Tumbling into a Routine

Hello Family and Friends!

Our month has been fairly simple, all things assessed, but I am amazed at how quickly things get busy, and how fast time flies.

Shortly after our company dispersed, Nathan entered a dark garage on his way to work and missed a stair, crumbling to the bottom with an awkward landing on his right foot. Two days later, he did it again. After hobbling around for two weeks he decided to go see a podiatrist to make sure nothing was broken. The podiatrist took one look at his foot/ankle and said, “Geez, what did you do?” He took 5 or 6 x-rays, and we’re still waiting to hear his diagnosis.

I enrolled David in gymnastics at The Little Gym once a week. He loves going into a brightly colored, padded room and running, jumping, somersaulting, swinging, and climbing to his heart’s content. I’m glad for the hour-long energy outlet that doesn’t require my undivided attention! We also have taken to going to the ward playgroup at the mall once a week. That’s another somewhat contained, padded environment that lets him work off some energy, and I get the benefit of making friends with the other moms.

On September 12 I took both boys in for routine exams (1-month and 3-year). Daniel measures very long (>97%) and rather chubby (85%), while David is still pretty average. I did express some concern about David’s apparent speech delay. It seemed to me that a lot of his peers, and even younger children, have larger vocabularies and clearer speech than David. His hearing checked out fine, but an evaluation by a speech specialist indicated that he would definitely benefit from speech therapy. We start that this week. I’m interested to see how quickly he improves.

At church they wasted little time in extending us callings. Nathan was called as Ward Mission Leader, and I was called as a Ward Missionary. Neither of us have any experience in that field, so it will be interesting for us to learn and grow.

As we prepared to move to Raleigh, I wondered how David would take to all the changes that were pending. New apartment, new house, new brother, new nursery. That was a lot to absorb in a few months’ time, and I was amazed at how smoothly he took everything in stride. It was not long before he referred to the apartment as “home” and when we got the house, the “new house.” A girl in the ward watched David for me several times for doctor appointments or house stuff, and he would talk about playing at Anthon’s house. Recently however he has started to ask about people back in Washington. Are we going to so-and-so’s house; where did they go? He tells me about once a week that he wants to go to Grandma’s house with the kitty. It is hard for me to explain to him that the people he’s asking about are very far away and we can’t go see them like we used to.

David continues to be a wonderful brother to Daniel. He is very attentive to Daniel’s needs, giving him blankets, binky, toys, turning on his swing, tightening his seat belt, patting his head and tummy, and his absolute favorite thing—holding Daniel’s hand. It’s so cute! David also likes to help me put laundry in the washing machine, and fold and put it away afterwards. He’s also very good at reorganizing the cans in the pantry, and putting away his toys when asked. One of my favorite things he does at this age and stage: when we tell him he needs to hold someone’s hand (i.e. in the parking lot) he quickly clasps both his hands together and says he’s “holding David’s hand.”

Daniel is as charming as ever, and even more so since he started smiling. He definitely prefers smiling at Nathan. At first he would beam and Nathan, but give me what my siblings have dubbed “The Brow Furrow” that looks pretty much like a scowl. While I would have loved a few grins in my direction, I was delighted for Nathan to get some favoritism since David is such a Mommy’s Boy. Daniel has since warmed up to smiling at me, and prefers to do it when he should be nursing. I’ll switch sides, and rather than latching on, he’ll often sit and grin for 5 minutes or so before getting back to business. It’s darling, and I have to remind myself not to wish it away even though I’d like him to eat a little more efficiently. Daniel’s well-earned nickname of “Little Squirt” has been joined by “Little Windy,” which he earned after keeping Nathan awake for several hours early one morning. Ah the joys of living in a house full of boys.

Well, such is our lives at the moment. We’re having fun, but we miss you all.

Lots of love,
Natalie & boys

A Tale of Two Major Life Events Colliding

My oh my, how time does fly! My report to you this month can be very long and very short all at once, if you can believe me capable of that. The short version of our lives over the past two months is: moved into the house, had the baby, went to the Outer Banks, blessed the baby. See? I told you I could do it!

Now, normally I would not make the longer version as detailed as I will do so now, but several have told me it’s a fantastic tale, so by your leave, I will share the whole of it. The stars must have been aligned just so, or a full moon, or something cosmic and unnatural to make the timing work out the way it did.

So, the longer version picks up thus (or “thusly” as Alton Brown on the Food Network would say): We gave notice to vacate our apartment by September 15, allowing plenty of time to have the baby, adjust, and gradually work our way over to the house. However, sometime in July our manager told us that they had rented all the other 3-bedroom apartments and ours was next to be vacated. They knew I was due to give birth soon and said they by no means wanted to push us out the door, but if we could vacate earlier they would have a better chance of re-renting it and thus relieving us of our responsibility for rent through October, when our lease ends. We decided to take them up on it and revised our notice to vacate by August 18.

When I went to the doctor for my 39-week checkup on July 30, I was dilated to 4 cm and 75% effaced. The nurse practitioner checking me said I would probably go into labor at any time, gave me instructions for when the happy moment would arrive, and sent me home. My parents were flying home from England that day and Mom planned to drive up the next. When she called on their layover in New Jersey I told her about my progress, and we all figured I’d have the baby within the next 24 hours. Well, I didn’t. We laid low for a few days, every night saying “if we’re not here in the morning…” but I kept emerging each morning, still pregnant.

Finally Mom and I decided we couldn’t just sit and wait for the baby; stuff needed to be done to get ready to move. We set to work, packing the apartment and getting the house cleaned before we moved stuff in. That weekend my Dad came up with his truck and we moved all the food storage and other stuff we’d left in boxes and stored in the third bedroom. Basically we moved everything that wasn’t being used regularly and piled it in the garage.

I went in on Tuesday August 7 (I was due Aug 6) for another doctor’s appointment. I still measured 4 cm and 75%. This doctor (Dr. Alvarez) was absolutely puzzled why I hadn’t gone into labor yet (“Your cervix is so ready!”). He called the hospital to schedule an induction, but they were full until the following Tuesday. Meanwhile they put me on a waiting list for an earlier slot if one opened, and the waiting game continued. I started to feel like giving birth was a myth, and I’d be pregnant forever. Funny how that feeling comes when you’re closer than ever to childbirth. Mom and I kept working hard at the move, starting to unpack essentials at the house so we could function on that end. Nathan arranged for several guys at church to come help move the big stuff on Saturday, after which point we would be living at the house. By that Thursday we figured that when the baby came, he would come home to the house, not the apartment, so we moved all his stuff over and set it up right away. I didn’t want to be sorting through boxes in the middle of the night looking for something. Friday Dr. Alvarez had me come in for a fetal stress test and also did a quick ultrasound to check amniotic fluids, making sure everything was ok before the weekend.

Saturday morning, August 11: Moving Day. I woke up at 6:45 am with a hard pain. I had just rolled over and often felt a similar pain as all my insides rearranged themselves, but ten minutes later, without moving, I had another pain, and ten minutes after that, another. I was finally in labor! When Nathan woke up and asked if I was okay, I said, “What’s our backup plan?” We’d had contingency plans for weeks, covering all sorts of scenarios. I don’t know why we didn’t have one for Active Labor on Moving Day. I guess by this point we’d figured I’d go during or after, sometime when help was organized and in motion, not right before. We were already congratulating ourselves that I’d be around to direct traffic that day. Anyway, Nathan started pondering Plan B while I jumped in the shower. It was not a long shower, but by the time I was finished contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. We called the doctor’s office at 8 and left a message on the paging service that I was 41 weeks, dilated to a 4 and 75% effaced, with contractions 3 minutes apart, please tell me to report to the hospital. The on-call doctor (Dr. Zimmerman) phoned back and asked when my last appointment was (“Yesterday”) and did they check my cervix then? (“Uh, no, but they checked me on Tuesday”) He asked me to meet him at the office in an hour so he could check me. I said ok—it took 40 minutes to get there anyway—but the whole time I was wondering why he wanted to check me since his fellow practitioners were telling me I was good to go.

We decided to call a friend to take David, have Mom drive me down there, while Nathan went to pick up our rental truck and organize the help before joining us. I sat down to wait out the 15 minutes or so before it was time to leave, but my contractions were now about 2 minutes apart, and we weren’t sure I’d last an hour. We called the doctor back, but he still said to meet him at the office. Nathan looked at me and said to just go, so we did. Mom and I got to the doctor’s office 10 minutes early and had to wait in the parking lot for Dr. Zimmerman to show up and unlock the building. When he pulled up he took one look at me leaning against the car, working my way through a contraction, and said, “I should have sent you to the hospital. I thought your message said you were 31 weeks.” That explained a lot! He decided to go ahead and check me, since we were there, to skip a step at the hospital. I was almost to 7 cm. Fortunately the hospital was across the street. They met me with a wheel chair and got right down to business. I guess I got there just before 10.

Meanwhile Nathan went to pick up the truck, only to be told they didn’t have a truck available in the size he reserved online. They had a bigger truck, but Nathan knew it would be too difficult to maneuver in our parking lot. Finally he said, “Look, I just bought a house, we’re trying to move today, and my wife’s in labor in the hospital. I’ve got enough stress in my life right now, help me out!” The guy in line behind him laughed, said his stuff could wait, and gave up his truck for Nathan.

Around 11 the doctor said we were almost ready to push, so we called Nathan to join us. No one had shown up yet to help move, but he left a note on the door and came down. Five pushes later, at 11:52 am, Daniel Taylor Nash was born. He weighed 9 lb 2 oz and was 21.5 inches long.

What amazed us about Daniel from the start was how calm, alert, and strong he is. He was very content, as we held him for the first time, and followed the sound of Nathan’s voice as he walked back and forth around the bed. He started attempting to lift his head, and just lay there with big open eyes looking around for a couple hours, even while they were cleaning him up and doing all their pokes and tests.

We all oohed and aahed and gave hugs and kisses after he was born, then Mom and Nathan decided there wasn’t much left for them to do at the hospital so they left to go make the move happen. Nathan called the Elder’s Quorum President from our new ward for an extra pair of muscles, since we still didn’t have any help from the old ward, and the two of them moved the big stuff down all our stairs all by their lonesome. Nathan and Mom finished moving stuff on Monday, and when Daniel and I were discharged from the hospital that evening, we came home to the new house. How fun!

Ok, so that was the end of the fantastic tale. I’ll work on brevity now for the rest of my update.

We hadn’t been in the house two weeks before we had our first homeowners’ adventure. I noticed a discoloration on the ceiling below the master bath, and found that it was wet. A visit from the plumber revealed that missing grout and poor seals around the shower surround and drain were the source. At least we didn’t have to open up the ceiling! Nathan took on his first handy-husband job and re-grouted and re-caulked the shower himself. I was so proud of him!

We enjoyed another visit from Nathan’s family, in town for Daniel’s blessing on Sept 2. Mom Nash and Bethany came August 24th and stayed with us for a week before Dad Nash joined us. That Friday (31st) we took them to the Outer Banks, where we toured the Lost Colony at Fort Raleigh, the Bodie Island Lighthouse, and Kitty Hawk. We also did a quick stop at a public beach so they could dip their toes in the Atlantic and feel how warm the water is.

The next day we upheld our Northwest tradition of celebrating Nathan and David’s shared birthday over Labor Day weekend. This time my parents were able to join us. David by now has figured out that blowing out candles is fun, and started blowing his out before we had them all lit. By the time we had gotten all the pictures and video done, he’d blown out his candles three times. After he finished that round, he looked at us expectantly and said, “More!” He’d make the Big Bad Wolf proud. Later that night my brother Brenden and his family came up for the blessing as well. I was sad when everyone left on Monday. It was so much fun to have a house full of family.

David absolutely loves the new house and runs, jumps, and climbs all through it all day long. We decided to help him channel his energy a bit and signed him up for gymnastics at The Little Gym. In addition to the benefits of social interaction, physical skills and exercise, we’re hoping the structured activity will help him learn to sit still and follow directions better. His teachers are amazed at how fearless he is on the equipment.

David is also very sweet and attentive to Daniel. He often asks to hold him and very gently pats his head or tummy. If Daniel cries, David hollers “Baby eat!” and gives him a binky. David also shares his favorite toys and blankets with Daniel. It’s been really fun to watch him.

Mom Nash taught David to hold up three fingers when asked how old he is. A few days later someone asked him his name, and he dutifully arranged his fingers and said, “Three!”

Okay, I think it’s time I bring this novella to an end. We love and miss you all!

Love,
The (Other Other) Nashes
Nathan, Natalie, David, and Daniel

He's Here!

Daniel Taylor Nash made his debut on August 11. 9 lb 2 oz, 21.5 inches long, 11:52 AM. Only 5 hours of labor! Yay!

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

Medical Mayhem

No emergencies, thankfully, but I figured I'd tell everyone our latest, which includes lots of doctor visits.

Way back when we were still in Washington, I noticed a dry patch of skin on my leg. I've had a few little bits of eczema before so I just rubbed Aveeno on it occasionally and gave it little thought. As we were driving back East, I noticed in the shower one morning a trail of small red spots on my chest and belly. They were itchy, and Marianne thought they were bug bites. Our hotel in Nebraska was kinda icky, so we figured something must have chewed on me there. Again, I gave it little thought and carried on with life. Over the next couple of weeks the spots grew bigger, more spots appeared, itching continued. The spot on my leg developed a red ring, and then the belly spots got rings--my first indication that the two were related. I put Aveeno on everything in case it was eczema and Gold Bond on everything in case it was bug bites. I started to think it looked like ringworm, but really had no idea what was the deal. All I knew was I'd had the belly spots at least three weeks and they were still getting bigger and spreading. It looked like I had the plague.

Meanwhile I asked around at church for recommendations for a good OB and then scheduled care at a recommended group's office. I had two appointments scheduled: the first what they call an OB History, where I don't see a doctor, but a nurse tells me what to expect in pregancy, office policies, etc. That was May 4. I had a New OB appointment scheduled for May 14 to do all those lovely preliminaries with a doctor, plus my glocose test and RhoGam shot (b/c I'm type-negative blood so my body doesn' reject a type-positive baby). So, at my OB History I showed the nurse my spots, and she thought it was a rash common to pregnancy, but decided to ask a doctor to be sure. She forgot to ask while I was there, but called later and said the doctor thought it sounded fungal. I was instructed to start applying OTC anti-fungal cream and they wanted to see me the following Tuesday (May 8?). Nice--three doctor visits in two weeks.

Friday, May 4: I decided last-minute to go to Aiken for Dad's birthday. David and I left shortly after my doctor's appointment. As we were descending the stairs from our apartment to the parking lot, David took a tumble and somersaulted down a couple of (cement) stairs. He seemed ok, but had a bruise and some scratches around one eye. His eyes watered a lot and I was a little concerned that his eye itself may have gotten scratched. Someone suggested I watch for discharge.

We had a fun time in Aiken, albeit a bit trying. David was obviously out of his element, not sleeping well (or at all some afternoons) and therefore was difficult to handle. It was great to see Mom and Dad and the Brenden clan, though. I also got to see old friends that I didn't expect to run into. We came home on Monday.

Tuesday May 8: Dr. B looks at my trunk and agrees it's probably fungal, but does a blood test just in case it's Lyme disease. Fortunately, it is not. Over the next week I continue to apply the Lamisil twice daily. David starts to show signs of a cold.

Thursday, May 10: In the late afternoon/early evening I noticed that David's eyes were goopy. I cleaned them out only to discover a few minutes later that they were full of yellow crud again. This continued through the evening. As I was getting him ready for bed I noticed that his eyes were now cloudy and the area around them was red and puffy. He rubbed them often and cried when he touched them. Nathan and I decided I should take him to a doctor the next day to check for an eye infection.

Friday, May 11: I read in my home health-care manual that if the eye discharge continues for more than 24 hours to consult a doctor. David's eyes were still red and puffy and he still rubbed them a lot, but the discharge did not continue. I called Mom to see what she thought. She advised me to take him in anyway so we weren't having problems all weekend. We went to the pediatrician that afternoon. By this time his eyes had cleared up considerably--there were only traces of red and puffy, and still no discharge. The doctor looked at his eyes, then checked his ears and found an ear infection of all things! He said the same bug was probably causing both eye and ear problems. Since the eyes were clearing up he wasn't concerned about pinkeye, but prescribed an antibiotic for the ears.

Saturday, May 12: Nathan and I viewed three homes with our Realtor. We really like one of them and are considering placing an offer. We're viewing another tonight (Monday 14th). We'll keep you posted on that. David is looking and acting much better. I don't notice any improvement in my fungus; in fact, it spread to my back and shoulder.

Monday, May 14: This was my originally scheduled New OB appointment/glucose test. I didn't ask anyone to watch David because of his infection, so he came along. I as I was unloading him out of the van, his right hand got shut in the automatic sliding door while he was "helping" it close. Now we know--the doors have sensors in the front to prevent smushed appendages, but not in the back. It closed over his palm from his index knuckle to his wrist, with his entire thumb inside. I had locked the car before shutting the door so I couldn't open it immediately. I had to fumble with my keys to unlock it and then slide the door back. Oh how he howled! He had a pretty deep dent in the top of his hand and the skin was slighly broken inside his palm. I hurried into the doctor's office and asked the receptionist for some ice, showing her David's hand. She ran to the back and apparently had the entire nursing staff scrambling. The "head nurse" came out with the ice for David and looked at his hand for me. He was moving his fingers, so she didn't think anything was broken, just badly bruised. He was more interested in sucking the ice than having it on his hand. Soon he wanted to go play and carried on quite happily. Although he was moving fingers, I noticed that he was having a little trouble with his pincer grasp on his right hand, and he held his thumb at a funny angle. He did use it to apply pressure to a lamp switch without complaint, but he had to use his other thumb to actually turn the lamp on. I'm wondering how much is just tenderness from bruising and how much is cause for concern. As the afternoon has progressed he seems to be okay with everything. Just now I bent and wiggled his thumb without any fuss or flinch (thank my lucky stars!).

The actual doctor's appointment was okay, but rather long. When it was all said and done, I had been there for two and a half hours and chased David down about every hallway they had. This doctor said since my fungus has spread even with a week of treatment, I should see a dermatologist, and soon. He also said with my history or David being an early baby, I really shouldn't go to the family reunion in Aiken at that stage of pregnancy. It wasn't a firm "absolutely not," but he wasn't encouraging by any means. As a rule their office doesn't want patients to travel farther than 2 hours from Raleigh after 34 weeks. I will hit 34 weeks during the reunion. I'm going to double check at a later visit and see if I can at least do the weekend for the family picture (if that's still on) since technically I won't be 34 weeks yet, but the Charleston portion is out for me--that part I'm sure is doctor's orders.

I had a little trouble with my glucose test. When I first arrived (after taking care of David's hand) they gave me the glucola and a timer. They said when the timer goes off in an hour, go to the lab and get your blood drawn. I visited with the doc, scheduled my next appointment, and discussed insurance coverage in billing. I finished talking to the billing department with 5 minutes to go, so she walked me to the lab waiting area. I was left with the impression that the lab tech would call me when she was ready for me. My timer beeped and I waited...and waited....and waited. Three other women came and went from the lab while I sat there. Eventually a nurse asked me how much longer I had on my timer. I told her that it rang half an hour ago and I was waiting for the lab tech. Oops, I was supposed to tell her when my timer rang. They weren't sure if it was too late for an accurate test, but the doc said to draw the blood anyway and if it came back abnormal they'd do it again at my next visit. Lovely. I felt so stupid!

So, as if we hadn't seen doctors enough in the past two weeks, in the next two weeks we're looking at another OB visit, a dermatologist appointment, maybe a pediatrician for a smashed hand, plus since my WA tags expire at the end of the month, I have to get my NC driver's license so I can apply for NC plates. We're also planning to head up to Sean and Jenny's for Memorial Day weekend. I'm just glad that I'm not trying to dance around a work schedule, as well. Never a dull moment in the Nash household!

Well, I do believe that brings us up to speed. We love all y'all!

Natalie & boys

Our Move

So…we finished packing up our apartment in Lynnwood on Friday, April 6. We hired a U-Pack, We Drive company (ABF, in case you’re curious) to take all our stuff cross-country while we drove our two cars. They have a 28-foot commercial trailer that you fill as much or as little of as you need, and they charge you by the linear foot. They allow you three business days to load the trailer at your door, which is nice if you can get the trailer to your door. It comes on a semi, and those who have been to our apartment complex know that the semi would be able to get in, but there is little chance of it getting out again. Never mind where on earth we would park a 28-foot trailer for three days in that tiny parking lot. We scratched our heads on that for a bit before making the reservation and then decided to rent a U-haul for a day and transport stuff from our apartment to the ABF terminal in Everett (about 17 miles north for non-Washingtonians). Since we had a quote for using 16 linear feet on the trailer, we rented a 16-foot truck and figured whatever didn’t fit would get left behind. Good junk control, plus we’d only have to make one trip. Reminds me of the pioneer days with chuck wagons.
Nathan went to work for a few hours that morning, and then Grandpa Nash, Mom and Dad Nash, Jeff, and Bethany came down to help us load the truck. My friend Debbie offered to watch David so I could help direct traffic, finish last-minute packing, and get stuff organized. What a blessing! They started loading the U-haul at 10:00-ish and finished around 1:00. Then everyone else trooped up to Everett to unload and reload while I relieved Debbie from David. I contemplated putting him down for a nap, but all I had was the pack-n-play, which he crawls out of in a New York minute. I was also eager to keep him out of the apartment as much as possible since there were still loose items that would go in the car with us and all the baby-proofing was taken down. Instead we just stayed outside and played at the playground. It was a lovely day, and I enjoyed the down time and chance to socialize with my friends for the last time.
The crew returned around 5:00 with the happy news that the trailer was taller and wider than the U-haul. With that extra space we had only used 13 feet, so there was room for items that I was sad to see potentially left behind. The condition was that stuff had to fit in our van or Mom and Dad’s; Nathan already returned the truck. We loaded the last items, had a mini “free” garage sale on remaining items with some tenants, and headed off to eat and unload the last items onto the trailer on our way up to Anacortes.
We had a lovely weekend with Nathan’s family. Saturday morning Sarah hid plastic eggs around the living room for David and Sophia to find. David thought it was great fun, and especially liked the Reese’s eggs that were inside. He’d point to the out-of-reach stash and say, “Choc!” all weekend. Sunday night Nathan left Anacortes for Bellevue to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Nash for a few nights so he’d have an easier commute to work those last couple of days. David and I stayed in Anacortes and finished preparing for the long road-trip ahead. Wednesday, April 11 Sarah and Jeff helped me pack the van while Mom Nash did her morning routine (she is one busy lady!). We even had a little down time to start watching a movie before Marianne got home and we had to leave for my last doctor’s appointment in Lynnwood. Then Marianne, David and I said good-byes and piled in the car. The appointment was normal (yay) and then we met Nathan at Grandpa and Grandma’s before heading off to our first stop: Pendleton, Oregon.
We originally planned to take I-90 across to visit friends in Milwaukee and then work down to NC from there, but a look at the weather encouraged us to change our route to I-80 and and skip Milwaukee (sad!) in order to dodge some big storm systems. Somewhere in the middle of Idaho we were told that the system we were trying to avoid was now hovering over our current path. The word was that I-90 would be better than I-80. Frustrated at this news, we spent half an hour or so at a gas station making calls to future stops and see what their weather forecast was like, trying to build a contingency plan. Ultimately we decided to press on as planned on I-80 and just keep an eye on the weather. If we needed to change course later on we had a few routes in mind. Our many prayers for good weather were answered. We had sunny skies most of the way. At one point in Wyoming we had black clouds on either side of us but a nice blue patch just above the freeway. Snow flurried down, but nothing stuck. I didn’t even have to use my windshield wipers. We definitely were blessed. In the interest of time we didn’t stop and see any sights along the way; we just barreled through the countryside, stopping only for fuel and potty breaks. Around lunch we ‘d hit a rest stop and let David run around for a bit while we made sandwiches.
David fared much better than we expected for five full days in the car. Thank heavens for Mom Nash coming along. We really couldn’t have maintained sanity without her. She brought a bag of new toys and games for David, which she gradually presented over the days, and she sat in the back and sang and played with him most of the way. He also watched A Bug’s Life and Car’s more often than I would care to on my own in such a short time span, but hey, as long as it kept him happy, I kept pushing “Play.” We’ll save the “appreciate the landscape” lesson for older years. I just wanted to get to the other end with my hearing intact.
From Pendleton, OR we stopped in Coalville, UT; North Platte, NE; Columbia, MO; Crossville, TN; and finally Raleigh. Nebraska is more interesting than Kansas by a long shot, but it was still long and flat. It seems like we crossed the Missouri River three or four times. One crossing we think was actually the Mississippi River according to our map, but the sign labeled it “Missouri.” It didn’t look impressive enough to be the Mississippi according to my memory of the great waterway, yet if we go by signage we never did cross it. Is it possible to cross the country and not cross the Mississippi? Crossed the Ohio—that was more like what I was expecting the Mississippi to look like. We waved at the Arch on our way through St. Louis and loved the beauty of Kentucky. I was super excited to start seeing the Appalachians. Oh how I missed those lovely old mountains! I could hardly contain myself when we crossed into NC and passed through Pisgah National Forest, the site of all those camping trips growing up that I remember so fondly.
Monday, April 16 we finally arrived in Raleigh. We headed straight for our apartment complex to sign the lease at 5:30 before they closed at 6:00. That was the first time we’d even seen the apartment besides online photos and our Realtor’s assurance that the community was nice. Then we went to a hotel near the airport and had dinner. It was so nice to go to bed that night knowing we didn’t have to drive 9 hours the next day.
Tuesday we all went to Nathan’s work so he could check in and get his laptop back on the network. Then we went shopping to re-supply on this end, including an air mattress, sheets, and towels for the day between checking out of hotel and receiving our truck. We slept at the hotel again Tuesday night, and Marianne caught an early flight out Wednesday morning. With Mom Nash gone and Nathan at work, David and I just puttered around the apartment. I realized that none of the bedrooms had overhead lights, just outlets on switches, and headed back to the store to get lamps and a few other accessories that would not be on the truck. We set up one lamp that afternoon only to realize I’d forgotten lightbulbs. Nice one, Natalie. So, we just went to bed when it got dark. We also had great fun with the water system. Our apartment apparently had been vacant for a while, and the water all smelled and tasted like sulfur. Our neighbor said to run the water for a while to flush the pipes and it would clear up. Oooo-weee! Did it smell like bad eggs for a bit. In the process of running the water I also discovered that the showers didn’t run any cold water—only piping hot straight from the tank—so we couldn’t bathe until that got fixed.
Thursday was a grand adventure. I had arranged for our truck to be delivered between 8 and 12 and ward members to come help unload about 12:30. The freight company was supposed to call an hour before delivery to make sure we were available to receive it. Our phone and internet got set up about 10:30, at which point I realized my cell phone had been out of service and no one could contact me. I called my parents and gave them our new landline number and directions to the apartment—lucky timing since they were almost here--then called the freight company. They said they’d been trying to call but with no answer they had sent the driver elsewhere; now they would not be able to deliver our trailer until 2 or 3. I wanted to cry. Instead I called the Bishop and Nathan at work and told them about the delay, moving everyone back a couple of hours, and prayed we’d be able to get the treadmill uncovered at the back of the truck in time for the fitness company to move it up the stairs and reassemble it for us at 4:30. About Noon maintenance came by to spray for bugs and change the AC filter. Happily a freight driver was available earlier than estimated, and our stuff was delivered about 1:30. Dad started setting up the ramp and taking down the bulkhead, and then Nathan came home from work just as I was getting David down for a nap. Dad, Mom, and Nathan started unloading and I manned the phone to let helpers into our gated community. Soon the Bishop and missionaries showed up, and towards the end another volunteer arrived. I sure was grateful for all the extra help. One of the most frustrating things for me this move was standing on the sidelines and watching during loading and unloading and feeling like a completely useless pregnant lady. Sometime in the middle of all the hullabaloo more maintenance guys showed up to fix the showers (hallelujah!), and the treadmill guys showed up out of the blue to do their duty. Another blessing—we’d managed to uncover the treadmill in time for them.
Things wrapped up about 5- or 6-ish I think. Ward members went home, Dad and Nathan got furniture reassembled and arranged, Mom and I got beds put together and kitchen somewhat sorted, and then we took Mom and Dad out to dinner as a thank-you before sending them back to Aiken.
I spent a good part of Friday morning coming and going from the only Honda dealership in town to get our van serviced for regular preventive maintenance. The rest of the day was spent digging the kitchen out of boxes and getting David’s room in order. Saturday we really knuckled down and got all the boxes out of our main living areas and tidied up the third bedroom which functions as guest quarters and storage. It was hard to believe that we could get basically unpacked so quickly. Granted, we didn’t unpack everything since we’re only going to be here a few months, but still…
We were delighted to find a very friendly and welcoming ward on Sunday. We really like the area, and now finding that we really like the ward, I’m hoping we can find a house in the boundaries that we like equally as well as a decent commute for Nathan. From the apartment it takes him an hour to get to work on the other side of town. 35 minutes of that hour is spent on a stretch of road that takes 5-10 minutes without traffic. Once he gets inside I-540 it’s pretty easy sailing—only 20 minutes. He’s been examining the map and trying to find different routes to work. We’ll see how that goes!

Well, I think that’s about it. Sorry it’s so long, but it’s got all the details I know some of your were anxious to hear! We hope you are all well.

Love,
Natalie & boys

More move pictures

More pictures from our trip...

Two more disneyland pics

Here are a couple more pics from Disneyland that I couldn't upload the first time. Merry Christmas!