tread lightly

Between being swamped and having ample computer problems... I have invoked the wrath of the grandparents. Apparently they need more pictures, and they need them now.

it's the little things that count

What did I accomplish today?
Well, I managed to not feel entirely overwhelmed. That has to count for something. I vacuumed one room and one hallway. (The vacuum is still out in the middle of the hallway, but it still counts)
I ate. I worried. I dealt with some all-consuming paperwork/bureaucratic junk that is a jungle of red-tape. I got annoyed that neither the internet nor cable worked ALL DAY LONG.

You know, fun stuff.

Oliver, he kept me company and cried every time I set him down. And he ate like I'd been starving him for a week. (I hadn't, by the way).

And Mr. Renn comes home and wonders why it is that I can seem so worn out and have so little accomplished. Sometimes I worry I might slug him. Pats on backs for no physical violence in the house! (Again I am kidding... I promise)

I need a nap!

Mommy Brain

Nothing
Not only have I got nothing - but as you may have noticed, I've had nothing for quite some time.
This lack of words and interesting thoughts is a rather uncomfortable place for me.
How do you wake up a mommy brain?

Look Ma! No hands!

Someone's been helping Daddy study. What a team!

Adventures in church-going

1st day in our new ward (last week was stake conference) and an interesting experience it was! The bishop spent the 2nd half of Sacrament meeting condemning welfare fraud and calling the congregation to repentance. Yeah - that was awkward. But people generally seem nice... so here's being optimistic. Besides Oliver was the CUTEST BABY EVER today.

Cute Family
Cute Baby

True Love

My Boys

How many blowouts can one reasonably expect in an evening?

Hooray for a day with Mr. Renn at home. We got lots and lots done. Mr. Renn even managed to get some studying done on top of the lengthy honey-do list. (Hence me not feeling to guilty about the length of the honey-do list).

I ventured out to the General RS broadcast and while I was out I asked Mr. Renn to hang this mirror. Hmmm.... what's wrong with this picture?

At said broadcast, Sir Oliver was a holy terror. Isn't it embarrasing when your kid is a holy terror and then people come up after the meeting and tell you how cute your kid is? I want to say "He's not cute! You haven't seen him cute! You've only seen him screaming himself purple and distracting hundreds of nice ladies from prophetic back-patting!" Sir Oliver, in the course of the evening had 2, count 'em 2 blow-outs. How do you pack for that? Well, luckily the 2nd blow out was less blown out than the 1st. But the gooey back meant I couldn't let any of the nice people who offered to hold him the rest of the evening have a go at it. I was too proud to let them see or touch the sticky back-side of his outfit. Sadly I think I did not make a great first impression on many of the ladies.

It was nice to finally come home and let Sir Oliver and Mr. Renn have some "guy time". Give me a break!

My kind of magic

My life is about to get a whole lot easier (knock on wood)
I'm 3 D-size batteries away from some serious hands-off time!
Please oh please oh please let this help!
I love my boy, but I need some time to do important things like eat more than one meal a day, and blog!

Mommy cliques and reasons to smile

I was invited to go for a walk this morning and I jumped at the chance. Yeah! Outside! Physical activity! Social interaction! It was good for me. Sir Oliver wasn't as big of a fan, but when he threatened to find it intolerable he decided to sleep instead of scream, so all was well.
I'm beginning to notice some social chasms among the ladies here. There are definitely some groupies. I still don't know everyone's name - so I can't even begin to know where I'll fit best. I'm choosing to pretend the groupiness doesn't exist for the time being - ignorance is bliss and I'm still new enough to claim ignorance.
Sir Oliver was all smiles after his morning nap. Blurry versions here for you.

putt..putt...

I am ever so slowly making progress. Slow slow slow. I've fallen behind in responding to my emails.... I haven't had that problem in almost 3 years. All the days are blurring together as I very very slowly check off my to-do list. Most of our boxes are unpacked. Some of our pictures are on the wall. Many of our neighbors have been introduced (still a blur). I still don't have my own key to the apartment because the office really struggles at keeping regular hours and I'm a bad guesser (think they'll be open now... jog jog jog... nope, they're not). I finally completed our government aid application. I had all kinds of emotional/psychological issues with that, but basically I'm told the school plans on students doing that and doesn't really provide other realistic ways to get by/get insurance/etc. No wonder Pennsylvania is the state that bleeds welfare money. BUT for the time being it's either that or work full time and put Sir Oliver in daycare... and look at that face? Could you tell him goodbye and leave him with a stranger every morning if you were his mama?
PS - Sir Oliver has discovered his fists and seems to think they taste great!

Burning double wicks at both ends

Sorry for my intermittent disappearance from the blogging world. It's been all I can do to take showers. Sir Oliver seems to be having Grandma's house-separation anxiety. And I have had so much to do with unpacking and moving in. I've finally caved and brought out the baby einstein - aka addictive substances for Oliver. It's the only way I can get anything done, and even that only lasts for 15 minutes or so. Here's Oliver enjoying Baby Einstein:
And here's Oliver deciding he's had enough:
I'm hoping this gets better once I finish unpacking!

Valley Forge

On my mom's last day with us, (snifle sniffle, don't want to think about it) we wanted to do something fun-ish, or at least vacation-y. So we took a quick trip to Valley Forge (I think it's seriously 5 minutes from our apartment).

We saw some cool artifacts

And a heckuva lot of whitetail deer

And then drove the scenic loopy thing and stopped to see the monuments.

It had the potential to be lame, but luckily everyone had a great time.

How could you not with a cute Oliver to travel with?

Sir Oliver's Day

Lots more de-pile work today. Sir Oliver finally had a few days worth of melt-downs. Good to know he's still a healthy normal boy! (And cute to boot!)
Luckily a nice warm nighttime bath calmed him right down.

I love my boy!

Now that he's finally sleeping - back to work for me!

Piles

Special request from my little sister to see my apartment.
Such as it is. Piles of stuff.
We're working on it!