, and downstairs we have her swing/bouncer/bassinet all cramped around. Clothes are everywhere so it’s impossible to find anything and there is nowhere to put anything so it stays organized. Everything is every where. It’s driving me insane already. There are also people around constantly and Gracie has been very fussy so I think she’s having difficulty adjusting to all the people around and a new environment. They also keep their house around 75/80 for heat and we’re used to about 65/70 so I’m getting headaches.

On top of all of this, they discovered my car frame is bent so it is shot and not safe to drive. As a result we are using mom’s SUV for errands which sucks for sharing purposes and also for gas (we’ve gone through over $100 since thursday). We talked to a guy on Craigslist and we might be going to buy an SUV tomorrow but it’s 82 miles away so we need to solidify that he will be home and it’s not going to be gone before we make the long ass trip. Since Randy’s mom insures our vehicles for cost reasons, she needs to come with us so we can hit up the DMV right there and drive back instead of towing (oh the gas, OW). It’s really nice and my parents are going to lend us the money until our taxes come in next week to get it, thankfully.

Gracie goes to get her 4 month shots today which I’m EVER so excited about (Not, cranky cranky baby and emotional mommy) and we need to turn in our road runner box, get our mail forwarded (I forgot!), and stop by his mom’s house to discuss tomorrow with her. My lips are chapped too from the bitter cold and moving combined.

I’m just not in a very good mood right now. Life is hectic and I’m going to go nuts with all the crowdedness here. I like wide open spaces.

Dear Gracie – 4 Months

Dear Gracie,

Today you turn 4 months old. Wow, it’s hard to believe that much time has passed. Everyone always says time goes by faster than you know it but you can’t really know what it’s like until you experience it. Let’s see what has happened since our last update. We go back to the doctor on the 1st for your 2nd round of shots and 4 month appointment. I expect him to tell me you’ve definitely gained a bit of weight and height too. Everything seems too short on you. We’re still strong with our cloth diapers and mommy is about to go on a splurge and get some more one sized pockets and the next size in prefolds. I don’t think you care though, as long as your little butt is dry you’re content.

You chew everything in sight from blankets to pacifiers to fingers (both yours and ours). You also like to pull hair (owww) and this includes grandpa’s beard which you find hilarious. You’re full of smiles and have been sleeping in your crib every single night going to bed between 8 and 10pm. You wake up 3-4 times a night for a feeding before you decide at about 6:30/7 you’re up for the day. Naps are sporadic and do I miss them. You could sleep for 10 minutes and be ready to go for another few hours.

Sitting up is slowly improving. You don’t fall over nearly as much. You can also roll from belly to back but we don’t see it too much since you HATE tummy time for longer than a minute. Baths have gotten easier and depending on your mood, so has dressing you. You still get finicky though. We notice you aren’t too attached to either mommy or daddy and have no problems being around any one who will give you attention. This was our plan, as we like that you are loved by many MANY people and don’t require being held 24/7 by one person. You definitely know who we are though and your face lights up when you see either of us.

I swear you look more and more like your daddy every day and you get comments about how your ears are like his, big and awkward. That’s OK, your hair will cover them up when it gets long enough. Your eyes seem to have settled on being green like mommy’s though. As for solids, nope. We’re not ready for you to start them and expect to wait at least another month before introducing and most likely 2 months. I just don’t think you’re ready yet and I’m glad that daddy doesn’t fight me on the issue although grand parents are another thing. They try their best and offer wisdom but sometimes opinions differ. We’ll all work it out though. You constantly make noises, flail your arms, and give expressions that are beginning to show your little personality already. You also will now pick up toys and move them so your coordination is improving. Here is to another month full of exciting changes.

Love,
mommy and daddy

(The flash on my camera doesn’t work so I haven’t been taking a lot of pictures. Here is a recent one from my phone).

Gamed out

I do believe I am gamed out. Last night Randy and I went to bed at 6:30pm (Gracie ddin’t get a good nap in all day so she was out early) and minus feedings, we didn’t all get out of bed until 7. Scratch that, Randy was up at 4. From the time we got up until 8pm we played dungeons and dragons online. For the record, since my mom implied this once, I do not abandon my daughter. She gets fed, changed, cuddled, played with, etc. I can be in game withtout actively playing every minute. Then we played call of duty for an hour or so and right now Randy is at work and Corey went out to eat with his annoying ass wannabe person who stalks him and shows up at my house without asking with a total lack of personality girlfriend but he is coming back over afterward. I don’t know if I really wanna be up though. I’m whipped. My eyes are burning and I wasted a complete day of packing up my house. In my defense, it was Randy’s day off and we needed to spend some time together so it worked.

I do have all week to finish packing. We move on Saturday. I haven’t really advanced beyond packing up my pots/pans/most of my dishes because we use stuff on a regular basis that really can’t be packed. I’m going to go to the store tomorrow to buy some paper/plastic silverware and such so I can pack the rest up but we don’t want to eat out all week because hello MONEY and I also want to cook up anything we have left in our fridge freezer. Wow, I’m such a boring blogger lately. I’m trying to look on the bright side of moving but *sigh* I like my own place. We’re immediately putting away $1200 of our taxes into a savings account for our next apartment so all we have to do is find one and maybe that will keep us from being there for months on end. I’m excited to file my taxes but I’m waiting on my unemployment form to do so. Just like NYS to wait until the very end of the month to mail the form out. Grrrr. I’m more excited about the SUV I’m getting since Randy should have his license back soon. That is a nice chunk of change ($800 for past fines). Ah well, what’s done is done.

And with that I’m going to putz around for a few more minutes and try to curl up in my nice, toasty bed.

Getting our ducks in order

We’re going back to mom’s for sure now. A space is cleared out for us to sleep and we’ve got the forces mobilized (LOL) to get us moved on the 30th. Hopefully it will only take 1 trip since we have 3 trucks. It will be nice. We rented a 10×15 storage unit which cost $60 plus a deposit of $60 about 5 miles from their house for our furniture and appliances.

We’ve also decided he is going to keep the car and I’ll get the SUV so we did a tune up of spark plugs, wires, and an air filter. We also have a $170 set of parts to buy on Friday but it’s OK. We’re going to take advantage of living there to get repairs made while we can afford it, get our credit card balances lowered (they’re only 400 each), and then finish getting our ducks in order so when we do move back out things are taken care of. We’ve looked into getting a mortgage but I’ve given up hope due to the fact that Randy has only had his job for 7 mos and they want 2 solid years of work history. *sigh* Ah well, we’ll work something out.

I’m exhausted though so I’m going to keep talking to Randy’s mom on the phone and then head to bed. *yawn*