Life.

*So, I wrote this post DAYS ago and noticed yesterday that it was nowhere to be seen on my blog!  Agh!  Fortunately it was saved as a draft so all I needed to do was post it.  Weird...  Anyway, keep in mind that this was written LAST week and Nathan is now mostly done his first week of work, I've gone through the closets by now. : )

Life is good.  New job.  New community.  New church.  New home.  While change can sometimes be overwhelming, I feel like we are adjusting well.

Nathan officially starts work on Monday, though he has spent a day or two at the office already just moving in and getting settled.  I think he's just really excited to have a job and office of his own again!  He keeps saying that he's not exactly sure what his days will look like and what exactly he'll be doing, but I'm sure it'll be a good fit.  It's obvious in so many ways that we are meant to be here and what we know of the job seems like a great fit for Nathan, so it'll be fun to find out more about what Nathan will be doing!

I still have a few closets to go through and organize in the house, but otherwise we're basically unpacked.  I'm really enjoying all the space we have (the house is about 1000 square feet with a fully finished basement and a 100-150 square foot screened deck that acts as another room on the house).  As I was unpacking the first couple days, I kept running out of space to put things and started wondering if we'd bought too small a house.  Then I realized that my basement and closets were still mostly empty!  The house we were renting last had an unusable basement and next to no closet space so apparently I'd forgotten that we had all that storage space available to us now!  I mentioned a couple posts ago that I was finding I'd forgotten how to settle.  Well, I think I'm remembering.  This house is really beginning to feel like home and, after a few instances of, "that's right, I CAN unpack this box even if I won't use this stuff for 6 months," it's been hitting home that we're here to stay.  I like it. : )

Levi has adjusted to the new surroundings quite smoothly.  We tried to keep his schedule as normal as possible and he didn't even really seem to flinch.  He just carried on with life, exploring and playing and sleeping and eating.  He's a pretty laid-back kid so it didn't really surprise me that he adjusted so well.  He spends his days exploring the house, playing with his toys, discovering the joy of banging on playing the piano, and pretty much just being the happiest baby I know.  That said, I think he may have a few more teeth coming, cause there have certainly been a few days when ON Mommy is better than close to Mommy.  How can I mind that, though.  There are few things as sweet as having your 10 month old crawl into your lap and press his face against your neck.  Oh the things I'll never take for granted...

As a family, we have been busy exploring our new town.  We have gone for countless walks (Lennox loves that, though he rarely gets to be off-lease these days, except in our yard)...we've walked down almost every street in town now.  We've gone garage-sale-ing (more of that as soon as Levi wakes up from his morning nap!).  We've gone for a picnic in the park.  We've gone to the beach and played in the sand.  We have been enjoying lots of family time while we have it because, before long, the pace of life is going to pick up and we'll have to wait for time off work to be able to have lazy days like this again!

We have gotten lots of fun pictures and video lately (having an iPhone is really handy!).  Here are a few... (let me know if you can't watch the videos, k?)

Playing on the deck

Super-cute buckle pants, just like Auntie Alicia's!

Kinda unsure about the feel of being covered in sand

Sitting in the stream with Daddy