Moving Day 2010 - Conclusion

Now for the end of the story!

The A/C was broken when we arrived, but a guy came that day to look at it. He said the entire unit needed to be replaced. The unit we had used freon, but those aren't used any more, so we needed a completely new unit. He had to talk with our landlord to get approval on what to do next.

Wednesday it rained again, and the A/C guy came again, too. He said they had the approval from the landlord, but they couldn't install a new unit in the rain because it can't get any moisture inside. So we worked as much as we could stand it on Wednesday in the heat. My dad and Peter were able to stay through lunch, and then they headed back to Dallas.

Thursday morning brought the installation of our new A/C unit! *Hallelujah!!!* We drove my mom and Jordan's mom around town and showed them Jordan's school, the church building, the temple, and some other sites while our A/C unit was working hard to cool down our home. We continued unpacking that evening, and we were finally able to sleep in our own home!!!!

Friday morning I arranged the items above the cabinets in the kitchen with my mom's and Jordan's mom's help. Then we took my mom to the airport.

Jordan's dad arrived Friday afternoon, and Saturday he helped Jordan hang curtains, hang a big picture over our bed, fix a kitchen chair, and other things, too, I'm sure. Claire, Jordan's mom, and I went to Walmart to stock our kitchen.

With just a few bumps, we have managed to settle comfortably into our new home. We are so excited to be here. Here's a view of some more areas of our home:






We are so thankful for everyone's help with our move. It's been a long time coming, and we would not be as settled in as we are if we hadn't had all that help. Thank you all so much!

Here are some parting pictures of Claire with most of her grandparents.


If you're coming to Baton Rouge, let us know! We'd love to see you, and we have a sofa bed waiting for you!!!

On a Roll, but Not Going Solo!

Last night I put Claire down on her back in her room while Jordan and I hung up this mirror in the kitchen. The strawberry picture is what I hung over the sink. I'm excited about that!


When I walked by Claire's room, I found her on her tummy! I was so surprised! I rolled her onto her back, and I went to tell Jordan what she had just done. When I went to her room again, she was on her tummy again! Then I rolled her to her back and went to get my camera. When I came back, I found her like this!

Later I went to get my phone so I could record the action, and I found her like this!


Here's Claire, on a roll!




This afternoon I put Claire in this play area, and each time I checked on her she had almost rolled over, but then she would go onto her back again. The last time I checked on her, she actually had rolled over. I guess she didn't want me to see her do it!

Claire has only rolled over from her tummy to her back twice. A few days ago I mentioned that Claire's curiosity would help her roll over from her back to her tummy. She already seems like an expert at that! She rolled over 6 or 7 times last night, and she has rolled over many times today, too!

Fun With Dad!

Claire loves to play with her dad, and I love to watch them play together!


It seems like he can always get her to laugh! The other night, we sat down for dinner, and Jordan said a blessing on the food. During the prayer, though, he sneezed. Claire thought that was the funniest thing she had heard that day because she cracked up laughing! We laughed for a while, too! Then we finished the prayer and ate dinner. Jordan entertained Claire by pretending to sneeze and doing other things to make her laugh. What fun!

The Kitchen

My mom and Jordan's mom got the kitchen basically unpacked on Tuesday, despite the heat. On Friday morning we were ready to tackle the task of arranging items above the cabinets. I began by cleaning off some of the dust that was up there.

Then came what I thought was the hard part: the actual arranging. I don't think I've ever done this before. My great-at-decorating sister-in-law, Mel, has always conveniently been around when I have moved, so she has always done this for me. But with my mom's ideas, Jordan's mom's reassurance, and by starting with one section at a time, I think it turned out pretty well! And it wasn't too hard, either!



We still need to hang things on the walls, but we're getting there!

I guess it's hard being 5 months old!

I had no idea how hard it could be to be 5 months old. I wrote today's previous post this morning around 11 and then waited for the video to upload. Since that didn't work, I just decided to post without the video, and I included a bit of an update of what had happened into the afternoon. Well, here's what really happened today:

8:15am - Claire wakes up, happy as can be, talking. She eats breakfast.
9:45am - Claire takes a nap
11:30am - I wake up Claire to eat lunch. (Yes, I wake her up in the day. And she sleeps beautifully at night!)
12:30pm - I get Claire to sleep, and I start making my lunch.
12:40pm - Claire wakes up and cries before my lunch is ready. I put her in her bouncy seat and eat lunch. She seems totally happy.
1:15pm - Claire seems tired again, which I understand. I try to get her to sleep. She cries, cries, and cries. At times she settles down, and I think she'll actually go to sleep. But she doesn't. I even put her in her crib for a bit, and she was fine for a few minutes, but then she started crying again.
1:45pm - Claire is still tired and crying. I begin getting a bottle ready for her.
2:00pm - Claire eats her afternoon snack and falls asleep half-way through the bottle, but I wake her up because I think that, if she finishes her bottle, she could sleep until 5:00pm. (Wrong!)
2:15pm - Claire is finished with her bottle and needs a diaper change. She spits up all over herself, so I change her outfit, too. (By the way, this was my 2nd time to change her outfit today because she spit up on it. I just don't remember when it happened the first time).
2:20pm - I try to get Claire to sleep, but she just won't have anything to do with it. But she's obviously very tired. I try many different ways to get her to calm down and sleep. She never goes to sleep.
3:00pm - I have had enough of the constant crying, and I need a break. So I put Claire in her crib to let her cry. She doesn't at first. I finish my post that I began this morning. Then I pump.
3:25pm - I'm finished pumping, and I say (another) prayer before I get Claire, who has been crying for quite a while now, from her crib. I calm her down.
3:35pm - I try to get Claire to sleep. It doesn't work.
3:45pm - I try another way to get Claire to sleep. She finally goes to sleep. At this point I'm thinking I have until at least 5:00 before she wakes up because she was sooooo tired, and I'm looking forward to accomplishing some things around my home.
4:15pm - I notice that Claire is awake, but I leave her alone because she isn't crying. Maybe she'll go back to sleep, right? (Wrong! - Again!)
4:25pm - Claire starts crying, again. I play with her and interact with her while I try to continue to organize the living room.
4:50pm - Claire starts crying, so I feed her dinner. During her dinner, she pooped. I went immediately to change her, but the damage had been done. I had to lay Claire down on her stomach to begin the diaper changing process, since poop was coming out of the back of her diaper. At this point I consider letting her just wear a diaper. But I put yet another outfit on her.
5:10pm - Claire is finished with her dinner and plays happily by herself in the living room.
5:45pm - Claire is tired, so I get her to sleep. This time it only took about 5 minutes.

So here's what she has (already) worn today:

• PJ's
• pink onesie with heart pants (She spit up on this).
  
• red onesie, (the one Jordan and I got when we found out she's a girl) (She spit up on this one, too).
  
• orange onesie (She wore this when she was crying in her crib for a long time. It was wet around her neck when I got her up from that, but I decided to keep her in that anyways). (She pooped on this one).
  
• pink onesie with little hearts on it (keeping my fingers crossed!)

But even with all of this, it's hard not to smile when I see this sweet, (even if it is slobbery), face!