5 months

Hey little guy - you turned 5 months old yesterday!  I can't believe how fast you are growing and changing.  Your next doctors appointment is still a month away, but my rough estimates are that you are 28 inches long and weigh 18 lbs.  You are a BIG BOY.  Everyone comments on how big you are and can't believe you are 5 months old.  You are really close to sitting up by yourself!  You are so active and are very interested in toys and love reaching for and holding things.  You can pass things from one hand to the other, and actually use your toes like a monkey to grab things too.  You love to have your head upside down.  You have found your voice and love to use it.  Your dad thinks you are trying to really talk to us, but it will be months and months before you will be able to put words together.  You started eating rice cereal last week, but we're going to wait until you are almost 6 months to do veggies and fruits.  You are sleeping through the night and are napping very well, which I LOVE... you have finally learned how to put yourself to sleep at both nap time and bedtime.  You smile all the time and laugh, especially when dad comes home from work.  We think that you may have started the teething process because you are drooling a lot and are always putting things in your mouth... your favorite being your own fingers. You love bath time and your massage you get afterwards.  You had your first playtime with other babies at the library yesterday and you loved it.  You still fuss and fuss at times, but you have gotten so much better about that.  We love you big boy.  Happy 5 months!

It's been one of those weeks...

...one of those really challenging weeks.  After a great weekend, Sunday night hit and Turner decided to stop sleeping.  He turned into a newborn again and was waking every few hours.  He spent the next 3 days fussing, drooling, chewing on everything, and again not sleeping... naps or nighttime.  At first we thought it was due to teething, but we haven't seen any pearly whites yet, so who knows? I guess only time will tell. Thankfully he decided to go back to his old self when he woke up Thursday morning... who knows why, maybe it was something I did differently, or maybe he just figured it out on his own.  We are working on a consistent schedule now so hopefully things will continue to get better.  He napping very well, is so happy, and slept through the entire night last night! Thanks to those of you who listened to me complain, cry, and who helped me figure out what to do.  It's hard being a first time momma!  I definitely lived up to that title this week with our struggles.

Now, its a dark, rainy Friday, and I have a napping baby and one of my favorite things... a Capri Blue Volcano candle lit.  It's a very nice afternoon in our little apartment on our quiet street.  After a long, hard week, this is just what I needed....refreshing rain, a quiet apartment, and my lit candle.

Challenge

So, having a baby will certainly take a toll on a body. No secret there. I'm trying to get back to feeling like my old self again... Or maybe a better version of my old self, because let's be honest... My old self could use some work! I'm 7 lbs less than my pre-baby weight, but things aren't just as they used to be.

So, here's my challenge to myself. I'm putting it on the blog because I want to put it out there... If I never publicized my challenge, then I wouldn't have any accountability! I want to find something to do everyday. Whether its going for a walk, going for a run, doing a Jillian video, mom and baby yoga... Just something. I definitely have the time to do something. We all do.

Jesse is "lucky" and walks a little over 2 miles a day with his commute. Maybe I should walk with him to and from the train station everyday. Then I would be doubling his workout. Boo yah. We'll see. I just want to challenge myself and all of you to move everyday. It's about health. It's about feeling good.

If you have any ideas or have a routine of your own, let me hear it! In the words of my new neighbor, "Let's Move!"

 

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The Englishes go to Washington!

Hey readers! I can't believe that it is July. 2012 is going by so fast.  With today being July 9th I thought it would be appropriate for this post since it has been one month since the day we left Starkville to begin our journey to DC.  I can't believe it has been a month since we pulled out of that gravel driveway of the yellow house on Critz Street.  I still feel like that is home and we are going to be going back there soon.  This month it is being occupied by the new tenants and it will be the first home of a precious couple getting married later this month.  This house was the hardest to leave of anywhere we have lived... I guess its because we lived in that house longer than any other since we got married and its where we brought our baby home to.  We have so many happy memories from this place...many that involve a lot of you guys!  Not only in this house, but in Starkville as a whole.  I find myself very homesick for our church, being close to our friends, being closer to our families, the good little life we had in Starkvegas and the comfort that brought. After talking to my friend Lindsay today, she reminded me of Ecclesiastes 3 about there being a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.  I definitely think this passage speaks to our season of life and I am so thankful for a sweet friend to share this truth with me!

Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about this new journey we are on and for all that we will experience here.  I'm anxious to find a church, to make friends, and to really settle in here.  We just said last night that things are starting to feel a little bit more normal here.  Today marked the beginning of the 4th week of Jesse's job, Turner is finally on some sort of a schedule, and he officially has a bedtime routine which makes bedtime easy and enjoyable.  Who knew babies liked consistency?? Thats a word Turner didn't know until just recently.  It's so so nice to put him to bed and have a few hours to hang out with Jesse at night.  

Now, let me fill you in on all that took place in our lives just a short month ago...  We got back from Hawaii on Monday afternoon and moving day was set for the 9th - that coming Saturday.  We should have spent each day packing, but instead we spent them with friends.   

The next few days had major highs and lows that I will do my best to explain.  It's hard to put everything into words adequately, but here we go.  My parents came into town on Thursday and the real packing began. We worked hard all day and stayed up late getting things ready to load the next day.  

Early Friday morning Jesse's dad, Mr. Randy, came into the town and the two of them went to get the moving truck. My sweet friend Rebecca came over to help me pack up my bedroom! She was such a great help and I loved getting to catch up with her! When Jesse and Mr. Randy got back the loading began and all the guys worked hard all morning.  After a lunch break, they started back at it.  Mom and I made a Sonic happy hour run since it was so hot and when we got back, Mr. Randy was inside taking a break.  He asked for some aspirin because his chest hurt a little bit.  We told him to rest since there was no reason to push it. Their family has a history of heart trouble, and a few years ago he had to have stents put in his heart.  After a while, he was still feeling bad, so Jesse took him to the hospital to get him checked out and it ended up saving his life... he was having a heart attack and didn't know it.  Soon after they left for the hospital, Mrs. Terry, Kelley, and Trae showed up to help with the packing and loading.  We filled them in just before we found out that they were flying him to Tupelo to go into surgery.  Since we lived so close to the hospital we heard the helicopter take off.  Jesse came back home and Kelley and Mrs. Terry drove to Tupelo to be there when he got out of surgery.  We were very close to losing him that day.   We are so thankful that the we were so close to the hospital and that he was able to receive such great care so quickly.  

My parents, Trae, Jesse, and I continued to pack up the truck and got most of it done before the sun went down. The Wardens had us over for dinner that night, which was such a blessing.  Mom and Dad spent the night and we got up early to finish packing.  We ended up running out of room in the truck and had to rent a U-Haul trailer, which Jesse had to drive all the way to Louisville to pick up. Our friends Alex, Leah, and Mike came over to help with the final things and we were finished!  The Wardens came over just before we left to say goodbye.  We snapped a few pictures of Turner and Everett together before heading out.  Jesse and I took one last walk through the house, we said goodbye to my dad, and Jesse, Mom, and I hit the road.  We stopped through Tupelo to see his Dad and pick up Kelley.  We are so thankful that we were able to visit his Dad one more time before we left town and are SO thankful that he was ok.  

We took the trip slow, knowing that traveling with a baby would take longer than normal.  We didn't set too rigid of a trip schedule, but had a goal to make it to Cleveland (just outside Chattanooga) on the first night to stay with Kristian, George, and Ashlyn.  Jesse snapped a few photos of his view. He and Kelley were in the moving truck, and Mom, Turner, and I were in the X.  This was my first time to pull a U-Haul trailer...not something I want to do everyday, but it wasn't too bad. **Hey Rachel, notice that billboard? We drove right past the hotel where we are staying for your wedding!**

Beautiful sunset on our way to Chattanooga.

We finally made it!  I never got a picture with Kristian, but here is George and Ashlyn with Turner.  Ashlyn looks adorable and Turner looks like an alien baby!

We got to visit our first baby while visiting.  Maggie is staying with Kristian and George right now.  We are waiting on her to go into heat and then she will be bred, have puppies, and then will come back to live with us.  Just waiting on mother nature!

We got some much needed rest, a quick visit in, then hit the road.  We had a total of 9 hours to go to get to DC so hoping to cover a lot of ground the next day...

...but that didn't happen.  Instead this did:





Yep.  The mother in me was scared to death being parked on the side of Interstate 81 with 18 wheelers FLYING by.  I swear there were more 18 wheelers on this interstate than any other in America.  Jesse called U-Haul, but because this was a Sunday, there weren't very many tire companies open to come help us. It would have been nice if they would have told us that this was the case, but they didn't.  They  just said to wait and someone would be there soon. I was so scared for us to be on the side of the road waiting.  There was nothing we could do, but you hear horror stories of situations like this that end badly.  You would think U-Hauls would come with a spare, but nope.  They don't.



So we waited.

And waited.

Until this guy showed up. It took 3 hours for someone to come change the tire. 3 hours.  I think he was in his 80s.  We were really frustrated that it took so long for someone to come, but we were also really sad that this guy was still having to work at his age.  I really thought we were going to watch him die that day because he was standing on the road side of his truck for a long time while the 18 wheelers were flying by.  It scared us so bad!

After a total of 4 hours, he fixed the tire and we were back on the road again.

I was a lot more cautious this time because we didn't really trust the tire the man put on there.  We stayed in the right lane the rest of the trip in case we had another blow out we could get off the road quickly.

We drove a little later than expected because we wanted to cover some ground, since we had quite an unexpected delay.  Eventually we made it to Roanoke, VA to spend the night. Jesse, Kelley, and I went to Waffle House for a late snack while Mom kept Turner.  

After a full nights rest and full bellies from breakfast we headed off to the car to get the day started.  Our goal was to be to the apartment by bedtime.  We were excited for a fresh start, only to see this when we got to our car:

Some jerk parked right next to our car.  Seriously?  There were beyond plenty of open spots that he could have picked. What I didn't capture in the picture was the car that was behind the trailer as well.   Thankfully Jesse is very talented in driving a car with a trailer behind it and got us out of this tight spot...

...and we were on the road again.  Very optimistic about our day!

Even though we hit lots of rain and got a little lost, we finally made it!!!  There were times over these days that I wasn't sure if we would.  Mom and I listened to Andrew Bird's album Noble Beast over and over and over again for 3 days straight because that is what kept Turner the happiest in the car.  It's his favorite... especially the song "Oh No".

We were so happy to have made it and don't plan on making that drive again anytime soon... 

Mom stayed until Wednesday morning and Kelley stayed until Friday.  They were both such a HUGE help to us with helping with Turner, moving in our stuff, and just emotional support. There are those times that you really need your family, and this was one of those times.  Mom and Kelley saw us through some of our worst times and saw our worst sides, but loved us through it all.  That's what family is for, and we are so blessed to have such wonderful families to love and support us.

So, we have been here for almost a month now and are almost settled.  Once we get fully settled, I will show you pictures of the apartment and of our neighborhood!  The good news is that despite all that we faced a month ago, we are here and are happily beginning the next chapter of our lives.

Happy 4th!

To celebrate the 4th of July, we've had a fun day at home playing, napping, and cooking! I've been wearing Turner in the BabyBjorn while I prep for meals and as far as i can tell, he loves it. He tries to grab the food and watches everything I do. Maybe I'm raising a little chef!

Today we had a huge feast to celebrate the 4th. We grilled burgers, baked up some sweet potato fries, made a salad with homemade ranch dressing, and had grilled corn and soybean salad. We even made homemade strawberry cheesecake ice cream! I want to share the recipe for the grilled corn and soybean salad with you because it was our favorite!

 

I saw this recipe for grilled corn and butter bean salad in this month's Southern Living and thought we would try it out. We went to the grocery store, but surprisingly could not find frozen butter beans so I decided to substitute soybeans instead and it was delicious! The recipe also called for tomatoes but we left them out by accident. So here's my version of the recipe:

Grilled Corn and Soybean Salad

• 1 (12 oz) package frozen soybeans (edamame)
• 2 ears fresh corn, husks removed
• 1 small red onion, cut into thick slices
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thick rings
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Cook soybeans according to package directions; drain and cool completely.
2. Preheat grill to medium high. Grill corn, covered with grill lid, for 15 minutes or until done, turning every 4 to 5 minutes. (Some kernels will begin to char... Yum!) At the same time, grill onion and bell pepper, covered with grill lid, 5 minutes on each side or until tender. Cool all vegetables completely.
3. Cut kernels from cob. Chop onions and bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.
4. Stir together mayo and next 5 ingredients. Stir in soybeans, corn, onion, and pepper pieces. Add salt to taste. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Hope you're having a sweet 4th of July!

 

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