Happy Girl

Can you believe this little thing is 17 months already?  She is such a firecracker!  She loves to talk and her vocabulary is growing daily.  Some of her words are: mama, daddy, Georgia, baby, ducky, hi, bye-bye, uh-oh, bible, drink, keys, what's that and oh man.  She is often making noise and I still hear from Georgia, "Lola, be quiet!" It's not very effective.

She's taken a few little steps, but not quite walking yet.  She walks on the inside of her feet and I hope a trip to the chiro might correct that to make walking and keeping her balance easier.  

Though she is a little rambunctious, she is very cuddly and squishy and is free with her hugs and kisses if you just ask.  Such a happy little girl.

Update on the House

The other day we got a call from the realtor of the home we're trying to purchase and he asked us for an extension on the closing date.  When we put in our offer at the end of May we added a closing date of July 28, knowing that it may not go through by then.  It won't, so we've extended the closing date to the end of August.  Our realtor says this is a good sign that things are progressing.  We are trying to think positive - hoping that if they thought it would take longer than another month, they would've asked us to extend farther.  I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but Andy thinks we may have more information by the end of July.

Splash Pad

We had our first experience with a splash pad this week when we went for a birthday party.  So fun!  Lots of water and splashing and staying cool and not worrying about drowning children.  When we first arrived Georgia said, "I don't want to swim here!"  But after walking through with her dad and little friends, she didn't want to leave.  We all had a great time!

Book I Am Currently Reading

Impress Faith on Your Kids by Mark Holmen

Life Right Now....

....is kinda weird.  It's definitely good, and we are happy, but it is strange.  We closed on our house last week and moved in with a family from church.  We have lots of space: our own kitchen, living space, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms.  The girls like it here.  But after being here for about 10 days, I am starting to miss "home."  I remind myself someone else lives there and I haven't allowed myself to drive by the old house.  It might still feel like it should be mine.

So we've spent the last week getting settled and arranged, figuring out laundry schedules and cleaning schedules, grocery shopping and the like; all the while waiting to hear about the house on Hazelwood and we've heard...nothing new.  We know the bank has sent an appraiser to the house and the short sale company has a negotiater involved making sure all the official stuff is correct.  We've known this for awhile now.  So we wait...

We are definitely busy with friends and church events and truly are enjoying staying where we are (it's kind of like a mini-retreat spot).  All of our needs are met and we are very comfortable.  Though we are anxious to hear about the house, we have come to see this time as a gift.  A real gift.

The Last Night

Tonight is our last night here at the house on Aspen.  Hmmmph. 

It's the last night sleeping here, the last night I'll do a load of laundry here, the last night I'll put my kids to bed in their first rooms, and the last night I'll bathe them here.

I feel sad.  Andy feels excited, and so do I to a point.  It's hard to be excited when we still don't know if the new house is actually ours yet.  We do have first priority as buyers with the new house, but even now people are still able to view it and visit it if they're interested.

We are preparing the girls as much as we can to let them know that soon we'll be leaving our house and someone else will live here and we will have a new house. (This is not super clear for Georgia.  She said, "And some little boy is going to sleep in my bed?")  But we have to also explain that where we are going tomorrow is not the new house, but a friend's house and then when our new house is ready, we will move there.  I don't like living in limbo.

The thought that this will be someone else's house does disturb me a little bit.  This house will still be home in my mind for awhile.  I think I will want to drive by to see it, but it'll be strange not to pull in the driveway and walk inside or swing with the girls in the backyard.  I will want to walk through the house to check on it and see if they changed the colors of the rooms.  They probably will and then I'll know it's not home anymore.

Update on the White Family

Many of you have asked how my friend Sara and her twin babies are doing.  We went to visit Sara on Wednesday and here is an update of their condition:

To start, the girls have names and they are beautiful!  Baby A is Lydia Beth and Baby B is Magdalene Grace (Maggie).  They are considered micro-premies and have both lost a little bit of weight as most babies do in their first days, but are hanging on in the 1 lb 8 or 9 oz range.  They have heart murmurs, which is to be expected since the fusing of the heart happens right before full-term birth.  They both had brain scans on Monday and they came back perfectly clean.  This is a huge praise, since they know many brain development issues can arise in ones born so early.  Sara was able to change their diapers for the first time on Wednesday, but they warned her to be so incredibly careful because even slight movements could rip their skin.

Sara is staying at the Ronald McDonald house and seems to be in good spirits.  She is still fighting off an infection besides healing from her c-section.  They are having a hard time finding the source of the infection and even suspect that it is the cause of her early labor.  There isn't a way to know for sure.

They will remain in Iowa City until about the time of their due date, which was October 7, though it's possible it could be as far out as Thanksgiving.  They would be very grateful for your continued prayers.