We Are "Settled"

November 10, 2011

We Are "Settled"

First week as residents in Washington. I am worn out. Unpacking, organizing, starting a new job, Leighton, Wes and I getting a cold (took her to new pediatrician), Leighton not sleeping well, Halloween, church events, etc has lead me to be one tired girl. It is a good tired but still tiring. As you can see Leighton is tired too. She has started flipping onto her tummy in the middle of the night to sleep. Big girl!

Recap of our first couple weeks here .....

Happy Birthday Hubby! Wes turned 26 on Oct 30th, the Sunday after we moved in. Unfortunately we were not able to do much celebrating but I did manage to surprise him with a birthday cake at church from Simply Desserts. It was a white cake, a layer of strawberries in the middle, with a white chocolate buttercream frosting. Simply amazing. Not to sweet....just right.

Work began. Back to being a full-time working mom. I appreciate all the moms who work a ton more after starting a 40 hour work with with a 5 month old. Sorry I didn't tell you that early in life, Mom. Juggling a professional career, lack of sleep, keeping the house chores going, thinking about whats for dinner, changing diapers, feedings, schedules, errands, etc has also left me overwhelmed and a little stressed out. It is hard to do all the things I was doing before I went back to work on top of being gone for 9 hours during the day, as I am sure many of you can attest to. (Side note: If you are a stay-at -home mom or did stay at home with your kids when they were little please do not say to moms who have to work "I dont know how you can do it (go back to work)". It makes it sound like we choose to be away from our child. We don't. We have to.) All I want to do is play with Leighton and spend time with Wes. (Thus the reason I have not blogged in a while.) Fortunately, Wes made the transition as easy as he could. He has taken great care of Leighton during the day, helped with household chores, and taken me to and from work everyday! Cheek's time with the best SAHD (Stay -At -Home- Daddy)......

I have enjoyed seeing Leighton and Wes waiting for me in the parking lot each day after work. I walk out grinning ear to ear! And as many of you have asked, I am liking what I have seen from Seattle Children's so far. Everyone has been very welcoming, the hospital has great values and priorities, and the pharmacy seems to run very smoothly! Plus they pay me $3.25 not to drive to work each day... sounds like a good place to work to me! Here is the view I see most days when I get in the car after work....snoozing baby...

Small groups, connection desserts, bible study and Secret Church. I am so glad to be getting involved with the Hallows Church and meeting a ton of new people. Wes is going to be co-leading a small group with another guy in the church, Sam. I like the model the Hallows church has taken on small groups... since there are 4 weeks in the month, they rotate with bible study one week, serve together the next week, then bible study again, and lastly fellowship/play on the fourth week. Great way to get to know each other and also easier ways to invite new people. We watched Secret Church via simulcast this past Friday night. It was wonderful and insightful. David Platt taught on marriage, family, singles, parenting, and more! The overall message as always is advancing the Gospel. I hope to do this by being a better helper to Wes as he leads our family and to take responsibility to teach Leighton how to live for Christ and not the things of the world.

Colds. The three of us have passed around a cold this week. Leighton has been very congested. No matter how many times we suction her with the bulb it still sounds like like there is snot clogged in her little nose. We have done saline and steam in the bathroom. Recently we bought a Nose Frida. You can suction longer with it than the bulb but the downfall is you might pass out.