I had my glucose test yesterday and because it was Thursday, I had all 3 kids with me (Matthew goes to school M, W, F). People look at my 3 little kids, and then look at my big belly and ask, "How do you do it?"  I think to myself I have no idea!  I really don't. I guess you just do what you have to.

My kitchen is functional, but there are things I can't find, like my rice cooker. If you know any Filipino (or any asian), rice is a staple food like potato is for Americans. Who knows when I'll find it. We have boxes and boxes everywhere. We moved from a big space to a smaller space, so you can only cram so much in. And I find myself cursing the movers that packed our stuff. I have bins of organized toys, but yet as I unpack them, I find that the packers have taken them out of the bins and put somethign else in them. So the toys are no longer organized. I find this is true so far with clothes too. I have my maternity clothes in one bin, and when I was happy to find it. Only to find that after the first few clothes, there were garage stuff in it too and most of the clothes are gone. WHY?!!

But we really need to be thankful for a lot of stuff. Had this move/job found us months later than it has, I don't think we'd been able to do it. It's hard enough as it is for me to be unpacking/taking care of kids/chauffering the boy to and from school.

We made it to Texas a few days after Christmas. The trip took 3 days, 2 nights because we couldn't do too much driving in one day and drive the kids crazy. We were all exhausted by the time we arrived at the temporary housing. The few weeks after that was spent quietly. It's quiet a shock for the kids not to have backyard time so they all suffered cabin fever and we drove each other crazy. Thankfully, Matthew is now back in pre-k and enjoying it.

Our belongings are arriving in a couple of days, just in time for our move to a house we are renting for the time being. We can't afford to buy a house until we sell our house back in Virginia, so how long we'll be renting a house is up in the air. It's not as big a house as we're used to, but there is a big fenced in backyard. I can just tossed the kids out and get a little quiet for myself. lol

The girls long to be in school too. Everyday we drive their big brother to school and pick him up, they beg to be in school also. If money wasn't the issue, I'd enroll them in a heart beat for a few days a week....and let the school potty train them. But again, we'll have wait a little bit. Definitely when it gets too hard for me to get around with 2 little ones behind me, I will have to put them to school. We need to put a plan in place in case baby#4 decides to make an entrance in an untimely manner. We are in a new place with no friends or relatives, so we'll need babysitters or babysitting service plan when the time comes.

Anyway, I am moving in the next few days and then internet hookup a few days after that, so bear with me when I don't get back with you right away.

cheers!

This coming weeks are going to be very busy for us. This Saturday, my in-laws' church is throwing me a baby shower before we leave for Texas. We've said that we have everything we could possibly need after having 3 kids, by they insist on it. I guess after living here for 10 months, they have really adopted us. I just wish we could find such a welcoming community of people when we get to our new residence.

On Tuesday, I need to take Matthew with me to our house in VA (3.5 hr drive). The moving company will be there all day on Tuesday to pack our things and then on Wednesday, they will come and load them up in a truck to make the long journey to Texas. My boy and I will sleep over there among boxes of things. We will need to bring some sleeping bag with us.  I will be leaving the twins overnight with their Nana. I am sad about that, but there is no other way.

If there are too many junk in our house to pack in one day, the company have also reserved the 24th. I can't stay away for 2 nights, so I will get hubby to drive to the house to supervise whatever else needs to be done on the 24th. He gets here on the 23rd from Texas.

Then a day or 2 after Christmas, we anticipate all 5 of us to make the very long drive to Texas. It should be fun with a 4 year old and 2.5 year old twins. Phew! We only want to make a minimum of 350 miles a day, so it should take us 2 nights and 3 days.

When we get to Texas, we will live in a corporate housing for one month and then we're on our own. Hubby has already found a house to rent, so that should be no problem. The moving company will then deliver our belongings there, then we'll be busy unpacking. Or actually, I should say I would be busy unpacking as hubby would be busy working at his new job.   And then whenever we sell our house in VA, we would have to look for a house to buy in Texas. I'm just hoping that will not have to be until after baby gets here. At that time, I plan on getting the 3 kids in preschool so it's not hard on me to take care of baby and look for a house at the same time. OY!!

I'm exhausted already just thinking about all the things that need to be done.

Oh, and did I mention that at 23 weeks I look as big as I did at 20 weeks with the twins?
 

Yup, this is how big I am currently and I am only carrying 1 this time! What is going on?

I constantly get a comment, "you're not having twins again, are you?"

 After 10 months of unemployment, my husband finally found a job. We've been living with my in-laws for 9 months while we are selling our house. Unfortunately, due to the state of the economy, not a lot of people are looking to buy a house. It's not been easy living here, but we try to look at the positive. We are thankful for the time the kids get to spend with their grandparents. 

This new chapter of our lives will take us over 1000 miles (1600 km) to Texas. Hubby will start in a week so he will have to go on without us. He will come back for Christmas and spend time here at the in-laws. We then make the long drive the day after Christmas. It's going to be hectic, but we're excited. We will be in a corporate housing for 30 days upon our arrival in Texas, which would give us time to look for a permanent/semi permanent home. And then another move after that once we sell our house, and therefore be able to buy a house in Texas. 

We also found out we're having a boy (due mid April)! We're very happy to have 2 girls and 2 boys. My son is very excited as well, because he wants a room mate. He's a little jealous that his sisters are in the same room together. 

Needless to say, the rest of December will be pretty busy in my household. To that end, I want to go ahead and greet everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! :)  I will be here as much as I can, but it would be more than likely behind the scenes.

Lots of love,

Izzy