November Adventures!

Nov 2 ~ Craig started a woodworking class tonight through Kirkwood Community College! It is an 8 week class that will allow him to try out many types of woodworking machinery, and he will attempt to build something on his own. Craig has been interested in working with wood for awhile now, so I am glad that he gets to try his hand at it. The guys at his work (and myself!)...we tend to give him a hard time about it...saying that we hope he gets through the class with all his fingers still attached!

Nov 3 ~ Today was Hearts In Touch. Natalie made it all the way through the 2 hours in the nursery...I was so proud of her! The topic today was "Lies Women Believe"...it was a real eye opener and a great area to discuss. Our group was a bit small this week since many people were home sick. Natalie and I also turned in our shoebox gift (and the one Aunt Becky made) for Operation Christmas Child. We had a great time filling the box with goodies, so we plan to make it a yearly tradition.

Nov 4 ~ I took Natalie to the pediatrician to get her flu shoot. Thankfully, her bloodwork came back and we now know she does not have an egg allergy. Whew...one less thing for our family to have to deal with :) The rash she got after eating eggs must have just been some sort of coincidence.

My brother, Jason, called me today! I was so happy to hear from him! He will be leaving soon for Afghanistan...probably on the 9th of this month. Jason is in the Army and I don't know the exact name for his job, but he basically repairs electronic equipment. He has been told that they will try to be back home by this coming July, but who knows. He's been busy bulking up on supplies before he leaves. Hopefully he'll keep in touch by email...I realize that going overseas is just part of his job, but I am still sad he has to leave and hope he stays safe.

Nov 6 ~ We brought Craig's parents over to the new house to take a peek! This was the first time they had ever seen the house, and I think they are really excited for us. Of course, we are just thrilled now about moving to a new home...and feel so lucky, because none of it would be happening if it weren't for the generosity of Mom & Dad Essington...they have been helping us in so many ways. We just hope that we can continue to make good financial decisions...not only for ourselves, but also to make our parents proud :)

Craig's mom told us some news today. She has been feeling off balance for quite some time, and recently found out that she has a brain tumor at the base of her skull. Craig and I were in total shock hearing this...the good news is that it is non-cancerous and should not prove to be fatal. She is supposed to go in sometime this week for a procedure called "CyberKnife". From what I can tell it's a procedure where radiation is pinpointed to the exact location to kill active cells and keep the tumor from growing. It does not break the skin and there should be minimal side effects. She has been told that the whole thing lasts about 2 hours and she will most likely only need one treatment. The bad part is that she won't gain back complete balance because in most cases it does not shrink the tumor, it just kills it. We just thank God that the situation isn't any worse than this. So please pray for Craig's mom, Ann, that everything goes well and that it works.

Nov 10 ~ We had pictures taken at JCPenney tonight. Natalie had her 1 year photo taken wearing her pink party dress, and we also took a casual holiday family photo. Now that Natalie is getting older, it is getting more difficult to persuade her to look at the camera! After pictures we stopped at Toys R Us to return an item and look at some Christmas gifts. Natalie also received a balloon in honor of her 1st birthday and they announced her name over the intercom system...it was too cute! For dinner Craig surprised us with a meal at Genghis Grill!

Nov 12 ~ Craig's mom called today to thank us for the plant and teddy bear we had sent to her house. She is having headaches from the procedure yesterday, but seems to be in good spirits! We also learned today that my Grandma Fleming will be having some brain scans done on the 24th of this month...she has been having some dizzy spells and unexplained falls recently. So please pray for her health as well.

So what else is new in the Essington household?? We are not having too much luck packing up our house lately - Craig has been super busy working late most nights, but it will eventually get done! Natalie has been "testing" out her voice alot - she babbles nonstop, says "dog" over and over again, and we think she is trying to say "meow" when we talk about kitties!

Nov 13 ~ Today we did an initial "walk through" of the new house to write down all the little things that will need fixing before we close the deal and move in. There was quite a list, but most of it should get finished by the end of next week before we move in. We are so excited about our new home!

Nov 14 ~ We started Natalie on whole milk today! We just gave it to her straight and in a sippy cup like the doctor suggested...she is taking to it with hardly any problems. It is strange not giving her a bottle anymore...especially not having the before bedtime feeding. She is such a big girl!

Nov 19 thru 22 ~ We closed on our North Liberty home this morning!! Our realtor, Tricia, had a big decorated cookie waiting for us when we met her to sign the paperwork. It was so nice! Now the fun of moving begins! Craig's parents came out last night to help us move and to help with Natalie (what would we do without them?).....

...... So the next few days were a blur with all of our belongings being tossed into a moving van. Took quite awhile to get our utilities (mainly phone and computer) up and running also. I am not too proud to say that our little family isn't the most organized...haha! And if you truly can say you know me, you won't be surprised when I say I was stressing out!! We are so thankful for all the help we received from Craig's parents. Also the help we got from Brian Pierce and Mark Flanders (co-workers of Craig's). Natalie is having a bit of a difficult time adjusting to her new bedroom, but I'm sure she'll be fine soon.

Nov 23 ~ Not a whole lot of unpacking has been done the past few days. It is not easy to care for a 1 year old and sort through boxes at the same time. Not to mention that nothing is child-proofed in the house yet...Nat is a curious little girl! Also not to mention the fact that the entire family is sick. We just hope to be healthy enough to enjoy the upcoming weekend.

Nov 24 ~ We left for the weekend to spend Thanksgiving with family in Illinois. Even though we have alot to do here in Iowa, I am happy to take the car trip and de-stress over the weekend! There was not a trace of snow when we left Iowa, but plenty in Illinois! The last part of our car trip was tedious with the weather and traffic, but we made it in one piece!

Nov 25 ~ Natalie went outside in the snow for the first time today! She didn't want to have anything to do with that white, cold stuff! After bundling her up in her snow attire, she spent only a few moments outside. I was really bummed that she didn't enjoy it, but we'll just have to try again another time.

We spent Thanksgiving day at Craig's parents' house. Mom Essington made an awesome dinner! Wanda and Denny came out and so did Roxanne and her 3 girls. Natalie loved spending time around her cousins. It was a great and relaxing time!

Nov 26 ~ Craig, Nat, and I spent the afternoon at my Aunt Diana and Uncle Mark's house for another Thanksgiving celebration. All of my mother's side of the family were there. The food was great, we all sampled some wine, and we had fun meeting "Buddy" the new puppy of the house.

Later that evening we attended an open house at Calvary Baptist Church. It was for Craig's 10 year high school reunion from Calvary Baptist Academy. Many of his classmates were there...some with their spouses and children. We snapped many pictures, watched some videos, and took a tour of some of the newer aspects of the school.

Nov 27 ~ Craig, Nat, and I visited my dad's home this afternoon for our third Turkey Day of 2004! We weren't able to stay long, but we did get to nibble on some of the yummy finger foods. The Bair family was a little scarce this year due to some other individual commitments, but it still was a nice time spent with loved ones! Natalie was happy to see her Grandpa Bair...he sent her home with a little stuffed dog toy and she loves it!

Tonight was part 2 of Craig's high school reunion. The class and spouses met at Alexander's Steakhouse for dinner. It honestly was a really neat time...in my opinion, much more intimate than my reunion was. But I guess that could be expected since Craig only graduated in a class of about 16 students. Each classmate spoke of their ups and downs of the past 10 years, everyone re-lived some of their high school memories, and there was also alot of talk about how much everyone has changed.

Nov 29 ~ Craig's parents took Natalie on a little grandparent/granddaughter outing today so I could get some things done around the house! Grandma had bought Nattie a pretty new Christmas dress...so they took her over to Walmart to get some quick pictures taken. I did manage to get a few things done while they were out. :)