Hi there! It's summertime, so you know how that goes. Chris moved to New York City about a month ago while I'm hanging out with the children in Utah. 30+ weeks pregnant. Is that execuse enough to have neglected this here blog? It is, it totally is. I don't even know if anyone reads this thing anymore. Blame Instagram. Instagram is killing my blog. 
We are hanging in there. The children have been loving the pool and loving spending so much time with their grandma's and grandpa's (there are 4 sets- so that's lots of lovin'). We took this picture one night at grandma and grandpas after we had tucked the chickens in for the night:
We've been out to some parks and for the record, I just have to say how amazing Liberty Park in SLC is. I don't know that I have ever been there before. It was scorching hot the day we went, so hot the kids wouldn't even run around and play. Instead they just laid on me because you know, the more body heat the merrier.
We hit a splash pad but I'm going say- the children weren't so hot on it. Maybe they are too old. They just wanted to go swimming. Full body emersion. None of this splash talk. I don't blame them. 
We've been enjoying super simple dinners (which I feel like I can get away with when I'm the only parent around eating said dinner.) Tonight Charlie had a candy necklace for dinner and a side of mac and cheese. Mother of the Year!
We've tried just a few local hot spots to see what all the hype was about. Cubby's- you win. Buffalo Bleu Cheese Fries?!?
Kate took her very first ever organized 'class' which consisted of Ballet, Jazz and Tumbling. She insisted no photo's be taken. I'm so sneeky.
I've been trying to offset the massive amount of hours Henry wants to 'minecraft' by having him put in some hefty daily reading time. Some days I'm more successful than others. Oh well. It's summer. Not quite time to crack the whip. 
Kate got a good 10+ inches of her hair chopped off by my lovely sister, Annika (who works at O Salon in SLC by the way). Schedule her, she's pretty amazeballs. 
Aren't these two cute? Her hair is off to Locks of Love.
Henry got baptized the weekend after the 4th of July in our friends swimming pool. It was not instagrammed and deserves a post all it's own which I'll share someday.
So handsome this one. That picture makes me feel like I know what he's going to grow up to look like. He's sweet as can be.
Little Charlie started his summer program pretty soon after we got here. It was not nearly as intensive as his school in MA (5x a week for 6 hrs a day) but I'll take what I can get. He is making progress and I am so proud of him. He's really starting to engage in eye contact and saying more words. I feel like we are connecting more and more each day and that makes me feel very, very hopeful. He told me the other night "I love you, Mama" which he has never done on his own. I almost cried my little eyes out. 
3 weeks into single parenting I passed the children off to my Dad and Pam for a few days and then my brother (who btw has let us crash at his place for the better part of 8 weeks!) I needed a break and feel so grateful I was in a position to get one. Single parents my hats go off to you. Single parenting is hard work even when you have a great support system like I have here.
I went and visited my Aunt and Uncle for a few days. It was great. We hit some super awesome thrift/antique shops.
I would have taken home 3 of those crates if I could (thinking how am I going to get that on a plane? I'm already carrying on a vintage turquoise pyrex bowl..oy!) And still majorly sad that I couldn't bring home a half dozen of these vintage childrens chairs.
$6 dollars each people. Let's move on. I'm not over it yet.
I stopped in this fantastic candy store, Powells, in Boise. I had gone last summer and by brother wanted me to pick him up some LeninAid. I luckily scored the last bottle they had. I picked up a few treats for the children and tried to convince the teenage employees that they most definitely should sell me that vintage Oh Henry sign. No luck. So disappointing.
They weren't willing to let this beauty go either. Oh well. There's always the potential for more nagging next summer.
(Charlie loved wearing my brothers rug as a cape. He eventually bought him his own red silk cape which Charlie LOVES. Thanks, Unkie Matt a.k.a King of the Kids)
I've spent hours upon hours on the phone with the Dept. of Education in NYC, private schools, schools for children with Autism, etc.,. It was not looking hopeful at all that Charlie would be able to be placed into a program this Fall. "Hire an attorney" was the advice I kept getting. All pre-schools for children like Charlie are done through private schools and do not fall under your local school district like they do everywhere else in the world. Unfortunately none of his testing, evaluations, etc., .from MA are valid in NYC. We have to start completely over. I want to pull my hair out. He needs to be seen by a psychologist, get re-evaluated see a speech therapist, and OT. School in NYC starts Sept 9th. We weren't even planning on going to NY until the end of August.
I got a call yesterday from a school that they are holidng a place for Charlie. What the what?!? I could not believe it. Yes, he still needs all the testing but they are holding a place for him. There was one condition: they need to see him next Tuesday. In 6 days. In NYC. I spent the entire day packing up all our belongings. We are driving back east tomorrow. I didn't even say goodbye to my in-laws (good-bye!!).
Did I mention we haven't found a place to live in NYC? I feel like my entire world is spinning and I'm trying not to have a massive freak-out. Trying to take one day/hour/minute/second at a time. We've been living out of suitcases for 8 weeks- what's another 3 or 4 more? Now we know Charlie pretty much has a spot, we know the area of where we need to look for housing. Oh but housing, housing is a blasted nightmare in NYC as you can imagine. On second at a time. I just need to get through this meeting with the psychologist and the pre-school. I need to get our car in Boston. And like a million other things (how many more weeks till this baby comes?)
So excuse me for a few weeks while I try to reign in our crazy out of control lives. If you want to follow our cross-country adventures, I'm MorgsMoore on Instagram. Would love to see you there.
It's 2 am. I should have been packing this whole time. I'm hitting the hay. XOXOXO