Me vs. Kitchen: Which Will Be Conquerer?

So we're still not unpacked and I had hoped by Halloween we'd be, but I'm still going at it. You see, with a baby I can barely find time to cook and then I have to clean the kitchen after...then there's laundry which takes a whole week to do between the doing and the drying and the folding and the putting away. One day I will be good at it all but for now, I think I'm doing a pretty good job considering. I've gotten to the point where I can get a LOT done while he's sleeping (I can tell when he's getting sleepy so I'll put him in his swing-we're going to have to move him to his bed for nap time but for now, he won't take naps there) and I know him well enough that I can predict how long he'll sleep and if I can squeeze in a shower or clean or wash dishes or laundry, depending on what needs to be done at the time.
Funny thing. We'll be driving in the car (and he'd done this for a while, about the time we moved) and he'll be fine, but there gets to be a point when he's not fine. We'll be driving and then stop at a stop light and he sure lets us know that he doesn't like stopping. He'll grunt and complain and "cry" and then the very moment it turns green and we get going, he stops. And then the next stop light the same things happens. It's funny, but frustrating. It's enough that no one likes stop lights, but to add a crying baby...

Just a few days after he turned three months, boom, he achieved a few milestones automatically. He started grabbing his feet (first starting with the left), blowing raspberries, drooling, smiling a lot, reaching, and holding. He's very intelligent for his age. Everyone tells me so. They are surprised to find out he's only three months. At three and a half months exactly, we finally took a Saturday to get a few things done and put up the Babee Tenda high chair. We put him in it with a few toys and all of a sudden he started grabbing for them! I'd NEVER seen him do that before and I've given him opportunities. Maybe he needed them on a tray right in front of him.

It's such a proud moment when your child achieves developmental steps, but then you catch yourself saying with a tear, "My baby's all grown up!"

Here he is moving the hanging toy with his feet to his hands.

And just TODAY, I was taking his temperature, and I let him hold the case for it. I placed it in his right and and he transferred it to his left hand-right in front of my eyes!

When he's tired, he'll makes these long, drawn out grunting noises. That's when you know he's about to fall asleep. Before that, he's fussy. But I know I can leave him in the position he is in when he's grunting because it won't be long before he's asleep. I don't have to try to humor him. Here's a picture of when he was REALLY tired.After he's put down to bed (by the way, he's sleeping 8 hours before he wakes up for feeding usually, so we're going to hold off until after Christmas when we will have a real uninterrupted schedule to stop putting him down by breastfeeding at night and do the Baby Wise stuff) I keep thinking he's woken up and fussing because there are outside noises in our loud neighborhood that almost sound like it (and by outside noises, I mean the people across the street who are always yelling-they are the ones who sell drugs), like people or dogs barking. Don't ask, you'd think I could tell the difference between my own baby crying and dog barks, but at night, it the barks and people really sound like he's grunting or waking up.
Before I put him down to bed, we have our routine. Bath, dress, pray, read scriptures, breastfeed, put in swaddle and leave the room. But I want to talk about scripture reading. It is SO cute. I fold my left leg and rest my ankle on my right knee and then put his bum in that pocket and lay him back against my left knee so he's sitting almost like in a chair. Then I hold the scriptures up so he can see the pictures as I read. The cutest thing happens. I start reading and when I look at him at the end of a sentence, he looks at me and smiles. He loves scripture time! I read, look at him, we smile at each other, and then I look back at the page to read it and he looks there too. He's so intelligent! It's like he's following my gaze. But that's the only time I've seen him follow my gaze is during scripture reading. He may just know that I'm not looking at him anymore so he looks at what is in front of him. But it's amazing. When I look at him, he looks at me. When I look at the book, he looks at the book.
About a week after he turned 3 months, I decided to take him to the park. There wasn't much for him to do on the playground other than me carrying him around on it, but I did decide to try to put him in a swing and swing him. He fit and it was safe to swing him! But he didn't show any indication of really liking it.Three and a half months, I took him out on the blanket outside because it is starting to cool down here in Miami. It has been SO HOT while it is snowing back in Utah. Finally I felt like we could go outside together on the blanket.In my calling, I'm like an assistant to one of the counselors in the Relief Society Presidency. I'm also going to start teaching family life education. I'm finally putting my major to use! I'm way excited. I'll have to let you know how that goes.
My husband is so great. He's in medical school, yet he miraculously finds time to help around the house and spend time with me and the baby. In fact, he spends more time with us than he should. But his grades don't suffer. He gets stressed, I know, when he doesn't study enough because he's helping us out or spending time (like now, he's decided to spend all day at the school because he has a test tomorrow) but in his mind, he's got a pretty acceptable balance. When I say his grades don't suffer, I mean he's able to stay average, and he's fine with that. I believe he has an incredible gift of being able to remember things and put things together. Where I would have to study something over and over and over ten times before I memorized it and then ended up forgetting it after the test anyways, he is able to study it a few times (because there's SO much information they are learning!) and understand it so he remembers it not only for the test but even after it. Needless to say, not all husbands do or can devote so much time to their family (or calling) when they are medical students. This weekend he is going on a 13 mile hike with the scouts and then to the Thanksgiving dinner. No study time!
So you know how some moms are really bothered like when someone comes up and grabs their baby out of their arms to hold? People just do that. I haven't really had much of a problem with that happening, but I have developed a pet peeve of my own: people asking me if he's hungry. I'll be anywhere and he'll start fussing a little bit either because he wants to be held, wants to get moving in the stroller, needs to take a nap, etc., and the moment he starts to fuss, the person I'm with asks me if he's hungry or says to him, "Are you hungry?" (implying/hinting in their speech of course that I should feed my baby) when they don't know I fed him 10-30 minutes ago and he doesn't feed every hour. Ah well. They don't know, but I'm the mom and I should know, right? I'm capable and I know my child better than they do.
We've become, well, I've become better neighbors with our neighbor on our right. She smokes a LOT and I can barely stand it in her house. She invites me in, but one time I had to run out. I apologized later for running out, but she understood. When I was in there and she invited me in her room, she could tell I didn't want to come in and said, "You better respect me when I smoke." Of course, I should have replied, "And you should respect my health!" She's African American (because that's the area we live in) and has a HUGE family and I don't know of any father(s). She is very large with some health problems and just their whole lifestyle I feel bad for them. I feel bad for any family who doesn't have love. Oh they have love, but it's not the kind or to the extent that it should be in a family. It's just the culture, but they are pretty close and she's called me over to help her with some things and I'm glad she does because that means I get to help and serve someone. I've driven her places, picked things up for her, had my husband take time to put together a bookshelf for her, given her cheese...but one night and made my day. She asked if we could use one of those blow-up Christmas things for your front yard. I said no because they take up energy that we can't pay for. She said I could sell it in the yard sale we are going to have and that she had a couple of other things too. I asked her if she wanted me to keep track of the things I sell for her so I can give her the money and she said no, that I should give it to my church and that she wanted me to come over sometime and pray for her because she could feel "the Spirit" with me. I thought that was just the most happiest news ever. No one has ever told me that (because everyone I'm with usually has it too). I was so happy and later asked if I could put her name on the temple prayer roll. She said yes and to pray for her entire family and thank you. We're going to invite her for the ward Thanksgiving dinner and we'll see how that goes. I hope I can be a good missionary!!!

Well, to end this blog, I just wanted to share some Sunday pictures we took yesterday. LOVE these two:


Mommy is bombarding him with kisses again and he and Daddy are having fun.

Reeses Balls

So I had to buy butter for something and discovered this recipe on the back of the box and it is SO GOOD. SO bad for you, but SOOOOO GOOD! Here's the recipe:

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Delights

3/4 Cup peanut butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick 70% vegetable oil spread (butter)
vanilla
1 package milk chocolate chips
1tsp shortening

In a bowl, blend peanut butter, sugar, vegetable oil spread and vanilla with a mixer on low to medium speed (will be lightly crumbly). Roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 30 min. Place chocolate chips and shortening in slow cooker on low and heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Dip each peanut butter ball into chocolate, covering completely (I just roll it around until all covered), then put back on wax paper. Chill in refrigerator. Y-U-M-M-Y!!!
So good that I had to take a bite of one just to show you what it looks like on the inside...darn! And seriously, they taste JUST like Reeses.

Almost Moved In

We have been so blessed to receive the help of both our families in the moving in process. There's been so much to do. I think I listed a few things my mom helped out with in the last blog posting. But I didn't put up pictures of his room to show the curtains she made. Here they are.

Pai came to help and and hooked up our washer with a hose, put lights in the washing room (it's accessible only from the outside), did some wiring to make it possible for us to have a dryer, changed the locks in our house, filled in a hole that was in our bedroom, put up our huge, heavy mirror-and all in one day! Needless to say, Prose did not get much studying done because he was with his father helping.

So the house is coming along. We're STILL not completely unpacked which is mainly my job and I can't do much of it because of the baby. He demands my attention. I can barely fix something to eat sometimes! I don't really know what to do because I can't just leave him there fussing and ignore him because then he'll get the idea that food is more important to me than him, or that he'll develop mistrust for the world because his needs (emotional) are not being met. Yet, he already does know how to get what he wants by using certain cries, but that could be more him figuring out what he needs to communicate in order for needs to be met more than manipulation. Yet, I'm not one who just can't stand it when my child cries either. I can' let him cry for a good while sometimes. And other times, I cry too because there's nothing I can do because I'm in the car and you can't stop in the middle of the freeway or you are stuck in heavy traffic (again, we are in Miami-a city known for its crazy traffic). I can also let him cry himself to sleep, though I don't need to do that very often. We have a very good bedtime routine. After he's been awake for a couple of hours, and around 7:00, I give him a bath (which he loves), dress him, sit in the chair in his room with him and pray and read the picture scriptures to him (we're going to get some in Portuguese if they are available), and then turn off the lights and nurse him until he's asleep. Then I put him in his swaddle and crib, and I walk out of the room leaving the door cracked. He sleeps until about 4:30 and feeds, and then 6:00 and feeds, and then he's up and awake at 8:00. I LOVE it and am SO blessed that he's sleeping through the night so well so early. I LOVE bedtime routines!
We just have to much STUFF as I'm sure I've said before, so there's been a lot of spending on storage space and creativity as well. We're going to have a yard sell soon too to help us get rid of a whole bunch of stuff and help us earn money because we spent it all on a down payment for our home, monthly bills, fixing up the house (including storage, etc.), gas, and plane tickets for Christmas. Needless to say, we are living now on a very tight budget until January, only eating rice and beans and an occasional creative meal with a few purchases from the store and what we have in storage-I love food storage.
We finally have callings in our new ward! I am in the Relief Society committee where they are eager to put me to work and load a bunch of stuff on me-I'm excited because I love doing things like that!-and Prose is...yes...he does not know how to manage with a family and medical school, but scout master. The bishop was afraid to extend the calling because he knew that my husband is in medical school, but it's what the Lord wanted, and Prose really wants to serve and make a difference and do what the Lord wants.
So I have been getting more familiar with Craigslist. Normally that's my husband's area, but he doesn't have that much time to search for things. So far, I've found us a stove/oven-glasstop too and for cheap!, bed headboard and frame, kitchen storage cabinet, and slipcovers for our couches.
Recently, I thought my son developed an eye infection and took him to the doctor. His first illness! But it wasn't. Apparently up until nine months, they'll have discharge from the womb (snot and eye mucus) and it's completely normal. If the white of the eye is red, then there is a problem. He's a healthy baby! Count your blessings, right? Actually, Prose has been studying genetics and is absolutely amazed that our baby turned out so well. There are just so many things that can go wrong! But then, so many babies turn out great-human development is truly amazing. The baby turned out great, but the mommy is still recovering. I finally should be over any infection (I say should because the test results say I am), but I'm still feeling very uncomfortable "down there." (Sigh) I don't know when that will go away. I hope it will at some point.

So the baby is 3 months! He's so adorable and developing right along. He's physically and mentally very mature for his age. When people see him (in the store, or other people I happen to meet), they think he's 2-3 months older than he is because of his size and because he's so alert. He really does seem older and when I look at him, I see "little boy" instead of "baby" or "infant." However, he still is reaching his milestones on time. He's not so advanced that he moves through those so fast. Right now he's just a few days over three months and he's just now starting to reach out and grab at things, but it's only the very beginning. He doesn't have good hand-eye coordination yet but I'm amazed how fast he's developed in this area in just the past few days.
Two days ago he reached his left hand and found his foot now he always does that when he's laying down.

He can also hold his head up better when he's on his stomach.

Halloween was great. We went to our ward trunk or treat and decorated our car in the classic (we're poor) yet creative open mouthed monster with teeth. We also used what we had on hand for our costumes.

My sister-in-law gave us a whole bunch of hand-me-downs which included some 3M cow pants (complete with a tail!) so we dressed the baby in that and the night before I stayed up watching disneychannel.com making some ears for him and teeth for our car. My husband and I dressed up as farmers/pilgrims/pioneers so all three of us could match!. Our baby was so cute that when we walked in the room, everyone wanted pictures of us!
Then we went to a party of one of the people in Prose's medical class. We were the first ones there of her friends and it was a really nice party. Of course, we don't drink, but I wanted to point out that the alcohol served was not, "Hey, have a beer!" but more "Can I offer you a margarita?" So, really nice. Her parents were nice, good atmosphere, everyone loved the baby, and good food-something we don't have a lot of right now!
Another thing I want to mention is that Prose's dad also brought with him a moped for Prose's birthday gift from his parents. It is new and decent and will get him to school for less gas money than the car, and I will be able to have the car to run errands, do stuff for church, or in case of an emergency. He has a good helmet and the way to the school is one straight shot from our house-no really dangerous roads. Just one road and you're there. We tried to make a moped purchase before and it didn't feel right or comfortable, but I am comfortable about it this time. It didn't come with a battery and that has caused some problems, so it's getting fixed with its warranty and Prose will be able to ride it soon!As you may have noticed, we are now putting up pictures of our family on the blog. We have talked it over, and we feel comfortable doing that, but not yet comfortable using our names. Perhaps this will change, perhaps it won't. But for now, we feel we can put up pictures and hope that you enjoy them as much as we do!
I am definitely a mother. I typed this with one hand! And now for one final laugh...

Ninja Baby!

Earache Helper

Thank goodness the baby hasn't had an earache yet, but I found something that I just wanted to post in case it helps anyone out who reads this.

Saturday, 05 September 2009

How to Treat an Earache the Natural Way

from chicmommyusa

image source

With the flu and cold season many aches and pains affect our family's health and lately I have been hearing of Ear Infections left and right.

The last time I had to treat an ear infection was almost 5 years, with my eldest. Of course, the only route known to me at that point was to treat it with antibiotics. At that point the infections I thought was already pretty bad.

With more experience, more research and little bit of more curiosity, I started seeing a Holistic Pediatric M.D., Dr. Rydland and along the way I have learned tons of great things to minimize the use of antibiotics.

What do I do know? Here it is:

I use:

1. Regular Rubbing Alcohol

2. Colloidal Silver, either Argentyn 23 or Sovereign Silver (these are the best brands recommended by Dr. Rydland) and don't worry you won't turn gray or blue! and,

3. Kids Wellness: Ear Drops Formula

How do I use it:

At the first sign of an earache I put one drop of alcohol in each of their ears just to evaporate any left over water that may be in it.

Then, I put 3 drops of Colloidal Silver, and I let them rest for at least 10 minutes laying down on the opposite side. Then I repeat it in the other ear (just in case).

Lastly, I will put the recommended dose of Dr. Rydland's Ear Drop Formula, cover it up with a little bit of cotton and let them rest for as long as I can keep them still.

So far, 3 out 4 times, the pain stops within a very short time and infection does not progress. Their little bodies fight it, and they are able to build immunities and heal properly.

Of course, close monitoring of symptoms and fever is a MUST. Please, do consult your Doctor if symptoms do not improve and remember! This is only my personal experience and the things that have worked for my family.

I hope you find it helpful and worth to share with other!

Be Holistic! Be Happier! Be Healthier!

Liseth

Ps. If you go to Dr. Rydland's website, please mention that you got to know about him through CHIC MOMMY! I will appreciate it!

Here's the URL I got it from because there are some other MommyBlogs that offer good info.
http://www.momaroo.com/711358713/how-to-treat-an-earache-the-natural-way/?=itemrelated

However, it may be more expensive than a prescription!

We Have a House!

You know you are in Miami when...
...have left the United States and are now in North Cuba
...you hear more Spanish than English
...some road signs don't even have an English translation
...about five cars run the red light just to get through because traffic is crazy and the lights don't give sufficient time to get many cars through
...there is always an afternoon shower of rain
...every car you see is new and nice
...there are three names for every street (one number and two proper nouns)

We are in Miami and finally in our house! So obviously I've not had time to write and there is SO much to catch you up on. From WAY back in Sept. First of all, there are two pediatricians I am interested in here, and I like both for different reasons. One is OBSESSED with Spiderman. He is painted as murals EVERYWHERE in the office. There are posters and figurines everywhere of Spiderman. His business card and CAR have Spiderman on them. So not only are the office walls of the hall way absent of any color except the classic red, blue and black, but the patient rooms themselves are full of color. Every room has a theme. I've been in a Medieval royalty room and a Dora the Explorer room. It looks like he allowed an amateur artist to come in a decorate the rooms. The are full of color. The cabinets are bright colors and the ceiling is covered with mobiles and curly streamers. Being the Child Development major that I am, of course, I know this is all done on purpose. It's not just for fun and decoration, but mainly for stimulation. And boy, does it work! My baby LOVED looking at everything and all the bright colors. When you lay the child down, he is still stimulated by colors and shaped above him on the ceiling. The other doctor is younger and VERY kind. I like his staff better-they are all just so helpful and willing to really work with you as a patient. In fact, I went in just because it was right across the way from the OBGYN I was trying to see and they also practice Family Medicine. I needed a referral for the OBGYN and they took me since I was there and helped me with insurance issues and everything. The office looked nicer and cleaner, but not as much stimulation and it didn't have a well child vs. a sick child entrance. I went in and during the visit I asked if there was some purified water so I could fill the bottle with formula. I explained I had the formula but needed the water. The nurse asked what kind of formula I used (I was only using it because I was on antibiotics as mentioned in the previous posting) and I said Enfamil and she took me around and opened a cupboard FULL of sample formula that they can just give away because apparently this doctor's office supports Emfamil. She started handing me three cans and the doctor came in and she explained that I needed water and used Enfamil and he gave me two more cans and pulled out his own wallet and gave the nurse $5 and told her to go to the store and get me a bottle of water. So, I'm not quite sure which one I'm going to go with yet! But if I can schedule my own appointments around my baby's there at the second doctor's office, that might work just for convenience's sake.
One of the people in Prose's class proposed to his girlfriend and had a BBQ reception to celebrate and invited anyone who wanted to go. Her parents had a NICE place and were just very nice people and she was the perfect hostess to all of us, serving US the cake and ice cream even though we were celebrating her. It was just a beautiful time out going to our first real social event.
After that, though, I started getting a sore throat and had a mini cold for a week. It was so hard for me because I was just dealing with EVERYTHING. Insufficient home, insurance issues, doctors not being able to see me, pain from the delivery and not recovering, pain and discomfort from infections, not sleeping well because of sharing a twin bed, not eating healthy because only a mini fridge and microwave, adjusting to life with no support as a single mom, possible mastitis, laundry to do without a washing machine or dryer with a baby, being told over and over again that "next week" the house would close, and now a sore throat and the fear of giving my cold to the baby and having to take him in to the hospital or something. Luckily he did not get the cold and stayed healthy during the whole time we were there.
He started vocalizing around one month and a half months, finding his voice. It's so amazing to watch something like that: a child truly discovering their voice. He'll make a sound and then work so hard to make the same sound, over and over again. In fact, sometimes, it feels like he really wants to participate in the conversation. As of now (2 1/2 months), this week he's been finding his "g" consonant. So lot's of "guh"s. It's really cute.
So as I was nearing an end to my antibiotics, I thought I had mastitis and I was afraid he wouldn't know how to latch back on and I was just so happy that he did, and once I started breastfeeding him, the pain went away and the possible mastitis was fixed.
So an angel was sent to us through our landlady, I'm sure, because one Saturday was hear a knock on the garage door (except that there is cement and insulation between us and the actual door) and there was this lady who came by to say hi and meet us. She thought our baby was just adorable and attended the same ward as our landlady (I like to call the landlord a landlady if they are female). She asked if we would like her husband to come by the next day and drop off a mini TV with VCR and a whole bunch of VHS movies to choose from to watch to help the time pass by since I'm there alone with the baby all day with nothing to do while the house is closing. It's not like I can really take the baby out anywhere to have fun. He needs to be at home in the air conditioning to feed often and isn't even old enough to go to the library or something, you know? And I really had been starving for some sort of entertainment. She is the kindest, most sweet lady ever. She just has such a loving spirit about her. They came over with those things AND a plate of fudge. Mmmm! Later, when I would change out the movies at her house, she sent me home with a plate of cookies! She's so giving and sweet!
Our landlady also helped us out tremendously. I told her how hard it was to go to campus with a baby and lug around a huge thing of laundry with a baby and do it there in the outdoor laundry facility, and wait there with the baby, feeding him in between, making sure he doesn't fuss or disturb anyone, and then lug it back and fold it and put it away...so she let me come and use her laundry room and I could just come in and do it whenever I let her know I needed to. She even provided the soap! It was still hard, but oh, so much easier! We were very blessed by that.
Not only were a lot of hard things going on for me, but my only time out of the house and my only friends I could see often enough were my husband's classmates at school. I'd been trying to be careful not to overstay my welcome by showing up too often and I always ask everyone if I am bothering them with the baby. He's pretty good about being quiet, but when he's fussy, I try and quiet him as quickly as I can and ask the students if they heard him. They always say they didn't hear him and that they love to see him and that he's actually a stress reliever for them. However, I'd shown up to the school Friday to use the internet since we didn't have any to apply for health insurance and had to continue on Monday. Monday he was so good except when he needed a diaper change, but it only lasted a minute or two and then he was done. Prose got pulled aside though and was told that basically I was not welcome there anymore. We think it wasn't so much that "the baby is too noisy" but that it looks unprofessional for me to be there. It was a blow for me, though I expected it would come one day. You see, those were my only friends in Miami who I could see, so it was like taking away my friends, time to see my husband, the internet and thus health insurance, and it was also like telling me (though I know it) that I'm just an unprofessional stay-at-home mom who isn't good for anything except taking care of the baby. No, I am much more than that. I am a college graduate from a major university-not just a side community college-who plans to do something with her education one day. I'm just going through a difficult time and the least I could ask for is some minimal support since I don't have any to begin with. The funny thing is that once the medical student found out that I'd been "kicked out," they all were upset and thought it was wrong. They were all mad, and even pointed out that the medical school is community-based and teaches the medical students to really reach out to the community and how are they supposed to learn that when the staff and administration turns away someone like me? Anyways, this was around the time when that sweet sister brought the movies, so I had "something" to keep me company and occupied at home besides making a whole bunch of health phone calls to sort out insurance, doctor's appointments, etc. So she really helped out!
I've also had some Relief Society activities to go to and meet people in the ward. I really like going to the activities and socializing and getting out of the house. My baby though, is like an appendage. Wherever I go, he goes, and he's my little buddy. He's actually really good when I go out. It's hot and I keep him in the sling when shopping/going somewhere or the car seat when I'm driving, so he's usually asleep the whole time. Nevertheless, I've been able to recognize his different cries and body language so now I know what to do better and I am so glad! It's so much better when you know what they want and need!
There was a high priest activity that invited the young couples of the ward and we were the only ones that showed up! But we had a great time. It was at this HUGE house. It was so big, and clean, and had lots of neat things. Like outside at the grill there was a swimming pool and a TV to watch the game and everything. Benches, chairs...and the hosts were really nice. I've noticed that the people who have a lot are really nice-maybe that's how they get so far in life!
I've finally put my finger on it. As a "single mom," the thing that bugs me most is not that my husband is never home. It's that he's continuing his education and I'm not! Isn't that interesting?! I'm actually more bothered by the fact that I feel useless! So we figure that eventually I may go into music therapy or something like that and practice in an office right next door to my husband one day. We'll see...you never know what the Lord has in store for you. Of course, now that we have the house, I'm way busy and I've got to learn more and put to practice healthy cooking for my family!
We've been bringing the baby to church in the nicest onsies we can find, but we finally put him in a great outfit that I thought could go together. He had this sweater outfit that just looked gross if you used the pants but the top was cute and would keep him warm in the chapel. And we had some shorts that matched it. And it worked! He was just so handsome at church!
There are a few young couples who decided to get together on some Friday nights and play games. Actually, there have been only two weekends it has worked out, but it's so much fun. Actually, it's a whole bunch of student lawyers and doctors and their wives-kind of funny! It's been real fun and a nice break to get out together. I hope we can have a game night over at our place once it's fixed up.
One of the sisters in the ward reached out to me. She's actually a La Leche group leader. She invited me to go with her and her kids to the zoo. There's a splash pod and she thought it would be nice for my baby to be there and experience the water a bit. It was expensive, but at least he got to see something different and feel some water on his body. I put him in a little hat to protect him from the sun and he was SO cute in it!
So now we arrive at the big decision we had to make. It was nearing the final closing day (or else we would have to extend) and nothing was really being done on the title company's end. So we thought we were going to lose the house and started looking and places to rent. There was one place that was perfect and not too expensive. But we told the title company that if we weren't closed by the 30th, we would walk. That got them moving. But we still weren't sure what was going on, and where the Lord really wanted us because it might not go through and why it was so hard and maybe the Lord really just was trying to tell us it's not right after all and we should just rent...we've found that when things are easy and work out, they are what the Lord wants for use because he's prepared a way for us and when things are long, confusing and drawn out, they are not the best for us, though we pray for them. The Lord knows what is best even though we may not see it. We did a lot of praying and fasting because what if it finally went through and we weren't supposed to live there after all. What if it was like Martin Harris and the 116 pages where he asked and asked and asked and finally the Lord said yes. Well what if we asked and asked and prayed and worked so hard for this house and after saying over and over again that "next week" it would close, and it not working out...what was the BEST thing for our family? Only the Lord knows. In the end, we chose to go with the house because it did go through and we felt good that we would do our best as we are commanded and stay out of debt and build up our credit. So here we are, finally moved into our new home. I came and got the key and there were just so many bugs and spiders here. I knew we couldn't move in our stuff with so many bugs here and things not cleaned...wiped down swept and mopped. And I realized I couldn't do it all by myself either. I was stressed out! I solicited the help of people in the Relief Society and they came like angels and helped me out so much. I never would have gotten it done! In fact, Prose got sick the next day and we didn't have power because the power company hadn't turned it on yet even though they should have, so there was no a/c or internet and we couldn't watch Conference either. I was so stressed because he had a fever and I had to take care of him and the baby, and unpack and move and clean everything and things were just a mess. We were so blessed to have his parents come and help us Monday and boy did they help out a LOT! They fixed some things, cleaned our carpet, moved boxes, started to organize, cooked, supplied food, etc. And then my mom came out for both our birthday presents and continued to help us because it is just so hard with a baby and a sick husband. I have to do everything and I just can't! I can't lift and move heavy things and I can't go to pick up things from Craig's List because I can't drive the truck because the baby can't ride without his car seat and the car seat can't be in the front. There's just too much to do and my mom has just helped out so much to get us at least functioning. She really cleaned that gross bathroom, she's helped with the baby a ton, gone shopping with me for a ton of things we needed, made curtains for the baby's room, and much much more. It's been so great to have her here to help. More than great-it's been a life-saver.
Really quick, to end on a happy note...about three weeks before General Conference, in Stake Conference the President said that he and other Stake Presidents have all felt that the people of South Florida need to prepare for a temple. They were not saying that there was going to be one any time soon, but that we should prepare for one. Well this past General Conference, they announced five new temples and South Florida was one of them! We are getting a temple! Pretty cool, huh?