We have a magnolia tree in our backyard and last spring it bloomed too early and froze the blossoms. This year we actually got to see it in full bloom before we move. I am thankful because it is SO beautiful! Remember to click on the pictures to see them really well.

What is the perfect storm of moving?? A ten month old that is newly mobile and into EVERYTHING, a house that has not been baby-proofed and a mom that is totally distracted by packing boxes and keeping the house clean in case someone comes to see it (not to mention all of the "normals" like laundry)! Help! I keep telling him I am going to pack him in bubble wrap and send him to Grammy and Papa's. When I told Isaac the same thing, he said, "Yaaaaay! I LOVE grammy and papa!!!"
Yesterday I was packing boxes and making a bunch of noise while Isaac was watching TV. He kept telling me he couldn't hear his program. Finally he said, "Is this going to be, like, a regular thing with you???"

Click on the small photos to make them larger!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Graham's latest moves

Graham has been doing lots of new fun things lately. He has recently mastered going from a laying down position to sitting up, and he is right on the verge of crawling. He gets a little frustrated because he wants to crawl SO bad and just can't quite get it yet. For his sake, I hope he learns soon. I am pretty sure it will be within the next week or two. For now, he gets everywhere he wants to by scooting himself there. It is so cute to watch his pudgy little body scoot its way from point A to point B.

As always, I had to include a video of him giggling because it is the most precious sound in the whole world!

Batman and Mama's Kisses

Here's some photos and a journal entry I am going to use in an upcoming scrapbook project--I thought I would share it:

I see the top of your little blonde head. It just barely clears the neighbor's bushes from my vantage point on our front step. You ring the doorbell and wait in great anticipation. You have been begging to go to the neighbor boy's house all day, all weekend really. You adore him. He is older and just so much fun to be around. 15 minutes spent with him one afternoon was all it took, and you were hooked. It was, "Did you know what Brandon said?...and, "Brandon told me that..." After enduring days of your endless begging to go play with him again, I send you off with instructions to ring the doorbell and then ask Brandon to shoot baskets with you. Your initial plan was to ask him to play Batman and Robin, but I explain to you that Brandon is a big boy, and probably would rather shoot baskets with you. So off you go, two doors down, but it may as well have been 200 miles. Something about watching you run down the sidewalk, batman cape waving in the wind, breaks my heart a little bit. Like it's one of those moments you don't plan or mark on a calendar, but it's significant just the same. A rite of passage into boyhood. I see a head stick out of the door and a few moments later you turn and run back to me. Just then, you slip and fall on the pavement. You burst into tears and I run to you and pick you up. Your arm is hurt. Your feelings are hurt. Brandon had too much homework to play. Oh, if I could always be there to pick you up after you fall, but I know I won't always be there. Today we took one more tiny step toward that reality. My baby is becoming a full-fledged big boy.

We had our first open house this afternoon. I spent the entire weekend cleaning like a mad woman. I actually thought that it wouldn't take me that long to get the house ready since it was relatively clean from having to be ready to show it at a moment's notice. Boy, was I wrong! I almost collapsed from sheer exhaustion on Saturday night. I eventually had to just go lay down at like 6:00 because I was too tired to move! I hate being under all this pressure of making the house look perfect all the time (granted, some of this pressure is self-induced!). When I feel the pressure, I turn into this nazi-house-cleaning-psycho lady that I do not want to be. This morning before we left, Isaac was playing in his toy room and putting his stuffed animals into cages because "they were making a mess." Hopefully he will not be in therapy talking about his crazy cleaning mama for the next 25 years.
We spent the day at the Children's Science Center downtown. We had a really fun time. Isaac's favorite part was the IMAX-like theatre that took you on a tour through the solar system...it was really neat and a great reminder of how small our lives really are in comparison with the universe. That God cares about us and our concerns is almost more than I can take in!
We still need your prayers so much. It would be so easy to just give in to the the feelings of hopelessness that I feel sometimes. It takes a lot more work to just stay focused on what needs to be done this day and to concentrate on God's Faithfulness and the belief that he has not forgotten us. I honestly have no idea what will happen June 1 (Dave's last day with Citibank will be May 30). We have sent out tons of resumes to date, but with 80,000 people having lost their jobs last month alone, the competition for a good-paying job is tough. Dave has accepted a position (the position he had before we moved here) in Fargo, but we are still more than open to other possibilities. It is nice to have a safety net though.
I am learning lots about seeking God, not for his answers, but for relationship with Him. As one of my friends recently reminded me, if we abide in Christ, then it is impossible to get out of His will--every thought and action we have will be under His influence (through the Holy Spirit working in us). That is a very liberating thought when it seems like you have about a million tough (and life changing) decisions to make on a weekly basis.

Taekwando test day

Taekwando Test Day

Our wonder boy!

Isaac is testing for his yellow belt in Tae Kwan Do on Saturday. As part of the test requirements, he has to know how to count to ten in Korean, the tenents of Tae Kwan Do, his birthday, mom and dad's birthdays, his phone number/address, what to do if you're lost and what to do if someone tries to take him. We are so proud of him--he has pretty much everything down cold (still struggles a bit with mom and dad's birthdays!).