Let's start this off pleasantly-- CONGRATS TO US! We've been here a year and are still managing to wake up everyday! Woo hoo! I just re-read some of my old posts from when we moved here. Silly children, we were so young and naïve. So full of excitement of things to come. Little did we know this was to be our 'test your strengths' year. We made it.. yay.
Don't get me wrong, you've seen my facebook posts, it's not as though every day has been bad. Audrey is... crazy (I use that because it truly can go either way, just like her personality, lol). Since moving out here, she seems to be doing really well. In the last year she has:
- Learned to walk
- Learned to fly thru 3 year old puzzles
- Although she started slow, her verbal skills are rocking now!
- She sings along to all her favorite kid songs, as well as Mommy's favorite jams
- Has started to read a bit; in fact- we are in her first chapter book currently (Secret Garden)
- Can count(and recognize) to 20
- Can sing (and recognize) the alphabet
- Has moved into a Big girl bed
- Is slowly mastering the potty
- Is about to dip her fingers in the Gymnastics pool
I guarantee every 2 year old mom out there is saying '...and ??'; but with her being our first born- we are quite impressed with our nugget. Poor Nathan...
Rob is doing really well at work. Everything we do basically revolves around it. They need someone on call? You do it! They need someone to come in? You do it! They need someone to head a project? Guess what? YOU.DO.IT! It seems to be paying off and he really enjoys the team he works with. I've only been able to meet the group a couple of times, but the crew actually reminds me a little of MY old crew at Hyatt (If you know me, you know that is a HUGE compliment). I really couldn't be more proud of him. He has worked so hard these last couple years, and somehow managed to work even harder this last year. I know it broke his heart to move us away from Ohio, but he did it for us, and we'll always be so grateful-- even more so when we are back in the OH! Babe, I hope you know your squad will always be behind you, cheering you on like the '72 Fins :-*
Rob is also dominating the golf course these days!! Ladies, I highly recommend getting the golfer in your life a 'golf swing evaluation' as a gift one day. Rob is able to get out at least once a month, round the year, and once Spring hit- we sent him out as often as possible. His game has improved-- aka, his mood when returns from the green has improved as well. Watch out Jon Rudy--he's coming for you!
Our little family has been thru some pretty rough waters this year. As everyone knows- in order to make this move, we had to sell our house. After over 400 days on the market, 3 different realtors, several price drops, a buyer drop out the day before closing and an ultimately HUGE monetary loss, we finally cut the chord on our first home. In this time period we also had to deal with a surprise trip back to Cleveland to handle our home having been broken into (which was discovered during a showing of the house--perfect timing). I'm not going to lie- I am scarred from buying again. I mean, deeply deeply scarred. I have nightmares. If I had my way- we wouldn't buy again until we are building- back on Ohio soil.
In addition to that, we have also had more car trouble between both of our cars this year than either of us individually in 6 years. On a day packed with errands, we discovered my battery to be dead. Tow, buy, replace. And we are currently down to one car as Rob's 'deathtrap' car is getting it's entire frame replaced. Chrysler claims the rust thru on his 6 year old car is due to salt.... we'll see about that. Are your dollar signs adding up yet?? I've spent a year feeling so incredibly guilty about not working-- but I have mastered meal planning and were the best prices are for our most consumed items. That's like a job, right? Please say yes....please...
I think one of our biggest let downs about the move was this misconception: Missourians are some of the nicest people to talk to. That's a fact. Here is another fact: If they grew up here, they don't need new friends. I have been blatantly told this from several local people (as I'm desperately trying to make them my friend). So our first 6 months out here were very,very, VERY lonely. HUGE shout outs to Cy, Abby, Drew, Jackie, Kevin, Kim, Angela & Ashley who all came to visit; I truly think your visits are what got us thru the first half of the year. Honestly, we adore you <3 Oh, and please come back!!
Last, our most trying situation. What tested us the most, was the loss of Baby I.2. Yes, Nathan is actually Baby I.3. When we found out we were expecting last winter, it was the greatest. Suddenly all of the dark we had been surrounded by lit up and we felt we understood why we had been dealt the hand of cards that we had. And almost as quickly as we found out, the baby was gone. Being alone out here didn't help. We had 2 hours to adjust our lives to the news and become parents again. I can honestly say it broke me. I had to set alarms on my phone to ensure I wouldn't forget to feed A, as I clearly wasn't feeding myself. It's so interesting to see what an 'uncomfortable' discussion miscarriages are. I was surprised by lack of communication from some people, and bit let down by some support. As a mom, I don't think there is a worse feeling than knowing you can do absolutely nothing to help/save your child. No matter how far along you are. That's the worst by the way- 'at least it was early'. Please, please erase those words as sentiment. When your test is positive, you are a mom. End of story. Doesn't matter if it's a day later, or 39 weeks later. I can't even imagine the pain if it had been later, but I assure you, it throbs no matter what. I hope by the time my daughter grows up, this is no longer such a touchy subject. Look at all the things we can openly talk about now that you would never have brought up years ago. I've discovered so many people I know who have endured this pain and had to keep it bottled up because it 'makes people uncomfortable'. It's one thing if you decide you want to keep it to yourself, but I read a lot of obituaries and beautiful memory posts on passed love ones..... I never see any on the loss of ones own child.
As I mentioned earlier, it has NOT all been horrid.
We finally stumbled upon another STL transplant family--and even though that was the only common denominator I was looking for; we won the lottery!! Kids the same age, husbands interested in the same things, fellow crafter--and thrifter! This poor family has been forced to hang out with us weekly, sometimes even more than that, if we're lucky.
We've also moved into a really great rental home for the duration of our time here-- being in a neighborhood is so different from an apartment. You instantly make friends because 'this is your home'. There are so many other kids around us, unfortunately most are older than A and she has a hard time keeping up with their energy. We lucked out with some stellar neighborhood parents too, it's nice to just sit in the driveway and chit chat while the crazies run around.
This last weekend we celebrated our beautiful blue eyed girl turning 2 (um, what?!?). We were incredibly lucky to have the whole Ihasz clan come out and join in the celebration!! And in true Ihasz fashion, we kept our streak of never missing the Fins opening game together :) So, basically- perfection!
I still can't believe we've managed a year out here. Before we moved, we were told by a wise Aunt & Uncle that a move like this would bring us closer together- we had no idea how strongly that comment would pertain to us. Closer we are. I'm excited to strengthen our marriage and family in the years we still have ahead of us, but I'm hoping that maybe the 'chunk' of bad is behind us. Don't get me wrong- I'm not expecting only rainbows and unicorns; but maybe just a little break :)
