life lately

 Well, there went February and March (and most of April)! I continually intended to post some photos in order to remember these first few months in Indiana, but we've all been adjusting to a new rhythm and its been a little hard. We all miss Tennessee and our friends there and we've been wading through the newcomer stage at church, slowly getting to know other families at church and meeting for playdates during the week. Both boys got the flu so we spent a solid two weeks cooped up at home, missing church, Bible study and other opportunities for us to continue making friends (and to go to Ann Arbor for Grandad's birthday). The house hunt is slow going but we're staying optimistic that spring weather will bring more houses on the market.

Grandma and Grandad came to visit the first weekend we were here!

Hard to believe that this was all the snow we've gotten! We bought a sled for Jake and he and I took turns on it one afternoon. Even with minimal snow he loved it.

We've absolutely enjoyed seeing Deric's parents frequently, usually every weekend and occasionally on a weeknight as well. Deric and I have gone on more dates lately than ever before and we love it! We celebrated my birthday with dinner in downtown Indianapolis...

Later we took Jake to Giordano's Pizza so he could see the skyscrapers and get some one-on-one time with us. We're looking forward to exploring more downtown.

Within the first week of moving, we bought a family pass to The Children's Museum in Indianapolis and we've already visited a handful of times. We got to meet Courtney and Cana one day and just last week we were able to meet friends from Tennessee at the Museum for the day.

We've gotten together with the Dunns twice now while they're on furlough from Ethiopia, and I'm hoping we can squeeze in one more visit before they fly back in July!

We've been able to spend a few weekends with the Fairs, which we love! Courtney brought the kids down one weekend while Tim was on a trip, and we went to visit them last weekend for a night. I love to see Jake playing with his cousins and know that we can see them much more often now than before. Jake and Cana are best friends from the minute we walk in the door and its so fun to see them playing and giggling together.

I'm behind on Reid's monthly updates so I'll have to catch up soon, but he is crawling--fast!--and pulling himself up frequently. I foresee him walking around his first birthday, which is about a month from now. I can't believe it!

Jake has logged a lot of miles on his bike thanks to a fairly mild winter! We found that Nemo helmet at the store for $5 and I can't get enough of him wearing it. Our typical park outings start with fairly long bike rides while I push Reid in the stroller and then we play on the playground. We've got our double jogging stroller finally fixed so very soon, I can get back into a routine of running! I assumed I'd be pushing both boys in the stroller but I think Jake will be able to keep up with me on his bike.

Its things like this--learning to ride with no hands!--that just take me completely by surprise. How is he already big enough?!

Little brother wants so badly to climb on the playground too!

Jake got up the courage to climb all the way up this rock (which is higher than it looks in the photo) and it was a big deal for him to overcome his fear of heights! Learning to climb down was stressful but I'm still so proud he was willing to try it.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we've been out exploring our "backyard"--the church property behind our house. In one outing, we saw a crawdad, ducks, a muskrat (?), horses and goats.

If I had to pick one picture to summarize the last few months, this would be it. Jake plays K'Nex every day and they're often spread all over our table (which is the only place they're safely out of Reid's reach). Now that Jake doesn't nap, he has quiet time instead and plays with K'Nex for over an hour every afternoon with no complaints. He loves them!