Moving Update

Well, that was an exhausting weekend to say the very least. Adam and I are actually SORE from the not sitting and the work like crazy and the praying so hard and the being so thankful that God put Al and Sherri in our house this weekend (planned in July) to take such good care of our girls while we were worker-bees and not so much parent-bees.

Here's some new info about the WI side of things:

• I finally have an assignment! Lincoln Elementary in Green Bay. Just one school. I can't even begin to understand this, as I am currently in 4 buildings across 3 districts on a weekly basis. I'm eager to see what it's like serving one building although sometimes it's not the worst thing traveling between schools (like when it's sunny and 75). 
• I finally have a start date! My last day at the AEA is Friday, Sept. 6th. I start promptly at Green Bay on Monday, Sept. 9th. Life isn't fun unless it's a little crazy, right? I'm ready and eager to begin.
• We are staying with Al & Sherri (my in-laws) immediately upon arriving to WI. We are going back this weekend (Labor Day Weekend) to check into preschools, day cares, and see a few houses we've been scoping out online. We will come back Labor Day, we'll work til the end of the week, and then back to WI Friday when Adam is done with work. He's checking into his details, but we're pretty sure that's it. We'll officially be Wisconsinites again (well, until our vehicle registrations are due in winter...until then we'll look like tourists). 
• Praise the Lord we're staying with SOMEone in the next month, as Adam travels 3/4 weeks in Sept/Oct. Yikes. That's a lot of time but it's been coming as he hasn't traveled as much lately. 
• Morgan is taking the news slowly. She didn't get too upset when we told her, but the first thing she said was, "But I love this blue house." That was hard for us but we talked through it and encouraged her to talk to us about it ANY time, which she has. Once in a while she brought it up over the weekend and we were open and honest with her that we are a little scared, too, but it's going to be a really good thing overall. I'm working on not getting to specific and wordy with her. We told her she gets to "pick" her bedroom at the new house. This was a fun conversation, as Adam immediately piped up that she can't pick OUR bedroom...which was then the only one she wanted. ;-) We'll be involving her on decisions as we can and have let her know that. 
• We told Mary on Friday. I cried. It was hard. But then Mary said that she has family in Appleton (I'd forgotten or hadn't put two:two together or whatever) and she said that she would love to meet us there whenever she comes to visit. That will help the girls, I think. I'm worried about finding a day care that has someone Hadley's age. Morgan will at least have preschool friends her age...must stop worrying until we know specifics...

 The House in Iowa:

• OMGosh we made great headway this weekend. This would never have happened without A&S being here. We're exhausted and sore but I'd say we're probably 80% done with what needs to be done and praise the Lord for an early out today due to heat at my air condition-less school, as I'm heading home to work on things a bit before picking up the girls. 
• Wednesday, our realtor is coming to review the house for staging and finalize numbers. Thursday she is coming with a photographer for pictures, and the house gets listed Friday. Hopefully prongs of people are doing the exact same thing we are and will see the house in time to check it out all.weekend.long.

 Until next time, please continue to pray for sanity (it's working! thank you! it's not been as bad as it could be!), energy, and fast potential buyers who don't know they are potential buyers yet.

On (to) Wisconsin!

I think I've even titled a post similarly to this already but this time...it's totally different. You know how sometimes people have big news and they blab blab blab it all over the place right away? Well, we're not like that and when the news is big, we get quiet. And we've got big news.

We're MOVING back home to WISCONSIN!

You read that right. After much soul searching, prayers, tears over missed family and friends, and many MaNy  MANY miles traveled back and forth from IA to WI and back, we've made the decision that we need to raise these girls close to their family. Plus, who doesn't love WI? We sure do! Do you want the long story? Here it is...(skip to near bottom for short story)

We always tossed around whether or not we'd go back. We love our life here. We have great friends, I enjoy my job (for the most part), and we adore our daycare provider (understatement of the century). That said, the stress of running all over the place trying to see family when we are visiting WI and then only getting to see them for short snippets of time when we were home (exhausted from all the running around) was getting old. One month we'd say let's go back. The next month, we'd have had a "WI fix" and be good in Iowa. Then back on the WI train...it was a vicious cycle. In April 2012, we finally decided that we needed to have a long talk and pick a path. We couldn't keep doing this "let's go!" and "let's stay!" back and forth and wonder what the right decision was for our family for the next 20 years.

Our path was to get home.

Adam asked his work if he could be relocated to WI (specifically the Green Bay area so he'd be close to an airport AND our families) and do his job in sales from home (not unlike many other sales people in his company). The answer was yes...BUT (there was a sad, sad but) wait a year. They didn't think we'd get a final yes this year but next year (2013) looks much better. We were devastated but hung on. We could wait a year. A. Long. Year.

Fast-forward to summer 2013. We knew the time was coming so I checked into what I needed for licensure to work in the WI school system (I took a slightly different path at the end of grad school so I wasn't ready to just jump in). I needed to take SEVEN grad credits! Bucko bucks! Thank the LORD they were relatively easy credits and are done. We weren't sure on timing and sadly, I had to turn down one offer from an area school district b/c we couldn't give them an absolute yes in time (sadly. I very much liked the district and things they had going on even if it meant a moderate sized commute - hang on though...God was at work).

Then, paperwork I sent to another district didn't make it to the right person (even though I KNOW I put the right info on it). There was a delay. A frantic "did you send it?!" call was made. I sent more paperwork almost immediately after, but first I took a picture of the documents and emailing them to the secretary. I was sort of thankful for the delay - we still hadn't heard from Adam's company and the more time we had, the better. We were really running out of time for me to get a FT school job (the only thing I want right now with these two girlies to raise!).

On Tuesday (08/20) I was just about to go into a long boring training (3 hours!) about new paperwork online that I'd already been trained on in May when I got a text from Adam to call immediately. And just like that, he was approved! And just like that, within hours, the secretary lady from Green Bay emailed me that she'd received my paperwork and did they call with the offer yet? NO, but thanks for the insight! Now go "pay attention" at your 3 hour training that you really don't need even more now...

Then the waiting (again). When are they calling to "make" this offer? Did the secretary lady really have no clue? So we banked on me getting that call soon and had our realtor come over for an assessment Wednesday evening. She was pleased with our updates and gave us some tips on what to do by NEXT WEDNESDAY (fast!). While she was there, it was bath night for our smelly smelly children. I was drying off a somewhat "reluctant" Hadley and my phone started ringing. I was getting a call from Green Bay. I yelled for Adam, was so very thankful our realtor is awesome (Morgan quickly stepped in to keep her busy), and I called them back. Would I accept a position with Green Bay Area Public Schools? YOU BET I WOULD!

So...more waiting. School starts Sept. 3rd in Green Bay. As of writing this, I don't know my first day there and my last day here (did I mention waiting is hard for me?), but I anticipate it's something like last day here is Aug. 30th, first day there is Sept. 3rd, although I wouldn't mind pushing those dates back a week if GBAPS will allow it. Which means that potentially when we go home for Labor Day weekend (as not originally planned), I won't be coming back. The girls and Adam might be coming back to Iowa without me. This makes me sad but will allow me to research/visit daycares and preschools and be more sure/comfortable/less terrified of our decisions there. We are planning to leave IA Thursday night after work and head to WI for day care/PreK visits Friday and house hunting Saturday. Hopefully this all works out...

I'm freaking out about the house not selling. I'm freaking out about what the schools are like in WI b/c I don't have a clue and the politics of it are crazy at the state level right now. I'm freaking out about how sad I am to be leaving such amazing people here in Iowa whom I love and respect and can't even begin to thank enough for who they've been to us the past 8 years while we started our life together here.

And then the flip side. I'm so very eager to start our next chapter. Another Schmidt family in Wisconsin? Sounds pretty close to awesome if you ask me. The girls will get to know their family even better. We'll be able to SEE family members basically whenever we want to (I almost can't wrap my head around this). We'll road trip to MN to see my brother and his family and it will feel like nothing b/c we're not doing it monthly (sorry guys! you know what I mean!). We'll get to know a new cousin in October and more to follow, for sure. We won't be so RUSHED when we see family and they can easily come see us. We can have a village raising our girls that includes their family on a routine basis. So many sad, sad tears will be shed in the coming weeks for those we will miss. It's hard to think of it right now, even. But many happy happy moments lie ahead. Think of this - no special HUGE trip for the girls (and us) to have their grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins attend their events/games/concerts/etc. I don't have to cry anymore thinking that no one besides Adam and I will see the girls' Kindergarten graduation without there being tons of travel involved. Or (omg they're going to grow...) their high school graduation...and beyond.

So on that bittersweet note, wish us luck! We welcome any prayers (especially for my sanity!) as we make this extremely rapid transition to a new life. And don't you worry, sweet sweet Muscatine - Adam will still have to come back for meetings and on occasion, may bring the whole fam by storm! On WISCONSIN!

My favorites

It's almost that time, guys. THAT time. The time when I'm supposed to be super refreshed and excited to start the 2013-14 school year and ready to help anyone and everyone be effective communicators and awesome human beings in general. Guess what. This summer was TOO awesome. It was TOO fantastic, the girls and I had TOO much fun, the bad days were FEW and FAR between, and in general, I very much enjoyed my time home. Here's to hoping that once I'm in the swing of things, my mojo comes back and I'm good to go (I'm sure it will).

That said, I HAD to make a list of my favorites of this summer. There are SO many. Sorry if you get bored. I just loved this summer and so in no particular order, this is why Summer 2013 was superawesomeomggreat.

• I loved holding Hadley on my hip, picking mulberries, and shoving them in her fat baby cheeks while Morgan picked hers from the lowest branches she could find. I know that next summer those Hadley cheeks will be at knee/leg level and not eye level b/c she will be too big to hold that way for long so we've soaked up tons of mulberry eating time already with more to come.
• Our Minnesota vacation was fantastic. And cheap, b/c all the girls wanted to do was go to the (free) beach. And they had their first pontoon boat ride (which was a huge hit). And we got to see Trav & Tab and the girls on our way home. All around awesome.
• We've had fun hanging out at home. We've spent more time in the driveway riding bikes, coloring it, and making general ruckus than ever before. 
• The weather has been nothing short of amazing this summer. There was MAYBE a handful of times it was actually too hot to go outside but otherwise, we were outside at least a half hour (usually MUCH more) every day. 
• The Week* in WI was so very fun. The girls were very much worn out by the time it was time to go home and needed a few days to recoup once there, but it was worth all the time in the car (over 900 miles!! 5 days!! Woah!!). We got to see everyone we wanted and had a fantastic time, as usual. WI = joy. Every time.
• Morgan's activities - swimming, soccer, dinosaur camp. All these things helped her grow as a child and develop even more and she's constantly thinking harder and smarter. She's starting to read words here and there which is very exciting for us. She can sound out simple words and is learning some of the trickier things as we get to new words (like chair is not k-hair). June was overwhelming with all of her activities, but also awesome. It's going to be fun to coordinate everything when they're BOTH busy with this stuff!

I'm going to add more to this list soon, but I have a few things to do while the girls boycott the afternoon nap on the 3rd last day we're all home. Silly monkeys. Poor daddy has them tonight while I have a hair appointment! :-) Good thing they're going to a pool party at the aquatic center to keep them busy. 

*by week, I mean 5 solid, gogogo days which included part of a weekend. not our usual Mon-Sun kind of week in summer

I should probably post at least twice in July...

You guys NO LIE. This summer is flying by and I'm starting to get cranky. What?! Cranky? She gets weeks off (minus a few hours here and there for work but it's almost negligible) and she's cranky? Loser.

Ok, Ok, I hear you but yes! I'm cranky! (and changing my attitude, mind you) I'm frustrated b/c this is the best summer yet with the girls and I don't want it to end. I don't want to do everything full time again. I want to do motherhood FT and work part time. And by part time, I mean like one day a week. Maybe 2. Who are we kidding...one. Just one. I'm loving summer that much.

The girls are great. I can't believe Hadley's already 19 months old and if I was a good plan-ny mom, I'd be considering things for Morgan's FOURTH (omg) birthday coming up in 2.5 short months. But that would mean it's October and I'd be two months into school already. It would be getting cold out. I'm not ready for that either.

I want it to be summer b/c I don't feel like we've had ENOUGH fun. We've had tons! But I want more. MORE. Different kinds. All the time. It's been a month since Morgan's dinosaur camp and we still haven't been to the Children's Museum I promised her weeks ago. (aaannnndddd now we're going this week - let me know if you want to meet us there!) I STILL haven't taken them to the aquatic center in town. We haven't had NEARLY enough play dates. Or picnics. Oh my, this week just got crazy busier. Good thing we have the next two sets of Mon/Tues off, too, or I'd be really sad.

End of Summer Bucket List (b/c I'm too lazy to go get real paper/pen):

• Children's Museum
• Aquatic Center
• At least 3 different play dates (or 5)
• Paint beads and rocks outside
• Feed the ducks again
• Niabi Zoo! One more time!! Train ride too!

Ok, we're going to start with that. With 8 days off (not including weekends) remaining, we have our work cut out for us now. 

In other news, Insanity is going well. We have finished up Week 5 and are starting Week 6 tomorrow. I'm a little nervous - we start a new part of the program and the workouts get a huge step up more intense. And a bit longer. And while I feel awesome, feel like I finally LOOK a little awesome, it's a little daunting to think about this superhardsweatfest getting MORE all of that. I'm looking forward to it - I like the changes I'm seeing and while it's not always transferring to the scale, it's transferring to the mirror which is important too.

Speaking of ... it was our Day Off from Insanity today so I planned to actually USE this day off and not work out (unlike the past few days off when I ran). I told the girls we'd take them to the riverfront for a bike ride/walk and then time at the park there (our usual RF routine). We start walking and all of a sudden every other member of this family decided HA HA HA we are running this one, lady. Dang. Even though it was a very LEISURELY (slow) run, I count it as my reason to have ice cream smothered in homemade fudge (thank you, Adam) with a tiny brownie bite hiding underneath. Winning.

We had a garage sale this past weekend and had major success. We also went to WI for Tatum, Talia, and Teegan's group birthday party so I was lucky enough that Julie (who also had stuff in the sale) agreed to watch it Saturday for us. SO THANKFUL!! Gushing with thankfulness. For real. Or we never would have gotten this done this summer. We simply ran out of weekends. We made a fair amount, sent stuff to Goodwill, and are so glad to get stuff out of our house. We ARE the anti-hoarders. We don't like "stuff" lying around. We don't appreciate clutter (girl toys/items everywhere don't count). I consider it a win that only two of their toys made it back in the house. 

Adam is doing well even though his hip is really hurting him more often now (I can't help but think Insanity is not helping...) and he's likely going to have the MRI and potential scope done this fall. You know, after golf season. Geez...

But now there's ice cream calling my name and I have to go. I heart ice cream especially when I feel entitled to it. Add to the list - eat mac n cheese and hot dogs at least twice for lunch with the girls. ;-)

Cardiology, party of 1

So...we had another health "scare" (scare? it's not like she was rushed to the ER or anything) with Hadley. First there was the neuro scare when she was a teeny tiny infant (did I ever blog about that?) and then at her 18 month well check a few weeks ago, the NP heard a murmur. She had a dr listen and agreed that she heard it too, but that Hadley should be checked out by a specialist.

Fast-forward some weeks and off to the University of Iowa Peds Cardiologist we go (thankfully to the extension in the QCs...I know the QCs better than IA City at this point). (PS. I might have to cut this off b/c I'm going to be Skype-Insanity-ing it up with Adam in Montreal here in about 5 minutes (procrastinate the hell much?).

So Hadley and I got there, checked in, and went straight to radiology for her chest X-rays. It was awful. She didn't get to go in the big bad hold-her-down thing - nope. They had the big bad mom hold her elbows to her ears and not let her move. The whole time she was SCREAMING hysterically and saying my name over and over...I managed to breathe through it and only BARELY cry myself. It was like infant shots for my girls all over again (yeah - I cry for those, too). Thank GOD they turned out fine the first time and we could leave with her Tinkerbell and someotherprincess sticker.

Off to the doctor's office then, which was a LONG wait, but then EKG time (thank you iPhone with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode) and then wait some more. Hadley did well as I had put her down for a later morning nap so she wasn't too bad/tired/crabby. The doctor came in, listened to Hadley, and said her X-ray looked good but it was a bit of a loud murmur and she wanted an ultrasound done.

Lucky Hadley, more TV and even a SUCKER while watching Nemo for her u/s. Long story longer, Hadley has an "innocent heart murmur" which means it's no big deal and we shouldn't even put it on any health forms in the future. Whew. Done. She's fine once again. No neuro issues. No heart issues (although the doctor wants her and Morgan to each have a cholesterol screening done at their next well checks/birthdays b/c of the family history on Adam's side. WOW. Seems early - the doctor was NOT messing around. It sounds like it would have to be super extreme for meds and they don't start them until age 8 if they LCL (is that right?) is to the moon and back. I don't think the girls would be THAT bad but hopefully they get the 50% chance of it from my side (no heart issues). :)

Now that Adam is waiting patiently (ha) for me in Montreal to do Insanity over Skype, I best get up, get my game face on, and go sweat out a gallon. Adios, amigos. Oh, and Hadley's 19 months old today. What.

Insanity

Adam and I are starting the workout program Insanity this week. I bought it through a co-op for CHEAP and we're going to kill it. We've both lost weight since winter but we need something else to help us really feel GOOD. We've heard nothing but good about it (and by good I mean results/it works, not just the 'you feel like you are dying on a routine basis') so we were game when I found it for so cheap. Adam also got P90X2 but I'm only interested in Insanity for now.

That said, the first day is 8 one minute exercises to make up your first Fit Test. Eight minutes my rear...that was yesterday, I sweat like a hog, and I'm sore today. Adam just finished his fit test (he was playing softball when I did mine yesterday) and he's going to do today's workout too....hopefully he isn't a total hot mess (in a bad sense - hopefully he's a hot mess b/c he's sweaty and had a good work out) when we're done. I'm going to stop now and come back after our first "real" work out (plyo circuit) and let you know how much I am almost dead by now. :)

AFTER:
OMG you guys. I can hardly type this. My left lower back hurt before and during the workout it was fine and now it's freaking out man. But it will be ok - my back sucks and right now it's because A) I'm out of line and B) I'm superweakalloveromg. Maybe tomorrow I'll drop by my friend's house so her husband can adjust me (woo chiro husband perk!) and just keep working hard and getting stronger. Either way, peace out, I'm going to go eat, shower, and go to bed. I have to WORK for an hour (with a little drive time) tomorrow before turning back into super taxi mom. Shoot. I still need to figure out what I all need at Sam's...but I have an hour! Who cares!! :)

18 Months!

A few days late. Clearly I'm a blogasaurus lately and am shooting for 3x/month. How sad is that!!? Since she's 18 months, it's imperative that I update her current status!! And all the new things she's been up to lately. She's growing by leaps and bounds developmentally (and somewhat in size....)

• She's 18 months! Next step is TWO. OMG I just fell off my chair but don't worry, the Mac is a-ok. 
• She's finally talking so much more. A few two-worders in there and I swear she's saying, "what this??" A few favorites are "eyes!" (followed by some poking or involuntary glasses removal), "good girl" (in reference to Jessie NOT begging at dinner and lying down like a good dog). Also, she says Morgan but it sounds almost exactly the same as mama. Maybe I should help her say Moh-moh or something? 
• Gross motor - she alternates feet going up the stairs while holding hands. If she only holds one hand, she hangs onto the railing but needs work on her timing. She LOVES to climb ladders at the park and on the home play set outside. She "runwalks" which is the cutest thing ever when she thinks she's the fastest kid on the earth. Hadley swears her soccer skills are just as mad as Morgan's and would like to join Morgan's practices yesterday, please. 
• Fine motor - Hadley's a mad iPad/Pod user now. She loves the apps Coloring Farm/Zoo, My PlayHome, Peekaboo Barn, and whatever else she can get her hands on. On our way home from the zoo last weekend, I gave her the iPod to try to keep her awake so she'd nap at home...and she fell asleep while playing the iPod (reference FB post). It was hilarious. Then I gave her her Nike sandal and THAT kept her awake the rest of the way home WHAT. 
• She loves her daddy when she's with me and she loves me when she's with her daddy. And hands down, this kid has to know where Morgan is at all times. 
• Imitator extraordinaire. She LOVES to do any and everything her sister is doing and it's adorable to watch her try some of what Morgan is doing. Except when she thinks she's big for real and gets hurt.
• Speaking of getting hurt, Hadley will have a scraped (to a varying degree) left knee this entire summer. She gets it almost healed and BAM, rescrape. She then cries for 10-20 seconds and then  wants to go play and bleed. She's a toughie and isn't fearless but is definitely a "go-getter." 

I'm going to add more later but it's late and I need a snack. She's amazing and makes our family whole. They both do.