Week 27 - Sitting up

Week 27 Picture

It's amazing how much things change in the life of an infant over the course of a week. You miss a day or two and you may miss a dramatic developmental milestone. For example, I came up to Denver early last week to take care of a few things. During that time I was separated from my wife and little boy while she took care of business down in Pueblo. It wasn't too long, just a few days, but even in that short period of time, Jay's motor-skills had developed dramatically. When I left him, he was not sitting up on his own. When I next saw him, he was using his new sitting up skills to allow him to better manipulate and interact with the world around him. It's hard for me to believe sometimes that this little ball of energy and personality was once a little ball of helpless flesh that just about fit in the palm of my hand.

Although it's been nice having some time off and being around our families, this has been a really weird transition for Kimbre and me. On my part, I feel stuck in a weird in-between situation where I don't really quite belong in Denver anymore yet I also don't really quite belong at OSU. Things will get better once we get settled in and Oregon and all the moving parts fall into place, but by and large this drawn out move has been a good lesson in the value of having a home base - a place that you call your own. Still, I'm grateful that we have the luxury of imposing on our families like this to make an already stressful situation a whole lot less stressful. Not everyone has access to such a great support network and for that, we count ourselves lucky.

Week 26 - Half birthday

Week 26 Picture

Jay's half birthday was June 18th. Since his actual birthday is near Christmas, there's a good chance his half birthdays will get a bigger party than his actual birthday in the future. This year, we celebrated with a cute little cake that Kimbre made him, which he promptly destroyed. It was a nice moment. It was one of those points in time where you can just sit there, smile to yourself, and enjoy the new experiences that come with having a young family.

It's fun experiencing him discovering the world on a day-to-day basis. Jay is the most curious 6 month old I have ever met. If it's within reach, he wants to get his chubby little fingers on it if for nothing else than the opportunity to swing it around in the air of stuff it in his mouth. I hope he never loses that.

We've come a long way in these last six months. I just love my little boy so much. The affection I feel for him is one of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced. He's a lot of work at times. Particularly so during these last few weeks since we've moved from Oklahoma. Still, its an incredible thing that no matter how sleep deprived and fussy he can sometimes get, I miss him when ever he's not around. I'm glad that we get to start this next stage of our life with him on board. Here's to the next six months.

Week 25 - The Oregon Trail

Week 25 Picture

 We've only been out of Oklahoma 10 days, but it feels like we've been gone forever. Overall, my trip to Oregon was great. I got to spend some time getting to know Corvallis, the campus, and getting an idea of what my future as an assistant professor at Oregon State will be like. The good news is that all signs are positive. It was fun getting to put faces to the names of people that I have been communicating with over the last year. I have some great colleagues that I'll be working with at OSU and the support staff in the College of Business is a collection of wonderful, relentlessly helpful people. I also had a bit of free time while I was out in Corvallis to explore the area. I even made the 40 minute, scenic drive to the coast - something I expect I will be doing a lot of in the coming years. I'm really looking forward to this. Getting this job has truly been a blessing. I can already tell that Oregon will be a great fit for me and my family.

One of my primary goals while I was out in Oregon was to find a place for us to live. It ended up being a lot tougher than I anticipated. The rental market in Corvallis was pretty much nonexistent, which meant we had a tough choice. We could either (a) settle for a rental that does not meet our standards and throw away a fortune each month in rent or (b) buy a house based solely on my two day tour of the local retail market and the picture/video tours I shared with Kimbre. Neither option was optimal, but we ended up deciding that our money would be better spent buying a house than padding the pockets of a land lord with no real incentive to keep us around. As a result, in less than 7 days we went from making the decision to buy to having an offer on a house accepted and under contract. In sum, it's been a pretty overwhelming turn of events. A side effect of all this madness is that we'll be staying in Colorado a bit longer than we expected as we wait for closing. It will be nice to get to spend extra time with our family and friends. Still, it's kind of stressful being stuck in purgatory somewhere between your past and your future.

As great (and productive) as my trip was, it was really tough being away from my son. It's the first time since Jay was born that I went more than 24 hours without getting to hold him. It was even harder than I expected. I spent about an hour each night before I went to bed just looking at pictures of him and smiling. He's a lot of work, but I just love him so much that I'd do all the work in the world just to get to see that trademark smile of his. Unfortunately, he's not handling the transition all that well. Even though he's having a great time getting to spend some time with his extended family, at night he's been sleeping worse than ever getting up every two hours --- sometimes even more often than that. It's been exhausting, but fortunately Kimbre and I have had enough spare time in the mornings to sneak in a quick nap to make up for the lost sleep at night.

In the end, he's worth it. No doubt in my mind. If anything the frustrations just make the good times we get with him during the day are made all that much better by contrast of the agony of staying up with him all night.

Week 24 - Homeless

Week 24 Picture

As of Friday, we officially do not have a home address. Right now, all of our worldly belongings are sitting on truck or in a warehouse somewhere with no plan yet in place that can provide a definitive answer regarding where they are going. Honestly, it's kind of a disconcerting feeling. It'd be nice to have things sorted out for once. It's for this reason that I'm sitting in DIA right now, waiting on a plane to Portland. Hopefully, it won't be too long before we can have a little less uncertainty in our lives.

In general, things have been going alright so for. Never less, it's always tough traveling with a baby. They are fundamentally creatures of routine and nothing disrupts routine quite like moving does. My trip also marks the first time that I've spent more than a full day without seeing my boy since he's been born. It's going to take some getting used to, though hopefully I'll never actually be in a position where I need to get used to it. Fortunately, besides a bit of extra trouble sleeping at night, Jay is handling everything pretty well. It's really nice that he's getting to spend a little extra time around his family. I can tell that he's really enjoying it. Lord knows that I am too. 

Although this transition is stressful, I'm looking forward to what waits on the other side. Fewer boxes, fewer decisions, more family time, exciting opportunities for career advancement, and above all, a chance to catch my breath. Exciting times are ahead of us.

Week 23 - Moving week

Week 23 Picture

Sorry for another late post. My intention is still to try and get these done by Sunday night so that people that care can maintain expectations of when the weekly blog should be up. It's just been a crazy past couple of weeks getting ready to move and getting the lose ends tied up at work before I go.

But I'm over the hump of the hard work now and move we will. All the pieces are in place. The repairs are done. My poor white Honda has a new owner. The mover is booked ready to load things up starting on Wednesday. The storage unit has been emptied. My trip to Oregon has been booked. Nothing left at this point but the move itself. It feels good. It's nice finally having the chance to get excited. 

It's been swell Oklahoma. It really has. I had some of the very best years of my life in this state. Here's to many more good years ahead of us.