Catch Up

I've done this too many times where I just have "blog binges" and then don't write for a long time.

I just need to catch up. For a while there, I didn't even have internet to blog with, so that was a challenge. And then I was at my parents. And then I was busy moving in.

So now, I guess I can get the big events down and move on with my life! haha

K, so, after my son was born, we moved to Menan, just a few minutes from school. My husband looked every day for a job. He was gone a lot of the time job-searching and I was trying to take care of myself and my baby. You see, I was having grey-outs and felt like I was going to faint all the time. It wasn't fun. But I couldn't really ask anyone for help, because I didn't know when I was going to feel that way. (The only thing I could do was make lots of doctor appointments, take test after test, wear monitors, more tests...sigh.)  Anyway, I was also trying to get organized in that home.

While in Menan, we made a few friends. There was this particular lady and her family who we bonded easily with. She was awesome and was obliged to teach me some new skills: canning fish, making sprout-wheat bread, storing food, etc. I loved that family. They were models.

Then we accepted a job. We would have to move. So I tried to pack up our house as quick as I could while my husband went and found us a place. Then when he came back we saw each other for an afternoon and he took me to the airport. I flew out to be with my Mom for the rest of the holiday season, while he moved us. This way, our baby wouldn't have to endure a hard drive, I would feel taken care of, and he would be able to focus on his new job until he met us at my mom's place.

So we missed each other a lot, but we felt it was the best thing.

While I was visiting home, my mom and I got to spend a lot of time together and she got to know my son better. I really thought that was special. Then my sister and her family arrived. It got even more fun and busy. I think my son enjoyed watching his cousins, but he was scared at first...those boys are loud! Then he got used to the noise. And my sister just loved my son and he really loved her. She could make him smile whenever they crossed paths. It was SO cute. She could get him to giggle out of control!

 Both my sister and I talked about how my Dad's absence was terribly felt and how there was a different feeling in our home. He was really missed. At least, the way things used to be. The person he was...

Then my husband and my other sister arrived and we got to enjoy the rest of the time we spent there with almost everyone. We saw my Dad here and there, and he came for family pictures, but we didn't get to spend Christmas with him. That was pretty depressing, to be honest.

On the bright side, we saw our son get excited about Christmas for the first time! I think it was all the colors and the excitement. It was so cute to watch him practically hyperventilate and reach for the new toys.  Then he would immediately stuff them in his mouth and gnaw on them. I seriously wondered if he was teething very early.

Before I move on from my home town, I do want to touch on one thing briefly. I was touched by some of the kindness I witnessed. Ward members and friends were aware of what was going on in our family. While some were not very sensitive, others were. My best friend's (in high school) mother and I had been in contact because I had kind of asked her to be a friend to my mom before I had got there.  Anyway, she came by the house and "kidnapped" my mom and they had a good talk. Then she and I got together. I thought this was just the sweetest thing. We went to the Cheese Cake Factory and she treated me. She and I talked and though she did want to hear about how my mom was doing, she specifically asked me how I was doing. Though disappointed, sad, frustrated, maybe a little angry, for the most part, at that time, I felt ok. I was more concerned about my mom. But she asked! She cared enough to take me out on a little date and make sure I was ok. I just have to say, she is still one of my heroes. Just goes to show that God lets some people into our lives to help us. We are never alone.

After Christmas, we went to our new home and I have been busy trying to set things up ever since. It is a fun little place, though it isn't so little to us. Its the biggest place we have ever been in. Maybe bigger than the three bedroom trailer we were in before. But it is old and a little funky. We have a random wood cupboard in our shower. We have to wrap the curtain around it to keep it from getting wet. I haven't been able to get our washing machine to work just right. But it works well enough. I've sewn and hemmed lots of curtains. We found a couch and crib on Craig's List. We also got a good deal on a table and chairs.

We have also already been somewhat involved in our ward. We've been invited to dinner a few times, we are having a mother and daughter over tonight, we had the missionaries over, we've taken a meal over to a family in need, I've played the piano a few times in the Primary, today we gave talks, and today I played for the ward choir and helped instruct some warm-ups.

So its been good!

And my husband's work is coming together too. He is having to make a lot of adjustments and learn some things, but it is coming along.