Hey . . . . everybody. Not really sure if there are more than 2 people that check this, but hey- what the heck. We still don't have internet at "home". So this will just be a short blog from the library. I put "home" in quotes because when Odessa says "I want to go home" when we are out and about, I am still not sure she isn't talking about Chicago. I was giving her a bath the Saturday night before our first Sunday going to Church here and I was explaining to her that we were going to a new ward and a new nursery and she would play with new kids and she looked at me and said "Mom, let's just go home". That was a sad moment. We were really rough on the kids for a couple of weeks. We spent long days in the car where they had to take naps slumped over in their car seats, they had to be on their best behavior at every restaraunt we stopped at. In Seattle, we stayed 3 nights in a cramped Extended Stay while we drove around like crazy all day, getting them in and out of the car to look at apartments and feeding them food from the grocery store deli at 8pm (and that was their "decent" meal for the day). I felt pretty wretched about it all. Now we have been living in a nice 2 bed, 2 bath apartment in Queen Anne for over a week and they are starting to settle in. We live just north of downtown and the Space Needle. The best thing was Saturday when we all walked down to the Seattle Center where the Needle is and lots of other buildings and I wasn't stressed the whole time we were there because we hadn't had to take an hr long train ride or fight traffic to get there. I will enjoy that about being close to the city. City excursions will be much easier to handle. We have a nice balcony where we can see the city and Lake Union and the Needle, it's all very beautiful at night. They say the view is better in the Fall when all the leaves fall off the trees that are blocking most of our view : ).
Don't get me started about pushing a double stroller up these hills or the crazy prices at the grocery store. I could go on for pages and no one needs that. I guess it IS nice that I can get a cardiac workout just by going around the block.
Stephen works in Pioneer Square, the historic part of town and so far seems to be enjoying the job. I am looking forward to bi-weekly lunch dates as there is a gal from the ward living behind us that is here for her hubby's internship and is pretty bored. Wants to babysit and what-not, so great!
One traumatic event marks our first week here. Odessa fell off the step stool while brushing her teeth and knocked a front tooth out when she hit the counter. I was at the store, so Stephen didn't have the car to take her to the doctor, he called me and I assumed the ER wouldn't do anything, so I told him to call ask-a-nurse while I hitched it home. Turns out you need to put the tooth immediately back into the gum and yes, they do put baby teeth back in. I never would have thought. By the time we talked to people who knew, it was too late, you really should put it back within 30 min. So now she will be toothless for a good 4 yrs until her big tooth grows back. Baby teeth are much more important as space holders than anything else. So now she has seen a dentist for the first time (what a champ) and she walks up to strangers, pulls up her gum and says "I bwoke my toof". It's hard when your baby hurst herself, and is "marred" by it. Stephen said it felt like an extension of himself had been damaged. The real problem is that the dentist found what might be some damage to the root of the other front tooth. It may need to be treated or even pulled and a spacer put in. That would be a problem. We'll be seeing a pediatric dentist about it the first of July, when Stephen's health insurance kicks in.
Well, we should have internet soon and I will be a bit more regular. Remember, we have a sleeper sofa (that we kept instead of taking a free, newer couch) just so people can come stay with us. And yes, even your own bathroom. Seattle is nice in the Summer, er- so they say. Come see us in the Emerald City! (how's that for a short blog?)
Just a quick blog about the kids. I got pictures of them at a time when everyone was playing and having fun. Ada was just happy to be alive that afternoon, she kept running around and giggling. When she used to crawl, she would put her head down and bulldoze across the room. She often ran into things because her head was down. Now that she's walking well, she does the same thing. She puts her head down and "runs" toward her target. When she gets there, she looks up and grins. It's the funniest thing. We have no idea why she does this.
Well, there's no better way to get to know a group of people than to go spend a weekend with them in "primitive" conditions. We went to Ensign Ranch, one of the LDS owned recreational properties. They have all kinds of campgrounds, a lodge and bunk houses, horse back riding, canoing and a big, homemade slip-n-slide thing that can keep kids busy for hours. Although "mountain man Stephen" would hardly consider what we did as "camping", we had fun nonetheless. The girls got to go horse back riding, which was the highlight of the trip, I am sure. We met more people and got to know others a lot better. Odessa joined in on a balloon tag game and her and Stephen ran in the 3-legged race. Note the pretty mountains in the back.
