We made it!

It's hard to believe that we are actually here. For a while there it seemed as though all our carefully laid plans might come to naught. You know, Chad not having a job a week before we leave, our moving truck threatening not to deliver our stuff until after the weekend, Chad and Daniel not being able to find a motel while driving due to all the oil riggers...minor details like that. But it all worked out.

I highly recommend waking your kids up at 5:00 am to fly--they are too dazed to make trouble on the plane. That's the only explanation I can come up with for how good they were! People even complimented me on their good behavior and one lady said, "you must be doing something right." No one ever compliments me on my parenting. It was a moment of triumph for me. Then we landed and Avery pulled a big chunk of Rylee's hair out and Izzy pooped and they all started screaming. But we had already landed so it didn't count. When we landed I told Rylee we were in Texas. She looked out the window at the tarmac (spelling?) with the luggage carriers and said, "Oh! It's so beautiful!"

And it is. The weekend has flown by as we try to get settled. I had mentally prepared myself for how long it was going to take to unpack without my mom and sisters around to help (I miss you!!!) and I think that has helped. Our rental house smells like stale cigarette smoke (think Morningside Heights, you Baltimorians), but Chad has assured me that none of us can get lung cancer from living here. Once you get past the smell, the peach mini-blinds and the fact that all the light switches are a foot higher than they should be so I always feel helplessly across a wall for a few minutes before I find one, it's a great house. Lots of space and the kids are loving the loft that we've converted to a playroom.

We are actually unpacking faster than I thought we would; although the pace should slow considerably tomorrow because Chad starts work. He's going to be working 4 days a week 8 to 5. This is going to be quite the adjustment for him. In a good way. But not for his golf game.

Rylee and I toured a preschool this morning. She clutched my leg the whole time and I couldn't blame her. It was pretty ghetto and the teachers and aids were a little scary looking. We are investigating options number 2 and 3. But she met a new friend at the pool today and gets a big kick out of the fact that her new Sunbeam teacher's name is Sister Green. Which is her favorite color. And our last name is Brown. You get the picture. Some things aren't funny if you have to explain them.

Moving on, Avery looks like a homeless child. I don't know what box the hair stuff is in, so her hair hangs down the front of her face and then gets stuck like dried glue to her runny nose. I hope this cold goes away soon. Our new ward starts at 11:00 and is oddly silent for how many little kids we saw in it. After making sure that everyone knew there was a new family in the ward, Avery then spent most of sacrament meeting in the hall.

Since moving, Izzy has learned to roll over. Which she hates. Within a minute of me laying her down and turning my back she starts to cry because she's flipped herself onto her stomach. It's a really annoying game. She's two months ahead of my other girls. They stayed flat on their backs for five months. Don't you wish you could keep 'em that way?

As for myself, I just unpack boxes, wipe noses, change diapers, turn on light switches for little people who can't reach them, pour milk into sippy cups, wait on hold for AT&T, sneak peanut butter M&Ms, and plot ways to leave the house without any children in tow.