Mayhem cont...

2007-06-05

Things are going pretty well for us here. We're just bobbing along, looking at houses still but not making much progress. I will be very glad to be done house shopping. I'm sure our Realtor is harboring similar thoughts. She'll definitely have earned her commission! We had one house that we were seriously considering, but then Nathan spoke to a law enforcement officer in our ward who strongly recommended we avoid that part of town. That really redefined our search parameters and made us re-evaluate our budget. I feel like we're starting all over again. We had another house—townhouse, actually--on the "good side of town" that we considered, but someone else placed an offer while we were still mulling. Such is the Raleigh market. If you like it, act fast!

As for our Medical Mayhem, my rash is not ringworm, or anything else fungal or bacterial. After examining a skin sample under the microscope, the dermatologist diagnosed it as "pityriasis rosea." She used a common name something like "irritable eczema" or "aggravated eczema" or something like that. I heard eczema in it. She prescribed a 2.5% hydrocortisone lotion to help calm the itch but said all you can do is ride it out. The good news is that it is not contagious or spread by contact so I can go back to a normal lifestyle that involves considerably less worry--and laundry :D. The rash is unsightly, but harmless, and fortunately is looking much, much better.

David is also doing better. Although he is still hesitant to descend our apartment stairs without a firm grasp on our hand, his eyes and ear seem to be better and I see no lingering effects on his hand from the van-door incident. We're still working on clearing up coughs and congestion that started that same week, but those, too, are on the mend. Overall, I'd say things are looking better for the Nashes. I can only say, thank goodness for health insurance!

Pregancy is going fine. I can hardly believe I'm already at 31 weeks. It seems to have flown. Now I just struggle with turning over in bed and getting up off the floor...oh yeah, and keeping up with David when he occasionally decides not to come when asked. "XY" sits really low and makes movement somewhat uncomfortable, plus some of his kicks rather hurt. Nathan is charmingly unsympathetic...he gives me puppy dog eyes and half a smile and says, "Sorry, I don't know what it's like to be kicked from the inside out."

The last two weeks of May found me rather consumed trying to get NC license plates for our van. Our WA tabs expired at the end of May, so I was scrambling. I went and got my NC driver's license, as required, and made several trips to the license plate agency, but kept getting turned away because I inconceivably lost my current vehicle registration (don't ask how, I'm in shock myself) and no other documentation would suffice, with the exception of a copy of the title from the bank through which we have our loan. Problem is, it would take them 10 weeks to get it to us. No can do. I'll have the baby by then and lots of doctor’s appointments in between. Need car. As a last minute idea of desperation I called the WA DOL and asked if they could fax a copy of the registration. No, but they could mail it. I made those arrangements and then decided to just go ahead, bite the bullet, and renew in WA, figuring that by the time I got the current registration it too would be expired and I'd be back at square one. Luckily when I updated our mailing address to NC, I changed my WA address on file to Nathan's parents' house, which reduced our renewal fee by $86 for monorail tax. Thank you, Skagit County! That took a lot of the bite out of having to renew in WA plus register in NC. I had to just park the van for a few days with the advent of June, but today's mail brought both the 2008 renewal and the requested copy of my "current" registration (impeccable timing). Happy day! I have a car again!

Memorial Day weekend we took a delightful trip to visit my brother Sean in Connecticut. He and his wife Jenny just had their first baby in early May. It was a nice drive, albeit a long 10-hour one. Our only glitch (aside from driving through the Bronx thinking we were lost but ultimately not) was that David threw up (on me—lovely) when we were only 20 minutes or so from Sean and Jenny’s. He didn’t have any more incidents, so I guess he was just carsick. My brother Preston and his family came up as well from Charleston, SC. We spent the weekend visiting a few sights including a tour of Yale, where Sean and Jenny both attend grad school, but mostly we just enjoyed everyone's company. Preston will be deployed to Iraq in two weeks for an 8-month tour. Please keep him in your prayers.

I think that brings us up to speed. We miss you all and think of you often!

Love, Natalie & boys