Moving To Michigan

So after 4 nights of sleeping in our new house Jacob called me and these were his exact words...

"How do you feel about moving?"

Laughing to myself I say "I am moving. I hate it."

Jake's reply "How about to Michigan?"

"Like the state? Are you being serious?"

The company of the company Jake works for had called him that morning and told him they are looking for an Engineering Manager to run the Engineering team in the Michigan plant. Instead of having a plant manager Jake and a guy named Ray will be co-managing the whole plant. Ray will be over the production and Jake over Engineering.

So with many prayers and lots of emotion from me Jake and I are packing up our little family and moving to Williamston Michigan which is somewhere between Detroit and Lansing. I think the weirdest part for me is that I am quitting my job. I only have 1 week left of employment then I officially get to be a stay at home mommy. I am so excited about that but very nervous too.

Jake is excited for the change. He feels like he has been given a huge responsibility that he is not sure he is ready for but he is ready to try. I know he will do a good job.

Mirra is handling it really well most of the time. I am not sure she really grasps the meaning of moving so far away yet. She gets excited but sometimes she starts crying out of the blue saying she is going to miss her Grandma Sandy so much. I know she will and Grandma will miss her so much too. They have been so close for all of Mirra's life. I know it will be hard on her but she will be ok.

Mason's Birthday # 2

Yesterday we celebrated Mason's 2nd birthday. He was very excited to have a lot of his cousin's over at Grandma's. I felt bad though because I made him wait a whole extra day because of Halloween. He was so ready to rip open the gifts to see what he got by the time I let him do it last night. Jake and I got him a Geotrax train set and Mirra gave him a Lightening McQueen car to go on it. Then Grandma got him an extension pack that is all cars. The kids, and Jake, had fun playing with it until it was time to go home. It was fun.

I know I know the cake is a little girly. Kamila and I took a cake decorating class for the whole month of October. This cake is my final project. We had to use some of the things that we learned during the class to decorate the final cake so it has flowers but with buzz and the alien's Mason thought it was pretty cool.

Halloween!!!

This year we celebrated things a little bit backwards. Halloween fell on Sunday this year so everyone went trick or treating on Saturday night instead which was Mason's birthday. I felt like a horrible mother. I didn't even let him open a present on his birthday. He didn't even notice though. He love dressing up as a "Dragon Movie" as he says it. His big thing right now is he always wants to watch "How to Train Your Dragon" so when you ask him what he is for Halloween he will tell you a Dragon Movie instead of just a dragon.
Mirra had a good time as well. She was a fairy and loved every minute of it. We went with Wade's family to a trunk or treat which was inside their church building. It is a good thing it was inside because right as we were leaving to take the kids it started hailing. It was bad. we got soaked running out to the car. It is moments like this I wish I would get my garage cleaned out so that we could leave through the garage and not have to run in the rain but what ever.
Anyway we went to the trunk or treat, to Aunt Heidi's, Grandma's and then we went home. By that time the rain had stopped and there were lots of kids running around. So I took the kids out and found Lisa and Shane and Jared and Nikki and the kids and we walked around with them. I think that Mirra's favorite part though was when we were all done Daddy let her help him hand out the candy. She loved that and then Mirra taught me a lesson again. As we were running out of candy she started to dump her candy bag into the bowl to hand out. Jake and I were confused "Mirra what are you doing? That is yours." And our little sweet 5 year old says Mommy I don't need it, let's give it out to the other kids." She is such an amazing child.

Wisconsin Trip

Last month we took Mirra’s trip to see her Grandma in Wisconsin. We were able to fly out there one more time before we have to start paying for Mason to fly. It was a really fun trip. I love seeing the family. I wish that we could see them more often and spend more time with them.
Mirra loved playing with her Aunts and Uncles (although she kept calling them cousins.) She asks more questions then anyone I have ever known and about things that most kids don’t even think about. One of the first things she asked me is why Sara is so much smaller then her siblings. I had to explain that she was born in another Mommies tummy but that Mommy couldn’t take care of her and Grandma adopted her. Then she wants to know what adoption means and why Kavon and Christina have darker skin and…… Anyway she had a lot of fun playing. I think I only saw her in the morning and at bed time. She also discovered a cousin that she absolutely loves. Warren and Aubrey were able to come with their kids to see us for the week end. It was so good to see them. It has been a long time. Mirra remembered Blake but she forgot that she had a cousin named Kindall. They played so cute together. I am so sad that we don’t live closer so they could be better friends. It was so much fun.
Mason, we discovered that the Dr’s are right he really does have asthma. It all started in the airport in Milwaukee when he was chasing after Jake.
He was so cute running down the airport corridors but then he started to cough. He was coughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath and started to gag. Poor baby I did what every good mother would do and picked him up just as a good Mommy would to help him just as he threw up. My shirt was covered. It was caked down in my bra and everything. I stunk so badly. It was terrible.
The rest of the trip he didn’t do to bad but he coughed the whole time we were gone. Poor little guy. He had a lot of fun though. We got to do lots of activities and we loved spending time with the family.

Update on the New House

So to update on the New house. We closed last week!!! I own the house. It hasn't become real yet though because we don't get to more in until the end of the month or the first of October. The people that are living in the house are building so we agreed to let them stay there for a month. The perk for us is that they are paying our first months Mortgage so that works out for us.
I am so excited to get in there. It not that I am not grateful to my parents. They have been so good to help us out for these last few months. Well actually I don't know what I would do with out them everyday of my life. They have been great room mates and wonderful babysitters for our family but I am so ready to have my own place and my stuff back. Yippee!!! Mason loves playing at Grandma's house. This picture is about how I find him everyday when I come home. I think he and Mirra are going to really have a hard time with the change.

Update on Life Changes

Ok last week I was feeling really Winny about everything. Thanks for taking the time to read and give me suggestions. Karen you asked why I am working so many hours and that is a good point. I usually work 4 days a week and 10 hours a day. Last week was really hard though because not only did I have to get used to a new schedule but we had to meet with our Realtor a few times and we got to sign on our house last week. No matter how I do it I have to get 40 hours in every week and if I have to make it up by staying late then that is what happens. We are only allowed to work until 7:00 pm though. I hate it. This week has been much better because I have only had to work 8 hour days because Monday was a holiday and that gives me 8 hours already.
Mirra really likes school. She has had fun and has already learned a few Spanish words. She hates waking up in the morning though. This morning she informed me that she just needs a day off to sleep. It was a little bit of a fight but I did get her ready and Grandma got her off to school.

Mason is adjusting. Mom and I figured out that if I leave before they take Mirra to the bus stop it is not as traumatic for him. He has also had a bad cough so we are trying to get him healthy again and that should help as well. We started his breathing treatments again. There is a big difference this time though. I haven't even had to tackle him once. He just holds still and breaths in the meds. It helps to that Mirra lets him play with her tag pen while he is doing it. This picture if from this morning. I think we will adjust and all of us will be fine.

Life Changes

Ok. No one happened to mention to me that life changes a ton once your children starts school. I really don't know if I like this. First of all I have Mirra. My little angel who has been totally grumpy this week. My Mirra grumpy. I don't know how to deal with this. She is never grumpy. I know she sticks her nose up in the air a lot but she isn't a grumpy girl. One example is last night when she stormed away when I told her that she needed a bath saying "No one even loves me anymore." When I tried to talk to her and figure out what the problem was she says I never have time to just sit and hold her anymore so she thinks I don't love her. I felt terrible. Another example is today when she called me at work because she is mad a Grandma who will not let her eat Fruit Loops for lunch. She says "They are mine and not yours." I hope this problem is fixed when we have our own house.
Mason is also having lots of trauma. He does not like his best friend "Weewa" to be gone all day with out him. I left him yesterday at 9 and when I called to talk to My Mom at 11:15 he was still crying. Mom says he wasn't crying the whole time but for most of it he was. I feel so bad for him. He is so used to her being there. She has always treated him more like someone she is babysitting then a brother. She is so patient and plays with him all the time. Poor baby he doesn't understand.
So now the typical day for us is as follows, the alarm starts going off at 5:30, finally roll out of bed at 5:50, get a shower, get Jake up to get a shower, make lunches, Jake leaves at 6:45, finish getting ready, wake Mirra up at 7:30, get breakfast, get Mirra dressed and her hair done(this is the biggest battle), get Mason breakfast when ever he wanders in, run out the door to be to work by 8:00, Mom takes Mirra to the bus stop at 8:30 and the bus drops her off at 12:05. Mirra gets to play until 4:00 when Daddy gets home... Homework time, dinner time, Mommy gets home at 7:00 and eats dinner, reading time, bath time, then it is off to bed.
When did I get to see my kids you ask????? It was during the Mirra eat your toast, Mirra brush your teeth, Mirra get your pants on, Mason let me change your diaper, Mirra hold still, Mirra I am not hurting you quit screaming (during the hair thing), Mirra pay attention to your book, Mason get off Mirra while she is reading, Mirra get dressed, Mason hold still, kneel up for the prayer, lay down, stop talking, etc. No wonder Mirra feels like I don't love her anymore. She told me this morning that all I do is yell at her. Now that is an exaggeration I do not yell but I sure feel like all I have done for 3 day straight is nag nag nag nag nag. I really have got to figure out a new schedule. I can't do this. Any suggestions?
Anyway here are some more pictures of the kids this week.

What is the worst thing a mom could do on the First day of Kindergarten?

Today was Mirra's first day of Kindergarten. She was so excited and ready to go early this morning. I was so shocked she actually slept all night last night. It was me that couldn't sleep, not because I was excited. In fact just the opposite. I have really been dreading this day for the last 5 years. Mason was excited to go to until he realized we had to leave Mirra there and he had to come home with me.
Mirra agreed to let me take her to school today as long as she can ride the bus home with her friends. I thought that was an ok compromise. The problem was that when I filled out the paper work I wrote that Mirra would be picked up every day. I didn't even think about having her take the bus. I never once took the bus to school. My mom always came and picked me up. I just assumed that was how it would be with Mirra too. Grandma or I would pick her up everyday. After I talked to Mom and Mirra about it this weekend I decided it would be easier for Mom and more fun for Mirra to get to ride home. I sent her teacher an email yesterday morning to let her know of the change and thought that I had taken care of it. I was going to talk to the teacher this morning about it when I dropped her off but she was so busy that I just helped Mirra put her backpack away and find a seat. Then I left, well not really I had asked Mirra if I could have a hug and a kiss goodbye and she gave me a pat on the shoulder and said goodbye Mom. I was thinking she might change her mind and come running out so Mason and I stood outside her classroom for a few minutes waiting for her to come give us a hug. I finally realized that she wasn't going to change her mind and we came home. Mason kept asking me "where Wiwa Mommy, where Wiwa?" He really missed her.
This afternoon at 11:30 I went out to the bus stop, which is on the corner of my moms house and waited for Mirra to come home. Me, mason and Hazel waited and waited. After about 18 minutes of waiting I got a phone call from Mirra's teacher Mrs. Arroyo. The teacher said that Mirra had told her she could ride the bus but she wouldn't let her get on because I had written on the paperwork that I would pick her up or that grandma would so she didn't let her get on. I flew to the school and ran in.
Mirra was so upset by the time I got there she wouldn't talk at all. As we walked out of the office hand in hand her lip started to quiver and she started to cry. "Mom Arroyo wouldn't let me on the bus. I told her you said I could ride it home and she wouldn't let me get on." I asked her if she is mad at me and she said yes.
I feel so bad. What a terrible thing to do to your child on her first day of school. I had to take her to McDonald's to get her to forgive me. We got everything worked out now and she will be riding the bus tomorrow.

New House!!!!!!!!

WE FINALLY FOUND A HOUSE...........
After almost 5 months of living with Mom and Dad, Jake and I finally found a house. Well this is actually the 5th offer we have put in but we like it the best out of all of them. We just had no luck of them were 2 short sales and 2 of them just didn't want to budge on their asking price. We are still in the process of getting the loan approved and everything so I will put more pictures and stuff in when we get closer. We should be closing on September 28th but might be able to get everything done before that. Yipee I am so excited about it. This is going to be home I just know it.

Things learned from a 5 year old

I never knew that I was going to learn my best lessons as a mother but Mirra is constantly teaching me things about life.
"Mom we shouldn't say those words."
"Mom be nice to Daddy."
"Mom that doesn't look very pretty." Etc.
Her greatest teaching moment happened the other day. Mirra learns to do things best with a points system so if I need her to learn to do something I just need to get a chart, let her put stickers on it and she will do what ever I ask. Like when I was trying to get her to stay in bed at night. I threw up a chart showed her the prize at the end and with in 2 weeks, Success. Currently we are trying to get her ready to start school this month. There are some things we need her to do on her own before she goes. Mirra and I were sitting on my bed talking about it and we decided to do a chart with 100 points. I told her at the end she would get something big like a trip to Disneyland or something like that. I have really been wanting to take her to Disneyland and we had talked about maybe taking her this fall anyway. I was really shocked and proud of her response.
"Mom, I don't want to go to Disneyland... That would take money away from my trip to go see Grandma Enszer." The very next thing she did was give me 3 pennies she had found and said "I saved these for you they will help you pay for the trip."
I didn't realize until that moment that it is me that is pushing the bigger trip when she would be happy just to do something small but important. I also didn't realize that at age 5 she understands more about what is important and what is not then I do sometimes. I love you my little Princess. Thanks for reminding your Mommy what is really important in life.