What oh what have we been up to?
1. Our sweet, wonderful, AMAZINGLY intuitive moms came in town the week after we decided we were moving to New York. Thank. The. Lord. Our minds were fried and we needed help. Carla wanted a week to visit her own grandkids, so Kay came in town Sunday-Wednesday to watch Will--and let's be honest, take care of us too. She cooked red beans and rice, shrimp fajitas, and gumbo for us. Wow. We are so spoiled. But most importantly, Will got to spend more time with his Gramma. We continue to thank God for her visit, for her love, and for the effortless way she understood the demands of our jobs and supported us.
My incredible mother came in town Wednesday-Saturday to do exactly the same thing, Mimi-style. She brought Max (above) and Maggie with her, so all three dogs had the best time together. And Will, who thinks dogs are hilarious, couldn't get enough of all the four-legged creatures roaming around. Like Kay, Mom just intuited what we needed logistically and emotionally and provided us with so much joy. She also texted me pictures from Will throughout the day--gotta love that. We enjoyed fun outings to Greenlife, GPS, and Costco while she was here--and of course went on lots of walks!
Mama, thank you so much for coming and loving on all three (four including Camden!) of us!
2. Will turned 9 mos. old! My oh my where does the time go? It blows my mind that Will is as old as the length of my pregnancy. I couldn't help but think about labor and delivery on his exact 9 month birthday (March 10). What an exciting yet scary day that was for us. I look at him today and thank God over and over again that he is the healthy and vibrant and happy little man that he is.
I took him to see Dr. Dodd last week for his checkup, and she said he looks super healthy. Hooray! No shots at the 9 month checkup, but he did get his finger pricked for an iron test (which he passed--phew!). He weighs 22 lbs, 6 oz (80th percentile), he is 30.5 in. in height (97th percentile), and his head circumference is 18.75 (95th percentile).
He is also eating really well now. It took us a little while to like "solid" (why do people call this mashed, pureed food "solid"?) foods, but I think we are now headed in the right direction. YoBaby yogurt was the turning point for us--he loved it. Especially the vanilla kind. He may look like his daddy, but he already eats like his mama :-).
Love that face!
Taking a break from pushing up and rolling over. Snuggling with Daddy is always a good call.
Here we are post-church one day.
3. And then Blaire arrived! How lucky are WE?? My dear, dear friend and UVA roomie has loved on Will from the start. So when she offered to spend the first weekend of her spring break with US, we jumped at the opportunity. In her characteristically selfless and loving way, she made the effort to fly down here from New Jersey (where she is, ahem, a professor at Kean University--dang, she is SMART) and smother Will with hugs and laughter. It felt like home to have her here. We had so much fun playing on the swingset, going for long walks, having a picnic in the park, eating at Tony's, and seeing The King's Speech (so good!). Her visit was 48 hours of comfort and friendship. We love you, Blaires. Thank you for coming all this way to be with us.
Will loved the swing.
4.Will is super close to crawling, but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of using his legs yet. Instead, he pushes up on his hands (see above)
...then kicks his legs and waves his arms frantically while on his belly...
...and then pushes up again. He's got the push-up motion down.
Crawling? Not so much.
Family Picture!
We love Blaire!
5. We figured out what we are doing this summer. I am going to be on the faculty and we will be living here.
6. I got a job for next year while we are in NYC! I will be teaching online here.
7. I collected and graded 58 research papers.
8. I decided that I am really grateful to not have to grade 58 research papers next year.
9. I taught The Handmaid's Tale and Brave New World at the same time. The tragic events in Japan happened on the day I finished teaching each of them. My classes definitely had some probing, interesting discussions that day.
10. As of 3 pm today, I am officially on Spring Break. Hallelujah. This past month has been a sprint and a marathon at the same time. We're pretty exhausted. A week on the beach with my parents sounds heavenly. Sleeping in past 6 sounds blissful. Reading for fun sounds amazing. And simply being with family without the stress of work or future plans? Priceless.
