A moment of silence (and normalcy)...

HELLO to my long lost friends and family! Both boys are sound asleep (at 8:30 on a Saturday night) and I am sitting, yes... sitting, in a chair, in my living room. Finally, a moment of silence, and more importantly normalcy...

I have left you all out in the cold the last TWO months..terrible, and I don't even know where to begin with this move. To me, one word would sum it up - D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. We have learned a new meaning for the word patience. I guess a disaster is only what you can expect when your move out/selling of your house went flawless. It can't all be perfect....if only. I wish I could tell you all of the things that happened since May 4th, all of the things that actually went wrong in 2 short months, because when you add them up they turn out to be quite humorous. The big picture of what happened was that our new house, which is built on a marsh (3ft above sea level) needed a sewer line...not one, but two tropical storms brought rain to our area right around our closing date (May15). Therefore, our sewer couldn't be installed until the rain cleared and the land dried up..get the sewer installed, and then sit on your thumb and wait for the county to actually WORK...fast forward to JUNE 22nd (yes, 5 weeks later)...and we sign 300 pieces of paper and the keys are in our hands. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Now...throw in a 12 month old baby..HOTELS (which we had to switch almost every week)..

a brief example of what hotel living is like with this monster..

1 year molars...a pack and play crib...eating out every meal...a $2,000.00 vet bill to board 2 cats, your things delivered and EVERY piece of furniture you own damaged, a baby who we thought might have Lyme disease, a crushed engagement ring, a damaged front bumper from forgetting to put your car in park, 2 out of state weddings, a trip to the ER... about 300 exploded diapers in your back seat..shall I keep going? You get the picture...epic disaster. Did we learn a lot on what NOT to do on the next move? HELL. YES. It's surprising we are still married! :) It was very stressful, but slowlllllly becoming a distant memory. 

So, here we are..at the end of July. I should mention, we did A LOT of fun things in between the chaos..trying to keep Jack happy, and allowing him to still be a little kid. We took MANY trips to the beach, we went to Busch Gardens, lots of trips to different playgrounds and pools, and we even made some friends here at Fort Eustis and have kept up with weekly play dates. I do have to admit that the move did take a toll on him. I felt like he was grouchy and whiny, much more than usual. It made me sad because I KNOW he could feel the stress we were feeling, and as much as we tried not to stress,  it was honestly impossible. This week has been the first week where I FINALLY feel like I have my sweet baby back. As much as I want to get this house completely put together, he is my FIRST priority and I try to spend the days focusing on making his life normal, and the nights are when I get things done. I'm exhausted, but I know it's what is best for him, and it is paying off because he is becoming his happy self again.

I feel like I need to fill you in on this monster...

Jack is...

-weighing in at 25lbs, and is still in almost the 90% for height.

-has a million teeth, and working on cutting his LAST 12 month molar..praise the lord.

-becoming quite vocal...his favorite word is still "hi" (imagine it in a southern accent). He also says: momma, dadda, woof, hot, ca (cat), tank ou (thank you) and of course mmmmmm at the sight of anything edible.

-becoming his own little person. He LOVES to rough house with Luke, and his newest game is riding Luke's back like a horse. They are two peas in a pod

-is stubborn as all get out...he wants what he wants, but we are working on taking deep breaths before meltdowns.

-PUTTING HIMSELF TO SLEEP. Yes, you read that. I sleep trained him the last two weeks, and it has been a true blessing. I have rocked him to sleep since he was born, and he was becoming SO dependent on me...everyone is SO much happier. Jack is much better rested,  and I feel like a weight has been lifted. I was just imagining rocking him to sleep in his college dorm room. Scary!

-eating anything/everything under the sun. His personal fav is pizza, but that is not a surprise because he IS his fathers son. However, he stays away from peanut butter, which is unheard of in the Wheeler family.

-taking steps and building confidence with walking. He will walk with you if you hold his hand, but still doesn't trust being alone. He takes a couple of steps and honestly makes an "umph" sound BEFORE he falls down on his butt because he knows it is coming. It's funny.

-loving women of every age. The grayer the better in his eyes. He is a charmer and it is so funny.

-Still continuing to melt our hearts and make us laugh...

Here are some pictures.. from our adventures..completely random, but the most I have taken the last few months. I am back to being camera happy, so be prepared in the next few weeks..

Luke got inducted into the Sayre hall of fame. Haley worked so hard nominating him....

another reason for Jack to look up to his daddy!

Jack helping our neighbors, Ed and Margaret, plant. Paleaseee look at his leg rolls...HAHA

loving the water at Fort Monroe beach

look like someone else we know? I think so.

Jack trying to organize himself amidst the chaos..

perfect fit in his music basket...

a few pictures of the finished bedroom...more to come.

 The kitchen: (the color is more mustard..it photographed REALLY yellow)...

more house pictures coming soon..I'm trying to finish a a few more things on each room before I make them officially complete.

AND..to end on a funny note..I have to share this story. While in PA for a week, Luke made a friend, whom he named Louis. Louis was a homeless, tick infested, grungy, wiener dog that decided to call us his owners. He hung out with Luke for a week while Luke worked in the garage, and rocked on the porch..and for that I am thankful, Louis kept him company. However, upon Jack and I's arrival back to VA, Louis became not so awesome. This dog was a maniac. We couldn't walk out either of our doors without him being on our heels. If we walked out the back door and Louis was on the front porch, with in a matter of 5 seconds he was at the back door..panting and drooling all over my feet (gross). I swear, he had wings..he just appeared. EVERY.WHERE. If we wanted to go for a walk, Louis followed. The problem was, he didn't listen and ran all over the road...making people look at us like we were crazy for not disciplining our dog. He was a disaster. Honestly, we found a tick on his ear as big as a penny (I want to throw up typing that). If we drove away..Louis would seriously be running down the middle of the road chasing the car. It was hilarious..all you would see was this wiener running as fast as he could with his ears flapping. Finally, our neighbor found a home for Louis and someone, who had another wiener, adopted him. I feel like I could totally imagine this dog as a hitchhiker. Thumb out, hopped in someone else's car, sat in the back seat...ears flapping in the wind..happy as ever. Last night, Luke asked what I thought Louis was up to, and I told him that he was probably on the curb...waiting for another ride to a new destination. Only us..

Imagine a fly buzzing in your ear...that was Louis.

I still can't believe Jack touched him..I scrubbed him for an hour