So obviously the days between blog posts are stretching out as we work to keep up with the ins and outs of our current life. Here are some updates:

*We’ve now had seven separate showings of the house and a re-showing, plus the realtor tour that came through Wednesday. Every one of them has been a complete hassle, but we’re grateful to have so many showings when some people have been on the market for months with none. Our mortgage person said he’s starting to write more pre-approval letters for people planning on making offers soon, so we’re hopeful that we might hear something in the next few weeks.

*Carson is suddenly going on fourteen, with statements like, “I know mom, you told me before.” becoming more frequent, but also impromptu hugs with “I love you mom!” He informed me the other day he thought he was going to “…have to grow up a little more tomorrow.” Really….? Why? I seriously love everything about him right now.

*Nolan, on the other hand, is a beast. But he really enjoys it. I found him standing on the counter in the kitchen the other day – he’d pulled a kitchen chair over to the barstool, so he could climb from the chair, to the barstool to the countertop and was heading over to get a cereal bowl (I think??) out of the cupboard. Luckily he was so excited about his accomplishment that he hollered out, “Momma, I did it!” when he got to the counter – a phrase that can strike me with an amazing amount of fear when he’s out of sight. The child never walks anywhere (seriously – never), and insists on eating what he wants, when he wants it and where it wants it. Everything is negotiable in his mind, but even after he loses the battle he bursts into laughter like he gets nothing but pure joy from the debate. After about 3 minutes in the exam room with his pediatrician Wednesday we were told, “With this type of child, I always recommend people child-proof their windows. It happens more than you think.” Great. Thanks.

 *Scott & and are just trying to keep all the balls in the air! Scott has taken the brunt of the paperwork for the house, I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I’m exhausted by it:) We’ve been out to the farm a bunch sorting out what is staying, what is going and working our way through the contract – exciting to think we’re getting close to having everything lined up!

So that’s life... plugging along... with little time for extra’s ... But all good.

This morning I was informed that Elvis was “bored” in my office Tuesday (well, excuse me for not entertaining the stuffed monkey) and needed to bring a toy to play with today. Good grief.

Carson has recently developed a deep, close, personal relationship with a monkey. His name is Elvis. (Named after the monkey that lives at a local burger place here in McMinnville, not the more obvious namesake.) Carson’s attachment came from a simple game we were playing one night just after Christmas where Carson wanted us to wrap toys up in blankets, pillow cases, whatever and give him so he could pretend it was Christmas again. One of the toys I grabbed was a stuffed monkey that had been hanging around the house for years (no idea where it came from – anyone want to take credit??) and Carson has never put him down since.

Although we’ve convinced him Elvis doesn’t need to go inside places, the much-loved monkey rides along in the van nearly everywhere we go. On school days he comes inside, says hello to all of my coworkers and then Carson wraps him up in a blanket and puts him to bed on the chair in my office. Frequently I have to promise to go buy him a banana at lunch and, even more frequently, he asks one of my co-workers if they will stop by and check on Elvis throughout the day. It’s a running game to guess who the designated Elvis-checker will be each day. (Deb is winning at the moment!)

At home Elvis needs a song and a kiss at bedtime, right along with the boys. He joins us for dinner and has been known to jump in the bathtub when mom’s not looking, but has been chastised by Carson for trying to go with him into the bathroom. (“You don’t watch people go potty, Elvis!”)

We’ve enjoyed watching the “relationship” develop, which really involves Carson learning how to nurture and take care of some”one” else. Elvis has been a fabulous addition to our family – I for one will be sad on the day Carson doesn’t want him to come along.

The craziness of selling our house finally got to us this weekend and we decided to just vacate the premises and let agents and potential buyers take over – at least that was the optimistic hope! We made Saturday a Portland day! We rode the OHSU tram (which we hadn’t done before), went to IKEA for a meatball lunch (meatballs have no milk!) and then headed to the zoo (along with everyone else in PDX) to close out the day.

At the end of it all we grabbed the dog from our friend’s house (HUGE THANKS to the Haisch’s for taking him whenever someone comes to look at the house) and headed down to Salt Creek for a couple nights at Poppy & Nonna’s house (‘cause, hey, they’re at the beach and the house is just sitting here... begging to be trashed in their absence). Although it’s been a hectic weekend of running all around, it’s been considerably less stressful than being at home and trying to clean up and get out whenever we get a call from our agent. And we have actually had four showings in first three days with #5 scheduled for tomorrow, which is great considering the economy... And considering that the faster it sells the sooner we’ll be able to return to our life.

He gets his sense of style from his mother:)

We spent all weekend making a serious effort to move stuff out of our house. Although we still don't plan on moving until summer, we know with the current economy we really need to do what it takes to sell our house, so it's declutter, declutter, declutter... taking pictures off the walls and moving out furniture we think we can live without for the next few months.

The house we're moving to (eventually) is owned by friends so we've been there a bunch and the kids know it as "the farm". We explained to Carson on Friday that we were going to live at the farm and, far from being upset like we expected, he is anxious to go! So while we were boxing things up all weekend he packed a little box of toys he said he wanted to take...very cute! I just hope he realizes those toys are going to be packed away for a few months! Nolan on the other hand, just wanted to use all the boxes as boats...

When I dropped Carson off at preschool today he introduced me to his "girlfriend" (his word) Olivia, who I must say, seemed pretty taken with him as well. She waited for him to finish washing his hands and then they headed off to the play dough table together. I thought about grilling her regarding her qualifications for dating my son, but how can a mom complain about a girl who enjoys a play dough date?

Left church today in a light, springy outfit (read: sleeveless shirt with a very airy, flowing skirt) only to decide on the way home that we should divert to the beach for some chowder. Turns out it was pouring and windy at the beach, which didn’t stop Carson from wanting to fly his kite. And this is how I found myself trying to navigate the wet rocks leading to the beach in Dansko heels and a white skirt while clutching a baby blanket around my shoulders.

Nolan is officially feeling better after what seems like one flu after another this winter. The child is eating us out of house and home. Three yogurts or a dozen slices of cheese is now considered a meal.

Oh, and we bought a house this weekend! More on that later... but for now if you’re interested in purchasing a nice little 3-bedroom, 2-bath starter-home with a relatively large backyard in McMinnville – let us know!

The only person whose Wii-Fit goal is actually to GAIN weight...

In general Nolan, like Carson, has two speeds: "on fire" and "sleeping".
You know he's really sick when he opts for this speed instead: