The year 2007 has seen the Soodz clan live to two different states & two different countries! Plus we have added new members to the family and lost a member. It has been a year of grief and loss, but also a year to celebrate and gains. We have watched our children grow, as we too have gotten older and hopefully a little wiser.

January we were in California, pregnant and happy. Becca and I were adventurous and enjoying time with new friends. We enjoyed trips to Disneyland and the zoo. I was knitting and enjoying time with Marina and Holly. We also welcomed some fellow Canadians to California!

February was a warm month in California. Becca swam in our little yard, in her kiddie pool (something tells me we will NOT be swimming outside in February here in Canada)

March was my baby shower for Ethan, it was so amazing to be surrounded by so many mothers and celebrate. Some of those women I never saw again

April was all about Ethan! He arrived with perfect timing and left us in awe and bliss. J’s Mom stayed with us to help out and we learned how to be a family of four.

May was a flurry of play dates, adventures and visiting. I was trying to experience it all before we left California. My Dad came for a visit and to meet his new Grandson.

June we celebrated Becca’s third birthday early with all her friends. It was a wonderful pool party, perfect celebration of our time in California.

July we arrived in New Mexico. Our stuff did not.

August we went on our first family camping trip. It was so FUN! We adopted Skippy the Alley Cat. I injured my foot pretty badly, then limped to many chiropractor appointments to get back on both feet.

September my Dad came to New Mexico for a visit. We also said good bye to our dear sweet cat, Charisma and watched as Becca’s heart broke. J went for an interview in Nova Scotia for a tenure track professor position.

October was a blur. J was offered a position in Nova Scotia … to start January 2008. Started Packing. We celebrated Ethan’s first Halloween in style. Ethan as a Hot Dog and Becca as a butterfly.

November we continued to prepare for our trek back to Canada. Said our good byes in New Mexico.

December we made it home. Our stuff arrived in tact and on time. Sadly our car has not. It is on a train in Ontario and has been for almost two weeks. ugh. We have enjoyed the snowy walks and adventures with the children. Ethan’s first Christmas ws magical. Becca received a call from Santa and believes in all the magic Christmas has to offer. We even had friends come to visit us in our new home.

We have finally arrived.

We shall begin.

That is a very brief recap of our year … Now for a visual … Happy New Year Everyone …

I am in shock. Today we embark on returning home. I have slept my last night in the US and from now on (excluding some future holiday) I will be sleeping in my own country. It is yet to be 6 am but I feel like that Disneyland commercial where the kids can’t sleep “We’re too EXCITED” and the parents are giggling ’cause they are not sleeping either.

The first leg of our journey started off slow. I was burning out, packing, cleaning, caring for the children. So J & I had a bit more to clean and organize before leaving the townhouse. Ummm yeah and we forgot the baby’s food! Good thing he is still not eating a ton. I am sure I have seen baby food for sale in airports.

Oh my gosh, so we had to rent a vehicle to get off the Hill and to the airport. The rental place did not have what we had requested so they gave us a pimped out Suburban! J came home after picking it up and was all … “I feel like Tony Sorprano”. No joke. It was wild and quite luring to drive such a beast. My inner environmentalist was crying but damn it was kinda cool.

So today we head to the airport, flying into Chicago first then after a layover off to Halifax. Thankfully our waiting times are meal times, so after checking in early here at the airport we can have lunch, then in Chicago have supper. Kids are so less cranky when well watered and fed, much like house plants just nosier. hehe.

The cat has been traveling well. He was pretty spazed when we took him out of the carrier in the motel. Becca is pleased that indeed we are bringing him and that Skippyjon is doing so well.

I have some presents and surprises for Becca (And Ethan but really as long as he can breastfeed and be close enough to touch me he is fine) for the flights. She is beside herself with excitement. I have given her a few things since 99.9% of her toys are on the moving truck. She is so cute…”Is it a cat???? It is a cat .. a baby cat.” Why did I not just buy cats???

I am so excited! ugh Now I have the Sorpranos theme song stuck in my head …. “Woke up this morning … “

J & I worked our butts off packing and finalizing it all. Last night we were up late, Ethan along with us, since he could not sleep. My body aches from moving boxes and packing. It is finally coming to a close. The next few days we will be camping out in our empty house. Becca and I will be cleaning then saying our good byes to the friends we have made here.

I uploaded a bunch of pictures on Flickr and now that most of the “work” is done I should be able to catch up with blogging. I really miss living each day “normally”.

Becca has had some anxiety. A few accidents and worries, along with nightmares, but besides all that she is awesome. She is rocking the imagination, building towers, cranes and playing a lot on her own. It is bitter sweet. I love that she is so independent, but my heart breaks as she grows up.

Ethan now has six teeth, his top ones finally broke through. He is still only able to propel himself backwards, forward motion alluding him for the moment.

J took this morning off to relieve some of the pressure on me to handle everything. All this moving and change has been hard, but we are finally on the last leg of the journey. Not long now until we are on the road again.

Ethan is starting to feel better. We no longer live with a seal. w00t. Now his front teeth are driving him mad, making him cranky and clingy. I can hardly wait to snuggle up with my kids in Canada and not a care in the world.

We sent off all presents, cards and letters (except for a few special cases). It feels good to have that taken care of. We have also been packing fiends. We may just have this all done in the week and a half we have left before the moving truck arrives.

I have been a knitting fool too. Whipping out projects like there is a knitting ban in Canada. Odd. I think it is stress relief for me. Now if only taking pictures of all the projects was a relief too I could share it with you all.

I have yet to completely lose my mind, although I have come close a few times.

I am ready.

I am ready not to move anymore. To settle down, raise the family. Knit. Read. Sleep.

I am so ready.

With all the love, I thought I would share with you a really neat book that was sent to me by Source Books, “I Love You More” By Laura Duksta . Becca and I have read through it a few times already. It is a great curl up and snuggle book. Becca really liked all the different themes (animals, bugs, the ocean) on each page, giving lots to discuss. She was not entirely thrilled to flip the book over for another version of the story, but being Three, she is routine orientated. Once it was explained it was the boy’s turn she was cool with it.

Here’s you chance to win a copy! Share with me in the comments how you and your kids (or pets!) show each other you love each other and you will be entered to win a copy of “I Love You More”. A special Thank you to Tony & Source Books for the opportunity to review & giveaway such a wonderful treasure. A winner will announced by Wednesday

Ethan … what a baby! He is so darn stinking cute! I know I am biased but for real he is cute!

He eats solids, sometimes. Still preferring to breast feed, which is fine with me. I am in no hurry to end that relationship with him. We will be trying out the store bought varieties in the coming weeks, since steaming and pureeing our own will not be doable on the road.

He slept the entire night in his crib last night! That is the first time since J arrived home from his interview in Halifax. It was odd. Nice to spread out, roll around without fear of smooshing the kid, but lonely too. It is good for him to have a little independence though.

Ethan is scooting all over the place … backwards. He is pulling himself up onto his knees but cannot coordinate it all to move forward. He gets super annoyed with it too! It is cute.

He has a fiery personality. Ethan knows what he wants and will not be satisfied till he gets it. Becca was never one to exert her own will like this one. He is going to give me a run for my money. Becca is so much like J, laid back & quiet. I wanted a kid that was like me. I think I got one Ethan lives with emotion and passion.

Just a side note on the moving jazz … The university approved almost all the expenses, so we are going to proceed with the moving company (different one from last time!) and fly to Halifax at the beginning of December. To cut some of the cost out of our pocket, I am going to pack all our stuff (we saved all the boxes, yup we are smart). I have like 15 boxes packed already, so I am sure I can pull it off. As long as no one gets sick. NO ONE can get sick again. Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, so look for a walk down memory lane. Becca is feeling much better too!

I am searching, online for a place to call home for about a year. We would like to save up some money and buy a house in the next year. I am not comfortable buying there until we have lived there, soaked up the city and know it. Besides I have never bought a house. What the heck do I know? Must be knowledgeable and get to know the market. That jazz.

So I have stared at my laptop till my eye has turned pink, trying to weigh out pros and cons of places.

We so are NOT living close to the university. The prices are CRAZY, and really I am so not wanting party neighbors like we had in California. However, we are still and will remain for a little while, a single car family. A quickie bus route is a must. I also want parks around to play, no crack heads, a library and no mice in the apartment.

See I am not asking too much right?

So tell me sweet internets what do you adore about your home? Is it the lovely kitchen? An extra closet? The colour of your carpet? And have you ever picked out a place to live on the internet? Did it work out? I have done this before from Canada to California and did not fair too badly.

All those who share their crazy thoughts will be entered to win a BOMB TOWN T-Shirt. Your chose of size and these designs (I so adore the I.B. Glowing! HAHA) The T’s are sold locally at CB Fox Department Store.

I have to add a couple more things … A big Thank You to Maddy at Whitterer on Autism (a must read, her writings are amazing!) for awarding me the Wonder Woman award! I am humbled and passing it on to JJ, Marz, Nic, Holly & Marina.

Lastly … How cute are Ethan’s squeaks!??! Gosh I love this kid!

Congrats to Nic and Allison as they are the winners of the Market Bags …

J received the offer letter from the university! YAY!

We are gathering quotes for moving companies. In hopes we can fly. We have to get approved for extra costs.

We found out that our little American (aka Ethan) cannot travel by air to get to Canada. The little guy forgot to apply for a passport.

Wait he can’t apply for a passport because he needs proof of Canadian Citizenship. That takes 6 – 10 months from the US.

I really really like the kid and want to bring him along.

After a few calls … the kid can apply for a US passport, fly home THEN you know make it all official that he is Canadian. (we applied for the passport this morning, paid an insane amount extra to have the US passport asap)

We almost had to fly to a border town, hop over then fly to Halifax. Ethan and I would do that alone, Canadian Airlines do not allow pets on the plane.

I was going to take Ethan and do a house hunting trip to Halifax. Now I am back to looking online and sending links to anyone and everyone we know that is, has been, or knows anything about Halifax for advise. One place I looked at was like total GHETTO, another I was told I would RUN to the car …  yuck. Being a university town rent is totally outlandish, especially since we want to save for a house. BTW … thank you Erin for all your help … you so totally rock!
oh yeah …

I think I have pink eye. (actually I think not now … I am just exhausted) Becca has been amazing through all of this. The kid is behaving like a saint. It is freaking me out.

sigh

The baptism was beautiful, wonderful, spiritual and blissful. Ethan’s eyes were all gooby and he was happy yet on the verge. Thankfully today we were goober free, although he is still stuffed up. It was wonderful to have friends present at the church and we had a fab picnic at a playground afterwards.

I know you are all eager to discover what it takes to get your name in for one of the two hand knit Market bags! Since hearing that we were trekking to Halifax before January, J & I have been debating how we will get there, our stuff there and not be total wrecks by the time all is said and done.

I need not remind you, oh faithful readers the utter disaster hiring a moving company was last time we moved (like yesterday *sigh*). However, this is a big move, over a great distance. We were pretty sure that we wanted to u-haul it, but that will take us like ten days on the road with an eight month old and a preschooler, driving separate (one in the van on in the car). At the very least, we would have our stuff with us, arriving just before Christmas, set up a tree in the hotel, celebrate then look for a place right after the holidays.

As of late, we have talked about the moving company again. Ethan has not been a great traveler lately and ten days on the road is a long time. Our intentions are to ask beg for more cash for moving from J’s new employer. If granted, we are thinking of flying to Halifax, and send our gear with a moving company. Choices. Choices.

So in order to qualify to enter for a chance to win a Market bag answer me this:

Which mode of moving would you choose?

Hire a moving company, lose all control, hope for the best and fly out, hotel stays for upwards to three weeks? Also, potentially paying upwards to a months worth of wages to assist in paying for said choice. (cat would be flying IN cabin with us)

Or…

Pack up your gear, the kids, the cat and with walkie talkies, patience, and a good sense of adventure & humour, haul your gear yourself. We have gone the u haul route a few times before. In fact that is how we trekked from Canada to California, and honestly I feel really comfortable moving this way. Just with the kids, it being winter …

Share your thoughts … You have until Wednesday Midnight. Later this week you will have a chance to win a Bomb Town T! w00t!

HI!!!! Ok that was a really harsh week not blogging, not reading blogs, not checking emails and having no internet. Nope Amish life is not for me.

Guess what! Our stuff … On the truck still in CALIFORNIA … Insane? Why yes I am completely and utterly bewildered. We are told that we may just be graced with the movers presence on Monday. How about that!

Thankfully, although we do not have any furniture to speak of we do now as of this afternoon have a phone and internet. Can we say Hallalueh! Seriously challenging every fibre of my being here.

It has been an unique challenge attempting to entertain a three year old without the comforts of home. Becca has been amazingly well adjusted and self entertaining through this whole ordeal. We did cruise out and get her a bunch of toys from Grandma and Grandpa M for her birthday a couple days ago to ease the frustration. It is amazing how far $40 can go! She is adoring her new toys.

Becca is also on a huge … “How Come?” kick. Everything is responded with “How Come?”, even our responces are returned with a “How Come?” After the 105th “How Come?” one begins to loss all sanity.

I have so much to say with so little time. Our wireless router … on the moving van … ugh. I hope to whip up some photos on Flickr soon and will be blogging like mad for the next little while attempting to catch you all up on our amazing lives, ’cause I know you are missing me!