The Last 6 Months

Well, I guess if we’re going to be intentional about blogging more frequently, it would be good to start writing… so, in order to start things off proper, I’ll give a *quick recap* of the last few months.

*Don’t be surprised if this post gets split into a couple — I can’t imagine I’ll either A) remember everything worth reporting with only one-go at this, and/or B) have the time to finish this completely before the girls wake up! Ok, on to the recap!

• 6 months ago today, Janelle was pregnant (and ready to pop). As always, she makes pregnancy look good.
• I was in the midst of Winter Quarter @ SPU, and struggling mightily to make the most of the limited amounts of time I had to work with (both professionally and personally).
• Audrey Lynn was born Feb 5th, 2009. Good looking baby, if I may say so myself. Janelle was a champ with it all, and BFF Jenn was super supportive and helpful, coming over in the middle of the night to stay with and watch Izzy while we headed to the hospital.
• 2 kids + 2 full-time jobs + 2 bedroom apartment = 6 reasons to go crazy. 🙂
• Janelle’s grandfather, Grandpa Scott, passes away in March: no man has ever had such an endearing smile as he, and although his passing was painful for those he left behind, we took comfort knowing that his salvation was in Christ. Enjoy paradise Grandpa, and save us a seat.
• Izzy turns 2yrs old! Wow, that was fast?! We threw her a party, had a bunch of friends over (including all her favorite resident-students), and then we were subsequently rewarded by her potty-training in about 3 days. Can you say AWESOME?! Granted, we’ve had some accidents here and there — but all things considered, she really trained in under a week and has been a champ about it ever since.
• Janelle turned 29 in March. For those counting, that’s half-way to 58yrs old. Yikes! 🙂
• Spring Quarter ensues at SPU. Basically, Spring Qtr is just 8 weeks of non-stop goodbye-end-of-the-year-thanks-for-everything celebrations, dinners, and parties. In addition to everything else expected throughout our crazy-busy 10 week quarters. Suffice it to say, Izzy and I didn’t see a whole lot of each other, and I vaguely remember seeing an infant in the apartment every so often (Audrey perhaps)? School was over June 19th.
• My grandmother, Grandma Vi (Jensen), passes away in early June. One of the sweetest little ladies you’ll ever meet, she had a smile and charm all her own. Grandma wasn’t my blood-grandmother, as Grandpa had remarried in the 70s, but in watching how she loved us nobody would have ever known that we weren’t related. In fact, I think anyone would say that she was about as fantastic a grandmother as any grandkid could ask for. Again, it was sad to see her pass, but she deserved the respite, and we are once again blessed to know that her salvation was assured in Christ.
• June 21st: I begin full-time Daddy Daycare. Although I’ve always said that being an Resident Director has been/is my dream job… this stay-at-home-dad gig is pretty sweet too. I think the girls are enjoying it as well (Janelle included).
• In other, more minor news: Janelle and I are on a city-league volleyball squad, the “Fledglings.” To put it mildly, we are an abomination to volleyball. Period. But, we get out to the beach weekly and get a little exercise in, which is great.
• Izzy is officially enrolled in preschool for the coming fall. I know, I know… there is no way she should be old enough yet for something that has the word “school” in the title… but Janelle keeps telling me it’s true. My little girl is getting older by the day, and definitely ready for some peer interactions. Apparently, hanging out with 18-22yr olds doesn’t meet all the growing developmental needs of a toddler.
• As of today, I have less than 5 weeks remaining before work kicks back up, and we start fall training. Ouch. Summer breaks will never, ever, be long enough.

Well, that’s the gist of it, or at least as much as I can remember at the moment. I realize that there’s plenty that we’ve probably missed, but at least that’ll bring most folks up-to-speed with what we’ve been up to!