dolor de cabeza

apologies to caren and all our other regular blog-checkers for the two-week lapse in blogging. it's been a hard two weeks, in different ways. the primary way is that i've had an inordinate amount of headaches lately, making all tasks besides diaper-changing (and even including diaper-changing, some days) out of reach. i'm feeling really exhausted and frustrated, and this all during the week before our big trip east, when we have lots of last-minute tasks planned. aaron has been incredibly supportive and helpful, and the extra time he and noah have had together has been really good for both of them. now noah cries when aaron leaves!

in other momentous and frustrating news, we've been actively trying to buy a house in bellingham for a while now, and it is starting to feel impossible. it takes a lot of energy and committment to advocate for ourselves as unusual homebuyers who would like an unusual home (i.e. a smallish historic multi-family fixer-upper in town) ...particularly as most real estate and mortgage people we've encountered seem much more comfortable with average homebuyers buying an average house (i.e. a newish cookie-cutter tiny house or condo out of town) ...even when it means taking out a mortgage for much more than one can really afford! the whole system seems a bit bizarre to us. but i think for now we've decided to take a few steps back and try to figure out what sort of thing, more generally, would be best for our little family in the near future. any ideas?

and in other momentous and not-frustrating news, we've bought a new car! we're super excited about our beautiful new volvo 240 wagon. it's a lovely blue-green hue, very spacious and cozy, easy to drive and even has a cd player! (this is a big milestone for us.) we're excited to take lots of road trips in the volvo, and are actively searching out a rear-facing third seat for the back, so that when the wassells visit we can pack tons of kids into the wagon. (chris and i decided that she and i will drive around in the truck, and let aaron and scott take all the boys in the wagon. we haven't told them yet!)

and lastly, in the most hopeful news of all, today is the third sunny day in a row! (after maybe a rainier winter than even noah the arkbuilder had to contend with.) i think it's really spring!