Updates Continued

The kids are sleeping in this morning...making for a very happy mommy! So, I'm going to try and catch up on our updates.

God, through David's company, blessed us with the ability to stay in a townhouse for 30 days (now about 2 1/2 weeks left) at no cost to us! It is furnished, even down to plates, linens, and dish soap! We are feeling a big cramped, as it is only a two bedroom house, and we are taking up some of the family room with our stuff. But really, it isn't THAT much smaller than the house we just moved from. We are in a rush to find a house to rent now, though. We have to move in 2 1/2 weeks, and the moving company would really to prefer to know where/when they need to deliver our stuff in the next couple of days. SO, we're going to be making lots of phone calls, and hopefully find a house soon that will allow us to have the dogs. And unfortunately, this probably means that there will be another change in the not too distant future.

The kids, for the most part, have been doing really well. They are sharing a room here, which is mostly good, but at times difficult. Neither of them have been getting the sleep they need. They have been going to bed late and waking up early. I think we're finally settling into our more normal schedule. We're having to be a bit creative to give each one some alone time. But sharing the room is giving them both some comfort in a strange place. There is a playground right across the street, and they are loving that. We've also made trips to the mall and Chick-fil-A just to get out and let them use some energy. Unfortunately, they've been watching a lot more T.V. than they should.

We have been noticing some behaviour the past few weeks with Josiah that I'm pretty sure is attachment related. None of it is big or horrible, but it has been pretty constant. He "pouts"-- head down, no eye contact, bit of attitude--many times when he is corrected or even just given a simple instruction right now. He's refused to eat for five minutes when called to the table because I spoke to him about having to be called several times. When he actually is disciplined, he often cries loudly for a short time. It's not wailing or hurt, but making sure we know he's not happy. We know that a lot of this has to do with the uncertainty of what is going on around us. And David and I have not been giving the kids the attention they need. We're either focused on trying to get things done, or just exhausted. A lot of times this leads to annoyance on my part, and I just don't to deal with either of their behavior. We're both working on being more aware of our reactions to the kids, and making sure we spend more quality time with them. We've been getting away from some of the attachment-building behaviors as we've been busy with the move, but we definitely need to move back in that directions.

Last quick thing, as Elizabeth is now awake. The DOGS. No, we have not shipped the dogs off anywhere yet. And they have been doing pretty well the past couple days. It's been an adjustment for them, as they are used to being out in our big backyard around 12 hours a day! Here, we have no yard. We have been walking them at least 5 times a day, but they are not really used to having to "go" on a schedule. Jake has been okay with it. Diego doesn't like to do certain things in an unfamiliar place. This has let to him holding it when outside, but not able to hold it indefinitely. So there have been some BIG messes in the kitchen. (We've been gating them in there when we are not around.) We're learning how to help them with longer walks and such. We also bought crates for the dogs because there is only so much cleaning up either of us is willing to do. We haven't had any messes for the past few days. YAY!

We are glad for the snow, even though we didn't really pack the kids' snow stuff. I need to find batteries for my camera before we can post some more pics!