Counting down

We're on the final countdown folks!  We settle on our new house in 8 sleeps, and we'll be moving in 3 sleeps later!

I was talking to my parents (mostly Mum) this evening.  They've just returned from a few weeks in Vietnam, including riding motorbikes in their crazy traffic!  It sounds like they had an absolutely awesome trip, ate some ridiculously lovely food, and came home with a new view on some things about life, which is always a good souvenir to bring home.

Mum was asking how the stress levels are going with the move, and I honestly got to tell her that it's been great!

I got to have a 4-day weekend this one just past, and on the first day the Big Fella and I did some packing and cleaning together.  He got to clean the oven (God, I love that man!!!!) while I scrubbed the oven racks.

We got about half way through the day and wondered what else we could do because everything we thought of can't really be done until next weekend.  We've sorted through everything and gotten rid of plenty of stuff, we've packed pretty much all the things we won't need for the next two weeks, and the big cleaning jobs are done.

The stress of the practical stuff of buying a house is pretty much done.  We still need to inspect the house prior to settlement, and the money needs to actually change hands, but it's all going smoothly.

The last two house moves I did mostly without the Big Fella (he was already in our new locales), so having him here to take some of the load has been brilliant!  And the fact that our houses are only 15 minutes apart helps relieve the stress because, if I need to (though I won't want to), I can come back to this house to finish cleaning.

So, at this point I'm feeling pretty relaxed.  No doubt that will change several times between now and when we're fully moved, but for now it's great!

On another note, I am feeling so incredibly blessed lately!  When I first became a mother, I honestly hated it.  When people said that the days go so quickly and you'll turn around and they'll be adults, I always smiled politely and internally imagined beating them over the head with a baseball bat.  The days seemed to go on forever!!!

But at this point in our lives, even though the Little Big Fella still drives me nuts sometimes, he also makes my heart melt regularly.  He is so sweet and funny and interesting!

He was telling me a story this morning, making up a tale about an alien and his brother, and a voice that came from nowhere.  It went on forever in a completely rambling fashion, but I marveled at the way his brain works at the moment, and how much he's grown, and how clever he is!

And on the weekend he drew me a picture on his whiteboard and wrote me a note saying how I have been the best mum in the world to him.

Tonight I was reading to him and, as he was falling asleep I realised that I am so lucky to be his Mum.  I am lucky to have this precious life entrusted to me, with all of the difficulties and worries and frustrations.  I get to have this wonderful little boy who absolutely adores me, even when my "tummy looks like it has a baby in it", even when I blow up in frustration or don't want to do the things he wants to do.  He still adores me and thinks I'm the best mum in the world to him.

What an absolutely priceless gift that is!