Back to School

     Going back to school is always so hard as I struggle to admit that summer is coming to an end.  It seems like going back to school gets harder each year as Cammie gets a little older and we are able to interact with her more and more.  This school year was no different with the exception that it seemed to sneak up even quicker with as busy as the summer was.  Don't get me wrong....I soaked up the summer sunshine and days away from work as much as I could with my little sun princess.  We played outside on the swing set, blew bubbles, went swimming and even managed to grab a few nap snuggles together every once in a while. :)
     Unfortunately, a majority of my summer days were dedicated to online classes and a curriculum project I applied for that would pay to take my Cammie to Disney for the first time.  Chris and I were also busy slowly trying to get everything (well as much as we could) painted, hung or put away in the new house. I feel like I blinked my eyes and summer was gone!  
     I always struggle with the beginning of the school year.  There is never enough hours in the day to get even half of the items on your to-do list accomplished.  I always feel behind at work, school and home at the beginning of the year.  I struggle to find time to work-out (which I need even more on school days).  I never can seem to find even a few minutes to spend with Chris and pretend I am his wife, in addition to being mom and second grade teacher.  Most of all, I struggle with the amount of time I am away from Cam, compared to the time I was used to spending with her on a summer day.  To make things even more complicated Cammie has to go to occasionally go to a baby-sitter this school year.  My dad decided to head back to work in early June so I lost my full-time babysitter and C lost her Pop who kept her scheduled and in line. :)  Although I am very excited for him to get back to something he missed, C and I will miss him more than we can put into words.  My mom will continue to watch C on her days off and Chris' mom will continue to keep her each Tuesday, but for the remainder of days each month C will have to stay with a babysitter.  Thankfully we have found an amazing sitter who I know will take the best care of C while she is there.  Miss Patty, whom C knows from the Y will take care of her when family is not able to.  Miss Patty also has a 2 1/2 year she takes care of daily, which will give C a playmate when she is there.  I know this will be a great opportunity for Cammie, especially as we think about enrolling her in preschool next year, but it's just hard to make adjustments when you are used to things being just so.  Crossing my fingers for a successful start and a less stressful school year than the one before....anything to make that next break or those summer days come a little faster... :)

5 years ago today...

I made one of the best decisions of my life and married my best friend.  I am so very blessed that Chris is my husband and rarely give him enough credit for the amazing man, friend, husband and father he is.  We have never really gone anywhere or made our anniversary super special (I hate that we have gotten "used" to being with one another...we celebrated 13 years together this past January.) so when we got the opportunity and were invited to go to Chicago we went!  Our neighbors and friends, Joe and Danielle, invited us to attend a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field the day before our anniversary.  Going to Wrigley has been on Chris' bucket list (along with every other historic stadium in the country :) for as long as I can remember and he was so excited to go. We stayed in a hotel in Merrillville, Indiana the night before and wrote the train into Chicago.  Joe and Danielle took us to lunch at Goose Island microbrewery which was delicious!  Chris loved their IPA they brewed there and we were able to stay dry from the quick afternoon showers that started to fall right as we got off the L.  The rain cooled things down to a shocking 74 degrees at the start of game time!  (It was like over 100 degrees at home that day. :)  We walked around Wrigleyville in Chicago and actually saw the Cubs get a W for the day!  I loved watching the traditions that surround the Cubs, such as the rooftop seats and songs they sing at the conclusion of a game they won!   Chris and I drove back Friday, where he spent our actual anniversary golfing, while I shopped and spent time with my mom, dad and Cammie.  We concluded our evening at Rocky's with some of our best friends, Nick, Chrissie, Ellie, Brad, Meghan and Maddie.  Although it was the first time I left Cammie overnight (for 2 nights!!! Thank you Chrissie and Mom for watching her :) we had a great time!  So blessed!

Here are a few pictures from our trip...not the greatest, but all I had was my phone and it was a cloudy, rainy day. :/

Chris and I in front of the bean :)

Wrigley Field!

The view from our seats :)  They were great!

See the W flag...Yay for a win! If you were close enough to see the Red's flag is on top because they were in first in the NL Central....Go Reds!! :)

Getting Settled

     Slowly, but surely we are unpacking the last few boxes, deciding which rooms to paint next, organizing and putting things in their place (just to change our minds about where they will go a day later :) and getting our new house to feel like "home".  Between getting things together "just so," organizing and preparing for parties and spending every waking minute soaking up the summer sunshine outside I have had NO time to update the blog (or finish my online class for that matter :).  My goal is to get the blog completely updated by the end of the week...if Little Miss will give me an hour or so to work indoors :)

Wrapped

     Yesterday was yet another crazy, insanely busy day for us.  Chris and I are both still working (summer is so, so close!), we have been running errands and making phone calls at any little break we can find in the day (trying to get everything in order just so for the move that has now been moved up a day! :), I ran a few miles to meet my goal with Danielle, ran into Target to pick up a prescription and zoomed by mom and dad's house to pick up C and head to Chris' first round sectional game at Providence.  I quickly changed out of my yucky running clothes and thundered down the stairs to get my Cammie.  She was sitting in the recliner watching Oso and didn't see me right away. I never want to forget what came next: As soon as she heard my voice she jumped out of the chair and ran to me yelling "mommy" the whole way.  She immediately ran into my arms for the squeezes and kisses that are now expectations from both her and I. The pure joy on her face almost makes me tear up.  I can't tell you how lucky I am to have that little girl in my life!  It's days like yesterday that make me realize just how wrapped she has me around her little finger....and to be honest, I'm perfectly okay with that! :)

In 1 Week....

• Nana and Pop's house will be eerily quiet
• Chris will no longer have to endure Shelby's breath
• I will not have to squeeze, squish and cram all of our wardrobe into a shared closet, plastic bin or basket
• Zesto's will no longer be in walking distance
• we will endure new sounds....dog toenails tapping on hardwood floors, alarm beeps and reminders and tiny toddler feet running up and down the stairs
• Chris will disappear in the yard for hours again doing his favorite type of work.....yard work
• Mom's laundry can always be completed in the order she desires....no uniforms or stained t-shirts that now throw her all out of sorts
• Pop will no longer clean Brohdi's snot and slobber off his windows
• I will be an organizing, redecorating and indecisive monster.....I envision there will be many minor arguments in mine and Chris' future
• we will go back to grocery shopping at Meijer (Yay! I have missed it so) and I can go back to couponing and stockpiling again (as Nick Lawrence would say the carb closet will be back in action :)
• we can go back to hosting Pizza Friday every other week
• I will go back to a full DVR and DirectTV....how I have missed them both so very much!
• we will probably never step foot inside....Danielle and I have already discussed setting up a schedule for taking turns watching the girls so each of us stands a chance of getting something accomplished :)
• Cammie will have her own room and toy room again...I think she has missed it more than I ever imagined
• we will give Nana, Pop and Nick their life and space back (even though I will miss them so very much....it's almost like moving out for the first time all over again!)
• we will have a place to call home.....something we have greatly missed!

Zoey Update

     For now we are keeping our fingers are crossed.....the medicine they put Zoey on a few weeks ago seems to be helping. :)  She is on a medicine that is given to cancer patients before they begin chemotherapy to help her keep everything down.  We also changed her food to a high protein, puddingish-type wet food and the two changes combined seem to be working....for now.  She still coughs quite a bit and sometimes produces phlegm with her cough, but we don't seem to have near the problems we were having. Thank goodness!  We don't think she has lost any more considerable weight and are hoping she is working to put a little back on.   Although we know the inevitable is probably not too far away; Chris Cammie and I are hoping these things will help keep her around for a while.  Her spirits are still SO good...you wouldn't know she had anything wrong with her. The only bad thing about the new medicine and dog food...the cost. :(  Chris figured that we pay over $150 a month to feed and medicate our dogs....CRAZY!!! Glad he makes the big bucks these days lol.  We truly are thankful for a temporary fix that allows our Z to stay with us a little while longer. :)  She is the most wonderful dog!

Almost Time!

     We are so excited that it is almost time to move into our new house!  We have scheduled the fence installation, met the next door neighbors (that was pretty easy...we only had one side to meet since the Yanez family are on one side :), ordered some fun decals for the walls, bought most of the furniture (still need to find a kitchen table), discussed paint colors and what must be painted first and are constantly on the lookout for new decorations to fill the inside.  Last week we found out we may be able to move in a week earlier and our crossing our fingers everything will work out so that can happen.  We have been so blessed to be welcomed by my mom, dad and brother at this house during this transitional time, but know that we are probably driving them crazy. :)  I know C misses having her own room, toy room, bathtub toys and we are missing her CRIB!  At least we learned that C is not yet ready for a toddler bed.  She crawls right out of it and into the bed Chris and I sleep in. :)  


     It finally feels like it is really going to happen and we will finally move into our beautiful new house!  Danielle invited C and I over for dinner tonight and all of the kids were playing together.  Our new neighbor Molly is almost 13 and she was so good with the little girls.  C just adores Riley and Luci and loved having the opportunity to run outside with them.  So excited to have these kind of nights on a regular basis in the place we call home! :)

These Days

     These days we are spending tons of time outside.  We often head to the park on our own or with friends, play in the backyard at Nana and Pop's house or hang out at the field watching daddy coach baseball.  C LOVES to be outside!  She could stay outside all day (she definitely gets that from her dad :)  Here are just a few pictures of our recent outdoor endeavors:

Making her daddy proud....playing on the pitcher's mound at the field

Enjoying snacks with her baseball buddy....Izack

Being silly with dad

A Rough Mommy Day

     Today was not my best day. :(  Work has been ToUgH!  Tough as in I ask myself how will I ever continue this craziness for the rest of my life.  My kids are driving me CRAZY at school.  It's been an interesting year to say the least, but I have had three move-ins in the last 3 weeks which brings my total up to 28.  This is the largest class I have ever had.  I also have the special ed. cluster of 7, which makes things even a little hairier.  (I am including all these details so one day I can hopefully think of this year as just one of those years...)  I feel like my kids are running me over...every...single...day!  I am not sure if it is all the factors going on in life right now (baseball (as everyone knows my husband leaves 2-3 mornings a week for batting practice at 6 a.m., doesn't return until after 8 p.m. and plays 5-6 days per week....I get to be a very single mommy :(, the lack of having our own house, the stress of buying, furnishing, thinking about our new house, school (+30) and work), but for the last few weeks it has just felt like too much (and we just had spring break!).  Today I had a very bad end to my day (second day in a row it was a rough day) and Camryn had not taken a very good afternoon nap.  She was so cranky.  I already had no patience and well....our evening just wasn't as enjoyable as I would have liked.  I was so short with her.  :(  When Chris came in he could tell I needed a break and took her to rock (One of my favorite things we do at night).  Then I felt bad. :( My precious girl, who I always complain that I don't ever spend enough time with and I couldn't wait for a moment to myself. I was so frustrated with her cries, her stubbornness, her neediness.  I was frustrated because that is what I deal with every day x 28.  Definitely feeling guilty..... and wondering if it's worth it. :/

Spring Break

     Whew! We have had a very busy, yet very wonderful spring break!  I hate the way time flies by even faster when I am off! :(  Here is a recap of our week:

Saturday:  Today we headed off with Chrissie & Nick and Meghan & Brad to IKEA and the Gap Distribution Center.  We were originally going to hold off going to the Gap until we went to the Reds for Opening Weekend, but crazy Chris has a double header scheduled the day of the Reds game and forgot to look at his schedule before we bought the tickets :( We are hoping for a single game against Borden or 2 super fast games so we can still make it in time for Opening Day!  We stopped at the Gap first and didn't really proceed through the way we normally do....Chrissie is super pregnant and I'm not sure the rest of the crew loved looking through the mess at the Gap.  Sometimes it's exciting to find such great deals...I don't mind to look and dig too much :)  I ended up with an awesome pair of gray linen pants for $10 and C got a cute romper for the summer, but that was all I found in the short amount of time we were there.  Next we headed to lunch and then were off to IKEA!  We were on the search for a few bigger things for our new house.  Most importantly on the list: playroom storage.  We found ALL of our playroom storage, in addition to a table and chairs just C's size that will be perfect in her new room o' toys.  I am so, so excited to get it all set up and have all of C's toys organized just so (even though I know she will destroy the organized chaos in a matter of seconds :)  Chrissie and Nick bought some storage for their future playroom, which made our ride home pretty cramped.  Poor Chris couldn't hardly move his legs when we got home because we had to put the back seat down to get all of the boxes and ourselves to fit into the car for the ride home...we always seem to get ourselves into some kind of situation when the four of us are together :)  After IKEA we came back to mom and dad's where Nick caught the second half of the U of L game and we all celebrated their victory with Sportstime pizza....yum! :)

Sunday:  C and I celebrated baby Ellie with Chrissie for her baby shower...see separate post :)

Monday:  Chris, Cammie and I headed to the zoo on a BeAuTiFuL spring day...see separate post :)  Later we had dinner with Nick and Chrissie and went jeep ridin' for the first time (another separate post :)

Tuesday:  Today I woke up and my allergies were terrible :(  I am not one of those people who suffer from allergy symptoms every time the weather changes or every year.  Mine seem to be pretty hit or miss, but sometimes when they hit they just catch me very off guard...today was one of those days. :( I tried to shake them by heading to the Y with C.  Next we came home, ate lunch and C and I took a little nap (one of the reasons I love a break...nothing like a nap in the middle of the day :) When we got up, we got ready and headed to a few stores to do some furniture shopping.  We are in need of new living room furniture, a dining room table and chairs and a few things here or there to go along with the things we already have to "complete" our new house.  After looking around Haverty's and Ashley furniture we headed to visit my grandpa and Cammie's great-grandpa and then over to Chris' mom and dad's house to celebrate Chris' dad's birthday with a yummy dinner and some oh-so delicious, healthy cupcakes.  Chris' mom and sister, Maggie made cupcakes with chocolate cake mix and diet coke.  Only 2 ingredients and they were delicious!  I wish I would have had my camera to catch how much little C enjoyed them! :) She was a chocolate mess, but ate every bite. :)  So glad we were able to go over and celebrate such a special guy! Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Wednesday:  The crew headed to the outlets.  We took somewhat of a sporadic trip, but mom, dad, C, Chrissie and I had a blast!  We stopped at our traditional Tumbleweed in Seymour spot for lunch.  C is a regular at Tumbleweed and begged for the chips and salsa to be passed her way (making her Nana proud :).  We filled our tummies and headed towards the malls.  They weren't really having any wonderful sales, but I was able to get a good start on my spring/summer wardrobe.  After completely cleaning, purging and packing up clothes that no longer fit I was down to about 3 pairs of capris and 2 pairs of shorts.  I needed a few more additions to say the least.  I didn't really have any luck searching for work capris or clothes, but found tons of shorts and a few fun things to add to my attire.  Thank goodness for a few extra set of hands, as Cammie definitely lived up to her nickname and was a BEAR!  She didn't have much of a nap before we got there (of course she didn't sleep in the car :( and started melting down about 3/4 of the way through the outlets.  Once she finally gave in and fell asleep all was well again. :)  After a day of shopping dad fixed steak and chicken kabobs on the grill and we all (Nick and Chrissie included) enjoyed a yummy dinner and some wonderful company :)

Thursday:  Today we had a pretty relaxing day....and I loved it that way!  We headed to the Y, ran a few errands, I found a super cheap bathing suit (at Macy's...I was so impressed) and ended up making dinner (fajitas...my favorite :) at home for everyone.  It was fabulous!

Friday: We enjoyed the last "official day" of spring break by a great Y work-out, welcoming Nick back from his Panama City trip, spending a few last coupons at Old Navy and Kohls, running some last minute errands and eating dinner at my favorite restaurant with some favorite friends. :) Nick, Chrissie, Brad, Meghan, Maddie, Chris, Cammie and I went to Rocky's Friday night.  They actually were out of high chairs when we first got our table, so our big girls ate their dinner in booster seats!  Loved seeing how big they were, but made me a little sad too.  They aren't supposed to grow up this fast!

Saturday: Nick, Chrissie, Cammie and I headed to Seymour to watch Chris' baseball team in their first official game of the season.  Even though I complain about baseball I do love the game. :)  Chris is so passionate out there on the field and little C gets so into clapping and cheering for the team! Although Chris lost the first game of the tournament, they won their second game, beating Henryville 12-1.  Chris had a very long day as the tournament started at 11 and he wasn't heading back until about 7. :(  Cammie and I headed over to Meghan and Brad's house, along with Chrissie, Nick, Chris G. and Ben to watch the U of L/UK game.  We were hoping for a red victory, but unfortunately things didn't go that way. :( Cammie loved playing with Maddie's toys (they don't quite play together just yet :), but we headed home as soon as the game was over to see dad.

Sunday:  My aunt picked Cammie up early to take her to church and an Easter egg hunt.  Chris and I headed to church and then spent an amazing day together.  During baseball season we don't have the opportunity to spend hardly anytime together, so getting an entire day to ourselves was quite the treat!  We did a little more window shopping for furniture, had lunch, picked up some Easter goodies for C and tried to find Chris some new tennis shoes.  In the meantime, Cammie tuckered out before the egg hunt began (it got pushed back a little because of the weather), so Tammy dropped her off after lunch and she and Pop had a great afternoon nap together. :)  We concluded the night with spaghetti for dinner and Zesto's for dessert.  YUM!

We were so blessed to have such a wonderful spring break!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and our week was filled with lots of fun, laid back activities that were exactly what we wanted to do.  I sure didn't get enough school work or other things finished, but I loved every minute of my break with my girl!  We are now starting the countdown...only 61 more days until we are in the new house!

Moving Day

     Whew! Moving is such hard work! I have never moved an entire house before and underestimated the work it would take to accomplish the task.  We were also at a disadvantage because Chris had been in LA the weekend prior to the move for work, so we lost our opportunity to have our family and friends help us with the job over the weekend.  Thursday morning was THE day.  My dad and Chris pretty much moved EVERYTHING we owned out of the house.  The two of them were responsible for loading and unloading couches, beds, dressers, the washer, dryer, boxes and anything else that was a part of our home.  Thanks to Christie, I was able to direct where things should go and finish anything that needed to be completed in the house (packing boxes, organizing, running errands, etc.) without having a certain someone "help" me. :)  It took us over 12 hours to completely finish the move.....way longer than I ever expected.  It didn't help that we had to stop in the middle to go close on our new house, in addition to monitoring baseball practice and working a family literacy night (we wore WAY too many hats that day.....who knew March 15th would be such a popular day?) .  As many people know this is only the first part of the move.  We moved in with my parents and will be here for the next 10 weeks.  Although it is weird for all 5 of us (dogs included) to be under one roof I am SO appreciative of them letting us stay here.  We had no where else to go. :(  Although we are cramping everyone's style you wouldn't know it if you talked to mom or dad.  We have our fingers crossed that the next few weeks are filled with great weather, great basketball (March Madness) and baseball, baby holding with our bestest friends, lots of laughing and opportunities we will look back on and laugh about in the future. :) We are in the home stretch now......can't wait for the 2nd part of our move...hoping it will be our final move! :) 

Counting Our Blessings

     Yesterday was a crazy day to say the least!  With all of the unusually warm weather we have been having thunderstorms have become a normal part of our February (and early March) forecast.  Unfortunately yesterday's storms and tornado completely destroyed a high school, many houses, buildings and the hope of an entire town just 5 miles away from our house.  As I continue to see pictures of the damage Henryville experienced I am just amazed!  The devestation the town experienced is heartbreaking!  I think of how selfishly frustrated I felt yesterday that we weren't able to get our kids at school home safely before the storms hit, but realize how lucky and blessed we were to be in those safe, hot and crowded hallways.  My thoughts and prayers are going out to those people affected in Henryville, Borden and any other area that was hit hard yesterday.  Here are a few images that will serve as a reminder to count and be thankful for your blessings each and every day!

Henryville High School (taken from my brother's phone)

Unbelievable!

Another view of the high school (courtesy of Nick's phone)

A Day Of Love

      Valentine's Day hasn't been a big holiday for me in quite some time.  Chris and I have been dating for 12 years and well....we just haven't made a big deal of it since we celebrated it for the first or second time together.  Mom and dad always acknowledged it, remembering to pick up a card, our favorite candy and maybe even a little surprise, but again it just wasn't a holiday anyone went all out or over the top with.  This year I had a few people help me look at Valentine's Day a little different...

1.  Cammie Marie:  I never believed I could love someone so much!  To say she has her momma wrapped around her finger is definitely an understatement!  I am so thankful each and every day for this little girl.  She fills my heart and reminds me daily how rewarding it is to be a mom.

2.  Chris:  I can't believe I am "one of those people." I can't believe I was given the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with my high school sweetheart :)  Unfortunately after 12 years we are guilty of being used to one another.  It has now become a rarity that either one of us do something super special or go out of the way for one another.  We each fill our days between working full-time, finishing school, being parents, coaching baseball, working out, etc. that when we actually get a few minutes to watch a show together or have some "down" time we are asleep in seconds.  When I actually allow myself to slow down and take a little time I realize how very lucky I am.  Chris goes above and beyond (usually with minimal complaints) to make me happy.  He will eat the same thing for dinner repeatedly, he manages my impulsiveness, he tries to help me see the positive rather than focusing on the negative, he reminds me I can do anything I put my mind to, he encourages me to embrace challenge and change, he makes dinner on a daily basis, and he would do anything in the entire world to make me happy.  Thank goodness I have someone to share my heart with on this day of love! :)

3.  Chrissie:  Sometimes I wonder how in the world I ever made it through life without this girl.  She is the best friend a girl could ask for.  Although I can never say enough wonderful things about her I have been especially appreciative of her during this whole moving fiasco.  Chrissie has opened up her house and time every step we have taken through out this process.  She has allowed our whole family (dogs included) to invade her house when ours was shown, she watched Cammie while Chris and I went searching for the perfect house and has agreed to allow all of us to spend as much time as we need or want at her house while we stay with mom and dad.  The day before Valentine's Day we had to evacuate our house once again and when we arrived for dinner she had Valentine's gifts laid out on the counter for B, Z, Cammie and myself.  Most of them were nothing more than purely thoughtful gifts that only we would appreciate.  My heart just filled knowing she took the time to think of us and remind us how much she truly loves us.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful friend!

House Update...

     Can I just say that I never, never, NEVER plan to move again.  Selling and buying a house is definitely one of the most time consuming and frustrating adventures I have ever been through.  Every time I think we move a few steps forward it seems like we are moving 10 back.  As of right now we still have the original offer we accepted in November on our house.  That offer has a first right of refusal, meaning that other people can still look at the house, make an offer, but at the end of the day the original buyer has first dibs on the house.  The buyer who made the offer on the house is going through a divorce, therefore we are having to await the finalization of that and all the paperwork before we can close on our house.  Our realtor wanted to ensure we sold our house, which kind of explains why the first right is so important for our sale.  To make a long story short we now have 2 offers on our house, one accepted, one going back and forth trying to come to a final agreement.  In the end the original owner trumps the new offer as long as she can commit 100% to her agreement within a 48 time period...clear as mud???? It took about 3 different explanations in 3 different situations for me to feel like I finally "get it."  I am just SO ready for this period in our life to be over.  I hate strangers being in my house, I hate living unnaturally (hello...we have 2 big dogs and a toddler.... vacuuming, dusting, wiping fingerprints EVERY night is so not our style :), I hate the constant phone conversations, accepting and returning calls....I'm just over all of it! It is so exhausting trying to stay on top of that every day and keep up with the hustle and bustle of every day life, Chris' basketball season and school for each of us!  I know we are on the down hill side of the worst part of it, but the spring season just can't get here soon enough!  Cross your fingers that the offer war will at least give us a firm, closing date....we don't even know that right now! I feel like I am losing my mind! :)

Home Sweet Home

     The Kanes have finally made a decision and found a home!!! We are super excited that we have (hopefully) found our forever house and can't wait to move in.....BUT (as I said in my last house posting, there's always a but) we probably won't get to move in until the end of May or beginning of June.  My wonderful friend Danielle asked her next door neighbors (who have started the process of building a new house) if they were interested in showing their house before Christmas.  Originally, I think they said no, but something changed their mind.  Chris and I went to the house a few days before Christmas and fell in love with it!  It was the first house we have walked into and could see ourselves living in.  The house is absolutely gorgeous and the basement and backyard are more than we could have ever dreamed of.  I tell everyone that the basement on this house is 100 times better than any of the new construction homes we were originally looking to build. This house was also a considerable amount less than the one we were looking to build so we were beyond excited to move forward!  To make a long story short, Danielle's neighbors were excited to sell the house, but decided to wait until the end of the school year to make the transition on their daughter less traumatic.  I am sure they were also some what in the same boat as we were when someone made an offer on our house....not really expecting it and in shock that things moved so quickly.  As a result my parents are graciously allowing us to move in with them for the two months or so that we have nowhere to live (can I add they are allowing us to move in WITH the dogs! :).  Things will be tight at mom and dad's, but I can't thank them enough for helping us during this transitional time.  When we signed the agreement on our house March 15 seemed like so far away....now we are being forced to think about packing our entire house and putting it in storage. :(  As I have told many people moving from one house to the other would have just been too easy.  He has to sometimes throw us a few curve balls and test the waters. :)  Although we will be invading mom and dad's space it will be so nice to have adults to communicate with during baseball season (since I completely lose my husband :) and Baby E will arrive during the second month...keeping C and I very entertained as we spend pretty much every day after school with Aunt Chrissie and E! :)  Aunt Chrissie has also offered to make her home our second home and share temporary custody of our puppies....giving Nana and Pop a break from them a few afternoons a week.  We are so very excited to know where we are going, even it means cramping everyone's style for a few short months. :)

The Yuckies

     The Kane house has had a definite case of the yuckies this past week!  Sunday Chris and I had to take C to the urgent care to have her ears looked at.  She had been super clingy, running a fever, congested and crying anytime she drank from her cup.  When we got to the urgent care center her temperature was 101.3 and she did in fact have an ear infection.  One ear was worse than the other so they gave us some drops and amoxicillin and sent us on our way. :)  We've been trying to stay around home a little more and keep C inside as much as possible.  Almost a week later she is still very congested and her nose is pouring....hoping it's nothing more than just that.  
     In addition to C, Chris was very sick this week as well.  Tuesday he went to work a little congested and came home a lot worse.  :(  We still are not quite sure what was going on with him, but he spent a day and a half in bed with a fever and horrible headache.  Chris is about as stubborn as they come, so he refused to take his temperature or visit the doctor to find out exactly what was going on.  Chrissie's mother-in-law was pretty sick with a fever not too long ago and was told that a yucky virus is going around.  It was definitely a crazy week in our house....hoping everyone is on their way back to feeling 100%!b

Stuck...

     Sometimes I ask myself why I do the things I do??? Life, as usual is crazy in our house.  Christmas is way closer than I would like to admit (I feel like I haven't had a chance to enjoy anything Christmas-y, with the exception of my tree....it really overwhelms me to think we will celebrate Christmas with two sides of our family a week from Saturday!!!), school as-usual is in overdrive and I feel like I just can't seem to keep up (however I will welcome a student teacher in the spring....hoping those extra hands will let this girly slow down a bit :), IUS is finishing up and basketball season has begun.  Basketball season isn't necessarily a busy time of year for us, but Chris works and attends quite a few games on behalf of his baseball guys.  On top of everything we also thought it would be a good idea to put our house up for sale.  Really???...like we don't have enough going on??....I don't know what we were thinking.  We weren't expecting to have much traffic, but much to our surprise the house was shown multiple times in two weeks and we had an accepted offer within that time frame.  I cannot believe our house sold in a little over 2 weeks....CrAzY!!!  Needless to say we have to find somewhere to go.  We thought we knew exactly where we were going, explored floor plans, met with the builder, thought we were ready to go, BUT....(there's always a but :) we began having second thoughts.  Two weeks ago, Nate (our favorite speaker at church) talked about he and his wife moving forward and buying a new house for their growing family.  He discussed having a plan, trying to make it work, but then stepping back and realizing they didn't NEED that.  He focused on  having everything they needed in the house they were currently in, continuing their offering to the church and finding peace with their decision.  Chris and I had a quite the heart-to-heart Tuesday night and realized we were kinda in the same place as Nate.  We are OUT of room....we are in NEED of more space (especially because we want more kids), but question where that need should take us.  We are in search of our forever home, but are trying to decide what our #1 priorities are.  Originally our #1 priority was the school district where Camryn would attend school.  That still is our number one priority, however we are having a difficult time finding that place that takes care of our needs, without too many I wants....  Chris and I are very comfortable with our lifestyle....vacations, vehicles, leisure activities, our church offering, paying our bills, me returning to school...the list could go on and on.  In order to get in the house we thought we wanted puts us in a place that makes us question if we would able to continue some or any of that lifestyle.  To some it may seem silly, but those are the things that make us happy and allow us to make memories as and with our family.  I just feel stuck.....I am feeling very fortunate that the offer we accepted will not require us to be out of our current house until March, but am very uneasy about our next step.....I am a worrier :)  I feel homeless, despite having 3 months to figure out our next step.  I am trying to remember to have faith....but being the control freak that I am it can sure be hard! :)

bye-bye summer break :(

     Summer break is officially over and back to work I go tomorrow. :(  

     I have been in definite denial this whole week about losing all my extra time with my sweet baby girl! As a working mom I feel like it is such a catch-22 situation.  I hate the hours that I miss with her while I am at work.  I hate the frustration I sometimes feel when Cammie would rather play than sleep at night or when I am trying to get something done at home in the few hours I have, which takes the place of treasuring those moments of snuggling together that will soon be gone.  I hate the extra hours that I dedicate beyond the school day to IUS.  I hate the fear of all the things I will miss because I am not able to be with her all day, every day. :(  
     On the other hand, working gives me the purpose I need each day.  I like knowing I have the capability to make a difference in twenty-something little person lives each day.  I love the relationships I have built with my co-workers and work friends.  I love knowing the sacrifices and contributions I make as a working mom will hopefully give Cammie even more opportunities in life than I had.  
    Being a mom is the greatest gift I could have ever hoped for!  My Cammie-bear is my world and I couldn't be more thankful that I was chosen to be her mom.  I never thought I could even entertain the idea of staying home with my kids, but boy...having two full months off, watching Cammie crawl, walk, learn signs and progress from baby to toddler really made me think! :)  I know the idea of work is worse in my mind than it will actually be (I hope!).  I know once our routine is set everything will be okay.   I know I am beyond blessed that Cammie is in such wonderful hands while I am at work.  It's just really hard to tell yourself that the night before you go back!

Way Behind!!!

I am very, very, VERY behind on updating the blog and posting all about Miss Camryn.  Things have been absolutely crazy the last few weeks around here!  Chris and I both finally finished the school year, but have been working on graduate classes the last few weeks.  Chris is working on his administration license online through Ball State University and I am working on my +30 at IUS.  In addition, Chris accepted a new position at Clarksville and has been out of town quite a bit for training.  With vacation coming up next week...it seems like there just isn't enough time to do anything, especially update the blog! :)  I am determined to get it completely updated before we leave so keep checking back to see what Cammie has up to! :)

Thank You (and happy grandMother's day late)!

On Tuesday we took Tammy, Granny, mom and dad out for dinner to celebrate mother's day with my grandma a little late and to say thank you to Tammy.  Tammy was so, sO, SO wonderful in helping us buy our new car.  She works with many (probably all of the car dealerships in this area) and knows just who to send us to when we are looking for a specifc car.  To be honest, we have never really had to go haggle and do all the yuckiness that normally goes along with buying a car.  She made buying the Escape super easy and we are so thankful for that!  My dad was also fantastic as he spent hours helping us narrow down the colors, options, rebates, etc. so we could get exactly what we wanted.  Thank you so much for helping...you guys are THE BEST!

Tammy, Granny and Cammie