Yesterday we picked up the keys to our new house, and today was the big move. Actually it was more like one of the big moves. Let me explain….
The Never-Ending Move
We’ve lived in a two bedroom apartment for the last 3 and a half years while my wife completed her medical residency, and I worked on my Masters degree. The space worked out great for us; we used one room as an office, and the other as a bedroom. We didn’t have any children for most of that time, we really liked the location, and we didn’t have to worry about mowing the lawn, and fixing a leaky faucet (maintenance men are awesome!) so it worked out great.
When I called the moving company they said it would be a quick and easy move since all that’s typically required for an apartment our size was one moving truck and a two man moving crew. Keyword: typically. This move was far from quick and easy. I honestly have no idea where in the world we kept all of the stuff we have. I have to chalk it up to my wife’s superpower of organization. (If the whole being-a-Doctor thing doesn’t work out for her, I think she could easily have a career in closet storage planning!) Talk about maximizing space..you should have seen these guys were pulling boxes out of everywhere…it was like watching a 12 hour magic trick! (Seriously, 12 hours!)
It turns out that one truck wasn’t enough. I was mesmerized as I watched them fill up a huge moving truck with the contents of our 2 bedroom apartment to the point that they could barely close the door! The movers kept asking me (as I also asked myself):
“Where in the world did you guys keep all of this stuff!”
Like I said before, I honestly have no idea where we kept it are (or that we had that much stuff!) We even donated a ton of stuff before the move just to get rid of some stuff….looks like we still have a lot more to give away. (Anyone interested in 55 boxes of baseball cards?) 🙂 You’re probably thinking our apartment must have looked like one of those homes you see on Hoarders….but I promise it didn’t. We just played a lot of Tetris in our life, and used every space imaginable (do you see the box under the couch!)
Needless to say I was bummed that even after hiring movers, we still had (and have) a lot left to move. This is seriously going to be the never-ending move. 🙂
Seriously, where was all of this stuff?!
A Midnight Traffic Jam…..Really?
After spending over 12 hours helping the movers at our apartment with my brother while my mom, Abbie, and Noah (he supervised) worked on painting our new house, we get stuck in a horrible Dallas traffic jam on the way to our new house. It was past midnight. We were exhausted. I missed Noah’s adorable little laugh. And my mom and brother (who needed to get back home) still had a two hour drive ahead of them! Today was not a fun day. Oh…I have to say this one more time:
I hate moving. 🙂
Bad Days Happen. You Have A Choice.
In life days like this happen. Days where you hit a midnight traffic jam. Days (sometimes weeks) that are scary. It’s inevitable. It’s unavoidable. There’s nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can do about it is choose how you respond to them, and remember that days like this are the exception, not the norm. They pass just as quickly as they came. Don’t sweat it. This isn’t an easy lesson to learn for any of us. Some days I feel like I do great at this, other days not so much. But the point is to remember that tough days aren’t forever. They really aren’t.
So how did I choose to respond to this never-ending move day? Well, I bought the movers, my brother, and I some and I some good ol’ unhealthy, open-at-midnight McDonalds (Sidenote: I’m not sure what McDonalds does to their Coke to make it taste so magical, but their cokes are amazing!), turned up the radio, rolled down the windows, and thought about the epic bubble bath I was going to take once I finally made it home!
Being a father to this little boy makes everything better!
So in summary:
don’t worry
I’m Proud To Admit, I’m A Bath Guy
For those of you who have made it this far, I want to share two things with you as sort of a “get to know Noah’s dad” exclusive.
- Our new house has a awesome bath tub!
- I am bath guy.
Yelp, that’s right, a bath guy…and not just on those stressful days when you need a bath to relax (like a never-ending moving day). Not by a long shot; I take a bath almost every day (sometimes 2!) And not one of these lame kinds of baths…no, I go full on with bubbles and everything.
I read in bath, eat my breakfast in bath, use my iPad in the bath, play a few classics
As you can see, I’m a huge fan of the bath! (Heck, I’ve even wrote an entire post explaining how baths help me win as a parent!)
Like father, like son.
It’s true, baths are one of the best parts of my day….and I’m not afraid to admit it. If you’re a dad reading this I know what you’re thinking; “Baths are for girls!” It’s ok. No offense taken. I’ve been taking baths my whole life; you wouldn’t be the first (or the 1,000th) person to make fun
I prefer the extra gentle Mr. Bubble, bubble bath!
of me for being a bath guy, and I’m very confidant in my bath taking!
But….I would urge you to try one sometime. Seriously. Grab yourself some high quality bubble bath (I personaly suggest Mr. Bubble Extra Gentle Bubble Bath
Quick tip: If you’re a rookie bath taker I wouldn’t suggest using your iPhone / iPad / Gameboy in the bath quite yet. Don’t forget, I have years of bath taking experience under my belt, and I’m proud to say I’ve mastered the art of using electronics while taking a bath. There’s seriously an art behind it. Feel free to contact me if you’d like some tips. (Just know in advance that if you really do email me asking for bath tips, I will probably blog about it since that would be hilarious…and a little weird.)”
One quick warning about baths before you dive in (pun intended): It’s easy to become a bath addict. You may find yourself having to set your alarm clock an hour earlier, leave work early, stay up a little later than normal, skipping your kids birthday, soccer games, graduation, etc….just to make time for your bath.
You’ve been warned.
Wow…today’s blog post is really out of control. Sorry. I haven’t had much sleep lately. 🙂
Do you have any fun, wacky, horrible moving stories? What about traffic stories? Ever missed something really important because of a traffic jam? And finally, dare I ask, any bath stories? (I’m curious if there are any other proud male bath takers out there who aren’t afraid to admit their love of a good bath. Ladies, do any of you have a bath-taking husband? Surely I can’t be the only one! Please share in the comments below!
Calling All Comment Rock Stars
If you look to the right of this post in the side bar you’ll see a list of our top monthly commenters. The number next to their name is the number of points earned by post. You gain points not only leaving a comment, but by responding to other comments as well. We’re going to be rewarding and acknowledging our top commenters each month, so I want to encourage you to get involved in the comments, and be a comment rock star! We really like the community that is forming around our blog and Facebook page, and are always looking for ways to help the community grow. The more people we have active in the comments the more the community grows…and that’s a win forever! (This list of top commenters will reset every month. Be sure to check out the fun top fans section on our Facebook page as well!)
My wife and I really appreciate everyone’s comments and promise we read each and every one. We try to respond to as many as we can, but as our community and readers continue to grow this becomes more challenging. Which is another reason we want to encourage all of our readers to use the comment section of our blog to say hello to other commenters, answer their questions, ask questions of your own, welcome new families and continue to help us deepen the community all of you are doing an awesome job building. This site is what it is because of you. And we want to thank you for helping us create this community. We have been deeply blessed by seeing so many parents connecting and getting to know other parents, help answer questions, etc. You guys are seriously awesome! Thanks for being so awesome. It’s an honor to get to share our story with you, and learn about your as well.
About Rick Smith
I love baths too. I just never have time for them. . . Anyway, I am sorry that your move seems to be taking for.ev.er. It sounds like Abbie is the master organizer. Hugs to you and the family (kisses to sweet Noah!).
ahhh..you see that’s the challenge. Making time for baths. It’s hard, and my problem is I’m hooked.
I may be in need of a bath intervention. 🙂
Me too Anna. I definitely don’t have time…yet. Maybe someday. In the meantime I’ll just read the blog about it! LOL!
Hahahahahahaha! that was so funny!!! Thanks, its Friday morning over here so i needed a good laugh to get me going! ( not that taking a bath is funny!) 🙂
@Libby,
Oh…it’s pretty funny alright. It’s all good. I’m used to getting made fun of for my baths. It’s all good though, I don’t mind.
By the way, you need to grab a http://en.gravatar.com/ so so you don’t have to have the gray box. 🙂
Great post! My guy is a bath guy, too. No shame in that!
I have also had very little sleep lately. I am so upset by it that in today’s blog post, I wrote a letter to my lost love…sleep!!!
In other news, Levi (20 mo.) pulled up on his own today!!!
I love what you are doing with your blog and fb page! You all are the ROCKSTARS!
-April
@April….
Wait, by ‘your guy’ do you mean your husband???? If so, that’s awesome!!!! 🙂
Great news on Levi, that’s awesome. I bet you guys are so proud of him. You should grab a picture of him pulling up and post it on our Facebook page. Everyone would be so proud of him. 🙂
Thank you for the kind words about our blog and Facebook page. It’s a lot of fun getting to know everyone.
By the way, you should grab a Gravatar —-> http://en.gravatar.com/
Yes, I meant my hubby is the bath guy! Of course my little boys are, too! Thanks for the Gravatar info! I love learning new, cool internet stuff!
@April,
No problem. I can’t wait to see your Gravatar! 🙂
This is the “move” that very ends. Its goes on and on my friend…
I hate painting and moving!!! I also..do not personally know any ” bath guys “
hahahaha, tell me about it. You may have noticed from the data on the video that we are just a *tiny* bit behind on our daily videos, so I can tell you from the future that the move took A LOT longer then we expected.
Hint: We still can’t park our cars in the garage. 🙂
Sorry you had such a difficult experience moving! When we moved, my church sent 15 people over to move everything. Once we filled up our moving truck, they all stuffed their cars full with the rest of the boxes. We moved across town from a 3 bedroom to a 4 bedroom house in less than 3 hours. We could NOT have done it without our friends.
And I am definitely a SHOWER person, but (shhhhh) I read in the shower. I’ve done it since I was a little girl. It was the only place I could get away from my brothers. I’m an expert at keeping my book out of the water stream while scrubbing and shaving and reading at the same time. My 2-year-old son loves bubble baths, though, and we use the same bubbles you do!
1. Kim – that is awesome! It sounds like you go to a great church. What’s the name of your church (if you don’t mind sharing.)
2. READING IN THE SHOWER!!!?? Wow, you deserve an award for that. It’s hard for me to keep books dry in the bath, I can’t imagine in the shower….but that’s awesome! 🙂
The church was Zion Community Church. We were a brand-new congregation of only 40 people at the time, but they were so helpful!
Thanks for sharing, and you’re right…it sounds like an awesome church. It’s beautiful see in communities work together like that. 🙂
I shouldn’t be surprised about your fellow church friends….OT should be the norm. So glad to hear there are so many good people out there!
@Scott and Vanessa
I agree! 🙂
Since you have a love for baths. Here’s a way to enhance your bath taking experience. I do not work for the company so its not that type of plug. But I love LUSH. If you don’t have a Lush store near you, check them out online @ lush.com. They have the most amazing, all natural, handmade bath products. I am addicted to it and even my kids love it.
@Angel,
DING, DING, DING YOU HAVE THE CORRECT ANSWER! Yes, we are HUGE fans of Lush. In fact I was planning on putting that in the post, but I hit publish before I typed the words out. 🙂 It’s been updated now.
My wife will sometimes surprise me with something from their, and it’s awesome! It’s a bit pricey, so I don’t’ get to use their products often, but when I do, it’s a treat!
Good call!
so funny, I was going to ask if you were aware of the LUSH products as well! The whole world is a better place after a LUSH bath. I love a karma bath bomb for bubbles and a you’ve been mangoed melt to make it creamy soft. The two smells together are intoxicating! Just one bath bomb can be broken into pieces for 2-4 baths! Their products are so good that they last and last and last!
OMG this post was like watching a movie!! I’m sorry but i was thoroughly entertained reading about the move! Ours wasn’t much better only I was at home with the kids while my husband and friends were battling the joys of moving.
I love the FB community too. It’s amazing how we can come together like we do. The support is priceless! I’ve met the most amazing people on fB! And blogs:)
@ Angel, LUSH IS THE BEST!!!!
@stephanie,
Ha,ha..thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I didn’t have much footage from that day since we were moving all day, so I had to work with what I had. Glad it was still enjoyable! 🙂
I agree with you in regards to the community that is building. Our inbox is overflowing with messages from people telling us incredible stories. I love seeing so many people be able to connect with each other. It’s a lot of fun to see, and makes all the work that goes into keeping it all up worth it.
Thanks for sharing this journey with us!
oh, and I agree with @Angel about Lush also. 🙂
Hubby got me into taking baths. I had only taken one bath before I met him. It was a tragic experience, very embarrassing. Hubby and I love taking baths, in fact that’s what we did everyday before our Noah came along. I also took baths with our son. Now I dream of taking one but still have to get the go ahead from the doc. I’m hoping some day in the very near future I get to take a bath with hubby. Now as for moving, I love it. I love organizing and getting rid of stuff we don’t use. Hubby is the opposite, he’s a hoarder and brings back the trash into the house once I’ve thrown it away. I bet he hates moving but won’t admit it. 2 years and have yet to convince him to let us move somewhere down south. We live in Michigan, I hate that it’s cold 3/4 of the year. Ok, I think I’ve talked your ears off. lol
I. Am. A. Bath. Man! Got love ’em. Really hot, plus a cup of tea and book.
Wow…this is awesome!!!
Thanks for sharing. And I totally agree, a cup of tea makes the bath even that much better! 🙂
I feel your pain on the move! Just did it myself a couple of months ago. As to the “bath guy” topic–my late husband occasionally enjoyed a long soak, as does my younger son. But the family bath “king” is my brother! In his home, he has his own private, custom-built-just-for-him bath that includes a deep soaking tub, a wall phone beside the tub, coffee-maker on the counter, large basket of manly-scented bubbling products on the side of the tub, and plenty of bathtub reading material. Don’t know if he’s graduated to electronics in the tub yet.
Woah….!!! That is amazing. Thanks for sharing that.
Every year there is a big fair that comes to town and they have amazing bath set ups like that also. One day, one day….. 🙂
Would that be the State Fair of Texas…the most awesome state fair ever??? My list: Cotton candy, caramel apple, Fletcher’s corn dog, something interesting fried, Birds of the World, and the car show. Done. Perfect day. Oh, and the ferris wheel at sunset. Except now with kids, that’s getting a little pricey.
What am I talking about? The whole thing is pricey! Good thing it only happens once a year…and now I live 5 hours away!
OK all of you Bath People….. what is your secret to keeping the water warm… let-alone hot??? I would love to bathe in the tub…. if it would stay warm!
You need to be able to work the stopper and faucets with your toes! When the water starts to cool, you let out a little, then fill ‘er back up with hot!
@Robin,
wow!!! you sound like a bath pro, that’s just what I do!!! 🙂
@Gigi,
Robin gave you some GREAT advice! I’ve sort of mastered the art of keeping the water hot. Instead of filling the bath full, I fill it almost full then turn the water down to a small stream of hot water only. I mean really small, and no cold water…this way you have a constant street of hot water coming into the bath that helps keep it from cooling down.
The trick is making sure the water is just barley on so the bath doesn’t get to full, and the water doesn’t make the bath to hot! Trust me, this is awesome!
Just watch your toes. 🙂
Noah doesn’t look quite as thrilled with the bath! He is toooooo cute!
@Lisa,
Ha,ha…
I think that’s just a ‘bad’ picture…he LOVES the bath. He would seriously say in there all day. 🙂
And thanks…we agree..he is a cutie. 🙂
I used to have a male roommate that was a PROUD bath taker, he took a shower in the morning and a bath every night!
Baths. Are. The. Best.
My sister-in-law got me an assortment of “gourmet” bath bombs for Christmas. Her brother made fun of me. Most of my friends say I’m addicted. To me, it’s like being addicted to oxygen; it’s a good thing!
Thanks for the great post!
When we moved from an apartment to duplex (Baylor to Southwestern), we got the size larger than U=Haul suggested for a 2-bedroom apartment. We crammed, stuffed, and threw away, and we STILL had to have that awkward, “Uh…can we fill up the back of your truck and take it to Fort Worth? We promise we’ll get it back to you….” conversation.
Then the move from a duplex to our home here…the church helped us unload, and it was a little embarrassing. I mean, we just met them, and here they are hauling out OUR baseball card collection (okay, Jon’s), and our ten “memory boxes” (okay, mine). We hate moving. We will try to stay at this church forever, if only to never have to move again. Well, and the church is pretty great, too. 🙂
Jon has a dream of being a bath guy, but he’s a 6’4″ former football player. Just ain’t happenin’ in a standard tub!
Noah doesn’t look all that happy in the bathtub. Hope he likes swimming more!!!
You have totally made one of the worst days I have had in a long time end on a happy note. Thank you so much for what you are doing with your blog.
Awwww. I’m sorry you’ve had a bad day. That’s no good.
By I’m glad it’s better now! Thanks for the mind words about our site, Noah has a way of cheering people up!
I just love to read your post about Noah and your family. I bet you had a crazy day moving, and I bet Noah brought out the whip to get things moving. Personally, I am a shower person, but to each there own. I live in Ft. Worth, TX and why in the world do you deal with that Dallas traffic? Just keep the stories going on.
Our house has an awesome tub too! And my husband is also a bath guy when he has time.
It’s almost 3am here. I’m reading you bath “issues” and trying to not laugh to hard! Enzo woul definitely not be happy if I were to disturb him….hee hee hee! Enjoy the baths! It’s youre life! Looks like Noah is following your footsteps! Ah, the bond of a father and son!
Hahaha! I couldn’t stop laughing at your description as a “bath guy”. My husband is THE bath guy. He takes at least 2 bubble baths every day (he’s in one as I type this), and occasionally 3. One every morning to get ready for work, one before bed, and occasionally one in between. In the 8 years we’ve been married, I think I’ve only ever seen him take 1 shower at our house. And of course he’s disappointed when we are at hotels that only have a shower. He also talks on the phone, texts (he’s only ruined one cell phone by dropping it in), emails, and reads the news on the laptop. He’s been making me a little nervous lately since he’s been taking my Nook in there to read or watch Netflix. One of my favorite memories is when he was running a bath at 2 in the afternoon one day. I asked him what he was doing, why was he taking a bath (he had already taken one, was dressed, and not sick). His response was, “I have this new book I really want to read.” Apparently he didn’t understand the concept of just sitting on the couch to read. Oh well, I always give him a hard time about it but it really is endearing. And his love of baths has gotten me out of bath time most days with our 3 children. Most of our friends know and like to tease him about it by buying him flowery bubble bath as gifts. I have embraced it and plan to someday buy him a nice (little) tv set-up for the bathroom.
p.s. I just recently discovered your blog and really enjoy it. Noah is adorable!
I love my bath tub. My family call it my coffin. My worst experience in the tub is when I had a peeping tom knock on the bathroom window asking to love your see me. The window is now gone!!! I love your daily dose of Noah.
My hubby is totally a bath guy as well, he even made it into a Lush catalogue in the bath! (if you want to really knock your bath out of the park, try a Lush bubble bar. Lux-ur-y!) He’s a big burly construction guy, he hunts bears (no, not joking) and flies small planes and wears giant stinky boots, and he loooooves to take a bath every day!
This is a test
So thankful to have found your site. In May we were so excited to celebrate with my son and his sweet wife the arrival of their 1st child. We loved sweet Ethan from the moment we saw him, but as we discovered he had Down syndrome – we just wondered what would this mean for our family. Ethan needed to stay in the hospital a couple of weeks to treat his juandice,most of this time he was in the NICU. Tests for suspected digestive issues come back clear and after the jaundice cleared -the only other thing Dr’s found was a ASD that they will just watch for now -praying it justs takes care of itself. So we realized again we had a lot to be thankful for.
As a parent – and maybe even more as a Mom – we want to be fixers- we want to make everything OK- probably that really means we want the easy road for our children. But I know I serve a God who wants the BEST for His children – and usually that is not the easiest road & bottom line I want His best too. Ethan has a very supportive extended family – we know that we have been gifted with a special gift from God and we are anticipating wonderful times together. Ethan and his parents live 2 hours away so we are glad we can visit often.
My son and wife had just moved to Greensboro,NC a few months before Ethan was born – so the supportive Down syndrome community has meant a lot. But again I can’t thank you enough for your blogs – all the valuable information you give – resources you recomment – the encouragement you give- the wondeerful experiences of your family that you let us see. The wonderful picture you share with us.
So now I am out to buy some of those gifts you recommend and — though I am a shower person – think I might even take a bath tonight!!! Love the adventure!!!
Again – thank you!