Update

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything. Life has been busy. We moved. Again. That would make FOUR times in less than 2 years since we've been married. YIKES! We hope to actually STAY here for a few years. We're enjoying our new place. It's more spacious with 3 bedrooms and a beautiful layout, newly renovated kitchen, a peaceful patio which we have just put a BBQ grill on (yum) and one more highlight...a laundry room. It is so nice to have my own washer and dryer! It truly makes life much easier, especially with a baby. I'm thankful.

The move went well overall. We thought it would be easier to move in slowly but by the time everything was over we decided it just takes more work. Next time we'll just pack up the whole place, move in one day, and then unpack. The back and forth of moving in slowly is exhausting. It has some benefits (getting to set a few things up beforehand) but overall, it just wiped us out.

Moving is a big job. I've moved many times in my life and consider myself quite "good" at it. But this time...with a baby...it was a different story. It didn't matter what all of my grand intentions were - I just wasn't able to get things done when I wanted them to get done. Admittedly, there were times when I felt quite alone and really longed for my family and good friends. It was hard to not be able to call up my mom or others and have them pop over to watch Zoe while I accomplished something. It felt very isolating to have this huge task ahead of me and know that somehow I had to get it all done while taking care of a baby. I am thankful for God's gift of my friend Stacey here in Chicago. I finally took her up on her many offers to help on moving day. She kept Zoe ALL DAY and was happy to do so. I simply drove back and forth to feed her, but was otherwise able to leave her with Stacey, clean our old apartment, help move stuff to the new place, etc. It was an exhausting day but we couldn't have done it without her help. So Stacey....THANK YOU. I appreciate your very willing and cheerful heart toward taking care of my little Zoe.

In Zoe news, life has changed since she passed the six month mark. Sleeping has regulated. We have finally let her cry it out and it seems to be working. She no longer gets herself all worked up. She cries, but settles herself eventually, and never cries more than half an hour. When she does get herself to sleep, she basically sleeps through the night, or at least for a good 8 hours straight. Her bedtime is as close to 7pm as we can get it and usually she gets up around 7:30am. A few nights a week she does wake up around 3 or 4 in the morning and I sometimes feed her then, but there are other nights when she'll sleep straight through. All in all, I am quite pleased. Her naps are going well, too. The morning nap is fairly short but her afternoon nap is consistently 2-3 hours long. I feel like it has taken FOREVER to get where we are now. I'm thankful. I know it can change but we are enjoying the predictability right now and having our evenings back.

We're off for a week's vacation with my family on Sunday, heading to the Wisconsin Dells. We've never been there, but have heard lots of great things. When we get back, the fall schedule kicks in immediately. Uche starts classes, I start my babysitting job three days a week, and the craziness of life resumes. I'm looking forward to it though. I always love fresh starts. I'm excited about getting more involved at church and starting to carve out more of a life for myself here. I feel like I am finally at a place with Zoe where I can do that, and not feel overwhelmed.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!