"Man Bag"

No, I'm not referring to a "man-purse" (or "murse" if you will), "shoulder bag", or any other coined term for a man bag. What I AM referring to is the way that a diaper bag is packed for Liam and myself when I'm headed out with him.

Yesterday was my first day off with Liam at the new house. We had some errands to run so I packed things up for him and me in his diaper bag. Home Depot and Kroger were on the list. We needed stuff for the house in more ways then one! So what I included in the diaper bag was a little more than the usual diapers and wipes....

oh yeah - Speaker cable and makeup accesories. Why do makeup accesories qualify as "man bag" material? Because I'd be lost in the makeup aisle at Kroger trying to figure out what new replacements my wife needs in her collection which is why the loving wife that I have sent me with the "empties" so I'd know exactly what I was looking for :-) Like I said... Man Bag!

I've succesfully set up our home theater sound system with my father-in-law save for the fact for some reason we can't get sound from our DVD player. bummer. MAJOR bummer. Oh well, we'll get there eventually.

In the mean time, I did get new locks installed on all of our doors today. Little by little we're making this place our home.

G

Boxing Match

So, the only bad thing about getting down the basics set for moving in (you know.... clothes, food, and a place to sleep... oh yeah, and internet) is that it TOTALLY strips away the motivation and need to get everything else unpacked.

I'm a guy.

I could probably leave boxes sitting around for weeks as long as I have a working kitchen. (So, I'm not your everyday fella). That being said, we're trying to maintain momentum and keep unpacking things. A co-worker at work (is that redundant?) told me that it takes 2-3 months to get unpacked and settled. I scoffed at the notion. Or choked. No, no... we'll go with scoffed. Because in my head my response was rather flippant.

At any rate, after dealing with stock and inventory in retail (going on almost 2 years experience here...) I can blow through unpacking boxes at a rather quick rate.

What's the challenge then you say? Why the hold up you ask?

Life.

Pure and simple. Life, the every day exactitudes of existence; the eating, sleeping, clothes-washing, bill-paying responsibilities of the norm; is what keeps it all from happening at once.

What I do like about this new place is how we've had the ability to purge a LOT from our old house and there is a lot that we want for this new house in terms of organization and neatness.

It's nice to have a fresh start and a blank pallete :-)

G

Move-In Day!

Tomorrow will be when we officially move in to our new home! We had the movers move our stuff on April 22nd, but we haven't actually begun living there yet... this all changes in less than 24 hrs.

So... our family will be in transition... again. BUT, with this single transition comes a world of promise. No more commuting for an hour both ways to go to work, to check on the house, to move, etc. No more having to live out of boxes (well, eventually!) or suitcases, or closet space - it's been a VERY long time since we've been able to say that.

Melissa, Liam, and I have kinda developed our own sort of "routine" while living with her parents. As irregular as it could be it still had its "usuals," ya know? So, while we are anxious to get into our new house and excited about it too, there's a lot of emotion with "uprooting" again.

Melissa and I have probably taken for granted that there has always been another hand on deck while living with her parents. So although I can speak for Mel, I for one am a little nervous of flying more solo with childcare. But I'm also looking forward to how I'll be able to bond with my son more. For the most part I feel like I've been absent a lot over the past 6 months while having to tend to all this house stuff. Kinda makes my heart break a little, but I realize that its only been for a season and I am not in the least an absentee parent. I make the most of every chance I get with him.

The other day on my "lunch" break I came home and Mel and Liam were sitting outside at her parents place. I made a sandwich and ate out there while enjoying their company. I have to say this was probably one of my highlights for 2011 so far. Its hard to describe, but that instance was very special to me. Maybe because in that moment it was nice to just be a family and nothing else interposing on that. It was cool to see my son be in wonder of all the things around him. It was nice to sit back and laugh with Melissa. One of the biggest highlights of our new home is the extended covered patio. I look forward to many, many more times of just relaxing outside together... as a family in our new home :-)

G

Found one!

So, after the weeks... no months... of doing house stuff we currently are OUT of the option period on the sale of our home AND we've made an offer on a new home. The offer hasn't been signed yet by the sellers (thus making it an official contract) but we are basically 100% certain that they will.

May 7th? Well, hopefully that will be one everything is all said and done and we'll be able to feel a bit more settled. In the meantime we will be living in a whirlwind.

Tonight gave us a bit of much need "pause" however. We went to our old church for a concert of worship. We even took Liam with us for a late evening out. I'm so proud. He did great! The women at the church childcare were all bragging about what a good baby he was too. Mel and I had much needed night of worship. For me personally it gave me a lot of time for reflection. It gave me time to reconnect with God and Melissa that has been a bit lacking with the hectic life that we have been leading.

I'm grateful for our many blessings.

Although the next few weeks are going to be stressful... I don't mind it. "Busy" stress is a WHOLE lot different than "worry" stress :-)

"Family" Date Night!

Tonight Melissa and I had our first "Family Date Night." Read... taking Liam out with us to go shopping followed by eating out together. We figured this would not only allow us to get some things done, but it would provide us some "alone" time while hopefully allowing Pat and Larry to have a much deserved break from kid-watching as well.

On the shopping list? Baby stuff from Target. We had Liam's 4-month pediatric appointment on Thursday. It went great! It also means that we needed to buy some oatmeal "cereal" to start him on solid foods. Hopefully we can give it a go in the morning. Eeek! :-) (J/K not really too nervous about it. More excited than anything! Because the cook in me can't help but get a little bit excited to share REAL food with my son!)

Nothing else too exciting from Target - bottle stuff, and a storage container for clothes that Liam has already outgrown. He's growing up so fast!

So we knew towards the end of the shopping trip that we were approaching cranky Liam time (ballpark 6:15pm) where he starts to express hunger, but is at the same time tired. We also hadn't quite figured out dinner plans. Two words "UH OH!"

What we could normally handle at home seemed to be utter chaos in the midst of driving to the pre-planned restaurant of choice. So, I lied. We HAD dinner planned out we just now had the dilemma of whether or not to go ahead and drive home, or whether to pick up a frozen pizza from Kroger and then go home. We finally decided to just pull into McAllister's Deli and feed him in there. All of which was in the same parking lot... if only things had been spread farther apart decisions would have been MUCH easier for this Davis family! :-)

After the three of us were finally eating everything was right in the world... at least in our world. Mel and I got to have a pretty good date night out too! Because our little one fell right asleep after his dinner. Of course, that just meant he was gonna be up later before his "official" bedtime...

Asleep Liam. Mom and Dad ready for bed. And... once again all is right in our world :-)

"Christmas Time is Here"

So... tonight I'm at our house and doing the best that I can to pack things up.

In the midst of putting together all of my music books and sheet music, I began playing "Christmas Time is Here" on the piano. It's one of my favorite pieces of all time. Perhaps because of the lush sonorities of a major tonality moving downward to an altered dominant (same reason I love "Blue in Green" by the way)... or because of the emotional connection it has to memories for me.

PJs, Snoopy, cold nights, hot chocolate, family cuddle time. All of which I haven't had enough of this season. There's been way too much "busy"-ness to be able to rest and enjoy good times and good company.

Commuting, nomadville, skype conversations, baby time, and work have taken up this year's holiday festivities.

I am thankful for the many blessings I have (of which I have a lot!), but I just wish that things were given more opportunity to slow down. I miss Liam and Mel right now. Eventually we'll get our house sold and find a new home for the three of us, but until we get there I'm not too wild about the pace that life has us in. I feel like I'm missing too much of Liam's growing up right now :-(

That's what makes me saddest of all.

I'm just tired. Going to bed early on New Year's eve actually sounds pretty appealing right now. I think I need another PJ party with my family (Yay for a new tradition!)... that and a cup of hot cocoa wouldn't hurt. :-)

Greg

Dear "Baby-D"

Dear "Baby-D,"

Your time has come. We have waited a good long while for your arrival and the time is here. Currently your mom is trying to get some rest as this is still early on in labor. I will be doing the same shortly. We want our OB to be the one to deliver you since she has been the one tending to yours and your momma's health this whole time. So, they will be administering pitocin around 4am to progress things forward.

I want to let you know that the way your birth has been so far has been a reminder to your mother and me of how God still hears our prayers. We have prayed all along in the pregnancy for several things. More specifically we asked that her water wouldn't break while she was at work teaching, we asked that I would be with her when it was time to go to the hospital, and we asked that it would happen in the evening. All of which has come to pass.

Her water broke at 5:28 pm today, but had it occured yesterday I wouldn't have been here because I was in a training session for work all day and didn't get home until later.

We have been planning and preparing for you to enter our world. We already love you with all of our heart and will do anything to protect you and establish you so that you may grow on your own.

I'm excited to finally get to share with our friends and family what your name is! However, since you haven't officially been born yet... it has to wait... for now :-)

You are beautiful my son, and I love you very much. I can hear your heart beat right now as we listen in on your world to make sure you are okay while nestled in Mommy's tummy. Just know that your heart has been close to mine for a long time now.

Love,

Your Papa "Daddy-D"