Social Distancing 101

Unfortunately, the world has fallen victim to the corona virus. This means our area is pretty much shut down. Schools and many businesses are closed in an effort to expose less people to the virus. We were supposed to go to Branson over spring break, but did not want to travel. Bret had the week off so we had some down time together. It looks like everything will be shut down for at least 30 days, if not longer. Here's what we've been up to:

  

Making cards to mail to others to brighten their days!

*cousin chats are necessary!

New Bed for William

William has had a full size bed in his room for a bit, but we wanted to get him a twin or a bunk bed so he has more room to play. The full size bed takes up so much room that there's not a lot of space for him.

Bret took it upon himself to watch Facebook Marketplace for bunk beds. He found one being sold in our area and we picked it up. William is so happy to have bunk beds and now he wants a friend to stay over!

*Bret built a railing for the top bunk!

Surprise: We Bought a New House!

In my mind, we weren't looking to buy a new home at this point. I thought we would be in our Spruce Street house for another year or two. We were working on paying down the mortgage to get it under $100K. Bret started looking around at homes and we talked with friends of ours whose home we have always loved. There were three more plots on their street; thinking we could possibly build a home and move next year. We tried to contact the builder, but never got much information from them (come to find out, they were folding their business). But, as luck would have it, a house on that sames street came up for sale! We went to an open house and fell in LOVE! We got in touch with the realtor Bret's sister worked with a couple of years ago. He's also a Jayhawk and I know his wife through Bret playing rugby at KU. We went and looked at some other homes for sale in Gardner and back to the one on our friends' street. Nothing compared to it!

Since we had been playing down our current mortgage so much, and had quite a bit of savings, we were able to put a lot down for a down payment & afford a good offer on the house. Before we knew it, we were signing lots of papers and the house is now ours. This all happened in the span of 3 months (open house to moving day!)

new playroom!

always a helper

our NEW home

Of course, moving out of our house couldn't be easy. The night before moving, there was a tornado warning. Bret and W slept in the basement til the all clear was given.

Silly Faces of William Brown

This kid has so much personality! I never know which William I am going to capture on camera. He is the sweetest thing in the world until something doesn't go his way. But he can he talked out of or distracted into not throwing a fit pretty quickly. Bret and I are so lucky to have him in our lives. Here's just a taste of his little (and getting bigger by the day!) personality:

mad because he put the shorts on his head, but they got stuck

Bath Time = Best Time for William

One of Will's favorite things is bath time. He hears us turn the water on and starts pointing toward the bathroom or will run over to the door and wait for us to open it. He can hardly wait to get his clothes & diaper off to get in the water. Then, he plays with his toys and strainer cups. He now loves to splash which leaves the entire surrounding area dripping with water, which cracks him up!

Shed Building

Bret ordered (from Costco) a shed for our backyard. I am excited for it to be finished so that we can use the sub-basement as a playroom for William! Bret's dad has been helping him finish.

9/4

9/7

And, with the roof, it's complete! Although, Bret still wants to paint it.

Back to Work

My maternity leave ended March 30.  Ughhhhh, I did not want to go back. I could not imagine being a stay at home mama (I think I would miss adult interaction too much) and I think that being a working mama is good for me and good for Will. But none of this made going back to work any easier! I was begrudgingly counting down the days until I had to go back. I chose to go back on a Wednesday so that I didn't have quite so many days to 'get through' before having a weekend back with my darling. I am so very glad I did this!

Bret and I are blessed in that our family is able to care for Will for April and May until I am out for summer break. His dad is taking three days a week and my mom is taking two. We really cannot thank them enough for watching our baby. It was easier going back to work knowing he is being cared for by family who loves him just as much as we do!

Just leaving the house the first day was pretty difficult. Bret's dad was on Will-duty that day and I think I cried three or four times before leaving out house! I knew Will would be fine, but it would be the LONGEST time for us to be away from each other. We had only previously spent 4 hours away from each other and this would be closer to NINE!!! I was a mess! I tried to stay focused once I got to school, but another teacher asked me how I was doing and I immediately was a basketcase. My sweet best teacher friends left me a welcome back basket and sweet card (knew not to read it until the end of the day for fear of more tears!).

That first day was a whirlwind! I have 23 students in my class and each of them provided a welcome distraction from thinking about what William was doing at home without me. I was bombarded with sweet hugs and 'welcome back's from my third graders and the fourth graders across the hallway. They asked about William and me and Bret which was sweet. I was so happy to be back in the classroom. I definitely feel like I am a whole person again (a mama and a teacher). You better believe I raced home that day and got as many baby snuggles as possible!!

Pumping at work was (and will probably continue to be) an adjustment. I would like to breastfeed as long as the milk is acomin', so I needed to find coverage for my classroom during the times I would need to pump. I requested of my principal to have coverage around 10am and 1pm as those are William's nursing times. After a bit of juggling and finding support, my classroom is covered for me and I am able to pump at school. I'm hoping to keep this up so I can provide as much milk as possible for Will while I am working.

I know it will take me a while to find a balance between work and home. It will probably get easier for me just as summer is starting and I can stay home again. Then I will get to do it all over again in August, saying bye to my (by then) 8 month old.

Baby snuggles!!!

IKEA for the Win!

My husband is not the most organized man in the world. He tends to leave things wherever they end up at the end of his work shift. 

This is what his shoe pile normally looks like:

We were wasting time waiting around for the DMV (what a lovely Friday, right?) by walking around IKEA. In the closet section, I found a bench/shoe organizer. I intended it to be for our garage. But Bret said it would be great for him! And if he's willing to put it together, I said go for it!

This is what his shoe "pile" looks like now! (TJUSIG, from IKEA)