Week one of Clint being gone, May 14th-June 20th

I headed to Arkansas to do some furniture shopping and stay with my older sister and her kids for the weekend. We had a great time. The rest of my family was busy living their own lives. Fortunately I have the coolest compadre ever! Sawyer has got to have the world’s greatest personality. I am so blessed that I have such an amazing son. I really can’t be too upset for too long because Sawyer makes everything brighter. Fortunately this week we have not had any major crisis yet. Sawyer is starting to really love the water. We also found a really nice babysitter and they seem to be having fun during the day. I am happy that Sawyer is at home getting a lot of one on one attention. Clint took the digital camera so I won’t have many pictures to post over the next few weeks. I think I am going to break out my old 35 mm.

Clint Leaving, June 8th – June 14th

We spent the week getting ready for Clint to head to Colorado. This was a very emotional week for me, so he stuck around an extra day and headed out June 13th. Everyday we have had a major crisis (did I mention the dog ran away twice, once without her collar on – she’s at home now) so I was pretty upset about him leaving. He assured me he was upset too and did not want to go to Colorado. He said that it was going to be a horrible month for him. He told me it would go by so fast. Oh, the lies men tell you to get what they want. He called on day one of his horrible time in Colorado. He called because he was having so much fun he wanted me to quit my job and head up there. He wasn’t joking either. I wish. So much for Clint’s horrible summer. Fortunately he has given up shaving so with his motley facial hair I don’t think I have to worry about the ladies in Colorado. So I was left a single parent of a baby, a dog, and a bunch of brown recluse in a town where I have one friend (unless you count Jimmy and the team of pest control guys who have been out every few days).

Ashley’s Wedding, May 30th – June 7th

My best friend Ashley got married to Shawn Campbell on May 30th. It was a beautiful wedding. It was a lot of fun because the other bridesmaids were Karen and Kaitlin my other college best friends. I am so happy for Ashley and Shawn. The rest of the week we just worked on the house unpacking. We had pest guys out, carpet cleaners out, and professional cleaners. I discovered some great stuff called LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner. You get it at the dollar store and it got all the stains out of the carpet even after we had them professionally cleaned! It is just too good to be true. I am expecting and appendage or something to fall off.

Sawyer started swim lessons this week. He is turning into such a little fish. He also has been cruising all over the house either crawling or walking behind his walker. He crawls as fast as he can through every room. It is hilarious. He also loves to antagonize Heidi. At first she tolerated it, then she would leave immediately. Now she is really warming up to him and they are becoming buds.

The House = Spider Infestation, May 26th-May 29th

Back in Bartlesville we crashed with Ashley’s, then finally closed on our house on Wednesday, May 27th. We knew the house would need some work, but it wasn’t until we bought it that we realized how much. There was a serious odor problem, the carpet was so dirty that Sawyer was black from crawling on it, and there was dirt everywhere. Also the dishwasher broke the first night (Clint fixed it), the AC kept breaking, it rained and we realized the gutters was ruined, we had a leak in the new roof, there must have been a cat that used the master closets as the litter box, the shower was leaking out the door onto everything, the toilet broke, then the sprinkler system broke, serious odor problems, and that was just the beginning. This doesn’t even include the remodeling projects we needed to do.

The worst problem (which has yet to be resolved, we think everything else is getting under control at this point) is the ant and brown recluse infestation. Yes, we bought a house with a brown recluse infestation. I know we are freaking out too. The pest guys have been out 5 times in 3 weeks. We even have a rug rat which makes us worry more. The ants go away for a few days, but then they come back. I have spent every night caulking holes I think the ants might be coming in from (for some reason I don’t remember to do this until 11:00 at night), and let me remind you that we have had the house sprayed 3 times in 3 weeks. I normally try to have a chemical free home (I use vinegar and baking soda for most of my cleaning), but I can’t live like this.

On the bright side we do like the house, the ants are getting better, and the spiders should be under control in the next few months. Right now everything is working, so we are ready to start painting and decorating.

Sawyer got his second tooth this week. I love his toothy grin. The house also has a great play room off the kitchen which has been wonderful. He really is into his toys, especially this oversize horse we call Buck. He loves to give Buck hugs.

Oklahoma, May 18th-May 25th

We made it home – errr well not really, just to the extended stay. Clint and Sawyer spent the week driving around town, taking care of errands, and hanging out at the hotel. We ate most of our meals out and well let’s just say we haven’t found our “gem” of Bartlesville yet. I started work. My job is completely and totally different. I am not longer an engineer. I know sad. But I now get to work on the execution phase of rail road projects and truck projects at plants. Weird, I know. I work in a cube now, with no window. They have a TV and puzzles on my floor. There is only one other girl on my floor my age. There isn’t much money this year for rail road projects so things have been a little slow. Hopefully it will pick up.

We were supposed to close on our house this week, move in, do some repairs, then have the furniture arrive. Well the homeowners did not complete all the repairs they were suppose to, so we did not get to close. The way this house had gone it was not a big surprise. So we were still homeless.

Sawyer turned 9 months. At his 9 month appointment he weighed 24 lbs 2 oz and was 30 inches long. He is still in the 95 percentile.

We spent the weekend which was Memorial Day weekend crashing with our family. Julie had her baby! Shepherd was born Thursday, May 22. Julie had a beautiful delivery and her baby boy is perfect. She had been saying that she probably would have a funny looking baby (at least initially) but he is one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. In Arkansas, we got to see our new baby, I got my hair done, and hung out with family.

We then headed to Stillwater where Sawyer went fishing for the first time. He saw the fish and grabbed it right away.

Moving, May 10th-17th

After graduation it was time to move. Yeah (note the sarcasm). Amy, Chad, and Savannah came to see us for a day or two. Savannah, who is a hoot, had a lot of fun with Sawyer. The movers came, packed us up, and Clint and I prepared for our adventure north. Let’s just say we have had a few bumps during the moving process. I will write about these in the next few posts. One of my friends warned me this winter about how hard it is to move with a baby. I did not take her seriously (Shelly, if you are reading this I am sorry). Let’s just say I never want to move again and definitely do not want to think about trying to get Sawyer a brother or sister until well after we are settled (which at this rate may be never).

I worked right up until Friday while Clint was trying to get everything packed and things taken care of in Houston. I had to be at work the following Monday in Bartlesville and we had no where to live. We worked hard and got things packed up and the house cleaned up. We hadn’t sold our house yet, so we had everything moved into the garage until the movers could take care of it. Fortunately for when things get crazy God created a few small pleasures like Thai food, beer, pizza, and chocolate chip cookies. As an emotional eater I consumed a lot of those things during the moving process.



So we packed up Saturday afternoon and started our journey north. We officially made it one mile when my car broke down. It was 3:55 and the auto repair shop closed at 4:00. Fortunately they stayed late and gave us a quick fix. So at 5:00 we finally hit the road north. Oh and by the way did I mention that Sawyer got his first tooth this week? Yes moving with a teething baby.

We stayed the night in Downtown Dallas at the Westin. What have we been doing all these years at the La Quinta? We enjoyed Sunday morning taking a leisurely stroll through downtown Dallas, and a beautiful drive to Oklahoma.

Clint is leaving Texas.

May 3rd - May 9th - GRADUATION!!!

This week was full of graduation festivities. I was busy babysitting all the Aichele boys, Sawyer, Clint, Adam, and Doug. We ate lots of good food and the boys of legal drinking age drank a lot of beer. Two kegs to be exact. You would have thought Clint was graduating with an undergraduate not a PhD. But both kegs were pony kegs as I like to remind the boys.

Clint was hooded on Friday and walked on Saturday. Both ceremonies were very nice, but it had to be the hottest day in May on Saturday, Clint was in his velvet robe, and we were sitting in the sun. Needless to say we snuck out early. I am very proud of Clint and all of his achievements. After the hooding we celebrated with El Tiempo (our favorite). After the graduation we had a big party. We decided to have the Taco Truck cater it. Tacos Del Gordo. We are not exactly sure what they mean by fat tacos, but we definitely felt fat after eating them. The food was delicious. They had tacos, quesadillas, gorditas, burritos, fajitas . . . They kept reminding us they could make us whatever we wanted. The funny thing about the taco truck was that we had been seeing them driving around the neighborhood for years. One day Clint and I tracked it down (it took a few days of work to figure out how to make contact) and were able to have them come out from there.

Sawyer had a blast with all the festivities. He decided to start pulling up this week and has not stopped since.

The hooding ceremony.

All the Aichele boys. After this weekend I think


The taco truck parked in front of our house. We just opened a tab and had people get what they wanted.

Sawyer was sad when the party was over.

Sawyer decided that the diploma was for eating.
Clint was walking through the Rice gates for one last time. This is some significant tradition that I don't understand.

End of April-Beginning of May

Why am I blogging about April and May? Well I am using this blog as my baby book. I decided that blogging is for handicap scrapbookers. After the end of Sawyer's first year I plan to get this blog made into a book. I have other great news. We got a macbook. Hopefully I won't be Apple ignorant for long (right now I am frustrated because it is taking my a while to post because I can't figure everything out). I really hope to use it to organize and enhance photos. I take about a bazillion, but only post a few.

We spent the last part of April and beginning of May enjoying the calm before the storm. We had to keep the house clean, get ready for graduation parties and moving, so we easily justified eating out every chance we got. We started to get really sad about leaving Houston, our home, our jobs (Clint was totally ready to leave school), and most of all our friends. Check out the buddies in the pictures below.









Sawyer really did great this month. He became a crawling fool. He also became a blllllll fool. He started saying that around this time. He is now almost 10 months old and that is all he can still say. Oh well, I think it is brilliant.