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!

Consumer Reports

Chris recently signed up for a year subscription to Consumer Reports Magazine. His reasoning is that in the next year we are planning to make some major purchases, and hopefully with the help of the experts we can save some money and glean some useful advice.
Well, we purchased all of our appliances last week at a Sears Scratch n' Dent Warehouse in Indianapolis. We ended up saving over $500 thanks to Consumer Reports. Chris did a lot of research before we shopped, too, so we walked in knowing the exact models we wanted. He research repair history, baking performance (for me!), and lots of other categories. The applicances at these places often are perfect, too, except for a tiny scratch on the back or some leftover sticker glue that's easily removable. Ten points for Consumer Reports!
We just received the October issue in the mail yesterday. I've only read the first couple pages, and I've learned about the best stainless steel cleaners, how to make good choices about sweetners, and that the Easy Bake Oven is being recalled because kids are being easily burned. What will be next?
Now, is it just me, or is this magazine a disguise for a SHOPPING magazine? I mean, really, folks. Every article has to do with buying something from chocolate to vitamins to cleaners to cars and lawnmowers. For a new homeowner like me, it's loaded with great money and time saving tips. Don't you want a subscription?

Moving Right Along

We spent today down at our house in Bloomington. We painted our bedroom! In reality it's a khaki color even though in the picture it looks yellowish. It's finally starting to feel like we may live there in the near future. The ceilings are now drywall instead of tongue and groove, and the elecrical work is almost finished. We still need to get our front porch fixed, hardwood floors sanded and polyurethaned, and finish painting. Our new appliances come in a week, and this week our moving van from California arrives. It's all moving so fast, but it's exciting! Above you see the before and after pictures of our bedroom. Fun!

Indy Zoo

We took a break from house renovations and appliance shopping and went to the Indianapolis Zoo today. Chris made it back from Vienna safely a few days ago, and now we're enjoying some much missed family time!
We saw an elephant get a bath, sleeping lions, and some HUGE bears up close. We also saw some white rhinos sleeping and some sharks in the Oceans exhibit. We could have spent more time at the Indy Zoo, so we may need to plan another trip soon.

It's another Frank BOY!

Yes, that's right. The Franks are having another boy! The only glitch is that the doctor found a long-named (I'm not sure the exact name!) cyst in the baby's brain on the ultrasound today. She said not to worry because these most often go away through the rest of the pregnancy, but just in case I get to have another ultrasound to check on it in 2 months. It's always great to see pictures of our growing baby, so that's the good news.

The other noteworthy thing about today is that when I asked Cole what he'd like for breakfast this morning he immediately said, "COOKIES!" I had to laugh out loud! Yesterday I gave him a chocolate JoeJoe cookie from Trader Joe's. It's like an Oreo with chocolate filling. He loved it! He threw a huge tantrum on the floor when I didn't give him another one. He sat their crying and mumbling "cookies!" over and over. The kid is a cookie monster!

Let's Paint!

Cole painted his first picture today. It was great fun AND great mess! He did surprisingly well for a little guy.

20 Week Cake

Cole and I decided to bake a Cinnamon Bundt Cake today after his nap. He helped me dump the ingredients in the bowl, and he helped me mix them up. The cake was a very yummy snack! I am 20 weeks pregnant today, too, which is halfway! This can serve as the 20 week belly shot for those of you wondering! It seemed appropriate to celebrate with a cake :).

Sunday @ Home

The lake my parents live on has a very low water level at this point in the summer, and contains some unexpected toxic algae, so my dad decided to pull the boat out before it gets stranded. So today we went on one last boat ride for the summer. We also helped my dad clean the boat in the driveway, and Cole decided to jump right in! He scrubbed, and then he dumped the soapy water all over himself. Figures! He also enjoyed his very own apple on the garage steps while watching the rest of us clean.

We all went down to our new house in Bloomington again yesterday, too. We tackled the backyard, and luckily this time no one came home with poison ivy. My dad had it pretty badly last week. We had a few guys come to help us this week, too. The backyard is now clear of bushes, some trees, weeds, and trash, and I really think by doing that we doubled the size of our yard! I am busy working our details with our contractor for getting the electrical, plumbing, and drywall work done in the next week or two, and then we can think about cleaning, painting and moving in! I'm learning to be persistent and patient at the same time during this process. Trying to handle all of this while Chris is in Vienna still is a big job for me, but it's been fun. I am so excited for Chris to get home on Saturday, though, so we can do this together!

Cole's new words so far today...knee, bottle, apple, sky, and share. This kid is a fireball and a new word maniac!

Wagon Surfing Take 2 & New Words

So last weekend on a walk, Cole wagon surfed again. This time, he toppled over onto the street, and you can see how the street ate up his face! Fortunately, it's much better now!
In other Cole news, he's saying what seems like a million new words every day. Some new ones include stool, boom, school, cat, picture, all gone, cool, two, dance, jump, turn it, off, on, and Andy (Raggedy Andy from when I was little). Chris has been gone for just over a week, and I already can't remember what Cole knew before Chris left and what he's learned since.
It's been in the high 90's here in Indianapolis the last few days, and with the humidity, we've been trying to find things to do that are inside. Today we visited Great Grandma Jean, "JEAN!" according to Cole. He loved the fish (shish) tank in her building, and the rocks on her coffee table. Grandma even let him climb up on the table and dance! He also used her electric vaccum sweeper all by himself. Wow, such a little boy, and SO much fun to watch.

A little T.L, and C

Today we spent the day in Bloomington at our new house! We are officially homeowners! The only bummer part is that Chris is in Vienna. My mom, dad, Cole, and I went down, though, to start attacking the yard. It's extremely overgrown and untended, probably for at least a few years. It's the epitome of a fixer-upper house. We're going to have a lot of interior work done soon, so today was outside day. We pulled weeds, chopped trees, cleaned out the trash in the house and especially the basement, and raked, raked, raked. I ripped up carpet, hosed out the crawl space under the porch that was filled with mud, dog poop, and trash, and took down old window shades. My parents were so helpful, and even though we all came home with scrapes and bruises, we had a great time. My dad even used a chainsaw! The people living in the house up until last week had a litter of pitbull puppies that they really didn't care for well at all, so they left remnants of that, old beach towels, rocks, books, and more all over the property. Unfortunately, we didn't do too much to the backyard (otherwise known as the Pit of Despair). That's next week's job. I think there is a garden and a sand box buried in bushes and overgrown weeds. Really, it is a jungle out there! The process is going to be fun, though, and since we don't have too much time pressure to move in and get going, we're ready for the challenge. HGTV, here we come! (I've been watching a lot of shows lately to get ideas and inspiration!) Above you see the house the first time we saw it, overgrown. You also see it today after we cleared out a whole lot of junk. Big progress in one day! Stay tuned for more photos.

Fun with a Mac

So we had some fun with my parent's Mac tonight using the Photo Booth program! This picture is so distorted and funny that I had to share! My mom is trying to convince me to put a real picture of the 3 of us on the blog so you'll know that we're not really so different than when you saw us last. I think you can figure that out, right? Hehe!

Culture Shock Moment

I ran a few errands this afternoon with Cole. All was going fine until I just couldn't find the Vaseline at Target. Pharmacy section? Makeup section? Grocery section? It was all just too huge and overwhelming. Aah! I need to try again tomorrow.

So, I came home and looked at the pictures my dad had taken in Michigan and I found this one of Cole and I flying a kite. We had so much fun that day! He learned to say "kite!" and hold the string while it flew. His vocabulary is just exploding these days. Just in the last couple days he began saying uh oh, okay, pocket, choo choo, and airplane. It is such a privilege to watch and listen to.

Last bit of Frank news. We close on our new house on Thursday afternoon! The little red house will be ours! See post below if you don't know what our house looks like. We are so excited, and this is the only thing that seems to be consuming our conversations and thoughts. I even dream about it at night! There is a lot of work to be done before we move in, and Chris leaves for Vienna for 3 weeks on Tuesday. So, it will still be a while until we move. We can't wait!

Baby Plate

Have you ever been to the restaurant called Claim Jumper in Southern California? We went tonight to celebrate Chris's birthday coming up in August. The restaurant is known for huge portions of food and the Mother Lode Chocolate Cake dessert. Tonight, though, Claim Jumper became famous in my book because not only did they have a very friendly kid's menu and take home durable plastic kid's cups, but they gave us a FREE BABY PLATE. Folks, this baby plate was more than Cole could eat! Composed of mandarin oranges, cinnamon applesauce, two types of cheese, and some turkey, this plate was gourmet! If we lived here, Claim Jumper would quickly rise to the top of my Kid Friendly Restaurant List. Woah, I'm in shock!

California Fun

We've been in California this week visiting Chris's family. We came to be as helpful as we can to Chris's mom, Nancy, and her family due to the recent death of Chris's grandfather, Papa Coleman. We named Cole after him! We had a small service yesterday morning with just family, and then a celebration of his life in the afternoon with friends, too. The funniest part of the day was when Cole threw Aunt Misi's book into Papa's grave along with the urn and flowers already there. He noticed that throwing things into the hole was a good idea, so he siezed the moment!
Cole has also had fun with his cousin Emilee at the playground, riding in Bubba's wagon, watering flowers, and laughing at mealtime. He's thankfully sleeping much better now, which means we are, too!

Wagon Surfing

No longer is the little red wagon just a place to relax. Now it's a place to surf!

Well, we're almost at the end of our Michigan vacation. It's been so much fun...and tiring, too. We've experienced some transition issues with Cole, mainly in the middle of the night. He's normally a great sleeper, but up here, I think he's slept through the night maybe three times out of our whole ten days here. We think it's because we've slept in four different places over the last month for a week or two at a time, and he's just a little guy feeling fed up with these changes. He doesn't have his normal toys, bed, or schedule really, so even though he's only 16 months, we think this moving thing is affecting him on a few levels. The good news is that he's been so happy during the day and he's taken great naps. He rode on a waverunner today, and he played in the water at the sand bar. We're really thankful to have such a flexible little guy during this crazy storm of transitions.

In other transitional news, we signed the agreement on our little red house, so we're close to being official homeowners. We close on August 2, and then we hope to move the last weekend of August after Chris returns from Vienna.
And last but definitely not least, I've noticed some differences in baby food in the USA. I'm used to feeding Cole pureed spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. In Vienna, these were some staples for us. I've been trying my best to sneak some veggies in Cole's food lately, and sometimes the puree is the best way. In the USA, though, my green choices have been peas and green beans. I miss Vienna for that reason already!

There is a Well

There is a flowing well on the east side of the Schindler Cottage, where we've been for the past week. Cole has recently figured out that throwing rocks into this well is a great way to pass the time! The only thing, though, is that the water is very cold!
Cole has also been skinny dipping this week, learned to play Corn Hole, taken a few boat rides, and jumped in puddles after a huge downpour. We are having a great time seeing family, too, who we haven't seen for a year. We're really thankful for this annual family vacation!