Our Family

Our Family

Monday, November 4, 2013

6.5 Months: House!

We have a closing date on a house! I'm sure Ellie's cuteness is what sealed the deal ;) The story goes like this.  We were working with a realtor for about 2 months and really didn't find much.  One day, I went on craigslist and this house popped up.

4 bedroom/2 bath. 2000 square feet. large, fenced in yard, with a deck. In a prime spot near Starbucks... and an elementary school, park, and pool. And it was move-in ready, with all of our must-haves and a few bonus wish list items, like an attached garage, laundry shoot, and fireplace. Just a sturdy, solid little, home.  The kind you can imagine your kids growing up in for the first 10 years of their lives.

The lady and her husband have two young kids and wanted to find a cute young couple they could envision living in it. And, we just so happen to fit that bill and had the bonus of an adorable baby, with a poncho and sparkly shoes. In all honesty, they really are good, trustworthy people.  So they have accepted our offer and we're in the process of the other junk, like the appraisal and working on loan stuff. While there still are some contingencies, basically meaning things that could happen to make the contract no longer valid, we will hopefully be moving into a home before Christmas, on December 5th.

Its weird, I thought I would be more ecstatic.
Don't get me wrong,
I FREAKIN CAN'T WAIT,
but I found myself thinking the last few weeks, man, I sort of like our apartment. Who knew. So I'm really praying things go smoothly and work out with this home so we don't have to start all over, but Rand and I are feeling pretty at peace about it.  Also weird.

Ellie is doing just great. My favorite thing about her is that she loves fuzzy things, namely, cats.  She comes uncorked when she sees one. She likes to grab a big tuft of hair, if she is left unsupervised with one, but we can usually pry her hand off ;)  Our plan is to get her a cute little kitty for Christmas and I can't wait.

She is starting to stand up on, supporting herself on her own against things.

Her dad likes to call her snuggums and squirrel because she is such a good cuddler and because she squirms around so much.

Were finding out that she is really tall for her age.  We went to the doctor and a little one year old was sitting nearby and she was the same size as her.  She tops the chart over the 95% tile for both height and weight.

When she gets excited she opens up her mouth and kind of smiles and squeels.

If you catch her when she is getting sleepy, she is super cuddly. If you are holding her upright, sometimes she will squeeze you with her legs and arms and put her mouth on your shoulder, kissing you.  I basically melt.

She really does not like it when you with hold her ability to exert her will; which all and all means, that she doesn't like it when you get her dressed for the day or bedtime, diaper changes, or wiping the squash off her face.

Her preference is to sit in her car seat on walks over sitting in the stroller.  I think it's because she likes to see our faces.

She likes to eat Micah's car toys. I thought it was the metal for a while, but she likes any of them these days. It's pretty precious.

She is still primarily nursing, but we try to give her baby food at lunch and dinner.  She also has had her first bites of puff popcorn and halloween cookies.

For halloween she starred Wilson, the volleyball from Castaway and won us the prize money; $12 that will hopefully make it into her college or counseling fund ;)

On Sunday, without thinking I said something to the effect of "We need to take more pictures of Ellie, we don't have enough from the fall".  Rand sort of chucked and then I started laughing too. It would be rare that I wouldn't take a picture or video of her a day.

We hosted a few fall events over the past weekends, including a pumpkin decorating party and a halloween party. This last weekend we took a spontaneous trip to visit the twin cities.  By spontaneous I mean, like at 7pm, I threw out the idea and Rand, was in. So we packed a few things and took off. It was a sweet memory I will savor for a while. The spontaneity of it all allowed for limited expectations, making everything a treat. The leaves hadn't all changed yet, so we caught the tail end of their fall, took a little drive down to Stillwater, took the sweetest morning walk at sunrise, did some yoga, and got to visit our dear friends, the Onyshuk's, and catch up over the Vike's game.

It felt like Rand and I were able to process through the whirl wind of life that we have found ourselves caught in these past two and a half years.  Marriage. A kid. New jobs. A house. YOGA. ha.  Part of us has been waiting for a breather, but I'm not sure that's in the agenda.  A new peace is starting to fill us and I really am praising Jesus for the work he is doing.  He really is making us new creations. And experiencing it is instilling a new hope and trust in who He really says I am and who He says he is.

I am not taking on as much of my mess and he, gently, continues to uncover more and more layers of fear, control, and my brokeness.   It's scary-- seeing so much of your stuff; your control and desire to make sure your child is safe, emotionally, and physically, your fear in wanting to pursue your dreams and the things that make you light up.
But it's happening.
I'm seeing it. I'm confessing it. I'm not resisiting as much.  I'm honoring me heart in ways I never thought I would be big enough to.  I'm allowing myself to have a voice, in ways that I never thought I could and it's terrifyingly wonderful. My heart is softening to his love and truth. He is healing my wounded heart. I'm starting to believe he can handle me.
 He is good.