so here we are

i know it's been a long time, i wasn't too concerned with keeping the blog up to date because most of the people who read this are the family we were visiting anyway.

but i thought it would be a good time to catch up the rest of you few folks who we weren't actually with on how things are going.

i'm taking the time to write this now because we are being VERY VERY QUIET while letting caleb fall asleep in the pack n play in our hotel room. he is next to the luxurious king bed i am so wanting to sleep in, and i am sitting on the fold out couch that i will sleep on instead, on the other side of the 5' or so partition that gives caleb his 'room.' it was the best arrangement we could come up with since we somehow managed to wait until 11 days until we drove down to call and make lodging arrangements.

but the room does have some perks, which caleb got to enjoy first:

hopefully mom and dad will get to test that out as well!

after a 10 hour plane flight for me and caleb (which was NOT fun, as caleb entertained himself by biting and scratching mommy for most of it - more on that later) we arrived in st. louis, visited seb's parents for a few days, and then headed up to see my family.

that was a fun filled week of 'don't touch' and 'be gentle with doggy' and 'don't sit on kitty' about every 5 minutes or so, until mommy and doggy and kitty had enough and pets were sequestered for their own safety. but seriously, it was really great to see our families again and realize that this time, when we left town we would be DRIVING off just a few hours and not getting on a plane to cross an ocean. very comforting. and i got to see my brother and his girlfriend and their growing baby-to-be due just a few week after noah is expected to arrive. so excited for them!

after a little more than a week seeing my family we went back to st. louis to reunite with seb, and try to find the balance between letting caleb get enough of a daddy fix (he hadn't seen him for a week and a half) and letting daddy study for his final boards exams. that meant lots of excursions to give daddy time to himself, again, more on that later. i'd like to actually go into much more detail on what we got to do during our visits but i want to include pictures (and since i'm being quiet and they're on a disc buried in a suitcase, that will have to wait.)

anyway, seb took his boards last friday, and today we drove down to check into our swanky almost-two-rooms-with-a-hot-tub hotel room. this is the longest drive caleb has ever been on (no real road trips when you live on an island,) we left when he could fall asleep for half of it but he only slept 20 minutes the whole way, and we were driving through torrential thunderstorms for over an hour of the 5.5 hr trip. needless to say, despite food, books, newly purchased steering wheel toys, and music, caleb was very much not amused. the only part of the trip he enjoyed was playing in the mcdonald's playplace with daddy for his very first time when we stopped half way down to take a break.

we're in hopkinsville ky now, just a few minutes from fort campbell, and tomorrow we start looking for a home to rent. we've got a lot of good leads, and i'm hoping by the end of the week we'll have signed a contract and maybe even moved in.

even better, seb got a call that our household goods are ALREADY HERE and so as soon as we have a place we can really start to get settled.

there's still a lot to do, but, for now, things are working out, and we're on the way to being out of this transition phase. i know caleb will really appreciate when we can just stay put and have familiar things around, though he thoroughly loved his time with our families and very much remembered all his grandparents and enjoyed his time with them.

i'll be posting more about our visit soon (i hope) with pictures and will also keep things posted regarding our new home. after all, there really is only so much you can do in a dark, quiet hotel room when you're trying to get your toddler to get some sleep!