Levi has been handling the move better than I was afraid he would. He's sleeping fine here and seems to love having a bit more space to play and push his shopping cart around in! He also knows which apartment is ours already and he will point to it saying "This way!" as we drive up. And I love that there is space in his room and his closet for all of his toys! The only toys we have out in our living room now is his kitchen.
I've actually been having a hard time than I expected with the move. We've just had a few issues come up already that have made our transition more... challenging. I love the vaulted ceilings and that we have more space and that it's a little more private up here on the 3rd floor since people can't just walk past our windows and that the cabinets look nicer BUT I thought it would be quieter being on the top floor here but it is definitely not! We actually get A LOT more noise here from the people below us and on both sides. Loud TVs, loud bathroom fans and showers (you can hear it all over our house when our downstairs neighbor turns his on!), one of our neighbors plays his guitar loudly (he's pretty good, but still!) and just general noise! There's hardly a moment during the day when I can't hear something from the neighbors. Eric says I will get used to it but it's definitely disappointing. Also we have ants! At first, it was just a couple scouts but now they are popping up and swarming in our kitchen and also weirdly in Levi's room on the electrical cables. I called management but they can't send a pest control person out till Monday. Also, our dryer doesn't work well here. I'm not sure if the maintenance guy hooked it up poorly or if the ducts haven't been cleaned recently but its the same dryer as we had in our last place and now it's taking three times longer to dry each load! This is a huge problem for a busy mom with lots of laundry to do! I called maintenance and he came and cleaned the ducts somewhat but we are still having issues. And finally, and this is the biggest issue, on Tuesday morning, our downstairs neighbor decided to smoke some pot in his bathroom which made my bathroom and our master bedroom smell like marijuana all day!! It was sooo bad! Not only do I hate the smell of marijuana but it makes me more nauseous. And of course, that was the day I had to do my glucose tolerance test and drink that nasty stuff so that was also making me feel awful. Two strikes against me. Needless to say, I was super ticked and immediately called Eric and he called management to complain. They agreed to put a warning sign on the neighbor's door about how smoking is not allowed in the apartments and is a breach of contract but the guy gets three strikes before they can fine him or do an eviction notice or anything! Ugh! I was not thinking the most rationally that day and wanted to go downstairs and yell at him myself but thankfully I restrained myself. But yeah, Tuesday was just not a good day in general. First there was the smoking thing, then the glucose test- which was almost a disaster because the lab almost refused to test my blood because I didn't drink the glucose solution while I was there (my midwife just gave it to me and I drank it on my own, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that and no one had told me!), then it was snowing so Levi and I were stuck inside all day, and then Levi downright refused to take an afternoon nap! We tried for like an hour but he just kept jumping up and down in his crib and yelling and crying. I went in there at least four times and finally just gave up! But it meant he was super grouchy and emotional the whole rest of the day because he is definitely not ready yet to cut out his afternoon nap! Oh yeah, and on top of this, we still had no internet at this point because they hadn't hooked it up yet and our apartment was still covered in half-unpacked boxes and nothing was Levi proofed yet which was basically a recipe for disaster. Let's just say by the time 5 pm rolled around, I was soo, so done. I'm ashamed to say, I was definitely not the most patient momma that day and did some yelling. Days like that remind me of my weaknesses and make me just so grateful for the Atonement and that I can repent. And I am so, so grateful that Levi is so loving and forgiving. He's definitely impatient with some things, like trying to use a fork or maneuver his luggage around corners, but he is very patient with me and my faults and always is ready to hug me and love me even in my not great moments. It's no wonder that Christ tells us to be like a little child.
In other news, we got some snow this past week! I'm really glad it came after the move and not during! There wasn't a ton but enough to stick a little bit and make Newberg have a late start one of my work days which was nice. And Levi thought the snow was pretty cool and had fun making tiny snowballs with me.
Also, it was Eric and my anniversary this past week! 5 years! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by but I know it's only a drop in the bucket compared with eternity. I certainly got lucky when it comes to Eric. He is my perfect other half. Our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other so well. And I feel like my pregnancies bring out the best in him. He takes such good care of me and of Levi and never complains about his increased workload or having to get up early with Levi every day. He always stays positive even when I'm pulling out my hair in frustration and can't see a good solution to a problem. He always trusts that it will work out. I couldn't do this life of ours without him. So to celebrate our anniversary, he arranged a babysitter and took me out to this really nice restaurant up in Portland. It was on the 30th floor of one of the banking buildings and the food was amazing! I'm so grateful that I am well medicated now and can enjoy food again!
So yeah, that's what our last few weeks have been like. Things have started getting busy with work as lots of IEP meetings are coming due which means a lot of testing and annual reviews for me to write. I'm glad we got moved before all that started.
I've also been doing a lot of Early Intervention evaluations this month. Two weeks ago I did one for a little guy who was born unexpectedly at home at just 26 weeks! His mom was by herself, didn't recognize that she was in labor, went to the bathroom and had the baby! I can't even imagine that!! And I happened to be 26 weeks pregnant with baby girl at the time I did this eval and I just couldn't stop thinking, this would be like if I had the baby today! Yikes!! This is a picture of the size diaper he wore when he was new. So, so tiny. Such a little fighter, it's a miracle he survived after being born so early not even in the hospital! And in Newberg! That must have been a long ambulance ride all the way up to Portland to the children's hospital! But little guy is so cute now and already has a lot of personality! He's had 8 surgeries since birth, including multiple brain surgeries and he just keeps on kicking. And he has started smiling and its just the cutest thing. Modern medicine is amazing.
So it turns out that the only other picture I took over the last two weeks is this one from the dreadful Tuesday. Like I said, Levi skipped his afternoon nap but then finally around 5pm, we finally had internet, I put on Elmo and he immediately conked out. Poor little guy. He's so sweet when he's sleeping and it makes me forget everything he does that drives me crazy.
