Saturday, May 28, 2016

Moving to London

Alisha and I will soon be moving to London:


... no, not that London. We'll be moving to this London:
London, Kentucky

We visited the area in May 2015, to see my sister and her family who moved there several years ago. It was our first (and only) visit. Alisha and I discussed how we liked the area and people, then gradually that discussion migrated to one about possibly relocating. My employer (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise) said that they'd be willing to keep me on as a remote employee. We found a house in the same neighborhood as my family and some friends through church, then finally closed after 5 months of negotiations.

The house we chose sits on a little over 4 acres with half of a pond, but it is located in a suburb and close to the freeway:

The house was built in the late 1960's, so we will be doing some remodeling to give it a more modern aesthetic. My dad moved there recently and he will be doing many of the repairs, with me helping complete the easier work. Our real excitement is about the outside space, which we've been told is a park-like setting. Just about everyone on my side of the family has seen the house in person, except me. An additional benefit is that we will be 50% closer to Alisha's family in Texas, now only a long days' drive instead of 2-3 days.

The closer proximity to Alisha's family, country living, and friends/family in the neighborhood were benefits that drove us to make this big move. As someone who likes consistency, there will be many adjustments that I'll have to make as this move unfolds. We will also dearly miss our family and friends here on the west coast. We are hoping that this will give the best spiritual outcome for myself, Alisha, Dottie, and any future children that God blesses us with.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

3 months and counting ...

Dottie has now passed the 3-month mark. Time seems like it has gone quickly, yet simultaneously seems like it's been a year since she was born. Her crying and wailing have decreased as her blabbering and smiling have gotten more frequent. In the mornings, she'll regularly smile and talk back to whoever will listen (although right now it's just Alisha and I).

She likes talking to a special pillow of ours. Of course living in Alisha's house, we happen to have a black & white pillow with polka dots on it. That high-contrast makes for some interesting conversation:


Her head stability has improved, so now she's able to hold her head mostly steady without my assistance. She'll still flop it aimlessly now and then, but mostly she can direct her gaze up-and-down or side-to-side to follow whatever object has caught her attention (usually a ceiling fan).



Within the past week, Dottie has also let out the occasional laugh. If the mood strikes her, she'll laugh like this. We caught her doing this at our yard sale last weekend: