Where We're At

For one of our playdates with the ward, we went to a Curious George exhibit in Kansas City.  Joshua was thrilled to finally meet his hero in the flesh (sort of).

Joshua and I hanging out in our tiny pool in back of the apartment, trying to escape the super high temperature humidity.

Josh doing his honey-do list during his time off.  Yes, he is painting the kitchen.  And yes, the '70s, exceptionally gross looking cabinets needed it. 

Once upon a time, I was a faithful blogger. That was before I had a toddler whose sole mission in life is to be as destructive as possible in the shortest amount of time. The scary thing is that in a matter of a few short weeks, we will be welcoming a second child into our home...a little girl (!) to be exact;) We are very excited to meet her, even if she is going to be the size of a small whale. At an ultrasound two weeks ago (34 weeks) she was going on 7 pounds and measuring 37 weeks. I won't sugar coat how upset I was when I realized that her size would be a huge determination in whether or not I could have a vaginal birth, rather than another C-section. But when I think about it, faith would not be faith unless the odds were against me somewhat; Josh and I are still hoping and praying that she will come early enough that I won't be attempting to give birth the a 12 pound baby at 41 weeks.

Somewhere around the beginning of this last spring, Josh and I decided on taking our bodies to Lawrence, Kansas for the next three years. Shortly thereafter, my parents did what they do best and stepped in to help us in our time of need. We embarked on our journey on the 27th of May and saw our little apartment for the first time the following day. The cost of living must be significantly different in Utah-- at least concerning apartments. Our apartment in Cedar City was much newer on the inside and nicer, for much cheaper. Both Josh and I feel immensely blessed to live in the ward we do, which almost makes up for the difficulties we have had with our apartment (roof falling in, sinks leaking, toilet breaking in half, neighbors having drunken, loud parties). From the moment we made ourselves known in the ward, we were welcomed and surrounded with people who support each other and help in a way I have not seen in a ward before. It really gives the impression of a ward family when you consider that most of the members out here do not have family living within driving distance.

After much hard work and time spent, Josh completed his first semester at University of Kansas this summer. He was not expecting the program to be so intense and demanding, but I think he will survive if he can pace the workload. Josh is already a legend within the MaRCh program since hardly anyone is married, let alone a father of two children. With how this summer semester was so demanding, we seriously have our doubts about Josh being able to work a job but this has been a benefit for me because this month between the two semesters, Josh has been able to work on improving the state of our living quarters, under my direction.

Joshua is growing way too fast for my taste. Not physically (still only in the 25%) as much as personality intelligence. He is sleeping in a big boy bed, and has learned how to get out and empty his clothes drawers by putting each article of clothing on his body during the time he should be going to bed. Joshua does not say any full sentences yet, but his vocabulary has grown in leaps; most of the time I don't understand what he is saying, but there are usually enough discernible words to and pointing to distinguish what he wants. We are enjoying exploring some of the many, many parks and stores and I especially look forward to the day when it is easier for me to move about at these grand places.

It is so nice to go to the play groups our ward has and get to associate with amazing women who are also fairly young moms. It's safe to say that thus far, we have found nothing not to like about Lawrence. It is a larger city than what either of us are used to, but we are both loving how it has the small town feel with all of the many advantages of a bigger place. The greenery is very delightful, and the weekly (or more) rains are good for cooling off the oven of humidity. We are happy here and hope to make this feel more and more like home.