Happiness Is . . .

Anniversaries

This year, during this last week, we celebrated three years of marriage. I know people often post sweet, romantic things about their spouses on their blogs for their anniversaries, but as my husband doesn't do the blog thing and I write these entries more for my grandma and any other interested parties, I will just say I love my husband and I'm grateful to be married to him. He's a wonderful husband and father.

Also, it was fun reflecting on our last three years together. In retrospect, I thought, the first year was fun and so, so happy, but it was also a little crazy because we were still getting to know each other and we were learning how to live with each other on the most basic level, dealing with issues like how to squeeze the toothpaste out and who does the dishes. The second year was even more fun than the first I think and a lot of the really basic issues had been dealt with, so the big thing to face was pregnancy since we found out in December that we were expecting. And the third year has been a year of change-- I graduated just before our second anniversary, Caleb was born, Patrick graduated, and he decided to go to law school all in this last year of marriage. In some ways all that change has been hard because it's involved a lot of adapting, but it's also been so exciting! This next year will involve major change as well, but we say, "Bring it on!" To celebrate this anniversary, we had a nice morning going out to breakfast and a nice evening pan-searing some stakes we'd bought on sale awhile ago and eating brownies and ice cream.

Patrick's Birthday

Patrick celebrated his birthday this last week. I made him breakfast of bacon, sausage, and toast, and then he opened his presents. I think he was pretty excited and really grateful for the gifts he got this year. The strangest gift? My mom got him a "cat-a-pult" which is a little gun that shoots out these plastic cats. The animal issue is a funny joke between my mom (an animal lover) and Patrick (a walking allergy). Patrick probably wouldn't dislike cats if he weren't so allergic to them, but as it stands the "cat-a-pult" was pretty funny.

Patrick had to go to work for the day, but mostly it wasn't a hard day there so he could read the comic book I got him (Get Fuzzy) and mess around with the GPS my parents got him. Then when he came home we had got pizza for dinner--pepperoni/meatlovers pizza is Patrick's favorite food--from Pizza Hut, and then had cake and ice cream with friends in the evening. We called this his Quarter-of-a-Century Party. After the cake and ice cream, we headed over to the park and played baseball and then a bunch of kids that were there ended up playing a very non-competitive game of volleyball with us.

It was so nice to spend this time with our friends. Here is the story with our friends. One set, that we spend the most time with and we have the most connections to, is headed to Michigan for a master's in social work. Another set that we made and love from our first married ward is headed to Flagstaff, Arizona for physical therapy school. Another set that we're friends with because the wife and I grew up together in Wisconsin will be staying here in Utah and have plans to eventually move to Texas possibly. Another set that we're friends with because Patrick grew up with the wife in Wisconsin is headed to Oregon for chiropractic school. Two other sets that couldn't come to the party will probably always live in Utah as far as we can tell. So our friends will be all around the country. It is a strange but interesting stage of life to be in with many of our friends starting families and moving onto graduate school and jobs.

An Eight-Month-Old Baby

He's almost nine months now, but I would say this is my favorite stage with him so far. He's doing so much--crawling, making noises like "mama" and "dada," starting to pull himself up, etc.-- and for the first time I'm not in a hurry for him to do something else. I think in the past there was always something: I wanted him to smile at me, then I wanted him to laugh at me, then I wanted him to sit up, then I wanted him to roll over, then I wanted him to crawl. I don't think I worried about it too much but it was there in my head that I wanted him to do these things. And now I'm not in a hurry for him to do more. Of course I want him to do stuff when he's ready, but I'm not stressing about it. He's so interactive and interesting now without doing anything more. Also, yesterday, for the first time we spotted a tooth. Not only that, but these last three nights he's slept through the night. It came after two nights of getting up, checking on him, and then letting him cry himself to sleep. The first night he was out after fifteen minutes or so and the second night it took less than ten. This morning he seemed to wake up at 5:30, but after I went to the bathroom he'd already gone back to sleep. So he's figured out this going back to sleep thing, and that is another victory in our lives.

He definitely has a preference for his parents, and Patrick and I are both enjoying that. He still likes other people, but he comes to me and looks for me. I think that Patrick and Caleb are especially building a good relationship now. Patrick has always played with him and interacted with him, but he just really seems to be having more fun lately. Both of us are constantly amazed by the changes Caleb's going through and we are loving being a part of his life.

Finding Housing and Making Friends

Yes, that's right, we've found a place to stay in Virginia. Patrick contacted two of the LDS students in law school at William & Mary to ask them questions. One of them recommended three places that students frequently live and we contacted the management of the cheapest place. I think that they actually got us an apartment in a different, possibly older, complex than the one this student recommended (as they are differentiated by roman numerals I and II), but the two bedroom is cheaper at the I, so we are satisfied with it already. We were concerned about the price because it is so much more expensive than anything we've had to pay for here, but one of the students assured Patrick that it's pretty average. There are more expensive places right next to campus and there are cheaper places in the more ghetto areas (where he didn't recommend that we live). So we already have these two connections and we have a place to stay. We still have to fill out paperwork and make a deposit, but we've talked to a woman in the office and we're feeling pretty satisfied with this option. You may wonder when we can move in: August 1. So we are headed out of sweet old Provo come the end of July.