Move update!

I just thought I'd give a little update. Nothing special cause I am currently too busy to do anything other than French and mommying.

Yes, those are dog nose stains on the window.
I took this on my way back to the hotel when we got here.

We moved to DC about 6 weeks ago, at the beginning of January. It's been... pretty awful to be honest. We got in to our apartment a month ago as of Valentine's Day and we're still living in a boxtacle course. Not only is it really unwelcoming and stressful, it's also pretty dangerous. The good news is that all of the furniture that was broken in the move, which was most of it, is now fixed thanks to my handy husband. The only room that is almost completely done is Peyton's which is nice because we're all on one floor so all of her toys can be in there for a play room! And she's also a bit of a neat freak so she picks it up every day. She actually sings "pick up pick up!" If I've done anything right as a toddler parent, it's been making her clean up her own messes. I even made her help me clean crayon off the crib last week when she decided it was too boring. Twice. She's definitely a 2 year old.

Selfies with her are so fun.

Anyway. Gabe & I also started French about a month ago. We do 6 hours of class a day 5 days a week, & usually have about 2 hours of homework a night. I'm the only one of the 3 students in the class that doesn't know another language to help, so I spend more time studying than both of them. We are both working full time "jobs" & only one of us is getting paid. Lame. It's paying off though cause I'm actually doing pretty well! I definitely speak more French than I did a month ago.

Childcare here is outrageously expensive but we were lucky because the wife of another student offered to watch Peyton, so while we are still paying more for one child than we would've in Ohio, we're less than half of the average cost in this area. So that's definitely a good thing! Sadly, even though Peyton is a major social butterfly, I think she's mad at me for being away from her all day. She usually spends at least an hour throwing tantrums when we get home after picking her up, and that's definitely not normal. Hopefully she'll get used to it soon. I hate having her in childcare & not being a stay at home mommy, but I guess I need to be able to communicate with her when she starts school in France.

Speaking of Peyton, we had a bit of a rough few weeks. I got the flu the day after we got here. Like the legit flu. I was sick for a week. Then Gabe got a little sick, then Peyton got sick. Throwing up 12 times in like 9 hours sick. She had some major tummy issues for about 3 weeks. We were in & out of the doctor 3 times. We've basically decided that doctors are idiots & that Peyton's intestines are going to have some issues. She's doing significantly better though!

We haven't had a chance to go in to DC and be tourists yet (I haven't even gone to the fantastic malls that are like 3 minutes away), but I'm really excited to get to do that. Living next to the metro is definitely good for going to the city. Plus Peyton loves seeing them from our apartment & yells "choo choo" several times a day. I'm sure she'll love finally getting to ride it & going to the natural history museum to see the dinosaurs.

I'm really glad we're only here for 6 months. This place is very overwhelming & I'm 99% sure one of us will be involved in a car accident before we leave. Drivers here are insane & the traffic is horrendous. People have told me that over the years, but you don't really get it until you're sitting on the free way for over an hour just trying to get back from Target. Needless to say, I don't take the freeway to Target anymore.

We don't know when we're off to France yet, but we're done with classes at the end of June. But knowing what we know, we probably won't be out of here until at least the end of July, and that would be amazing. So we'll see! I still have a lot of dread about 2 big moves in one year, but I'll be happy to get out of the clutter (cause a lot will go in to storage) & away from the awful DC traffic & super rude people.

I really want to blog more. I really do. I have so many things I want to be able to do, but I just don't have time right now. Half of my couch is still up like the Titanic because there are still boxes piled in my itty bitty living room. But pretty soon, hopefully, I'll be building & painting some nightstands & I'm excited to see how that turns out. I'm hoping I'll get to do something for myself at some point here, but right now it's looking pretty bleak. Plus I've been an anxiety wreck so things just aren't great.

If you want to come visit, you can come sleep on our couch, eventually. We do have 2 bathrooms!!! & my couch is big & comfy! So if you want a 25 minute ride in to the city centre, then come visit. :)

Love,
Alexa