Another month of travel and excitement. Tim made it back from Korea; Alicia and the Kids made it back from San Diego. We were together for two weeks before Tim got back on a plane for Taiwan this time. During those two weeks Aunt Kelly came for a visit and we celebrated Fathers’ Day. After Tim’s departure Alicia’s parents came for a few days and then took Cordelia down to San Diego for a week of Zoo camp. So Alicia and Anthony are holding down the fort this week and then will drive down with Aunt Kelly to San Diego for 4th of July.
Cordelia has had a challenging month, dealing with all the change and travel. Lots of people coming and going, so she has been testing her boundaries more trying to figure out what stays constant in the midst of all the turmoil. She enjoys when people visit but has a hard time when they leave. While Aunt Kelly was here Corrie decided to show off and quotpotty trainquot herself basically in one day. She was very successful and kept her panties almost 100% dry for three days. Then Aunt Kelly left and in protest she completely quotun-potty trainedquot herself. So we all know she is fully capable and now it’s just a matter of the will. She did improve after Grandma and Grandpa came, so hopefully we can build on that.
Anthony continues his development this month. There are two new videos of him on the picture/video page, be sure to check them out! He grabs at everything now and puts it all in his mouth. He rolls onto his stomach with ease and often rolls all over the carpet – off of his blanket and burp cloths. He has become quite vocal and loud, so the months of silence have come to an end. He has been doing some small scooting backward and is starting to slide forward. Occasionally he gets his knees under him and then rolls onto his side. We started him on baby food at the beginning of the month and he has been loving it. Tony has eaten everything we’ve given him so far and is eager to eat. With the addition of solids we have changed his napping schedule around which has also been nice. Just two big naps now with a cat-nap in the evening.
When we got back from San Diego we decided to put Corrie and Tony in the same room together. It required a far amount of furniture rearrangement but everything is fitting well. It also took a few days for us to get them used to being together but now they are pretty good. About 50% of the time Cordelia will wake up when we come in to get Anthony but it has not been a hug deal.
With all the traveling Tim has been struggling to be productive at work. While he is out in the field his efficiency is limited due to being off site from the rest of his team. Once he gets back he has just enough time to come back up to speed and get things going before he gets sent back out. Plus travel back from Korea takes about 3 days to recover from. So it has been a difficult month for work. Tim has not felt as effective as he would like. Family life has also been a challenge with the travel. Tim was finally able to take a wood working class that Alicia bought him for his anniversary gift this year. He had a great time crafting a small shelf (three-tier spice rack size) out of walnut. Due to our living arrangement he has not had the opportunity to do any wood working, so it was a great time and a fun experience.
Alicia has been juggling the traveling and relative visits and sudden changes to Tim’s business travel. It has been a stretching month trying to keep up with it all. Cordelia’s new interest in the potty has added complexity since it requires more attention, which means Anthony is left alone more often. With Anthony becoming more vocal (sometimes very loudly) it is easy for Alicia to get frazzled while trying to complete basic tasks like getting lunch on the table. Alicia is trying to take advantage of this week with just Anthony to give him more focused attention. During the summer there are no regular moms’ group meetings. Still, Alicia has been trying to get out on regular play dates with some of the moms. Alicia is also trying to join some summer groups meeting through the church and also get involved with volunteering.
We were able to go on a family hike with another family and potentially start connecting with them. It seems like Tim and the other husband may have some similar interests so we will try doing some more family activities with them. We are still looking for more people to connect with; trying to start forming a community up here.
In July we are traveling to San Diego to celebrate 4th of July and spend a week with Alicia’s family. We also have a trip to Tahoe planned for the end of the month.
Please pray that we will be able to re-connect as a family after all this traveling and time apart. We hope this will be the end of travel for a while! Pray also that we will be able to connect with this one family and find other families. Pray for Tim to be able to find some church community, with the travel he was not able to join a summer group. Pray for safe travels as we go out and about. We are very thankful for all the support we have received from you, our family and friends. We are thankful for God’s many provisions to us during this season.
