N: He’s a Crenshaw. And Nebraska is like Kansas + 1

We needed to
prepare the nursery at K’s parents' house, which meant lots of sorting and
cleaning. The room was previously given to us to store our belongings that we
had decided to keep while we were in China. It was in dire need for
organization and some focus now that we know we will be returning to China for
another 4 or more years. I started the process and just when it was time to
start putting stuff back…

My brother
volunteered to drive a 26ft moving truck to Kearney, Nebraska for a friend of
his. My brother drove up from San Antonio in the truck and picked me up in Waco
right off of I-35. I had never been to Nebraska.

It was great
to drive up with my brother. Some highlights: we stopped at Arby’s (K and my
brother’s wife aren’t fans of delicious roast beef sandwiches), the tour of
Kearney (an alright city in the middle of NOWHERE), driving a sweet truck, and
the unexpected trip to San Antonio by way of Chicago. After arriving in
Kearney, the owner of the belongings in the truck decided to fly us to San
Antonio, my brother’s current home, instead of us driving back in a rental car.
Pretty awesome. Except for the inability for a plane to drop me off in
Waco. 

K drove down
to San Antonio and we spent a couple days hanging with the fam. We went to a
place called Eden’s Baby that is committed to “green” baby products. Cloth
diapers are one of the great products the store has. We bought a pair of Happy
Heiney’s and confirmed our desire to use FuzziBunz cloth diapers. I bought a
sling and made sure to practice the armpit hold, great for supporting the head
without one’s hands.

For the 24
hours that I wasn’t at home and K was, she and her parents were able to finish
up the nursery. Heard of Baby Legs? There are a couple hanging over the side of
the crib.

I started a
job yesterday at a small coffee company known for its great benefits.  Just working and waiting at this point.

N: My Child, the Mature Cantaloupe

Time has
passed and we are beyond titles such as “Long Overdue” or “Time Flies” or
anything else with equal levels of trite. 
So we move onFinishing
our graduate degrees this past July was mentally numbing and physically
tiring.   We had some
fantastic classes to finish up our degrees and then had to take the department
comprehensive exams.  We won’t know
the results until the end of August. 

To return to
my folks place in Rockwall was invigorating.  I was lucky enough to be given the task of ripping out an
old chain link fence.  I was
thrilled to do some physical labor and let my brain rest.  To get to the fence I had to trim the
trees.  Once through the trees,
vines prevented me from actually seeing the fence.  The hornets that made their home in the vines weren’t
thrilled with my decision to cut down the fence.  I had begun to wonder what the pain of getting stung was
like, trying to think back to the last time.  Couldn’t think of a time.  It wasn’t much later that I got stung on the back of the
leg.  It hurt, not too much, but
enough for me to dance around and say a word or two.  My curse word of choice: bananas.  I have never said such a thing in my life.  I don’t know where it came from or why
on earth I chose that fruit, let alone that word, but it seemed
appropriate. 

My work with
the fence involved a chainsaw, a hacksaw, a sledgehammer, a pick, bolt cutters,
wasp spray, a machete, and a good bit of elbow grease.  I loved it.

We got
pictures of our son today.  He is
much larger than a banana.  At 5lbs
4 oz in the womb, he is about the size of a mature cantaloupe. He doesn’t
officially come until September 21^st, but technology is amazing.

We hope these pictures will help you forgive us for our silence. =)