And then our plans changed...

Two weeks after I wrote about our plans to stay in California, our world was shaken up again.

We celebrated Dave's first Father's Day on Sunday.
On Monday we were robbed in the middle of the night (while we were home).
Tuesday Dave interviewed for a job with a software company.
And Wednesday we received an out-of-the-blue phone call with an offer for a full-time position at our previous church in Columbia, SC.

What a week.

We stalled the unpacking (we'd only been in our new place barely two weeks) and began praying hard and considering our options.

Fast-forward a couple weeks later and Dave accepted the staff position at the church and we began making plans to move back to SC.

Also, the police caught the man who broke into our home, Dave's laptop was recovered, my purse wasn't, and we filed our renter's insurance claim (we'd just taken out the policy 6. days. earlier).

In all honesty, this was the last place we thought God would take us after our time in California, but we are excited for this new chapter to begin! Literally every plan we tried to make in the last six months didn't work out (from birthing to jobs to location). Now looking back we can see how God had His hand in all of this and worked out the details just as they should.

We move this coming Tuesday (I'm flying with Naemi, and Dave and his brother are driving a moving truck across the country). We can't wait to be back in the land of biscuits, sweet tea, humidity, lightning bugs, Publix, thunder storms, real seasons, green mountains, and family. That said, it's bittersweet leaving California and Biola after we got out hearts set on staying here.

In closing, our big chubba wubba daughter is growing so fast and so well! According to the pediatrician, her weight is that of an average one-year-old. So is her head circumference. Can't wait to share that at her wedding rehearsal dinner.

She rolled over by herself for the first time today, smiles like crazy, is at the beginning of teething, and has turned a new leaf in terms of sleeping at night. We love her so much and are filled with more and more joy each day as we watch her grow.

Already in an almost-too-tight 9 month outfit.

She chews on her fists almost incessantly.

Also, moving boxes in the background.

On Motherhood

It's been a day, and it's not even 5 o'clock yet.

My baby is almost 10 weeks old and in that time I've come to realize that motherhood isn't all I thought it would be.

At the start of my day I drug my self to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher, only to find a bunch of unwashed dishes. Oh, let me tell you, we did turn on the dishwasher last night and remember to put soap in it.

Guess I'll be hand washing that crockpot.

Naemi woke up an hour later than "usual". That word is in quotations because we've gone through so much transition over the last 2 months that I'm not sure if anything is my life right now is consistent enough to be "usual".

I sang her a song, changed her diaper, played a little and then just as we sat down to nurse, she had a blowout. The majority of it leaked out a leg hole.

Crap, it got on the Boppy pillow. I'll have to hand scrub it since the cover is still in the wash from the last explosion.

I changed her and we finished nursing. Fifteen minutes later when we were having more playtime before her nap, she spit up. A lot. All I could think of was how much she's been spitting up lately.

Is something in my diet giving her reflux? What will I eat if I have to give up dairy?? Or could it be peanuts? I did eat a lot of trail mix yesterday. And a peanut butter sandwich. What if it was all that ice cream I had the other night? How long does it take for food to get passed on to breastmilk? I'm probably not being a good mom by eating cereal every morning. I mean, I eat the healthier stuff and put fruit in it, but it's probably still just non-organic processed crap. I should grow my own blueberries.

Once Naemi was asleep I got to work on tonight's dinner. Thank goodness I started it in the morning so it'd be ready by tonight.

First I let the potato water boil all over the stove. Then I burned my finger on the pot. Ouch. And as I was mashing the potatoes up in a too-small bowl, I notice a rather large piece of wrapper from the butter amidst the mush.

Good thing we're not having company tonight.

When I finally made it to lunch time, at the same moment I heard my sleeping baby start to wail in the next room over, I spilled peanut butter all over the counter.

I thought this was the "no stir" kind?! How is there that much oil in this stuff?? I should have just taken a nap instead of eating lunch. Or done more unpacking. This place is such a wreck.

I ran to the back room, licking peanut butter off my hands along the way, and comforted my little girl back to sleep.

Did she wake up because she's not tired anymore? Am I doing her more harm than good by responding to her every little cry? Did I remember to turn down the air enough so she doesn't overheat? I probably did a bad job swaddling her, and that's why she keeps waking up. Maybe I didn't play with her enough before putting her down. I should get some toys for her. Good moms give their babies high-contast colored toys to play with so they stay ahead developmentally. I'll go to Target later.

Big news!

Well, I'll just spit it out:

We're staying in California!

As it will be to many of you, this news came as quite a shock to Dave and me. After spending the last year preparing in every way to move away from our SoCal home, it turns out that God had different plans. It took us a bit, but we finally realized that God shutting doors wasn't His way of making us suffer (what a silly thing to think anyways); instead, it was God showing us that our life was supposed to be here.

Even though we're not making a cross-country trip, which would include (but certainly not be limited to) making new friends, finding a new church, and starting over in almost every way possible, we are still in a transition phase.

We're transitioning from Dave being in school to working full-time. We're still (shock!) learning how to be parents. And the best part of all (in my opinion anyways) is moving to a new home. Goodbye student housing, and hello grown up apartment!

Seriously, we found such a gem of a place just a few miles away. We move next week and couldn't be more thrilled with our new home. I mean, what will life be like with air conditioning and TWO bedrooms? I'll post pictures after we move.

The other perks are getting to continue friendships, worshipping at our church, and having more SoCal fun. Before we decided to stay (which was only about 5 days ago), I'd well up at the thought of possibly never touching the Pacific again and leaving too many places unexplored. That was probably half sentiment and half hormones.

So here's to having a place to call home!

Long Beach.
I snapped this the first time Dave and I went to the beach after moving here.

Mother's Day, 6 weeks, and end of the semester!

We have a 6 week old child. Where has the time gone?

6 weeks old, on the way to my last post-op appointment. I think she was mid-yawn here.

 I'm praising God that we've made it, with a small grain of sanity, to Naemi's 6 week birthday. It sure does feel like a milestone, especially because so many things sort of start falling into place by this time. We've gotten the hang of breastfeeding, we can distinguish between different cries, we've officially had every type of bodily fluid on us at some point, and we've even managed to get out of the house a few times.

Whew. This parenting thing isn't for the faint of heart.

But among the sleepless nights and numerous loads of laundry, Dave and I have found so much joy in raising our little person. She has been such a treat to watch grow, and I love seeing all her new developments each week!

Sweet smiles.

Dave and Naemi gave me the best first Mother's Day a girl could ask for. It was full of flowers, food, movies at home, and snuggles with my two favorite people in the world.

For dinner, Dave made herbed goat cheese and asparagus stuffed chicken with grilled corn. Yum.

What a privilege to be a mommy to my sweet girl, and to have such an amazing husband to help me do it!

On another note, there is one week left of Dave's final semester at Talbot! We still can't believe our time here is almost over. A few days ago Dave was honored at the Talbot awards chapel for two things: making it on the Who's Who Among Students list and for receiving the Best Work of the Year in Systematic Theology award. I was one proud wife!

Next week will be full of graduation festivities, visits from family and friends, and, unfortunately, starting our goodbyes here.