To Hannah at 4 Months & Other Updates

This month has been crammed with all sorts of excitement! Hannah is 4 months old, Lydia started Joy School, David sent in his applications for residency programs, we got a new car (not really willingly), we took 2 trips to San Antonio (only 1 sort of planned), David flew to Washington, and now Lydia is potty training again (I sure hope this is really it!). And, actually, except for Lydia starting Joy School, all of this has been in September! Wow! I sure hope the rest of this month lets me catch up!
So, I guess I'll start on all of our explanations of everything and then end with Hannah's monthly letter.

The biggest story/experience of all has been the car. I will dearly miss our CRV! I already do! There were so many things I loved about it despite it's need for constant TLC. Like how I didn't have to hunch over to get kids in and out of carseats and didn't constantly bang my head doing so. And how there was space between the 2 front seats for me to put my purse, diaper bag and any other essentials. And how I didn't have to worry about what I could take on daytrips because there was plenty of room in the back. I also loved how it had an awesome table in the trunk that I could pull out and use whenever we went to the beach (A super cool thing about CRV's!). Sigh...
So, I'm sure you're wondering what happened to my amazing car. Well, Ol Bessie came with her share of problems. We made several pricey repairs in the 3 1/2 years we had her. Most recently, we were trying to get her A/C fixed. No matter how much money we spent and how convinced the mechanics were that they really knew what the problem was, it just never seemed to get fixed. So, Labor Day weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to San Antonio to see my family. My sister was getting ready to go back to BYU-I and we wanted to have some fun in the middle of their frantic packing and getting ready. So we drove up late Friday night after an Astros Game. About 3/4 of the way there our check engine light came on. Yikes! The car didn't sound good and was shaking like crazy whenever I slowed down or came to a stop. Luckily it made it the rest of the way to my parents house though. The next day we took it into the shop and got the bad news. The 4th cylinder was shot and the entire engine would need to be replaced. The part alone costs about $3000! That's the car's trade-in value without any problems! We got a few different opinions, but they all led the same direction. It was totalled. And, not only was it totalled, but it was also unsafe to drive back to Galveston.
After spending the afternoon confirming the bad news and looking through our budget, we went out to start looking at new cars. However, we had very little money for a down payment, couldn't afford much of a monthly payment, and didn't have any income yet. So, we would need a co-signer to even get a loan and then we would be living very tight for the next while. Not our ideal scenario. But we really wanted to get a reliable car that could get us all the way through residency because we were initially planning to get a second car next summer when we moved for residency. We didn't want to get something that would have to get replaced right away or have too many expensive repairs. Things were not looking very promising. And we had very little time to find something. David had to be back to work by Wednesday.
Luckily, Sunday was Fast Sunday. We prayed and prayed that we would know what to do and that we could find something to meet our needs. That evening David talked to his parents who told him that his Grandma was thinking about selling her car. It was very old (a 91), but she hadn't driven it much (only 38,000 miles). We talked about it and prayed about it some more. And decided that it was an answer to our prayers. So we started figuring out all the details. We got a rental car to go home to Galveston on Tuesday. Then on Friday I drove David to the airport in Austin (the plane tickets there were about $200 cheaper that leaving from either Houston or San Antonio) and then continued on to San Antonio with the girls where I would spend the weekend with my mom and brother, return the rental car, and work on selling our car. David flew to Washington where he spent a late night trying to see his brother and grandma there, then drove with his dad to Utah the next day. He got to visit with his brother, Adam for a couple hours (Adam just got home from his mission last month). Then he drove with my dad for the next couple of days from Utah back to San Antonio. My dad had driven my sisters car up to Idaho for her to use the week before and was spending time at the Family History Library in Utah. So, conveniently he was already up there to help David drive back home. Thanks Dad! I know you would have rather used the plane!
So, we were able to sell our car for a decent enough price to a salvage yard, we got a new, but old, Honda Accord and eventually all made it back home to Galveston. It was a very long couple of weeks! Now we're just trying to wrap up the last few details of getting the car registered, etc. But it left me completely worn out and stressed! I sure hope that is all said and done! And that this car will last us a good while!

At the Astros game before going to San Antonio for the first time.

Aside from the car drama, a lot else has been going on! Lydia started a Joy School where we rotate who is in charge each week with 4 other moms in the ward. We are using the book "Teach Me Mommy" by Jill Dunford. They meet twice each week for a few hours and get to learn a new subject, play with their friends and eat lunch out of a cool lunchbox. Lydia loves it! She constantly asks to go to school. And I love it too! I get a few hours each week to actually clean the house, shop, or get other stuff done while Hannah sleeps. I get to teach next week. We are going to learn about our 5 senses and the clothes that we wear. I have tons of fun things to do with the senses, but if you have any fun things for 2-3 year olds for clothes that we wear then let me know!

 

Lydia's first day of Joy School

 

 

No wonder she loves school so much! This is her first day and she already is enjoying cupcakes! PS: I have no idea why she decided this was how to eat a cupcake. Maybe she didn't want her fingers dirty?

Lydia is also potty training, again. I wasn't planning to do it for a while. But for some reason one morning I was talking to Lydia and decided that she might be ready. I can't remember if she said something or what. But we pulled out her panties and lined the living room with towels and we watched a movie. And she stayed dry almost all day! She had just one accident as she stood in the bathroom by the toilet. Then she was dry all the next day. Sunday was more difficult with nursery, but we will keep working on that one. And she has stayed mostly dry all week! She has even worn her panties to school without having any accidents. She talks a lot about how her friends wear panties and don't use diapers anymore. I think that she's finally registering that wearing panties is the cool thing and diapers are for babies. Hooray! I hope that I never have to buy diapers for her again!

Lydia with her potty training doll. She loves having the baby sit on her potty next to her!

The other major events of this month are getting residency applications in. It was very stressful getting everything together and deciding where we wanted to apply. But we finally got them in last Saturday, September 15th. The soonest we had heard of people hearing back from programs for interviews is about 10 days. So, we weren't really expecting anything. But on Tuesday we heard back from 4 programs! And we have heard back from one everyday since. So far we have interviews in Corpus Christi, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Louisville, KY, Oklahoma City, OK, Milwaulkee, WI and here at UTMB. We are trying to arrange some of them into roadtrips for the family. We would like to attend most of them with David to save money on flights, have fun around the country and so that I'm not left home alone with the girls all the time. We are so excited that he has already heard back from so many programs! Hopefully that means that we will have a good pick of places as we rank them in March! I just hope that he gets some more interviews in Texas. Corpus Christi is also on the gulf. I have enjoyed living by the beach, but I don't really want to endure any more hurricane seasons! It's too stressful! I was really disappointed last week when we found out San Antonio is not taking any new residents next year. That took one of my top places out of our options! Now I'm really hoping for Dallas and Austin! Please!

And last, but not least, Hannah is now 4 months! I can't believe how much time has flown by! She is such a sweet little lady and has grown so much! Here is my monthly letter for her:

Dearest Hannah,

4 months seems like such a short time, and forever all at once. It's like you have always been a part of our family. You are a tremendous blessing in our home and bring so much joy wherever you go. I would describe you as being a very happy baby. The only times you cry are when you are hungry, tired, stinky, can't get your thumb, or are getting bored. Yet it takes a lot to get you to laugh. You are only ticklish on occasion and look at me like I'm crazy with I try to tickle you with my hair. And when I finally do get you to laugh, I hunger for more! It is so adorable how it usually ends in a squeak! But your smiles are getting to be more frequent. And you talk to us frequently. Mostly it involves blowing bubbles out your mouth and you make cute noises. I love hearing you. I imagine that you're telling me how tasty your food was, how much you love us, and what you want your next meal to be.
This month you have grown a lot! You have begun grabbing at things. We first noticed this at dinner one night when you were waving your arms as you stared intently at the ketchup bottle. When I held it closer for you, you worked hard and were able to grab on. You are quickly drawn to colorful objects and have since learned that you can grab on to them. Now you get more excited when we hold toys up for you and when you lay down with your little jungle gym toys hanging over you.
You also have officially moved into your crib in Lydia's room. Lydia loves having you in her room with her and always makes sure that we turn your mobile on for you to listen to. And y'all have done pretty well together! You have only woken her up a couple of times (you're lucky that she's such a deep sleeper!). You still fluctuate between wanting to eat 1-3 times/night. However, I have figured out that you wake up less when I don't swaddle you up. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out that swaddling up a baby who likes to suck her thumb isn't a smart idea! Now you are able to roll onto your side and suck away as you soothe yourself to sleep. Which, by the way, melts my heart! As soon as I lay you down in your crib you grab onto your blanket with one hand, stick the other thumb in your mouth (usually your left thumb) and roll onto your left side. So sweet!
You also are getting a little bit more of a regular schedule during the day. You take a good nap in the morning and also in the afternoon. You take a few other little cat naps throughout the day. But this seems to be your new schedule.
Speaking of rolling, you sure are doing a lot of it! I'm noting this in your 4 month letter, but it's mostly started the last few days since your 4 month birthday. You roll onto your stomach all of the time now. I don't think that you do it on purpose yet, at least you fuss a lot once you get onto your stomach. You are able to make it back onto your back on occasion, but that seems to be more difficult for you. I hope that this doesn't mean you will be rolling around my living room soon and getting into everything! Relax. Enjoy being a baby and staying in one place. There is plenty of time for mobility later!
So far we haven't come up with many nicknames for you. I frequently refer to you as "Hannah-bo-banna", Sweetie, and Little Lady. Lydia calls you Hannah pronounced like the A in Hannukah. But no matter what we call you, they are only a small symbol of our love for you. We are so grateful for you. I love you and everything about you. Especially your beautiful hair and big eyes. But most especially the sweet spirit that emanates from your smile and babblings. You have me smitten!

love,

Momma

On another note, we finally got out on a date!!! Hooray! Thanks Jason and Diana! We did the tree sculpture tour here in Galveston. It was really neat! All of the trees were ones that died in Hurricane Ike and were carved into sculptures right where they sat on the trunk. This one is carved into several birds flying away. There are several other pictures in the September folder if you would like to see more.

Also, for any of you who remember this house that I talked about a few years back. It has been selected to be part of Galvestons restoration project. They have been working on it for about 6 months now and it is slowly coming together. I'm excited to see it when it's finished!