We made it! (this is a long post)

Oh my goodness, do I have a long story to tell!
First, Let me start off by saying... I. AM. TIRED.
I have had a very busy, very sweaty, work-filled, hectic, move-in weekend. But we are so happy to be "home" at last. :) Our place is so lovely. The lake and woods are beautiful- almost like living at a retreat house. And I love that it's so quiet here... except for the crickets, tree frogs, and birds. But those are music to my ears after 6 years of highway noise outside my bedroom at night. I am so much a country girl at heart. This is perfect.

My last day at work Friday was nice. I didn't actually work much, but spent the morning saying my goodbyes and wrapping up some last minute phone calls, etc. Then my boss took me and my unit to lunch at the Mexican place next door (and Sarah W. came along too). I was free to go around noon. So, I packed up my desk and headed home one final time. It was hard to keep it together when I was leaving as I kind of feel like that place is my home away from home. I spent so many hours there.

I'm really going to miss Sarah the most. We started there on the same day, trained together, and went through lots of ups and downs. Plus, we both had babies around the same time. She's been such a good friend and I'm convinced the Lord placed us there at the same time for all sorts of reasons. I knew it would be bittersweet, but I didn't anticipate feeling so sad to go.

So anyway, I went back to my house to help finish loading up the cars and make sure we were ready to hit the road. It was blazing hot!! We left Indy around 2:00 and made it to our new house in Evansville at 5:30. It took at little longer than normal because we hit some ugly traffic and one detour (a semi tractor-trailer had flipped over the side of the highway down into a ravine).

When we got there we had lots of family members ready to unload the trucks and help us get started unpacking. I'm so thankful for our family! How wonderful to have people so willing and ready to help! We are very blessed. Friday seemed like the longest day in the history of all days - EVER. We were so far beyond tired when we finally hit the hay around 11:30, I'm pretty I was asleep before my head was on the pillow.

Saturday we were up by 6:30 to start the whole thing over again. Aunt Marcia came over and was a great help getting Elijah's room and our bathroom/closet under control. The guys worked all day on the shed and I think it's pretty much done. Then Sunday we took a break for church and lunch then we got right back to working.

Yesterday was more relaxed. Manny and I stayed home in the morning and worked some more. Mom and Ragon came over in the afternoon and helped too. Then we went to the store and to mom's house for supper.

So today is officially our first day in the "real world" of life in Evansville. Manny started roofing with Chris, so I hope that goes well. I know one thing, if he's not in shape now he will be in a few weeks. Nothing like being on a hot roof working your tail off to get your body in shape. No doubt my poor hubby will be very sore tonight. I wish we had a hot-tub. I'll have a tall glass of ice water and several Advil waiting for him when he gets home. :)

So right now I feel like the house is ok to live in, but it's nowhere near the way I want it. There are piles of boxes and stuff everywhere. We have so much less storage space now, it's a struggle to find homes for everything. Elijah's room is done. Our room is 95% done. The office is 50% done. The kitchen is 50% done. The living room is about 75% done. The guest room is about 75% done. I just hope I can keep up the momentum and get things together while going back to work now. We shall see.

And now... stories about Elijah.
He is having a difficult time adjusting. There has been so much activity, so many new faces and new places, schedule changes, long days, missed naps, and hot hot weather. Plus, he is working on that 8th tooth (the bottom one). My little guy is cranky and way out of his element. He won't eat anything I give him. Not one single bite. He wants to feed himself and throws a major fit when I try to help. He rarely will drink from his sippy cup. But again, doesn't want help. Actually yesterday was the first time he picked it up on his own and drank from it without my help. So, that's a milestone. :) I'm hoping in a few days things will settle down and he'll be back to his normal sweet self.

Sunday afternoon for the first time ever Elijah waved and said "bye bye". Mom, Ragon, Manny and I were showing him the motion and saying bye bye over and over. Then my brother walked through the room so we all showed him again... and he did it. It sounds more like "ba ba" but he sure enough did it! What a smart boy! Jacob felt special too, being the very first recipient of Elijah's bye bye wave.

He is also getting quite good with feeding himself. The whole pinching action with his thumb and forefinger was a little hard at first but now he's getting the hang of it. I've been giving him mostly fruits and veggies: banana, apricot, kiwi, peaches, grapes, steamed carrots, steamed zucchini, boiled potatoes, sweet potatoes, and of course his fruit "puffs". I'm going to start giving him meat soon too.

Sadly for me, along with all this big boy food, he doesn't seem to want to nurse much any more. We're down to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime feedings. This is fine for his age. But he's trying to drop the lunchtime feeding. I guess my baby is growing up! It actually kind of works out this way because I'll be working at that time and now I won't have to pump. It's still kind of sad for me.

We are looking for a baby pool so Elijah can keep cool outside on the deck. Wal-mart doesn't have them. Maybe rural king.
Hum, what else? Oh, my cousin is having a little get-together at her house this weekend so Elijah will get to go swimming for the first time. I'm so excited. He'll get to wear the little speedos we got him. I can't wait!

That's about all for now. I have tons of pictures to load but no Internet at home. I'm not sure yet how I'll get them on here.