15 Months and 2 Months as Webbed-Footers

It's hard to believe that we've been in Oregon now for almost 2 months. It has been such a whirlwind! Aside from the whole moving to a new state transition, we are also living in what we're calling "The Great Experiment," or for those of you who grew up watching the show Full House like I did, I lovingly call it, "Full House on Crack." :-) We are living with Nathan's parents.... AND grandparents. Yep! That's right, 4 generations in one house!!! Are we nuts? Yep. Definitely. Certifiably. But.... as hard and crazy as it is...... it's so worth it. We are determined to get completely out of debt (or at least 95% out of debt so we can save up a nest egg too before moving out, we'll have to see where we are in a few months) in 1 year! And barring any "life" surprises (appendicitis, major car repairs, etc), everything looks good to go on paper! So that's our biggest excitement about living here.. BY FAR! But also, as hard as it is at times, it's awesome to get to see Annabella getting the chance to spend time with two of her great-grandparents, both of which are almost 90 years old!!! How many 15 month old's get that privelage in our culture? And it's fun to hear their stories about when they had kids. (Though, I wish she weren't so far away from her other set of great-grandparents :-( ). Despite all of the challenges (differences in parenting styles, generational differences, our dog who doesn't like Nathan's grandparents, etc), I really think this will be a time we will look back on and be so thankful that we had the chance to experience. We're excited, and hopeful, to see where everyone is at the end of this year. Where we are in our debt pay-off/savings plan, how Annabella has grown, how ALL of us have grown, and what we've all learned.... it's definitely one wild ride.... that's for sure!

And God has blessed us SO much by Nathan's job! Not only was he approved to take his electrician's license test (Colorado and Oregon aren't reciprocal states so we had to get approval for the state of Oregon to see if they felt he had enough experience to even just take the test to get his OR license), he PASSED his test, got his license on a Wednesday, and was working at a job that will have full benefits (that we'll be able to afford), pays SIGNIFICANTLY more than his job in Colorado did, and has more work than they know what to do with, on FRIDAY that week! Yep. Just two days later, the company that had been talking with him for over 2 months about wanting to hire him, saved the position for him until he got his license even though they were swamped with work, and he is absolutley LOVING it!!! They're also going to give him a company truck after his 90 day probationary period, which he's never had, and is super excited about. He actually looks forward to going to work everyday, and is eager to "go the extra mile" for them as he feels so great about how the company functions and how they run things. All in all, we couldn't be more blessed! God is gracious.

We're still trying to get everything set for Nathan to start his classes for this fall, but we're close. He's working toward getting a degree in Renewable Energy Engineering at the Oregon Institute of Technology, but will do two years of foundational classes at a community college out here. He has to establish his residency out here so that his tuition at OIT is about $10,000 a year cheaper so he can't take more than 8 hours of classes in this first year, but that's probably a very good thing as he gets back into the swing of things in his new job and as we work hard at getting out of debt in this first year. But he's anxious to start his class soon. :-)

And Annabella is talking, talking, talking!!!! Wow. It's amazing how much this girl has to say. She has more words than I can remember to write down, but some are Mommy, Daddy, Asher, Bye-Bye, Hi, Hello, be right back, off, on, baby, bonk, stuck, snack, lunch, breakfast, rice, ice, bumble-bee, moon, milk, walk, splash, water, fork, stop it, I did it, yay, kisses, good-night, and many many more. Now, not all of these words sound EXACTLY like the actual word, but when used in context it can be very clear, and she's very consistent with them too. Some though sound so much alike that it can be very hard to decipher what she's saying some times and she gets very frustrated. :-( Poor girl. But she's practicing!! Man, oh man, is she practicing! She likes to go off on these long soliloquy's complete with vocal inflections, eye contact to the entire audience, and hand gestures, all in her own little language. She will some times wake up singing and dancing to her own made up song. I have most definitely been once and for all, upstaged. ;-) And I love it! I'm so thankful that we chose to make the sacrifices necessary for me to stay home with her. I wouldn't want to miss a second of all these great moments with her. She's the best! Oh, and she can also tell you that a dog says "arf, arf"," a lion and a tiger say "roar", a cow says "moo", and a duck says "quack, quack." Oh she, can say duck too.

She's running now, and likes to dance. Loves going to the zoo, and has recently started holding our hands and going for walks. She likes taking Asher for a walk around the neighborhood and does fabulously well just holding my hand waiting for me to carry her across streets. Yes, I'm bragging.... but aren't all moms supposed to brag about their kiddos? ;-) She's the best, so cute, and quite the ham.

So while there's a lot of good, it's also hard because I miss Colorado and my family and friends a lot, a lot. :-( I'm actually pretty lonely out here, but I know friends will come with time. We've found a church we really like, which is great! It's a family integrated church (no nursery or sunday school, the kiddos are in the service with us, and they have lunch every week for extended fellowship). Yes, we're continuing our counter-cultural weirdness! :-P So, I know in time we'll make some friends there, and I'm hoping to be able to start going to some La Leche League groups soon.... if I can find one that works with my girlie's naps, so I know friends and community will come soon...but in the meantime, it's a wee bit lonely. ::sigh:: Yay for facebook and good cell phone plans in the meantime. :-)

Anyway, that's all the big news from us. Enjoy the picture of Annabella. She laughed RIGHT when I took the picture. I love this one!!

Oregon or Bust!

Well, after many months of waiting, we are officially moving back to Portland, Oregon! I have to admit it's a very bittersweet situation. On one hand, we are all eager for Nathan to begin his path toward becoming a Renewable Energy Engineer (our main reason for moving to Oregon), and we're super excited about the plan to get out of debt while he's doing it! But... I'd be lying if I didn't say we were both very sad to be leaving Colorado and all the friends and family (and SUNSHINE) that are here. Even Nathan, the hard core webbed-footer that he is, is sad to be leaving Colorado. But we may still get to come back after its all said and done. Who knows what the Lord has in store! In the meantime, we have tons of packing, getting rid of things, and all the crazy stressful administrative things (that NEITHER Nathan nor I are all that great at ;-)) to get done in a very short amount of time! A week in Estes Park with the Carr family will be fun before we head out. We'll finally get to meet our nephew Henry!! And see Nathan's older brother and his wife who we haven't seen since Nathan's younger brother's wedding a year ago. So we're excited for that. But Nathan and his dad will drive away with the truck right after the vacation is over so we have to get it all done before then. Oy! Including all our tearful good-byes. ::sigh::

Well in the words of our old Pioneer ancestors, it's "OREGON OR BUST!"

Though... if I had been a pioneer, I would've taken one look at Pikes Peak and said FORGET Oregon... I'm good with this mountain! ;-) Hence the picture of Pikes Peak instead of Mt. Hood. ;-)

One Year

So not only is my baby girl walking ALL over the place, and talking some she's also a whole year old! I can't believe it. It's definitely bittersweet. I'm thrilled to see her blossoming personality and to see her doing so very well in so many ways, but it's also sad to look back at the photos of my newborn baby girl this time last year and know that those baby days are over. But Bella is SO much fun now, and it's a joy to watch her discover her world in so many new ways now.

We had party for her at my mom's house. My grandpa came all the way from Kansas and we had some good friends come to help celebrate. Bella got to spend the day with her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ben too so that was super fun.

She was blessed with LOTS of fun gifts!! Mostly musical. Fun cd's for the car, a percussion set full of maracas, a tambourine, cymbals, a triangle and other fun instruments, a puzzle and a push wagon, but by FAR her favorite gifts was a little piano that's just her size! She's already working on her Elton John impression. :-)

We had a big birthday cake that had a picture of her on it (thanks Grandma!), and I made her a sugar free/egg free apple spice cake that was DELICIOUS!! I liked it better than the big cake. :-)

Even though Bella didn't nap well that day at all and was SUPER tired, she had a BLAST walking around and hamming it up for everyone who was there. She's such a treasure and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Annabella Updates

Annabella is 10 months old! I can NOT believe it!! My mom already mentioned planning for her first birthday. This year has FLOWN by! Unbelievable. I thought I'd record a few of her milestones here in the past few months as there have been MANY (I hope I can remember them all):

1. 8.5 months - Started crawling forward but only toward something on which she could pull herself up to a standing position

2. 8 - 8.5 months - Started cruising (walking while holding onto furniture) around on anything she could pull herself up on (people included)

3. 9 months - Started crawling forward not just to get to something to pull herself up but also to get all over the place! She discovered there IS life beyond the couch. :-)

4. 9 months - Her first 2 teeth FINALLY broke through the surface! She's currently working on another one but no evidence of it yet.

5. 9 months - Decided she liked some solid food and now gets 3 "meals" where she mostly plays with her food, and feeds Asher, but if she likes it enough she'll eat a fair amount. Her favorites (green beans :-), raisins, chicken, buffalo, carrotts, sweet potato, avacado, spinach, and blueberries). She doesn't really like much fruit much except for blueberries. :-) And momma's milk is still by far her choice meal.

6. 9.5 months - Started standing unassisted for a few seconds.

7. 10 months - Can now stand unassisted for up to minute! When she really wants to ;-)... she doesn't do it very often.

8. 10 months - Started "walking" with mommy and daddy while holding onto our pant legs and peeking through our legs (it's pretty dang cute)

9. 10 months - Started clapping her hands!!!!! THE C-U-T-E-S-T!!!

10. 8 - 10 months - Says LOTS and LOTS of things that I don't quite understand yet. But she definitely understands a lot! Like, "no", "don't touch," "all done?," and a few others. She hasn't said any clear word yet, but she definitely communicates with us and makes her points clear! :-)

11. 9.5 - Started taking 2 naps instead of 3. Some times I think she's tired enough for a 3rd nap, but she refuses to take it. Most days she does great on 2!

Oh, and this isn't really a milestone by any means but it's adorable! She and Asher play together..... constantly! I really feel like I have two kids sometimes. They "fight" over toys! Bella totally knows which toys are Asher's and which ones are hers. When she gets one of Asher's she'll grab it and start crawling or cruising away as FAST as she possible can all the while LAUGHING hysterically trying to get away. Then Asher will come and gently pull it out of her hand and run away with it (at a MUCH slower pace than he ever does with us) so Bella (all the while laughing mind you) can crawl after him to them pull it out of his mouth! It's pretty darn cute to watch! Some times it's not so jovial, as Asher can pull it out of her hand a little too hard or Bella just doesn't want to play is grouchy about it.... but for the most part, those two are two peas in a pod! SOOO glad they love each other!

And one final fun thing, we took her to the zoo for the first time last weekend! It was a lot of fun, though she just looked a little wide-eyed at all the animals! It'll be a lot of fun to watch her when she's older. She got to hear the elephants drink up water (they were inside). VERY interesting sound!!! And she also got to watch her daddy feed a giraffe! First time for both of them. :-) It was fun. And we ran into some friends while were there! Josh, Lindsey and Cassie. Fun, fun day!

Just Let Her Cry

Wow.... that's really all I can say is wow. What a startlingly thought provoking perspective on the "crying it out" issue.

This is somewhat of a side-note but still related. The other day I was putting Annabella in her Moby Wrap (one of the carriers I use to wear her) on our way into the grocery store. As I was getting the car locked up and about to head into the store, a woman approached me and thanked me for holding my baby. I was very surprised to hear someone thanking me for such an innate simple thing! She said she was a nurse and that it just breaks her heart to see so many babies sitting in their carseats ALL the time (from car, to store, back to car, to doctors office, back to car, to post office, back to car, etc... all the while never being held). She said that human touch is SO important that my baby will be so much happier for the fact that I hold her, and she thanked me again. Annabella smiled at her. :-)

Wow... so profound. In an age when people are STARVING for community and connectedness and relationships and dare I say... touch, why is it that some can seemingly so easily deprive even the littlest ones of this fading commodity? In an age of people taking anti-depressants like candy and spending hours chatting online with people they've never even met half-way around the world searching for fulfillment and connectedness why must we continue to feed this monster of "separate-ness" and independence to our children when they're so young?

Will a hug fill these voids in peoples' hearts? No. Not entirely. Will holding a crying baby solve their every need. Possible, depending on the need. Will smiling at a stranger help save their life? Possibly? Who knows what they were thinking or what they were about to do.

I know more than ever as I get older that only Jesus can truly satisfy these deep longings for wholeness.... BUT..... He never meant for us to be alone, even with Him. He meant for His people to live in community, in relationship, greeting each other with a "holy kiss."

Oh that our culture would value people and relationships over convenience!

Start the New Year out right..... Go hold a crying (or not crying baby), give someone a hug, and give a stranger a smile!