Starting to move

We're moving out in less than a month.

Crazy! John and Anna were both born during our time at this house. The yard has been changed a lot. We've had three sets of neighbors on one side, two below us, and one on the other side (but they've moved out and it has stood empty for a few months now, though they still mow the lawn). I've met other moms in the neighborhood but never really connected with anyone, sticking with the social group from the University instead. I do wave to a lot of people when I take walks, though.

We don't have a place to move to yet, so the movers will be moving our stuff into storage for about six weeks. I am really thankful Dan's post-doc comes with a moving allowance!!!

I'm nervous about the move. I don't want to be the only mom on the block surrounded by a bunch of college students but I don't want to live in the suburbs, either. We have driven so far to church for so long that we are tired of it! I want to live by church and within the church community and also have the church connected to Dan's work community!!! I'm scared that we'll go to a church close by just to find out that everyone commutes in and we're not in the community afterall.

I don't want to break the bank on living expenses.

Sigh. But I'm not really worried, not like I was when we didn't have an apartment before we got married. I love where we live now and I love our landlady. She'll be raising the rent by 40% when we move out. (We suggested it - that'll make it market rate!) I am thankful for God's provision here and am excited about how He'll provide for us in the fugure.

The Pen is mightier than the Huge Crayon

While on the topic of John's fine-motor skills, we would like to share with you some discoveries we made in John's artwork. This first piece shows that when given lined paper and a pen (not a bulky crayon), John writes characters on the lines!


This next piece shows that John is still a scribbler when it comes to buky crayons (the blue), but with the pen he tries to fill in the spaces and not cross the lines!


And finally, this shows that he loves curly-haired dogs (again, ignore the blue crayon).

I am so proud.
-Dan

Yes, they are different children

I have NEVER met someone with as high of a pain tolerance as John. If he falls and scrapes his knee so that it is bleeding, I might not find out until I notice the blood on his pant's knees. He can bite his lip open while falling and stop crying within twenty seconds, then point at the table edge he fell on as if to ask, "You think I look bad? You should see the table!" This has been an consistent pattern in his life and I just figured it was because of the laid back attitude Dan and I took in recognizing hurts.

Then God gave us Anna. We're the same parents (although we do point out if John has hurt her so that he'll be more careful) yet she has responded differently. She FEELS pain and TELLS you about it.

With John, I didn't know about teeth unless I saw a rash, after which I would search for a tooth and usually find a new one. With Anna, it is totally different. She has had a fever for the past few days. No redness in her throat, no enlarged lymph nodes, perfect ears, or so the doctor said this morning. If I put her down, she SCREAMS. I felt her gums and, yes, she's working on a tooth.

Her lower pain tolerance is evident in everything, although I don't know how much of it is due to earlier movement than John. At Anna's current age, John was usually just sitting up with a Boppy behind him. Anna, on the otherhand, can pull herself up to standing, fall down, and then scream about it. Some of it might be frustration and suprise, but some of it is hurt, as her poor little first tooth is showing!