Whew, where did time go? The past few weeks and months have been busy and full of changes for us. First off, we are all healthy and doing great. We were planning a relocation to Dallas, Texas this week, but we have changed that now and have no idea when we will be moving.
Let's start with the family update. Kiari is doing great. She is eating like a champ and now weighs in at a healthy 13 pounds 1 oz (as of Monday of this week.) She is 26" long and has a great set of lungs. Last night and the night before she actually slept from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am. I like this streak and hope that it continues! That would be heavenly. Last night was the first night she slept in her big crib. It was kind of nice, but I also missed having her there right beside me. This morning, I woke up to hearing her jabber at her mobile above her. That is the best way to wake up in the morning. She absolutely HATE laying on her tummy, but it is the one thing that she needs to do to strengthen her upper body and learn to roll and such. So sadly for me... and I guess her, we get to listen to her scream multiple times a day as she rests on her tummy.
Kate finished Pre-school on the 18th of May. She is now ready and rearing to go to Kindergarten. She is getting so big. It is so much fun to listen to her as she continues do learn and discover this world and form her own opinions. Right now she is in a stage similar to the "why" stage. She asks what things mean. For instance, last night we were watching Dr. Who and one of the characters kept saying, "Exterminate," and she would ask what Exterminate means. She doesn't allow me to just give her a simple answer either. I will answer and she will probe for more information or extra answers and definitions. It is kind of fun. I love hearing how she thinks things work.
Riley has also finished school for the year. She is now headed into 6th grade. She had her braces tightened for the very last time yesterday and will have them removed in August. She couldn't be happier. It is amazing to look at my little girl and no longer see a little girl, but rather a young lady. I don't know that I am ready for all the changes that will most certainly happen this next year.
Garth has finished his residency and is now an attending physician. Along with the new income comes all the debt repayment. Sigh. That should be fun for the next several years. We did take a plunge and bought a new vehicle. We actually ordered it from the factory so we could get it just how we wanted it. We ordered a GMC Acadia. It is a beautiful vehicle. It holds 7 people, so now we can have friends for family come along for various outings rather than take two vehicles.
As I said, we were supposed to be moving this week, but plans have changed, don't they always? In May, Garth had a class in Dallas in preparing for his board exams later this summer. We decided I would go with him and feel out the housing market. Riley stayed here and we had a girl from church that was home from school for the summer, stay with her. We were fortunate (or perhaps not so fortunate) to have my new vehicle come in just days before we left on our long road trip to Dallas. You might have heard about a few of the tornadoes that went through the mid west in the past couple of weeks. Well, sadly, one of those tornadoes hit Irving, Texas. And what do you know? I was in Irving, Texas. We had hail the size of baseballs pummel my brand new car. :( It was so sad... not to mention quite frightening. My new car, which I had only had for 11 days at the time was hit bad. It will spend the next two weeks in the body shop due to the extent of the needed repairs.
Other than that, the trip was great. I spent some time with my sister and am looking forward to getting down there and being able to hang out with her more. I also spent some time with a realtor looking for the ever elusive rental property. While the housing market in Ohio is AWFUL, it just isn't the case in Dallas. So with that said, we will be staying in Ohio for a bit longer. We were unable to find a place that I was comfortable getting and moving in to. The homes are so much more per month than what I am paying for our home here and they are TONS smaller and no where near as nice. Jumping back into the rental scene is going to be a difficult one after owning my own home again. I am more excited than ever to be moving to the Dallas area though. I am much more comfortable and ready to go.
So that is us in a nut shell. We are all alive and kicking and despite a few setbacks, doing wll.
