Halloween 2024

Happy Halloween! Presenting the Energizer Bunny, the Queen of Hearts, and a Minecraft Enderman:

For the second year, CC made her own costume, and was very proud of it. I didn't help her at all! She decided to be the Queen of Hearts, and then convinced her friends to go as other Alice in Wonderland characters. Patricia was Alice, Scarlett was the Mad Hatter, and Clara was the White Rabbit. It was such a fun group! They all came here to get ready, then trick or treated in the neighborhood.

Sweet Pea got the idea to be the Energizer Bunny from her cirque friends, and it certainly fits her personality. She and I spent quite a bit of time making her drum -- comprised of cardboard, duct tape, and paint -- and it had a hole in the back for her to keep her candy in. Her friend Charlie decided to be a battery, so they were the perfect pair. They started trick or treating in Charlie's neighborhood, which is adjacent to ours, and eventually finished here. Several people said that they had the best costumes! 

And for the second year, Little Man trick or treated with his buddy Brennan in that neighborhood. Brennan's mom reported that they finished surprisingly early, but Little Man was pleased with the amount of candy he collected. He carried it around in a cardboard chest he made to resemble Minecraft chests. There was so much creativity this year!

I made a char-BOO!-terie board for dinner. It was hard to find plastic insects this year, but I added edible eyeballs, which I thought was a fun touch. The kids were so excited to go trick or treating that everyone completely forgot about the Halloween cake for dessert! So we'll have that tonight instead.

Valentine's Day

Happy Love Day! 

Yes, I'm aware that I've been MIA for ages. Life happens! I have some posts that I'll (hopefully) put up soon to catch you up on the happy chaos that is our life. But in the meantime ...

Sweet Pea and Little Man distributed their final Valentine's cards. Next year they'll be in middle school, which doesn't have holiday parties, so it was a little bittersweet this week, watching them cut out and staple their little treasures.

Little Man's were packets of hot chocolate, and all the cards have some version of "Bruh. Here's your Valentine" printed on them.

Sweet Pea's say, "SQUISHING you a happy Valentine's Day!" with rainbow colors and lots of exclamation points.

Could there be Valentines that more accurately reflect their personalities? I think not.

CC didn't let her middle school status hold her back. She made brownies for her 6 closest friends (dairy- and egg-free, to accommodate allergies), and red velvet cookies for her teachers. The "Baked with love" packets were very well-received, and one allergy mom texted me for the brownie recipe. Win!

Since V Day (unfortunately) fell on Ash Wednesday this year, we celebrated last night with a yummy cookie cake. 

Today we abstained from all the usual candies, and went to Mass before a late dinner. But no worries -- we saved the treats the kids received today, and I'm sure they will disappear quickly tomorrow. 

New Year's 2023!

We rang in the new year in style, together with my side of the family at Jon and Susan's house. We had a second Christmas and celebrated Pepere's birthday all at the same time. What fun! Now that the kids are getting older, and families are moving, we aren't able to get together as often. So the times we are together are extra precious.

The kids watched movies and played video games and read books. The adults watched a ton of football, ate and drank ourselves stuffed, and chatted away. Jon and Patrick got into an epic Nerf gun war that kept the boys shrieking with laughter, and left thousands of Nerf darts scattered in the basement. 

Amber commandeered Leia's brand-new bed, and also noticed that she's the only cousin dog who doesn't get up on the couch. Hmmm ...

We learned a new game -- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza -- which caused general hilarity (and sore hands).

We exchanged presents, and then we celebrated Pepere's birthday! All the grandkids helped him blow out the candles for another wonderful year.

Happy 2023!

Cookies with Grandma

This year, we continued one of our favorite traditions: making Christmas cookies with Grandma! One at a time, the kids had their "date" with Grandma, to spend some time with her and Grandpa while they made some delicious treats.

All three kids picked the same kinds of cookies they've made in the past. I think they've settled onto "their" cookies and won't change their minds! 

This year, it was Little Man's turn to go first. He made spritz cookies with a press, which he happily called a "cookie gun." 

Sweet Pea went the following weekend, making jam thumbprints.

And CC went the next day, making her favorite: molasses cookies.

Grandma sent them all home with plenty of samples of the cookies they made, so we could all enjoy the fruits of their labor!

Birthday Recap

Their birthday eve was the final time Sweet Pea and Little Man shared a room. Yesterday, Sweet Pea moved in with CC, and the girls are really excited. Little Man is also happy to have a room of his own -- although he's slightly nervous about sleeping by himself. He tells the girls that they'll just have slumber parties in each others' rooms every night.

Still, it's bittersweet for me. The twins' little room was on the other side of MJ's and my bedroom wall, and we always heard them giggling or playing together before they fell asleep. It's sad to think those days are over, no matter how inevitable we knew it was. If you think about it, it's pretty incredible that they shared a room until they were 9. And hey, they've earned twin beds -- they can't stay in their toddler beds forever!

The rest of the day yesterday went well. We had donuts and presents in the morning, lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, and Sweet Pea brought cookies to celebrate with her gymnastics team at practice. They filled every spare minute with new Legos, toys, and treats.

Then we did the annual Measuring of the Birthday Kids: 

My next big project: Little Man's room. I painted that room while the kids were gone at camp (it's gray now, instead of the teal it's been since CC was a baby). His bed arrives soon, and everything else is here, ready for his big reveal!

Better Beds

When we took the sides off Little Man and Sweet Pea's cribs last year, we bought them flat sheets and pillows for their "big kid beds." But since it was summer, there was no need for blankets.

Fast forward 6 months, and we are experiencing single digits at times. Clearly they need some warmer covers at night! So MJ and I scrounged around the house and found two old blankets from our Army days. And that's what they've been using ... until now.

Camo can be stylish. But this? No.

I planned on just buying some plain white comforters sized for toddler beds, and calling it a day. But the only plain white ones I could find were ridiculously expensive.

Much better!

What's a crafty mommy to do? Make them, of course. I bought a queen-sized white quilt, cut it into two pieces to fit, trimmed them with some teal fabric remnants I had, and took them to be embroidered (with their real names, of course). I love how they turned out!

No More Cribs

This weekend we decided to take the front rails of Sweet Pea and Little Man's cribs off. They are in "toddler beds" now, loose in their rooms to wreak havoc.

We've tried to make things as safe as possible. We took the glider chair out of the room, because they like to climb on it and rock violently. We took the floor lamp out, lest one child knock it over and brain the other. We took the garbage can out. We prayed.

We're on Day 3 now. And they're staying in bed!! Well, mostly. Little Man occasionally throws his stuffed bear on the floor, just so he can get out of bed to retrieve him. And yesterday, while I was watching a football game and not paying attention to the monitor, Sweet Pea somehow smuggled about 20 books into her bed.

But still, I'm shocked that they're doing this well. Most days they have even napped! Clearly someone must have sneaked in their rooms Friday night and brainwashed them -- that's the only explanation.

In the last few days, Sweet Pea and Little Man have talked about little else. "New beds!" they yell when it's time for naps. "No out bed!" Sweet Pea will tell Little Man from her bed across the room, nodding seriously. "Stay bed!" Little Man reminds her. And then they both fall over laughing.

These kids, I tell you! Endlessly entertaining and adorable. And, as evidenced this weekend, clearly able to shock me to my core. Thank the Lord!

Nap Shenanigans

Squeezing two cribs, a glider, a small table and a dresser into a room makes for a tight fit. And lately I've been reminded how two enterprising toddlers can take advantage of their close proximity to everything.

Little Man has been able to reach books from one end of his crib for a while, so finding him asleep on top of Steam Train, Dream Train is no longer surprising. But recently I was startled to hear white noise coming from the nursery during naptime. I hadn't turned the white noise on. But Little Man had. He'd figured out how to reach the little machine, and cycled through all the options before settling on "gurgling water."

Sweet Pea can take things out of the laundry basket (if it's full). Recently we've been watching her on our video monitor, removing articles of clothing and trying them on. Today, it was a pair of navy shorts:

(You'd think that this would motivate me to keep up with the laundry. Nope. It just motivates me to cram dirty clothes down as far as possible into the hamper, to keep them out of her reach!)

Split Nursery

Up until this week, Little Man and Sweet Pea have shared a crib. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against this, but my two were tightly swaddled, each at one end of the crib, and couldn't move near each other, so I felt comfortable with it.

But recently, despite being swaddled, they have proven themselves to be fairly mobile, inchworming their way around the crib. I would often find them in completely different positions after a nap, occasionally even pressed up against each other. Plus, I think Sweet Pea is ready to start transitioning out of being swaddled, so it's definitely time to separate them.

I found a used crib quite inexpensively on Craig's List, because it was very dusty and had no assembly instructions. A thorough washing with Murphy's Oil Soap and 10 minutes on the internet fixed both those issues!  It looks like a more feminine version of our existing crib, so now it belongs to Sweet Pea. (And yes, this means we now have three cribs in our house -- oy.)

I had to get a little creative with furniture placement so that everything would fit, and then reposition all the picture frames and decorations, but our new improved nursery is ready.  Saturday night was Little Man and Sweet Pea's first night sleeping in separate cribs. They have had both good and bad nights since, so the jury is still out on whether they prefer sleeping alone.  Honestly, I'm not sure they can even tell a difference.

I have two projects left before I will consider the nursery complete: making the crib skirt for Sweet Pea's crib (yes, I said making), and coming up with something soft to hang above Little Man's crib. I'll post pictures later of how those last two things turn out.

CC's New Room

It's done!  Well, almost.  There are a few tiny things that need to be finished, but basically it's ready to go.  CC will sleep in her new room tonight for the first time!

(Ahem.  For those of you keeping track, yes, I am late -- by 11 days.  My goal was to have CC in her new room by the end of July, but I failed miserably.  The whole thing came together in the last week -- an incredible transformation!)

My mom helped me make the curtains (store-bought with custom-sewn trim), and I covered the cornice boards myself.  In the process I gained a sewing machine and a staple gun, both sure to be useful at some point in the future.

Eventually we will get a nice chair/glider for this room, but for now an extra dining room chair with a slipcover will suffice.  And in real life, the letters of her name are framed above her crib, but (as usual) I removed them for the blog.

An old bookshelf I'd forgotten we had in storage is the perfect addition.  Thank goodness I hadn't given it away!  Look how much more room CC has for books now!

The only remaining things to be done: put family pictures up in the frames (already ordered and on their way), and add some nice baskets with liners on the dresser to hold diapers and other necessities.

I couldn't have done it without our parents, who deserve a huge thank you!

I've been calling it her "big girl" room, but to be honest, it's not any "bigger" than her nursery.  It still has a changing table and a crib, as appropriate for a newborn as it is for an almost-16-month-old.  However, it is the room we intend for CC to have for a while, and eventually she'll have a matching big girl bed instead of a crib, so I still think of it as a milestone for her.

Bedroom Progress

CC's room is coming along, although not as quickly as I would like.  Hopefully now that I've gotten started and know what I want, the project will move a little faster!

Done:
- The curtain rods measured and installed
- The curtain panels augmented with coordinating fabric (thanks to my Mom!)
- The curtain sheers purchased and waiting to go up
- Decorative frames with the letters to spell out CC's name
- Crib set up (thanks, Traci!)
- Crib mattress and sheets, changing pad and covers, and diaper pail ordered

Here's a little sneak peek of the colors/fabrics of CC's new room:

To Do:
- Receive furniture (hopefully next week?)
- Sew coordinating fabric on panels to cover cornices
- Have contractor install cornices
- Hang framed letters above crib
- Purchase baskets for diapers, laundry, odds and ends, etc.
- Receive picture frames, fill, and hang

But this to-do list is only for CC's bedroom.  There are still things I need to do for the rest of the house, like install baby gates on the top and bottom of the stairs.  And non-house things, like hire a cleaning lady and a part-time babysitter.  And non-baby-related things, like get MJ's car detailed and sold (we bought him a new one last weekend).  I'm getting a little concerned about it all!

(On the plus side, it's 8:40 in the morning and CC is still sleeping.  Thank goodness for extra time in the morning to get some things done!)

Progress

There's nothing like the last minute for a little motivation, right?!  With less than 8 weeks till the twins join us, I've finally started making some progress around here.

CC and I spent all yesterday afternoon shopping for furniture for her "big girl" room.  Last night, after consulting with MJ, we made a decision on which set we wanted.  (We also ordered her a miniature foam armchair from Pottery Barn, but that's just for fun and not necessary for the twins' arrival.  Still, I'm excited for it to arrive.)

I took pictures of and listed our guest room furniture for sale on Craigslist, so we can clear out that room for CC.

I also talked to a good friend and neighbor of mine about borrowing her (unused) crib for CC.  That way CC's current crib can stay in the nursery for the twins to share at first.  Yes, we will eventually need a second crib for the twins, but this way we can hopefully avoid owning THREE cribs!

Also lastly, I ordered CC's new dresser and nightstand.  Woo hoo!  The bed can wait until she's outgrown the crib, since there isn't room for both.  The pieces should arrive by the end of July, which is my goal for moving CC into her new room.

Remaining on my list: finding curtains and bedding I like for CC's new room, purchasing a new crib mattress for her, and buying her new carseat.

Labor Update

Well, maybe I should have titled this post "Lack of Labor Update."  I did not know this was a possibility, but my body is absolutely refusing to labor.  At all.

As per doctor's orders, I checked into the hospital within an hour of my water breaking.  We expected contractions to start any minute ... but nothing.  After waiting for 8 hours (walking the halls continuously), we opted to add Pitocin to the mix late Sunday night, to speed things up a bit.

Pitocin caused contractions to start, but they never really got uncomfortable, even when the Pitocin was cranked all the way up to 20 units.  Today at noon, my doctor (back in town!) checked me and discovered that despite being on high doses of Pitocin for over fourteen hours, I still had not progressed at all beyond my appointment last Thursday.

At that point, we all agreed to discontinue Pitocin; clearly it was not working.  And the minute the nurse turned off the Pitocin drip, my contractions disappeared.

My doctor recommended trying a different drug instead of Pitocin, called Cytotec.  This drug was originally created to treat ulcers, but has been used by OBs for stimulating labor for years.  After weighing the pros and cons, and talking with our doctor about it at length, we decided to give it a try.

This is our last chance.  We are already well outside the 24-hour window in which most doctors prefer you deliver after your water breaks.  Every hour Otto stays inside me, his chances for infection go up.  My doctor feels confident about monitoring Otto closely for infection, but agrees that time is not on our side and we need to be very proactive.

Tonight they started me on Cytotec, and they will give me a second dose late tonight, combined with some Pitocin.  We hope and pray this combination of drugs works.  If my doctor checks me in the morning, and I am still not progressed at all, we are out of options: I will need to have a c-section.

Breaking News!

Well, as Rory and I were watching the aforementioned Little League game, my water broke in rather spectacular fashion!  My doctor had previously told me that he wanted me to check in at the hospital within an hour or so of my water breaking, so MJ and I ran home, grabbed our bag, left Rory with a neighbor, and headed to the hospital. 

Once your water breaks, you are supposed to deliver within 24 hours because of the risk of infection.  Unfortunately, I have not progressed any further since my Thursday appointment.  The nurse recommended that I speed walk to help things along, so for the last hour or so I have been wearing a path around the Labor & Delivery floor.

But here's a bit of interesting news: the belly monitor revealed that I am actually having fairly strong contractions, despite the fact that I can't feel anything.  The nurse said this happens sometimes with first babies; I might not feel any contractions until I'm about 3-4 centimeters along. 

Stay tuned!

P.S.  My friend Carol had her baby today, a little boy named Tommy.  It looks like our children's birthdays will be just one day apart!

Our Nursery!

No action on the baby front yet.  So I'm hoping to distract you all (and myself) with this post about our nursery, which is finally done!  I may be biased, but I adore it and think it's perfect!

So, without further ado ... (drum roll, please) ... I present our nursery!

The crib and dresser were a very generous gift from MJ's parents, and we love the way they look in the room.  The dark tones of the wood stand out so nicely against the teal and white!  They are very good-quality pieces that our child can use for years.  And should we ever be blessed with a second little miracle, we can use them again.

The "family tree" wall hanging above the crib was made by my mom, using childhood pictures of MJ's and my parents and grandparents.  The left three branches are (from left to right), my paternal grandmother and one of my great-grandmothers, my maternal grandparents, and my parents.  Continuing from left to right, the other three branches are MJ's parents, MJ's paternal grandparents, and MJ's maternal grandparents.  Pictures of me and MJ as babies are on the trunk of the tree.  Isn't it gorgeous?

The dresser has a changing table tray that rests on top.  This gives us a secure place to stabilize the changing pad for now, and when the baby is old enough not to need diapers anymore, the tray can be removed to make a normal dresser.  I've already stocked it with newborn-sized diapers.  MJ opened one up and exclaimed, "This is the most ridiculously tiny diaper in the world!"  It's hard for us to imagine a baby small enough to actually fit in these diapers!

The glider and ottoman were a very generous gift from my parents, and I searched high and low for the one I found most comfortable.  I'm sure I will be spending many hours sitting on it, rocking our little one!  Sometimes I sit here now, just relaxing and looking around the room, anticipating when our baby is here.

There isn't any room in the nursery for a bookshelf, so the round table is multi-tasking as both a bookshelf and a place for me to put items while I'm rocking the baby (water, baby's feeding journal, burp cloths, etc).

I made my own lamps (in a way) by finding lamp bases I liked and painting them white, then finding white lampshades (easier said than done -- most "white" lampshades are cream!) and hot-gluing some fabric trim to the top and bottom edges.  I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and the trim matches very well with the other colors in the room.

And lastly, the curtains.  I adore the curtains!  The fabric is wonderful (a whimsical white paisley on teal) and they really "finish" the room.  The cornice board turned out so much nicer than I'd even imagined!

The picture frames are all currently empty, but I will be displaying pictures of the baby with us and our family members once Otto arrives.  Diapers are starting to pile up now (I've subscribed to a service that automatically ships them to me every month), so we are definitely ready for Otto to get here!

Boy or Girl??

Since MJ and I haven't found out the gender of the little bun in our oven, I thought it would be fun to do some of the tests I've heard about to see what Otto will be.  Note: these are all old wives' tales and myths, so don't take any of them seriously!

Heartrate:  BOY! Otto's heartrate is always on the low end
Chinese Prediction Chart:  GIRL!  Based on my age at the time of conception
Mayan Test:  BOY! My age + the year of conception equals an odd number
Clumsiness:  GIRL!  I haven't been clumsy during this pregnancy
Morning Sickness:  BOY!  I haven't had a minute of nausea so far
Husband's Weight:  BOY!  MJ hasn't gained any weight at all
Ring Test: BOY!  My wedding ring swung side-to-side when dangled over my belly
Cravings:  Inconclusive; I haven't had any cravings
Face Shape:  Inconclusive; my face hasn't changed
Acne:  Inconclusive; my skin hasn't changed
Belly Position:  Inconclusive; I'm not really carrying high or low, just deep

The results are mixed, leaning slightly towards boy.  But it's not enough for me to start buying blue things yet! 

For what it's worth, everyone who has guessed at the gender (including strangers at the store, etc.) have ALL guessed boy.  Well, except my sister-in-law Susan, who previously was convinced we were having a boy, but changed her mind after she browsed the baby girls' clothing section at Babies R Us!

For the record, MJ thinks Otto is a boy, and I'm pretty sure we're having a girl.  Can anyone think of any other tests to try?

Nursery Furniture!

Guess what arrived this week?!  Yes, our little child now has a beautiful crib to sleep in, and (better yet) his mommy has a dresser to put all his clothes and such away!  This mommy is very happy.

No pictures yet, though.  The nursery isn't quite done.  You'll have to be patient for another week or so while MJ and I complete the finishing touches.  Next week I will shop for two lamp shades, and pick up the crib skirt and wall hanging from my mom, and then we're done!  We're so close ... and so is the birth!.

HSHHC

The third and final book I wanted to read before the baby's arrival was Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth.  This one, like the others, was highly recommended to me by friends of mine with children.

As I read it, I realized why it's so popular: it seems to be a happy medium between the other two books I've read (Babywise and Happiest Baby on the Block).  Babywise is a bit controversial because it recommends adjusting the baby to YOUR schedule, instead of feeding and holding the baby every time it cries.  Happiest Baby on the Block is on the other extreme, insisting that you can't spoil a baby, and to pick them up and/or feed them whenever they fuss.

HSHHC, on the other hand, falls somewhere in between. For example, when "sleep training" (trying to teach the child to sleep through the night), there are two schools of thought, and experts usually fall into one camp or the other.  One is "cry it out," where the parents are encouraged to ignore the child's crying, no matter how long it continues.  The other involves gradually adjusting your child to sleeping through the night (consolation when he cries, allowing him to sleep with you, etc).  Dr Weissbluth says there is a time and place for each philosophy, depending on the age and developmental level of your child.  How refreshing!

The first half of the book is an in-depth look at why sleep is so important.  Dr Weissbluth runs a pediatric sleep disorders clinic, so he is certainly knowledgeable on the topic.  However, I didn't need quite so lengthy an explanation.  I get it -- sleep is important!

The most valuable part of the book, in my opinion, is the last half, when he has a chapter on each age level.  I read the first two of these chapters, which got me to 6 months.  I will save the later chapters until I need them!  But I found it helpful to have such age-specific information in the book.

As I get ready for Otto's imminent arrival, my plan is to use the books I've read in the following ways:

• Babywise: for getting both me and Otto on a good schedule
• HBOTB: using the 5 S's for soothing when Otto is extremely fussy
• HSHHC: for information about sleep stages, and recommendations for amounts of sleep at each age level

I think there's a place for all three of these books in our life!

Carseat Installed!

Yesterday afternoon I did something that really made Otto's arrival seem very imminent: I installed his carseat.  Whoa.  I actually intended to do it about a week ago, but between general busy-ness and going to Pittsburgh for several days, it didn't happen until yesterday.  No worries -- Otto clearly isn't here yet, so I'm not too late. 

TA-DAAAA:

The car seat is the first thing I've officially completed for the baby.  That's because it's the only thing that's absolutely essential.  If the baby is born before my hospital bag is packed, or before our crib arrives, or before I've washed all the baby clothes, we can manage.  But without a properly installed carseat, we can't bring him or her home from the hospital!  So it was definitely the first thing on my absolutely-must-do-in-the-final-stages list.

Next week I will take it to a local police station, where they have certified child seat installation inspectors who can double-check that everything's installed properly.  Although I have to admit, it was very easy to install (one of the reasons this carseat is so highly rated).  There are bubble levels on both sides to ensure the angle is correct, and I put my entire body weight on it when I tightened the straps, so this thing isn't budging.

Once the base was installed, I removed the carseat from the base and put it back in the nursery.  I don't want to drive around with an empty carseat for the next few weeks, because if I get into an accident -- no matter how minor -- we will have to buy a brand-new carseat (that's the recommendation).  And these things aren't cheap!  Whereas if I get into an accident with just the base in my car, we will only have to buy a new base, which is much cheaper.

Making the Rounds

Last week, MJ and I attended a tour of the labor and delivery ward at the hospital where I'll be delivering this baby.  MJ in particular was looking forward to the tour, since (according to him) the most important things for him to know are where to park and where to bring me.

Fortunately, we figured those things out on our own.  Our tour guide, while nice, didn't seem extremely knowledgeable.  At times, she made statements that directly contradicted what our childbirth class instructor -- at the same hospital -- told us.  MJ and I agreed that between the two, we definitely trust our childbirth class instructor more!

But as we had been told, the facilities at our hospital were very nice.  Once I am in labor, we will be settled into a delivery room, where we will stay until the baby is born.  The delivery room is large and features a lighting setup that rivals most Hollywood sets, a "transformer bed" with moveable legs and arms that can convert into a various positions, an overstuffed chair for MJ, and plenty of space for visitors (and medical personnel).  There's also a baby station in the corner with a heating lamp, so Otto can be weighed, measured, tested and bathed in the room with us without taking him to the nursery.

After the baby is born and we are both stable, all three of us will be transferred to a recovery room, where we will stay until we are discharged (probably two nights).  The recovery room is smaller than the delivery room, but apparently the bed is much more comfortable.  There's a couch on the side that will serve as MJ's bed at night and a place for visitors to sit during the day.

The hospital recommends that we take advantage of the nursery whenever we need to rest, because a) I will be exhausted from labor, and b) once we get home, we will not have handy neonatal nurses available to watch the baby whenever we need to sleep.  I've received the same recommendation from friends of mine, so I'm sure we will take advantage of the opportunity whenever possible.

This hospital also has state-of-the-art security in the labor and delivery ward, as well as an outstanding NICU.  Between the hospital and my amazing doctor, I definitely feel that we will be in good hands.  I have pre-registered for the hospital, so all that's left to do is pack our bag and wait!