Trying to find the good

I feel like every post starts with something along the lines of "we're still adjusting...some days are great, some not so much, blah, blah, blah".

There is still just this pervasive unsettled-ness inherent to a change like this. It feels incredibly lonely sometimes.

Today, I want to focus on the good.

The weather is great. The colors are really pretty and it's warm enough to be out there enjoying them. This was the first Halloween we had actual trick or treaters coming to our house. It was kind of funny watching them trying to get us to answer our door when we were out doing our own trick or treating. There's a trick in there somewhere for next year, I'm sure.

We're making friends, finding fun things to do. We've started a gymnastics class for homeschoolers for Dillon and a toddler class for Corryn and me. I even met a mom last week that I really liked. We've started having a regular playdate with one of the girls from the homeschool group we're part of. Her mom and I have very similar homeschooling and parenting philosophies, so I'm thrilled to be getting together regularly with them. Dillon is LOVING the horseback riding. I have to admit that as a horse person myself, I love taking her. I was extremely proud of her last week when she had her first fall off her horse. She got right back on without a single tear.

Dave is enjoying his job. It would be nice if he didn't have to enjoy it so much of the time, but I'm focusing on the good here. The rental house is good. We're thinking about just buying it and staying put for a few years. It makes a lot of sense from a financial standpoint. I keep meaning to take some pictures of it post. I'll get it done eventually.

Meet Pumpkin

We started horseback riding lessons soon after getting here. She LOVES it. Pam is her teacher and tells her she's doing really, really well. She's been riding Epona, but asked about doing the cart sometime. Pam says she regularly uses it as an alternative way of teaching the same prinicples as riding on the saddle, so here she is on the cart. I even got to go around the ring a couple of times. It was a blast!

This and that

Just a cute picture.

We're still here. Still figuring it out. Dave is back to working a lot trying to get the hospital ready to open. He's been named the director of the ICU and they don't have enough intensive care trained docs to cover all the time. I'm glad it's not my job to figure it out. He promises me he won't work all the hours forever, just until they are able to get more doctors on board. It's still better than residency and fellowship- at least now he comes home happy most days in spite of the stresses of the job. I think there's a lot more appreciation for his input now. So it's nice having him not so stressed out.

We're enjoying our new homeschool group. It's a small one, but it suits us. The other moms and dads help out a lot with Corryn, so I actually get to have a conversation or two when we meet. We've been going to eat lunch together after the park time on Tuesday, then going bowling every other Thursday. I really couldn't be much worse at bowling, but it's fun hanging out and Dillon's having a great time with it.

I've learned living in a subdivision with kids your own child's age in it has a definite drawback. Dillon obsessively looks out the window mulitple times per day to see if her friend is home. Unfortunately, her friend is in preschool/daycare all day and gets home around the time I am getting dinner started. SO, I'm often in the position of having to say no to going to see her friend. Far too often this results in an enormous meltdown with her telling me I don't want her to have friends- even after we've spent the entire afternoon with new friends. Such fun.

This particular friend is moving to a new house close by in a couple of weeks, so maybe that'll improve that situation. I hope, because it's hard to be sympathetic to her adjustment to a new place when part of it is a huge meltdown every night. I feel kind of lost as to how to address it- tell her she can't see her friend if it doesn't stop? That feels counterproductive to the larger issue of needing friends. I don't know.

Settling in

D: When will it start to feel like home here?
W: (Knowing that she wants to see a date on the calendar) Well, honey, it's hard to say. It's really something that happens slowly over some time, not really like one thing happens that suddenly makes it home. Does it still not feel like home here to you?
D: No. I miss our old house and I miss my friends in New Hampshire.

Me too. Well, not really the house, just the trees. I told her it takes me about a year to feel settled in a new place. Of course, she doesn't know how long that is and it probably won't take her that long. We're getting there, making friends, learning our way around. But the excitement of newness is wearing off for her, so the difficulty of starting all over is starting to hit.

How fun!

Concord grapes, picked from our yard-


Fruit leather- my first attempt, ever!


It's like grape jelly in your hand mmmmmm.....

Pictures

Corryn, almost 20 months, in the front yard:

Dillon shucking corn. Mmmm...yummy Midwest sweet corn:

Our back yard-
Just kidding- it's really a local park :)

Up and Down

That's where we are- good and bad, up and down. Dillon has made a couple of friends, but is still definitely missing her friends in NH. She spent a good bit of time with one of her new friends-one of our neighbors this weekend. Unfortunately, the fun ended when the little girl- M- got in Peaches face & Peaches responded by snapping at her, leaving red marks on M's face. No broken skin, but scared M quite a bit. I just knew that would be the last time M would be able to come over to our house.

I talked with M's mom last night after the excitement all settled. She was very understanding and assures me that M will still be able to come over. Her husband was more upset by it, but says he'll be OK with it. I assured her that Peaches will be kept out of kids' access from now on. Peaches has always been so good with my kids, I just never imagined she'd snap at another kid. In any case, lesson learned.

I'm enjoying having Dave around more, though it's lonelier now that he's gone back to work. I liked the moms at the homeschool group last week and have made friends with M's mom, though she works full time. I have to admit that I don't really enjoy this process of starting all over again. Certainly I like making new friends, but enjoy it much more in the setting of having an established set of friends rather than having to do it from scratch.

It's still good overall, really. I know that it takes time and we've not been here that long. We're checking out the parks in the area, doing our best get out and do things. Corryn's unpredictable napping makes it hard to participate in things since I know if I take her somewhere when she's tired or likely to be tired on the way home, there will be screaming in the car seat the entire way home. I hate having her scream in the car seat, but I don't really think it benefits us mentally to be home all day waiting for her to nap. It's all about the balance and I'm struggling some with establishing a new rhythm and routine for us.

Here are a couple of recent pictures. Notice the new bike-

Must wear big sister's helmet even though I have my own that also belonged to big sister...