Well, here it is, July 2014. Time flies!
We've had some big changes at the Shaw House! The biggest being the addition of our newest little baby, Jonah William Shaw!!! We have a BOY!?!! I didn't think we made those kind! He was born November 8th, 2013. You can read his birth story here. https://www.facebook.com/notes/aubrey-shaw/jonahs-birth-story/10151757994846629 He's 8 months old now and such a sweet, active little guy! All smiles and just happy to be with his peeps.
Since Jonah's birth, we have pretty much been in Baby Jail though. You know the place if your a parent. That period after a baby is born where you can't do a damn thing or complete a single task to save your life! 0-6 months is the worst of it, at least for an exclusively breast feeding mother who can't pump more than 3 ounces at a time. Meaning it takes me 2-3 days to make one single bottle. I'm not complaining though. At least he will take a bottle. Loralai as a baby, not so! Once they hit around 6 months, something earth shattering happens; they can eat food!!! This equates to Mama being able to LEAVE for longer stretches of time without getting the death ray glare so bad when I get home. Somehow though, there is still NO WAY for me to get anything done at the house with a baby (and two other kids)! The house is ALWAYS a mess! There is ALWAYS laundry piling up on the beds that needs folding! There is constantly a sink full of dishes that need washing! The cycle goes something like this day after day..... I can't clean the livingroom, cause the kids are playing in there and they just mess it back up as quickly as I pick it up. Quicker even! So I think, I'll go put all that laundry away that's piling up. But how do you carry loads of laundry all over the house when you have a baby? So then I think, I'll go organize my bedroom/baby room. But the only time I have my hands free to do that is when he's napping. And guess where he naps? My room! Then there's the kitchen. I swear if my kids just see me in the kitchen, they suddenly realize how hungry they are! And that means I have to make them food, which messes up the kitchen and stops any cleaning efforts! I'm screwed. I'm in baby jail!
But we've been here before. We'll get through it. Sometimes I yell. Yell at the kids. Yell at Joe. Yell at the dog. Sometimes I just start drinking at 4pm (or maybe a wee bit earlier). I mean what's the point, and it calms my get it done drive. Sometimes I still try. I'm always defeated, but sometimes I do still try. Sometimes I hang out with other moms who are equally as beat down as I am, and just know we will get through this one day. And probably miss it a little too.
It's this kind of captivity though that can drive you crazy! And just because you can't actually accomplish ANYTHING doesn't mean you can stop dreaming about how you want your life to be and your goals. SO..... It's probably this crazy life situation that has led us to want to leave on another RV trip! Something about being on the road just makes you focus! Focus on what's important. Family. Experiences. Living life. I don't want cleaning the house to be my main focus every day! And when you live in 300sqft, it's not. You have very little stuff and can clean it all up in 20 mins flat. You and the kids aren't focused on "who can we hang out with today". It's just us. So it becomes "what can we do as a family today"? We all get so excited about the new places and experiences. Every place is a new adventure. You rarely get bored. I'm also able to just focus on being a mom. Work takes a back seat and I spend my energy planning activities and going on walks with the kids. Joe has no yard to mow. No house maintenance to worry about. No trees to trim. Sounds great right?! Especially to parents of 2 kids and a baby under 2 years old!
So because the cure for baby jail for us seems to be leaving on an RV trip......here we go.....again.
This time is a little different though. We will have 3 kids. We will be taking our little Chug dog, Darby. We will be leaving for at least a full year! We will officially be home schooling Loralai through half of 2nd and 3rd grade. Ekkk! I was a teacher for 4 years for 2nd-4th grade, but Ekkk! This is Loralai we are taking about! Prayers are appreciated!
So we are now 5 months out from our goal departure date of January 4th. We were thinking about buying a newer, bigger RV for this trip, but then decided that we LOVE our RV and it does have 3 kids bunks (perfect for us!), and RV shopping is time consuming and hot and SUCKS. So, we have decided to keep our beloved, bumper sticker covered RV and to do some major renovations to her instead!
Stay tuned to see our reno's, via Joe. Which include...
1. Changing TV entertainment center into a desk. Joe works EVERYDAY from our RV when we are on the road and last time we were out he had no desk. So he'd work laying on our bed, or at the dinningroom table. This time he'll have a REAL desk! And I'll have a one too when his work day's over!
2. New wood-like flooring. Our RV is 13 years old and still has the original, crusty, who knows what has spilled on this carpet in it. Yay!!!
3. Slide out pantry. I'm happy we have a pantry. Many RV's don't. But our current one is like a dark, deep cave that you have to mine to find a can of green beans!
4. Bathroom Reno. Bigger "toothbrush" drawer. Shower curtain redo. Etc.
5. Pull out cabinet trash can. Priceless. Dog, kids, and we area constantly knocking it over as it's forever in the way!
6. Propane Generator. So we can boondock! Boondock = FREE camping in gorgeous places! ...and Walmart.
7. Small kitchen renos such as, counter extender that folds down, knife rack, spice holder, rearrange cabinet shelving so they can hold more, etc!
8. Turn dining bench under storage into Darby's kennel!
9. Rebuild stairs to master bedroom so they create more storage for putting rain boots and hiking shoes, etc. More Storage in an RV = GOOD!!!
10. Screen door reinforcement. Joe's gonna make it so if a baby leans on the screen door, it no longer flies open! Yay! He's also putting a bar on the outside so little kids have something to hang onto when climbing up the stairs. Nana is very happy about these renos!
11. We will also be doing some painting and other small changes like USB plugs installed, shelving, bunk curtains and gates, replace all RV curtains, reinforce dinning table (just make it more sturdy and better), and some other things too.
Check the blog for reno updates as they happen and other trip plans! Here we go again....
