October 31, 2006

To Be [Boxed] or Not to Be [Boxed]

That was the question on Jonah's mind last Friday.

We officially moved into our new home this past Saturday. The move went relatively smoothly, all the furniture got here safely, things got arranged, and we are now about 95% settled. There are just a few minor things that need to be taken care of, like getting some shelving units for Jonah's toys and books, unpacking the last of the boxes and bags, and completely baby-proofing things, particularly the tops of the stairs.

We actually moved the cats in before we officially made our move. We decided to bring the cats over on Friday so they could begin getting adjusted to the new place. As any cat owner knows, packing up a cat is not always the easiest job in the world.

Josh and I decided to pack up Patches first, and this proved to be relatively easy. I did have to chase her down and shoo her out from under the bed with a broom, wrap a towel around her as I picked her up, and directly deposit her into the kitty carrier, but the whole process only took about five minutes.

That left Callie. Our normally quite docile littlest cat is surprisingly the most ferocious when it comes to being put into a carrier. Actually, since we didn't think we'd be able to get both cats into our one carrier, we decided to use one of our computer-paper-type packing boxes and wrap some tape around it to keep her in. Smartly, we got the strips of tape ready before actually chasing her down. The chasing part turned into quite an adventure. She had seen what happened to Patches, so she was already on her guard. After finally getting her to come out from under the sofa, she ran upstairs to hide under the bed. Once again, using the broom to get her out from under the bed, she decided to try squeezing herself into the small space between one of the dressers and the wall. Now mind, she was hissing and growling and ready to scratch our eyes out this entire time. We then managed to get her away from the dresser, and Josh dropped a towel on her, scooped her up, and dropped her into the awaiting box. I then held the lid of the box down while he taped it shut. This whole process took about twenty minutes.

The funny (and somewhat tragic) incident that occurred actually happened in the interval between the capture of each of the cats. Josh and I were preparing ourselves to go after Callie by picking up the intended box-carrier. When we did so, however, Jonah started to howl. Any time we touched a box, he would start to scream like he was hurt or terrified. We tried to tell him it was just a box but to no avail. I tried to pick him up to comfort him, but he refused to allow me to do so. We were getting to the point where we couldn't figure out what was going on, figuring that he was just having a random tantrum, and were about to proceed with the capture of Callie by removing the lid from the box despite his loud protests and which sent him into even greater screams, when it hit us: he had seen us put Patches in a box, and he thought we were going to put him in a box, too! We calmly and lovingly explained to him that he was not a kitty, that he was our little boy, and that we were not going to put him in a box, and he immediately stopped crying and went back to playing.

Oh, the things that little mind will conjure up!

Using the Force (of his cuteness!). Posted by Picasa

Yoda am I! Posted by Picasa

Strong is the Force in this one. Posted by Picasa

With ears! Posted by Picasa

Without ears Posted by Picasa

Mommy's getting me into my costume! Posted by Picasa

Mommy is her Halloween regalia. Posted by Picasa

Daddy decided to wear his Darth Maul (sp?) t-shirt in honor of Halloween and to coordinate with Jonah's costume. Posted by Picasa

Jonah's bedroom. We still need to get some kind of shelving unit for his stuffed animals and books, so that's why there are still boxes. And, yes, that is a mattress on the floor! Jonah never really took well to his crib (must be genetic - I didn't either when I was a baby), so we got him a mattress. The floral and green bedding is only temporary until Jonah's new Noah's-ark-themed bedding arrives. Posted by Picasa

Jonah's very fun bathroom! Posted by Picasa

Our slightly messy kitchen. But look - more pretty curtains! :) Posted by Picasa

My and Josh's bedroom. At last, I have pretty curtains in my room! :) Posted by Picasa

The dining room. I think CEP and I did a pretty good job with the glazing below the chair rail, if I do say so myself! Posted by Picasa

Here are some pictures from our new home! This is our very-nearly-finished living room, complete with Josh and Jonah. Posted by Picasa

October 19, 2006

Jonah Cook, Squirrel Hunter

While on our walk yesterday, Jonah and I spotted a couple of squirrels, and Jonah decided that he wanted to chase them. He actually got within a foot of catching one of the elusive suckers before the little rat-in-a-cuter-outfut raced up a tree, thereby avoiding capture. At this pace, though, I think Jonah may have a very lucrative profession in eliminating the species that caused CEP's most recent car troubles! :)

October 07, 2006

Tomorrow....

....marks the second anniversary of this blog. My, how time flies!

BTW, I think we have finally decided on a moving date. October 28 is the magic day (at least for now). The townhouse is coming into shape, the painting is almost done (except for the mural in Jonah's room, which hasn't been started yet - CEP has agreed to design and paint it for us, and we were rather late in asking her to do it). We picked out a moving company, we're getting the house professionallly cleaned before we move in (I don't feel like doing all that nasty grungy work myself - yuck! It's just too dusty and cruddy), and, oh yeah, the most inportant thing - we sold the condo!!!! As of last Sunday, we have a ratified contract, the buyers did their home inspection on Thursday (very few things we'll have to take care of), and we go to settlement on November 7. Yay! Thanks to all who were praying for us! There's actually quite a saga to the whole deal, but I'll save that for a time when I have more time.