November

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a great day, but very busy and I'm glad my dishes are finally done and I get to put my feet up.  Super thankful for a moment of rest right now!

Where did November go?  It seems like I blinked and it was gone.  We kind of have a lot to do and I just realized we only have a little over a month before we cross the big blue ocean and start our new adventure.  I'm waiting for the holy-crapola-freakout emotional meltdown to happen when this reality sets in.  I know it's coming sooner or later.  Anyway, here's what we've been up to the last few weeks.

We got our passports!  The girls' are pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.  The process to get them was a bit trying as it took ALL DAY.  First we all got our pictures taken at Walgreen's and they told us not to smile...and for kids that have been trained their entire lives to cheese when a camera is put in front of their faces, it was a tall order.  Cbear kept giggling and Jellybean was grinning so hard I literally had to tell her to make a sad face in order to get the photo right.  Clint's turned out great, but since I normally walk around grinning like an idiot all day long, my unsmiley face looks really weird and kind of ticked off.  Now that I think about it, that's probably actually what I will look like after a transatlantic flight with two small children.  Genius, U.S. government.

Next we headed to the post office with what we thought was all of our paperwork.  Of course after being there for like an hour with Jellybean trying to Houdini her way out of the stroller and me trying to keep Cbear from swinging on the line-forming ropes like Tarzan while the husband talked with the post office lady, we figured out we were missing a few things.  We headed to lunch while Clint called some people from work to get what we needed, and they pulled through and had it all ready by the time the girls were done happily smearing their faces, hands and clothes with queso from their favorite Mexican place.  Thank goodness we did the pictures first thing.

Back to the post office we went, and this time I wised up, didn't bother with the stroller and came armed with My Little Pony via Netflix on my phone instead.  That kept both the girls entertained for most of the time, although Cbear got bored after a while and decided to keep busy by picking out birthday cards for herself from the selection along the wall.  I was getting antsy because we were well into Jellybean's nap time, but the nice lady who was helping us handed out lollipops and everyone was pretty content considering we had been waiting in lines most of the day.  We made it out alive and had the passports in hand the next week!  The next step is our visas, which are currently being processed.

Other than getting things ready for the move, the only thing the girls and I have been doing is fighting sickness...I really hope we're getting all of this out of the way now before Christmas and traveling...although I'm trying to not have nightmares about all the germs we're going to encounter on flights and in airports alone.  Thank goodness Jellybean has stopped rolling around on public bathroom floors while I'm helping Cbear not fall in the toilet...most of the time, anyway.  Now if I could just keep her from sticking her fingers in the drain in the middle of the floor...gag.  If you hear a crazy mama in the big bathroom stall in Wal-Mart shrieking "don't touch anything!" and "hold onto me, not the toilet seat!" yeah, it's probably me.  I also apologize if you're sitting in the stall next to us and a tiny blonde peeping tom-ette sticks her head under the stall and stares at you while you do your business.  I only have so many hands.

Anyway, first they both had your run-of-the-mill colds...no big deal.  Then, the next week Cbear came down with pinkeye, followed closely by Jellybean.  Do you know what the worst thing EVER is?  I'll tell you: it's administering antibiotic eyedrops twice a day for a week to a toddler and a preschooler.  It takes at least two adults and the stars to align perfectly in order to actually get the drops in their eyes, not to mention keep them from rubbing it out once it's in there.  And since Clint was usually at work for the morning dose, well, I was just the best mom ever sitting on top of them and wrangling their thrashing heads and squirting $93 per 3 ml of eyedrops (and that's with insurance!) all over my living room carpet.  I hope they didn't learn any bad words that week...I had my moments of weakness.  On top of that, Cbear had an ear infection (which can apparently be caused by pinkeye) and had to be on another antibiotic for ten days.

We hadn't even finished the last doses when Jellybean came down with a runny nose and cough, followed by Cbear a few days later.  I quarantined them for nearly a week, thought they were getting better and took Cbear to get her ears checked to make sure the infection was gone.  As luck would have it, her eye was red and irritated that day, but not goopy like before with pinkeye, so I just thought she had gotten something in it.  Nope.  Pinkeye again, and the ear infection was still there.  Are you kidding me?  Needless to say I've abandoned the I'm-trying-to-be-a-good-mom-and-only-use-natural-chemical-free-cleaning-supplies, and now I'm lysoling and clorox wiping the heck out of my house.  So help me if Jellybean comes down with pinkeye again there will be a RECKONING.  We're on day 3 of both antibiotics for Cbear and everyone seems to be on the mend, so I'm sure hoping the worst is behind us.  I hate it when my babies are sick, but at this point I almost have to laugh at the ridiculousness of the last month and how we can't catch a break.  I will never take my children's health for granted again!

That's all for now...I'll try to keep the blog updated during this crazy process.  Also, I just checked my clock and it's after midnight now, which means it's officially Christmas season!  I'll formally apologize to my husband right now for the 24/7 Christmas music that's going to be happening at our house...he just loves that so much.  Love you, hon!  And good night, all!