New Car!

We went car shopping for the first time last Saturday. We continued our car shopping on Tuesday and Wednesday. We got to drive some nice cars and some not-so-nice cars. We weren't sure if we wanted to get the smaller car for Sam or a bigger "family" car for me. We decided to get the cheaper one first and maybe in a few months we could get another one. We didn't expect anything to happen for a while but we started getting very excited about it. I spent hours on the phone with my parents and on the internet reading about cars this week.

Car shopping is really difficult with two kids in tow! Alex tried writing on a Hyundai Genesis ($34,000) with a pencil today. I yelled so loudly that salesmen were coming out of their cubicles to see what happened. A salesman joked that we almost had to buy two cars. Not funny.

Things happened much faster than we were expecting. Today, we bought our first car together!

It is a 2012 (it is a car from the future!) Hyundai Sonata. It has 80 miles on it. It is beautiful. I called Sam through the radio. I just said, "Call My Love" and it called him. Amazing. I hope we have better luck with this car. I am excited to be able to leave the house whenever I want and not have to take Sam to work at 7:30am if I plan to do anything that day. I am sure the boys will enjoy not being in the car for an hour and a half on those days as well.

Isn't it great? *sigh*

Kalvin and the Merkleys

The Move

Moving was stressful and relaxing at the same time. I think it was the craziest move we have ever had though. I like being in control. I was not in control of this move at all. Weeks before the move happened, I wanted to start packing but couldn't! In fact, I even had to unpack some boxes that we had left packed when we moved there because if the movers didn't pack it then they didn't insure it.

It took the packers 7.5 hours to pack our apartment. One guy did it alone for about 6 hours of that time. We felt really awkward just sitting around but we weren't supposed to be helping. After he finished packing the kitchen, we played cards at the kitchen table. That night, we went to Taste of Thai. It is really hard to cook without anything in the kitchen!

The next day, the movers came to load the truck. It took two guys five hours. They were taking frequent smoking breaks though. They were very picky about which boxes went out first and so it was hard to stay out of their way. We asked how long until our belongings got to Texas and he said 10-13 days. The driver was going home to Georgia for a few days on his way. What?!

After the apartment was emptied, I finished cleaning and had our apartment inspected. Our car was picked up by the car shipping company and we checked into a hotel. It was really nice and I am glad SLB paid for it. It was nice to finally relax and not have anything to pack or any lists to make.

A few weeks before the move, we were talking to Nathan and Kristen about when they were leaving. We realized we had both purchased tickets on the same flight out of Ithaca. It was so fun to play in the airport in Ithaca, even if it was ridiculously early. We sat a couple rows behind them on the flight to Detroit. Our layover was short in Detroit (due to a delayed flight out of Ithaca) so we hugged and then we were off!

We got to Houston so quickly! It wasn't even lunch time yet. We went and got our water turned on, had lunch, and went on the world's largest grocery shopping trip. Although the movers were bringing all of our non-perishable food, we had to buy food for the next ten days and also restock our refrigerator. We had to find cans with the pop tops and things that could be cooked without a pan or microwave. We had a lot of sandwiches and frozen pizza. I guess I should say that Alex and I had a lot of those things. SLB put Sam in a hotel because he had a week-long training and they required everyone to stay together in the same hotel. So I had two boys in an empty house. Alex slept in the Pack N Play. Edison slept in a suitcase. I slept on an air mattress and sheets we had brought with us. We didn't have room for pillows though. That was pretty bad.

The hardest thing was probably not having chairs. Or a vacuum. Or a high chair for Alex. Or a kitchen table. He was dragging food every where. Our realtor is amazing though. She brought us a small end table, a TV, and tons of toys for Alex. Those toys are still his most favorite.

Sam called me at 7:30 on Friday morning and told me that the movers were outside but they called him saying it didn't look like anyone was home. We were still asleep! They were supposed to call us the day before to let us know they were coming! I was glad they were there, but annoyed with the surprise. It took them three hours to unload. Our car arrived ten days later (19 days total).

We ended up having a scratched kitchen table, broken exersaucer, broken bookshelf, and a few other things. We claimed $315 which is less than I expected. Why couldn't they have broken our couch?!

Edison's Edition (4 Months)

Weight: 17 pounds
Length: 26 inches

Edison, Edison, Edison. This kid is easy-peasy. He eats fast, he sleeps well, and he plays happily. He especially loves Alex. Sam and I cannot believe it; we did not expect him to look up to Alex so early! He stares at him all the time and is always smiling at him. Edison loves nursing. Tonight we were singing "Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked..." but we were making up words for Edison. "Edison baby eats as he lounged, and pooped, and peed, and cooed..." Then Sam chimed in from the other room, "And gurgled." I have seen a serious change in him this month. He can be on the ground all by himself happily for over an hour! He wakes up cooing in his crib. Sometimes I don't even know he's awake. He sleeps 8pm-4am, eats, and goes back to sleep until 7:30am. He did have his first serious sickness this month. Ear infection, horrible cough, and a very sad baby. I love kissing his cheeks. I feel like I can't kiss him hard enough. I love seeing his smile. I just love him. That's all.

Daddy camouflages him.

He wants to look around.

He loves people hovering over him.

Super bright flash!

New favorite picture!

Adorable pajamas!

He is so long!

He found his hands and feet last week.

He gags himself.

Little babe in a big bed.

Ready for church!

So happy.

Too cool for the camera.

Teething? Not yet!

Look at those feet!

On the count of three, JUMP!

Jean shorts. 3-6 months. He barely fit them.

He can sit in the stroller now!

He has plenty of toys (Alex is very good at sharing).

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!

Those hands are amazing!

Ready?

There's more where that came from!

He is starting to like the ExerSaucer much more!

Here are a few more things Edison does for which I do not have a matching picture:

He...

...is so strong. We don't even try to swaddle him anymore. He really likes having a blanket on top of him though. He really likes eating those blankets.

...is a bottomless pit. Sometimes he gets so full that he won't sit up. He simply refuses to bend.

...has a dimple on the left side! We couldn't see it before because he is so chubby!

...has super loud squeals.
...has started to babble more. Near constantly. He babbles so loudly!

Goodbye, Ithaca

I do not really want to do this, because I don't want to accept that we aren't going back, but I feel it is necessary. Ithaca deserves a proper goodbye.

I have some amazing memories of Ithaca. It is where I learned to be a mom. I had great examples of mothers around me.

We lived in two apartments in Ithaca: one our first year, and another after we got back from Allentown. Neither were luxury, but it was perfect.

No one in Ithaca had family around. We became family to each other. I've never been a girl to need girls nights out, but I enjoyed them so much in Ithaca. In the last few months, Sam noticed that I was staying very late at book club and playgroup. I was trying to absorb the feeling of love from the people around me. It was so powerful. People really cared about me.

Since we've been married, we've moved to Denver (4 months), Provo (8 months), Akron (3 months), Ithaca (9 months), Allentown (3 months), back to Ithaca (9 months), and now to Sugar Land. Ithaca was the most like home to me. It wasn't because we were there the longest. I felt home immediately. Sam and I have to keep reminding each other that we aren't doing an internship in Texas. We aren't here for the summer only. We are going to be here for a while.

On our last Fast Sunday in Ithaca, I was in the mothers' lounge nursing Edison. I noticed that I could recognize almost everyone by their voice alone.

Ithaca (and the surrounding area) is just gosh-darn beautiful. It is breathtaking.

I will miss running into tons of people I know each time we go to the farmers' market, the "mall," the grocery store, or even just on a walk down the street. But all the reasons I don't want to live in Ithaca forever are some the reasons it was so endearing. I loved the apple press, and the buses, how there was only one main road, and how you can walk around "downtown" in just a few minutes. Something I will never miss: the winters. I will never miss my face is freezing when I walk outside, or trudging through snow to my knees to get our mail, or scraping our car five times a day, or having cars not start because it is negative-something degrees. I happily leave that behind. I also won't miss paying $4 per load of laundry.

Because I consider everyone I knew in Ithaca to be family, I hope they know that they are always welcome in our home (wherever that may be). Many of our friends moved away at the same time. We have friends in New York, Ohio, Arkansas, Utah, Pennsylvania, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Massachusetts, the UAE, and Washington (what am I forgetting?), just because of the people we met in Ithaca. Even if we don't keep in touch, if someone from Ithaca is passing through our city, they had better call me.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we went to the ward picnic and said goodbye to everyone. Lots of people had already left for their internships but it was fun to see everyone else one last time.

After naptime, we went to the Cornell Plantations. Cornell campus is so beautiful. We had never walked around the Botanical Gardens. Alex loved running around the trails. Sam's parents know a lot about gardening and they really enjoyed seeing all of the plants. Although it was a hot day, it was nice to enjoy campus one last time.

Graduation Day

Cornell tuition: $48,000.

Textbooks:  $2,000.

Cap, gown, and hood rental: $18.

Graduation announcements: $80.

Sitting in the bleachers for hours: possible skin cancer.

Finally seeing Sam walk across the stage to accept his degree: priceless.

Graduation Day was a long and stressful day. Two kids, no stroller, no nap, in the hot sun, trying to take pictures, nursing in a dress, losing Sam's dad right before lunch, etc. It was just a bad day; but it was a good day, too!

ILR Commencement was in Lynah Rink (the ice skating rink) which is not air conditioned. That would have been fine had there been ice in there. It was painfully hot with no moving air. I may or may not have said a bad word. Alex was in hyperactive mode and Edison needed to eat but it was so hot that he wouldn't nurse under the cover. I was changing diapers in the middle of a hallway because there was no diaper stand in the bathrooms. It was bad.

At one point, I almost went home. Then I thought, "Would I rather stay home all day and not experience things or go out and have everything go wrong?" That settled it, so I stayed.

We were all pretty burned, except Edison. Sam got the most entertaining burn. He had this line on his forehead for a couple of weeks.