Life's Happening

So I took a little break from blogging.  If you hadn't noticed.  I think mostly it was only my mom who did!  We've been busy actually living life not so worried about documenting it.  However, weeks (and months) began to pass - and as we all know babies KILL braincells and this blog is my only hope of remembering anything about my babies lives or ours together.  (Seriously, Rob has to remind me about things from my own wedding and even babies births')  Awful awful memory I have.  It's a blessing and a curse :)  So when I'm old and gray, snuggled under a blanket I've made out of eli & nora's old baby clothes (don't even think I'm joking - I'm already saving my favorite onesies), I can remember all the funny pronunciations and developmental victories and long long days of sweeping graham crackers and scratching dried banana off of doorways with my finger nail - ahh, memories.

Before I begin posting the onslaught of drafts of nora's 4-5-6 months of life and a very grown up 2 1/2 year Elijah post, I hoped to catch up family and friend-family on our own lives.

Welp - I guess the biggest news is that we are moving to Lexington, KY at the end of the month.  Rob is beginning a PhD in Economics in the fall at the University of Kentucky.  UK was a great choice for us as it hosts the Center for Poverty Research.  Rob hopes to influence through writing, research, and teaching how poverty and justice issues are handled at the community and national level through an economic lens on the poor and marginalized in our society. We are so ready and excited to begin this next chapter of our lives which we didn't anticipate beginning for a few more years.  The program lasts 4-5 years, so it's very likely we'll be leaving Lexington with a rising kindergartener and second grader!

Along with this move, of course comes the grind of actually - physically moving.  Ugh, I hate moving.  I hate it with a most intense passion.  Some well meaning innocent acquaintance recently asked me, "do you like moving?"  After she heard how much we'd moved in the past 5 years.  To which I replied, "no - but we're good at it."  And, it's true.  This move has been a bit easier so far than the past ones.  The ease of this move coupled with Nora being so little and Eli freaking out whenever I pull out another box; however, has pretty much cancelled out any noticeable gain from our mad packing skills, though.  Several friends have given us boxes, and we've got a truck reserved for the 20th of July.  Our house is sold and we've bought a beautiful home in Lexington.  We'll close on both the same day.  All in all, we're taking care of business.  It's tough, but I keep telling myself, the worst will be over in a month.  And not to over-dramatize or spiritualize, but we feel like God is continuing to call us out and down our path to learning how to love like Jesus and bring his Kingdom closer.  I'm more excited about Lexington and the work God has for us there than I have been in a long time.  That makes the move, the stress, and then transition all worth it.  Or, worth it most days.

We've held several jobs between us over the summer.  Rob worked at Lowe's for a little while and became the reigning Lawn and Garden Specialist in our family.  We really both enjoyed him working there, the only tough days were when he closed and missed our bedtime routine.  But, I saw him more while he was working there than I had in awhile - It was awesome for our family.

Meanwhile, I've continued with teaching Bradley Classes and doula-ing with Open Heart Doula right up to the end of our time in Knoxville.  I am awaiting my 27th Bradley baby's arrival having taught 54 Bradley students while in Knoxville just over a year and a half of teaching.  Our whole family was quite busy recently with my last two doula clients giving birth just days apart from one another.  I am so thankful for this role serving moms and families.  I'm still hoping to attain DONA certification and possibly IBCLC certification to become a lactation consultant.  With our young family, however, this is a long term endeavor that I'll chip away at slowly over time.

I've already scheduled my first few classes in Lexington and am excited to begin again there.  I don't expect to take doula clients right away after our move.  I really feel like we need to settle in a bit first and get used to our new surroundings and schedules before adding the unpredictability of birth to the mix.

We're really going to miss our neighbors and friends.  A lot of the couples I had in class became good friends and we couldn't have asked for better neighbors in our neighborhood.  We became a part of peoples lives in really cool ways here and we are praying that God has more things like that for us in Lexington as we use our gifts and abilities there.  I've made Eli a shutterfly photo book entitled, "Eli's Big Move - from Knoxville to Lexington"  It's full of all his favorite things and people in Knoxville.  I'm hoping to take some of the confusion and anxiety of moving out of the equation for his 2 year old brain.

Below is a sneak peek of our new home in Lexington.

Front porch and yard

Back yard chicken coop and fire pit

Swing set for Eli and Nora Cate