Wow, it's been entirely way too long since I have written a post. These past few weeks have been a complete roller coaster of a ride. I guess I'll start in the beginning.
For starters, both Kyle and I were working ALL the time right up until we moved. The time spent on packing was not nearly enough. But, we did what we could when we could. The last few nights before we moved we went to bed really late and got up early. Doesn't exactly make for the best atmosphere when both spouses are running on such little sleep and gearing up for something stressful like a move.
When moving day arrived, we still had several random items that we weren't really sure what to do with. That morning, Kyle got a ride with some friends from church to Fort Dodge to get the U-haul which we had reserved a few weeks ahead of time. When he arrived, there was no truck and they practically laughed at him when he said he wanted a 26 footer. The guy said he hadn't seen a 26' truck in weeks. He also told Kyle that they don't even take reservations at that location. Funny how it says on U-hauls website that your reservation is guaranteed. "You will get the equipment, location and pickup time that you agreed to or we'll give you $50." We didn't get the equipment, the location OR pickup time we wanted. Kyle finally decided to just come home and we spent the next several hours trying to decide what to do. We had people from church and my family scheduled to come down to help us move. Finally about mid morning, after being on hold for over an hour and a half between the two of us with the morons from U-haul, we decided to forget the whole thing and just use trailers and trucks.
Kyle's dad and brother both brought their horse trailers and some friends got another smaller trailer and we loaded everything up. People really came together for us and everything went well once we made the decision to forget U-haul all together. Some VERY generous friends offered to do lunch for the whole crew and everything was totally done and ready to go shortly after 2pm. Then....we received a call from U-haul. Oh, they had a truck for us....in Marshalltown!!! That's about 2 1/2 hours southwest of RC. We were moving 1 1/2 hours northeast. Who do these people think they are??? UGH! But...whatever. By that point everything was done and we were ready to move.
Everybody piled in and headed out to Cleghorn. I stayed behind with Hayden and my mom so that Hayden could take a nap and I could get some last minute cleaning and errands done. We followed later and got to the house once everything was unloaded. After everything was in the house we decided to turn on the AC. But....what do you know...there's no cold air coming from the vents. The fan runs, but the AC doesn't kick out any cold air. Not exactly what I wanted to hear but, we had it inspected and I was hoping it was just something stupid and they would come out Monday and everything would be fine.
Monday rolls around...
After sweltering in crazy heat all weekend with temps on the house over 90 degrees, we got a hold of the place that had inspected the house in the first place. They sent a guy out that morning and more bad news. The AC is shot and we have to put in an entire new unit costing about $3000. WE WERE LIVID!!! I was already rehearsing my speech to the guy we had been speaking with and it wasn't very nice. I didn't understand how we should be responsible for paying for this when we had it inspected. But supposedly it was blowing 53 degree air and "these things just happen." But, we both eventually calmed down and accepted the fact that we were going to have to replace it. They had originally told us that it couldn't be installed until the end of the week and I started to panic. It was soooo hot! So, that afternoon Hayden and I left to spend some time with my parents until it got fixed. Poor Kyle had to stay behind because of football practice. The good news was they were able to get it in the next day and were were able to come back to our house.
We hadn't really gotten a lot done up until that point. It was so hot it was hard to work inside. Once the AC got fixed we buckled down and got to work. By the end of the week, things weren't looking too bad...in the house at least. Hayden, on the other hand, was a different story all together. The move REALLY affected her. She was acting so clingy, not sleeping well, and just being so naughty! Then, on top of that, she ended up getting a cold and a slight fever on Friday. We were supposed to go back to Rockwell City for the weekend for the Sweet Corn Daze celebration. But Kyle ended up staying home with Hayden and I went by myself. It was a good day but tiring. I came back Saturday evening completely exhausted and Hayden still wasn't acting herself.
That child is a complete different story all by herself. The beginning of her mess goes all the back to February. She got really sick with stomach stuff and they started a bout with diarrhea that we are STILL dealing with. I have taken her to the doctor so many times. They have done different kinds of tests on stool samples and even done blood work but couldn't find anything abnormal. We cut out all dairy for 2 weeks to see if she was lactose intolerant but it didn't phase her at all. It has gone in phases...she'll get better for a couple weeks and then it will get REALLY bad for several weeks. Right now just happens to be BAD. REALLY BAD. So, the poor kid has lots going against her: we moved, she's two and she has crazy bad diarrhea. I am at a complete loss about what to do! On the one hand, we just moved and I expect her to have a few insecurity issues and be a little clingy....but where is the line of just being plain naughty? She throws HUGE fits multiple times a day about the dumbest things. At times, she'll refuse to eat anything and throw a tantrum when I try to make her eat and other times she eats like a horse. All the while I have no idea what to do as a mom. I am thinking, is she sick? Does something hurt? Is there something wrong inside that would explain her out of the norm eating habits and diarrhea? Is she upset because of the move? Is she just two and exercising her sin nature to it's fullest extent? Should I punish her? and when? When do I show love and when do I put my foot down? Is it ok to put her in her room and let her scream for 45 minutes straight? I had no idea being a mom was going to be this hard so early in life. I though I would at least have until the pre-teen years *sigh*.
Lots of prayers are being prayed but I am so tired of EVERYTHING! I think if I could react the way she often has lately I would. There have been so many times over the past few weeks that I have wanted to shut myself in a room and scream forever too. My nerves are shot, my patience is almost non existent and my mood has been far from pleasant. I re-read Prov. 31 and that did nothing more than to make be feel worse. A move is stressful enough without having to deal with all the other things in life. Even Kyle has begun to question the move at times and wonder, with everything going on, if we made a mistake. He has other reasons for thinking this....things at school that I won't get into. We are BOTH in need of some encouragement.
BUT.....with all of that being said, we are still trusting our Lord. Or at least trying to with our weak, imperfect, human selves. There have been so many things that God has done for us including working out everything with our move in the end; providing the money needed to pay for the new AC; giving us wonderful family and friends that have come together in so many ways to help us out. We have many blessings too numerous to count...but I think it's about time to try. Counting my blessings always makes me realize how good I have it. I have a wonderful husband who works hard and gives everything 1000 %. I have a beautiful daughter who, no matter how naughty she is or how many disgusting diapers I have to clean up, makes me smile more than anyone else. I HAVE A HOUSE! And it's a great house that I really love :) I have met my neighbors and they are all so nice and welcoming. Thank you Lord for the blessings in my life!
Please don't think that I wrote this looking for sympathy. It's more of a journal entry for myself. A kind of therapy to help me put into words all these crazy feelings. And a way to look back on this period in my life and see how God used it to make me stronger and bring me closer to Him. I needed this entry to put things in perspective and you all just happen to be privy to it :)
