House Rented: Prayers Answered

God ALWAYS answers our prayers. More than that, it seems like he typically answers in the way we want him to. We must be asking for the right things at the right times (at least 93 percent of the time).

Memorial Day weekend just passed and our house is now rented. A family from Virginia found us on the rental website. He works in construction and his brother-in-law, an airforce guy, lives in the neighborhood behind ours. Together they are particularly handy and there's no doubt they are going to look after the house even better than we would ourselves. They want to be the man-power behind all the little projects (like installing gutters, fixing the bathroom leak, and landscaping the backyard) like we've been meaning to do for a long time. We couldn't be happier to know that our house will be in the hands of people who will care for it. They also have a plan to move at the same time as us, so no worries about inconveniencing family or storing furniture. Now maybe I can sleep (so long as this baby stops squishing my insides -- Not a chance).

Baby Gymnast

If this baby kicks as much when she's bigger than 12 oz., then I'm really in for it! Well, maybe I exaggerate a little, but she does seem to be cbouncing off the walls in there lately, and this can only be a good thing I suppose. Joe felt it for the first time last night.

The Good Life

I always like hearing the news from home. Talking with Mum and Dad is generally sprinkled with interesting tid-bits about Dad's most recent fishing trip, catching half a dozen flat head in his boat off Birdy Island, or Mum having coaxed a local kookaburra and a pair of magpies to eat out of her hand. It's easy to miss Australia.

This is a picture of Dad showing off the big-fella sunflowers he grew this year.

THINK PINK!

The 20 week ultrasound revealed that IT'S A GIRL! I'll post her little portrait soon, but for now, here's the long-awaited picture of my growing self: I've gained 9 lbs so far (which I'm told is about right), and according to the ultrasound, 12 oz. of that belong to the baby (but don't ask me how that was calculated).

When I called to tell Joe's mom the news, she asked if we had to stock up on "ribbons or band-aids?" This was somewhat reminiscent of Joe's call to announce our engagement; He was calling to answer her previous question of which picture to use in the family Christmas letter, "the one with or without Louise?".

It's All Happening at Once

Took a surprise trip to Fort Worth... After researching apartments online, we decided at about 5pm Thursday evening that we'd drive up and check them out. So, we threw a few things in a bag and off we went, stayed in Waco over night, and cruised in after breakfast Friday morning.

We were kind of like Goldy Locks; The first batch of places were too dumpy (although we considered it for a while on account of the possible savings). The second batch was too ritzy (hmmm... tempting...). But at about 2:30 in the afternoon we found the place that was JUST RIGHT. It's a two bedroom apartment in a gated complex in an established neighborhood with lots of trees and -- best of all -- it backs onto a riverside jogging track. I think we'll like it.

Also, today we got notice that some people want to rent our house in San Antonio. We've been scrambling to write up a contract for them to sign on Monday. They want to move in as soon as possible, so that means a lot more scrambling is about to occur on our end. It looks like we'll have two weeks to get the heck outta here! We'll put our furniture in storage for a month and find some living arangement for ourselves while we tie things up here. Life is about to get crazy.

PS Joe had to change a tire in the rain today. He gave me the job of holding the umbrella.

660!!!

I can hardly contain my glee! What's all the excitement you ask...? My neighborhood is now served by a BUS! I don't know how long this has been going on without my knowledge, but suddenly I feel reconnected with the world. Realisticly, I might not use it in the month or so we have remaining in San Antonio, but we'll be back, and it makes a big difference knowing that if I can't organize another ride, the 660 bus will be there!

Goldfish?

People have told me that when you feel your baby kick for the first time, it feels like butterflies. I'm not so sure. Here's how I think it feels:

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to buy a new goldfish for my pond and each fish always came home from the petstore tied up in a plastic bag. It was such a funny feeling when I felt the fish bumping the bag. That's what my baby feels like to me.

Guessing Game

So, if this baby is a girl, I already have the cutest outfit for her from Children's Place, but if it's a boy, I have the cuddliest puppy-print blanket picked out ready to buy from Target. My bet is that it's a boy. Most people seem to think so too. In two weeks and two days we should find out if we're all bad guessers.
NB I have a little pot belly now that people are just beginning to notice. I tried taking a picture yesterday, but apparently I broke the camera...