Movin' on in...

So yes, we have officially moved into our new house in Bloomington! Yahoo! We have been here about two weeks, and have still to accomplish a few major tasks...one being purchasing a computer. Hence, limited blog posting and email. We'll be online at home pretty soon.
We have spent the past two weeks doing various projects to make our house more like home including painting the entire inside, installing new kitchen and bathroom hardware, cleaning, and hiring plumbers and electricians (again!) to get our bathrooms in working order. We do have our furniture up and ready now, and Cole's room is the best looking room in the house. He's having a blast playing with all of his "new" toys, meaning the toys he had in Vienna that we packed in May that he hasn't seen in a while. It's really like Christmas to open each box! He often acts like he recognizes something and is very attentive to books he remembers. It's very fun to watch him play now with toys that he really didn't totally get a few months ago. A lot of development happened between 15 and 18 months...the time that our stuff was on a container.
So we're having a good time, and working hard, too. Chris had a great job interview last Friday that we're waiting and hoping to hear back about sometime this week or early next week. He would be running the finances for the Center for Curriculum Development of Central Asian Languages at Indiana University. It's a great fit for him, and the interview went really well. The best part about it is that the building he would be working in on campus is the CLOSEST possible building to our house. It's a 10 minute walk. Wow! What a blessing if they offer this job to Chris! We have noticed, though, how thankful we have been that he hasn't had a job until now. He's been making lots of house projects happen that I could not have done without him around, and he's been really helpful with Cole, too.
We have been to ECC, our home church, a few times now, too, which has been wonderful! We have loved seeing familiar faces and just being in a place where we understand everything and are familiar with most things. Cole has had a little bit of a rough time adjusting to being away from mom & dad for the whole service (last week I was called back to his room 3 times!), but thankfully the caregivers have been so gracious and loving to us and him. Just part of the adjustment. We can walk to church from our house, too. It's about a 15 minute walk. There are some restaurants, a Border's, and the pet store within walking distance, too. It's similar to Vienna as much as it can be anyway! Cole and I have already visited the pet store. His favorite were the bunnies! He laughed out loud when they jumped around their cages.
Okay, that's it for now. We won't be online at home for another week or two, so if you need us please call! We will be slow with email and blogging until then.

Colts Kickoff Day

Yesterday was a BIG day in Indianapolis! The Indianapolis Colts kicked off the 2007 season with a home win against the New Orleans Saints. The game was at home, and thousands of people spent the day downtown and enjoyed the festivities and free concerts by Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, and John Mellencamp (a native Hoosier!). Colts stories filled the newspapers and TV stations all day, too. After being in Vienna for three years, completely away from all aspects of sports hype, this was really fun for us to observe and be a part of. I never understood how the NFL goes to such great lengths to celebrate the Superbowl Champion team months after the Superbowl is over.
Well, we didn't go downtown, but we did celebrate here at my parents' house. Cole played in the dryer (while it was off, of course), he introduced Raggedy Andy (mine from when I was little) to the couch and TV, and played the drum on the coffee table with my dad, Chris, and our friend Don Summerlin. What a way to cheer on the Colts! We had a yummy spaghetti dinner before the game and wore Colts shirts, too. My mom made homemade meatballs!
It was such a good day. And, best of all, Chris made AMAZING progress on our hardwood floors, and he only has one more coat of polyurethane to put on and then the floors will be finished. Yahoo! Move in day is getting closer and closer. We'll post pictures very soon.

Cole's First Haircut

My mom and I took Cole to DLLowry Salon today to get his very first haircut! He did great! He sat up like a big boy in the chair, drank his juice, and he said "haircut!" over and over. I think he liked looking in the big mirrors and playing with Lincoln's (the haircut guy) brush, too. After the haircut we had lunch at Chick-Fil-A, and then home for an afternoon nap. We kept Cole's first lock of hair, too. Maybe he'll be thankful someday later?

Playin' in the Shower

Living in Projectland

It seems like we're living in a wierd world called Projectland these days. Life isn't really normal, but full of neverending projects. But then again, we're in the process of creating a new normal since moving back from Vienna. We had planned to move into our house next weekend, assuming the floors would be dry from refinishing, the appliances delivered and hooked up, and the walls painted.
On the contrary! Chris has been in Bloomington since Saturday morning undertaking the huge project of refinishing our hardwood floors. We knew it would be a bear, but we didn't realize how BIG of a bear. This one is a grizzly. A mad one. The process is long and tedious, and once you start, there's no going back. Living in Projectland is quite unpredictable, so we're pushing everything back one week.
The good news is that the appliances ARE coming tomorrow, and the Insight man IS coming to install our internet and TV hookups. Next project: Buy a computer. We sold ours in Vienna.
Life in Projectland continues...
Yesterday Cole and I went to Lowe's to buy replacement floor register vents for our house, since ours are disgusting. That's an understatement. Come to find out, since our house is so old, replacements are extinct. So my new plan is to clean up our old vents and spray them with Rustoleum in a brown hammered color to match our floors and call it good.
And still very little painting has been finished, and our kitchen cabinets are without hardware so far. Holes need to be drilled and the wood needs to be cleaned.
I'm learning that being pregnant AND having Cole around are very good things, yet when we're trying to get a house ready to live in, those things pose significant disadvantages. I cannot do much. I have been painting with a mask, though, and when Cole is not around I can sweep up dust and garbage, clean, and organize for the start of the next big project. Hmm.
So my biggest lesson so far is that I just need more patience in this process. Patience for the unpredictability of house renovating. Life in Projectland seems demanding, yes, but exciting, too. I cannot wait to live in our project house!

One more thing...Chris is looking pretty hard for a job right now, too. It would be fabulous if he had never ending time and energy to work on our house, send out resumes, and make phone calls. Alas, Chris is tired. If you think to pray for his job search, we would LOVE that. Thank you!