Sweet Home Alabama

We made it! Safe and sound, I might add. Birmingham is a beautiful city, lots of green, rolling hills, very friendly people (I think we're in a great ward, too) and so far the weather hasn't been too hot at all! Although, it's been a bit hazy. I asked someone where the sun was and she said it's always like this... That, I'll definitely miss about Colorado! One other thing, there are absolutely NO sidewalks here! I mean NONE, anywhere! I guess people don't walk or jog in the south and coming from Colorado (where every street is not only equipped with a sidewalk but also a bike lane... which of course, are nowhere to be found here either), this is devastating to me. My only form of exercise consists of a long walk each morning during which I am able to be very productive and achieve three things at once: Scripture study via my ipod, exercise and a little sun tan. Not to mention, Eli simultaneously takes his morning nap... walking is really the only exercise I can do at this stage of pregnancy plus, it keeps me from getting all swollen and immobile. I'm pretty sure it's one of Eli's favorite things too. Now, I have no idea what we'll do with ourselves in the morning. On the bright side, I can cancel my plans to purchase a double jog stroller which, by the way, are SO expensive!

Dallas: the drive out here took about four days on the road, but we stopped and spent three days in Dallas with Jason's Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dave. Their entire family lives within an hour of them so we got to see a bunch of Jason's cousins too, some of which I hadn't even met yet!

Jason's cousins: Chris, Heidi, David, Erin and their son Jacob.

Erin, Steve, Melinda and their daughter Zoe, Jared, his girlfriend Jordan and Alex.

It was literally 110 degrees the whole time we were in Texas, fortunately they have a pool in the back yard! With the exception of eating and sleeping, we pretty much didn't get out the entire time we were there.

I think Eli's new favorite food is stuffed shells.

Aunt Cindy had a little tint that she set up for Eli, he loved it! Between the tint and the little dog, he was entertained for hours.

Getting Settled: We LOVE our new home! It's a very spacious condo that is quite an upgrade from our old apartment. We are having a fun time acquiring some new furniture and decorations to fill all the extra space. We've pretty much completed the very long and awful unpacking process, too. The only problem is, Eli's room is PINK! I don't remember noticing that at all when I came to look at the place last month... whoops! Needless to say, painting is pretty high on our to-do list.

Little Boy Update: Eli had his 1-year appointment last month weighing in at 17 pounds, 28 inches. Officially ON the charts, less than 3 percentile but we'll take it! Also, after nearly 2 months of taking steps he is finally walking. It seemed to be a very long process for him but I'm relieved that he's gotten the hang of it and now I don't always have to carry him. I shouldn't complain because he's so small but he sure feels heavy paired with my growing belly! Anyway, I think he likes Alabama, we have a nice pool that we go to most days and I think I'll get him in swimming lessons soon. There are a few kids in our ward that are around his same age too so hopefully he'll make some friends!

We set the infant swing up in preparation for the little girl, Eli decided it's his new favorite toy. I guess he still meets the weight guidelines so I let him play on it for now, but I'm not sure it's actually going to last until the baby arrives!

Also, the little guy has taken a liking to soccer. He was kicking this ball around the apartment all morning and then as soon as I tried to record it he got distracted by something else, figures!

Baby Girl Update: Our little girl is still cooking... My original due date was October 19th but is now November 7th. She keeps measuring behind schedule though so, who knows what to expect? At least she seems to be healthy and well in all other aspects. We're naming her Kyah. We thought it was pretty original but according to everyone, it's not. There is even a Kyah in our new ward. How have I never even heard of this name before? Oh well!

College Boy: Jason started school yesterday! He likes everyone he has met in his program so far and is very excited for the next few years. Apparently at this time next year, he'll begin the application process for his residency the following year. It's weird to think that in just 1 year we'll already be making plans to move somewhere else! Anyway, the program will be very time-consuming in that he will have different obligations (conferences, events, volunteering, etc.) that he'll have to be at throughout the course of the program. His class schedule isn't too bad though. Something kind of strange is that he has to wear professional attire everyday, including slacks and a tie, no jeans! Also, on Mondays and Fridays he has to wear a suit! It's a far cry from his construction days. I thought that was so funny because when I was in school a lot of people showed up for class in sweats!

That's all for now.