We moved and we survived!

Just letting blog-land know we survived the move.... because it may seem like we hadn't since I haven't blogged since then!  Between not much laptop time and other thing going on... I guess blogging hasn't been a priority!

One big thing that has happened is Obi turning 1 on April 30th!!!

Here's some pictures of our weekend away at Grandpa's!

As soon as I can resolve the situation that my recent pictures are in three different places... I'll get some other photos from the last couple months up!  

We have an announ... or news... or something to say...

Whenever the word "announcement" or "news" is said in regards to a young married couple.... usually a kid is somewhere in the making.
Well, we're not expecting... but we do have other news.

We're moving!

For a while, we felt the pull to be back where we came from and be closer to family.
We also knew that this summer we would move closer to Ben's work. And we thought that if we're going to move to a different city anyways.... then let's think about moving somewhere close to family and where we already know we like to live.

We've loved these past two years. We loved contributing to our church and getting to know this city. Ben was thankful for the manufacturing experience he got and being a part of several different management teams has taught him a lot.  The company may be sad to see him go. He excited to pursue different options with family business and no doubt use the skills he's learned these past two years.

As with any move, there some bitter mixed in with the sweet.  This is were we raised our first child for (nearly) the first year of his life.  We'll miss Which Wich and a Panda Express drive-thru.  I loved my doctor, pediatrician, delivery hospital, etc. I even liked the dentist I found here.  I LOVED being able to walk to Panera, Von Maur, consignment shops and grocery stores. I love the pedmall downtown and the library. I feel like I'm leaving one of the best places to raise a toddler.  I live an 8 minutes walk away from an outdoor park splash pad!  I also feel like we're leaving this city during a time when it's best to live here!  Oh spring is so glorious... and summer in a college town is awesome.  And our house, I love our house and it's been so perfect for us.
I also noticed that the minute something is about to leave or change- I realize how much I love it.

But, I've also learned that moving is not the end of the world, but actually can be quite the opposite. Moving happens a lot here.

Another cool confirmation was the ease of selling our house. Our neighbors were one the first people to know we were putting our house up for sale.  I figured maybe they know someone who wants to be their neighbor!  And they did. They connected me that night to their brother's family. That family saw the house a few days later. The next day we accepted their offer.  Boom. Done. (almost...)  How BLESSED to not even have to stick a "for sale" sign in our yard or finish the sub-par website that I started about our home.

So my days have been filled with soaking in the local things/people I'll miss and packing a box or two.
We're so excited to start something new and know that wherever we are, our God is the same.

thirteen thousand "words"

If a picture is worth a thousand words.... then here's thirteen thousand words!  Titled "Florida, January 2013"  Better late than never, right??

The first of many play place stops in our future! 

Those are manatees... at least that's what I was let to believe. 

291 days old

I just got curious today and thought I'd do some simple math.  Or... google a website that could do this simple math for me.

It's official.... Obi has been out of the womb longer than he was in it.  So that pretty much means he's a big kid now.  291 days since this kid has been out in the real world!!

But really, he's eating pretty much anything now and sleeping like a champ (most of the time).  Half the time he cries when he wakes up and half the time he bangs his pacifier on his crib or tosses it out and I can hear it hit the hardwood floor.
He finally has two tiny bottom teeth that make his smile more mature.
He's crawling faster everyday and finding new things to pull himself up on everyday as well.
He loves his mom and sometimes gets nervous when she's not around.
He likes things that are attached to strings (sweatshirt/coat strings, pacifier clip, a drum toy that we have).
He also likes things that are like sticks that he can hold and swing around like  my his soup ladle and whisk.  We had a paint-stir stick out and (of course) he managed to find it and then crawled around poking and prodding his toys and furniture.
He claps puzzle pieces together like cymbals and enjoys making any noise.
He crawls around my feet in the kitchen everyday and is thrilled with each new tupperware or utensil (or occasional food scrap) that I'll toss down to him. I love it when he crawls while grasping a toy in his hand.
He's so funny to watch explore and learn through playing.
"Baby Signing Time" is his favorite show but we're still working on those concepts to click.  He knows how to sign "milk," "more," and "all done."  He just doesn't know when to do them and which one gets him which thing.
He claps, all the time.
He is a master beat boxer and can make so many noises with his lips and mouth.  He can imitate a ton! He's pretty good as his "da-da-das" and his "bowbowbow" (rhymes with wow) and can make an "mmmmm" sound but not quite "ma" yet!
He turning into quite a flirt when he turns his head sideways and gives a sly smile.  He can only turn his head to the right, though.

Oh Obster.... You are truly a joy!!

January

[This was one of those scheduled draft posts that apparently didn't post on schedule...  It's about January, which I know was like 2 weeks ago, but I'm still going to post it.  It was rather therapeutic to type this out. So, let's reflect on January.] 

I feel bad for January sometimes-- it gets a bad rap.  Not many people say they like the month of January in the Midwest. November/December are busy celebrating holidays and with family...February is short and therefore seems to go fast. March gives us more hints of sunshine and spring.  April and May are just the best.  And poor January... people just seem to endure January.

January gave me lots of tears and lots of joy.

January brought us into beginning year 4 of our marriage and caused my thankfulness for my husband to grow.
January brought me the flu for a day :(
January gave us some sunshine in Florida!! And the packing, traveling, and plane ride with a baby.

In January, I watched my grandma hold her great grandson and play and talk with him, and then only a week later I watched as her weak body was only able to give a slight smile when Obi squealed. I watched her spirit grow strong as her body grew weak. January was the last month my grandma saw on this Earth.

January was when my baby started crawling. And when he got his first tooth (just yesterday!! A tiny little razor sharp tooth cutting through). January made my baby Obi so much fun! He can clap, nod/shake his head, babble, wrestle, and growl. January made him 9 MONTHS OLD. (wow).

January had me busy at home (when we were home) preparing our house for two people to live with us for a few weeks.  They are here from China through an exchange program with our church. They cook, they clean, they watch babies while I shower... it's been fun!! :)

January overwhelmed me.  The last Monday morning in January I spent at the only enjoyable place outside the house in Iowa in January.... the mall.  It was just me and my baby-- we walked, we ate food, we played peek-a-boo, we looked at Target clearance, and we bought bigger baby clothes. It was so refreshing and I had no idea how bad I needed that morning. It also confirmed that I am an introvert.  I felt like it was the first time I was able to truly breathe in January.  Part of that was because it's exhausting waiting for someone to die. Its hard watching family grieve. Even though my grandma gained Heaven when she died, its still hard for us here.

Sometimes, I wished it was January forever.  But that's only because of the fact that babies grow fast.  I love this baby stage so much and I know it's the only time where I'll ever have just one child this age.

So here's to February... may it bring me many chances to truly breathe.

Want to feel selfish? Be a parent.

[I'm starting to sort through the posts in my "draft" section.... this one was started months ago! But it's a truth that I am still learning. Enjoy...]

A tiny person named Obi has taught me so much about myself. Namely, he's taught me how selfish I am.

Before Obi, I LOVED going to Target by myself.  I know a lot of women can relate to me on this "Target Therapy."  Something about the bright lights, wide aisles, the nifty red cruiser-carts, cute throw pillows, and the red clearance stickers...  Only one thing would make this city's Target better: a Starbucks (instead of the awkward Target "snack shop") Oh yes, and a "Super" in front of "Target."  Oh well, can't have it all.

It was so easy to go places and I never though twice about driving across the road to another store.
I loved thrift shopping and would sometimes hit all 5 that I love in this city in one day.
I also loved cleaning and decorating and making my house a home.
In college, I loved going to Borders book store and flipping through magazines in a comfy chair. (RIP Borders stores)
I could get ready in the morning so fast after accepting a last-minute sub job.
I enjoyed laying out in the sun getting a tan.
It was fun to see movies in an actual theater.
Oh the days of a long shower and shaving my entire leg, not just the knees-down.

I really miss those things! Since a baby, my Target trips are very "to the point" and I look at only what is on my list.  Oh yeah, and now lists are a must because I can never remember what I need.  And the list has things like "the white package non-scented boogie wipes" on them. Thrift stores are only possible with baby-wearing in those cluttered aisles.  Good thing Ben has made a movie theater in our basement because now that's impossible.  There's a constant "game plan" in my mind of when I fed him last, when he'll be tired-therefore when he'll be fussy, when he'll need to eat next... etc.

When I think about these things that I miss, my selfishness is embarrassingly obvious.  I coveted my alone time and the simplicity of life.

And I only have ONE baby and he takes at least two naps a day!!

Slowly, these things are becoming more possible. And even enjoyable.  If I want to leisurely walk around the mall and buy nothing... I want to do it with my baby because I can justify that trip as "getting the baby out of the house."  I only go places when I know he'll be awake because he's so happy to be out.  Grocery shopping is fun with him.  The constant "game planning" now comes to me so naturally. Sometimes I think more about when he needs to eat next that I forget about when I may need to eat next.
 Putting him to bed has become SO easy that babysitters are a possibility. Napping has also become SO much better (like put-him-in-his-crib-and-leave easy).

It's a combination of turning the infant into the baby... and getting past the 1st time mom learning curve/shock.

But mostly, it's sacrifice.  Many people who haven't even experienced salvation through the ultimate sacrifice of God's son will tell you that having children requires sacrifice- but that it's SO worth it.

Learning true sacrifice for another comes with friendships/family/dating relationships/marriage... it makes you be something else.  Marriage made me be a wife. This baby boy made me be a mom. But being a mom doesn't replace my titles of wife/sister/friend/daughter/etc.  It just adds to it. Each new role requires you to adapt to changes and make those changes the "new normal."
Being made a wife was exciting and I could converse with the one [husband] who brought about the changes and my necessary adaptation and sacrifice. Being made a mom was also exciting... but probably more exhausting if I'm honest... and you can't converse with the one [baby] who has caused all the changes. I mean, they are tiny people who act entirely on a series of reflexes. Thus, sacrifice is necessary.

I've noticed that I've started to say "we" instead of "me."  "We'll return the Redbox today." "When we went to the store..." "When we ate lunch.... "   This kid is my little sidekick in everything I do all day.  It may seem like my perspective in life has gotten so small and so focused on this one mini-person and everything to do with a baby.  But "mom" is just being lined up with all my other titles.

Has my perspective narrowed? I don't think so at all. My ability to love has grown so much (and I can tell it's not done growing) and that has made me a better and broader person. Sacrifice for a worthy cause is always worth it.

tiny Obi pictures

Just taking a step back to the days of Obi-infancy. This may have been brought about by the fact that this baby is 9 months old is less than a week. Oh how I miss that black baby hair... but I do love the smiles from today!