Something like life

And it happened one day that we decided to put Sam in preschool. Three days later he was attending classes and I was getting exercise, meeting other moms and running errands like a real person. I knew I was feeling claustrophobic, unhappy and caught in a Ground hog's Day movie, but I had no idea how good it would feel to finally get out of the house and live a real life!
I've got the house set up like I want it. Here is a picture of my favorite thing: my new IKEA entertainment center. I'd been planning this thing for MONTHS before we even moved. It's better than I imagined and cost me $200 less than I thought. Sorry for the glare.

Of course, getting out of the house has also brought about its frustrations. For instance, the military hospital we're forced to use for our health care. Thankfully I love the staff so far and the kids pediatrician is wonderful with them. But it took HOURS to do simple doctor's visits, get shots and get meds. HOURS. Every time we go! It ruins an entire day and leaves me stranded there with tired, hungry cranky babies and I've run out of snacks, diapers and patience!
I'm also having some communication issues with Sam's teachers already, but we're so new at this, I'm chalking it up to me coming in 8 weeks before the school year ends and trying to catch up. His classroom even has computers, he has homework and is learning TONS. And he loves it - no nerves, shyness, nothing. Just "Get out of my way Mom, I'm going to school." And because it's only about a 15-20 minute walk there, I usually walk once a day as well.
I've begun hanging out with the mother of one of Sam's friends and she's been a blessing already with babysitting duties! She has a five year old and nine month old, so we have lots to talk about.
Brian is coming along with this crazy job - he's bottom of the totem pole and gets left out of the loop regularly. Because the course he's teaching is still at another post, there's very little structure and it's frustrating. No one knows who's in charge or what they're supposed to be doing or when anything is going to happen. We're hating it already. I'm hoping things will come down by the fall, but then Brian has plans to uproot our life all over again in October - that's all I'm allowed to say.
The babies are growing in leaps and bounds and doing well. Now Ben is surprising me with his talents. I still think of him as a newborn, so I'm surprised to see him grabbing, reaching, straining to sit up. He loves to watch and participate and smiles and laughs at his siblings. He's so adorable and fun, but still my toughest child!
Elizabeth is into climbing now - onto the couch, chairs, the baby swing. So far we have two head bumps, a skinned knee and a black eye. No real trips to the ER yet. Wahoo!
I nearly cried when we bought Sam his first real book bag! So strange to think back to how it was just he and I for four whole years. I miss it, some times. I get so busy with the babies he can feel like a stranger after a long day. I'm working on ways for he and I to spend time together. Twice we've been able to play a board game after the babies went down for bed. I'm always amazed at his smarts and imagination!
My "baby" and his book bag

In front of his school. This is where he will go to Kindergarten in the fall.

Elizabeth is wearing bows and cute shoes now! She poses patiently so I can put them on. She loves it!


She was so tired one day, I put her down to eat in the pack and play before nap time. She threw the monkey over her head and went to sleep.

My youngest cutie-patootie

Trying out the johnny-jump-up. Elizabeth was like "Hey, that's mine!"

Meanwhile we're finally settled in this house and even though I'm getting used to it, it's still a huge disappointment. Easily the worst housing we've lived in. I know there are people out there who think we get housing for free and are spoiled, so I feel the need to take pictures and show them otherwise. Can you believe the government is paying a private company $1200 a month so we can live in THIS?
Master bedroom so small we can't even fit a normal amount of furniture in it. This is Brian's night stand and dresser.

Mismatched tiles - signs of water damage. Yes, the entire house is covered in this hideous tile.

Faucets still operating 70 years later. Why update? We'll just scrape the rust off.

Metal windows. Seen in military housing and jails.

This is the only electrical plug in the bathrooms. Apparently hair dryers weren't invented yet.

This is my attempt at showing what 70 layers of paint look like. And underneath, lead paint. This window sill's frame has gone from sharp edges to almost round ones.

The windows are so oddly sized, nothing fits them.

This is just one of the many corners of our new home. Do you want to know how many years of ick is piled in the corners? I don't. Makes me feel like I live in a kennel. No wonder we're always sick.

Safety at it's finest. The gas line doesn't allow the stove any closer to the wall. Who doesn't want a foot of space behind their oven when they have small children and a cat? See the roach trap. Yeah, I had to put that there. But the spiders out number the roaches.

Now, I'm not trying to discourage visitors. I'm just saying when we live in civilian housing is a better time to come visit. More space, and far less of this crap! :)