The past 2 weeks have been a change for our family since Nat has been at home.  It changes the dynamics of life, and it allows me to go out during naptime.  I think that makes life more busy for me as I try to squeeze in more things to do that I really should do.  Anyways, we’ve had a good time having daddy around.  We’ve gotten some projects done – getting the chair rail up, moving the towel rack so it’s screwed into the studs and not the dry wall, ordering and putting together new pantry shelves, hanging a cabinet in the garage, reorganizing the garage, and decluttering some of the closet in Jonas’ room.  We have more projects that we’d like to do now that we know that we’re staying for awhile and we have income coming in that can allow us to do the projects.  Some of the projects we’d like to do:  declutter the house and find a storage unit to store things, order a bench and shelf for the entry way, ordering a DVD rack, and trimming the front bushes.  We’ll see how that goes.

Nat starts work today, so I hope all goes well.  I’m not sure if they’re just going to throw him in today or have a more laidback first day of work.  I’m hoping that Nat won’t have to stay too long at work most days so that he can help me watch the kiddos while I cook dinner.  If not, we’ll adjust. 

I believe the last post was when we were in Dallas/Seattle.  When we came home, it took a couple of weeks to get used to being home.  Nat went into the office a few times to clean up his files on his desktop and to pack up his space.  It took him about a week or two to tie up his loose ends, but he did it all around the time of Sean’s birthday.

We celebrated Sean’s birthday with a pool party the day before his birthday.  It was a little cool, but everyone had a great time.  Grandma T. came in at the end of the pool party and we headed out to eat dinner.  Sean enjoyed his fried shrimp and mac n cheese.  On Saturday, Sean’s actual birthday, we had a low key day with the family and Grandma T.  We ended the day with a frog-shaped strawberry ice cream cake.  Yum!

We were in Houston from August 10 – August 19.  I decided to make the trip because I needed a break from our normal life, and my cousin’s court marriage* on August 11.  Houston was hot, but we had a good time with my family and having the help of my parents.  We also had a chance to hangout with two of my best friends so that was a great time.

While we were in Houston, we had to decided on whether or not to take a job offer that Nat had received.  We had received a “no” from Nat’s top choice company, the other company that Nat interviewed with had their funds tied up at the time so they could not formally give Nat an offer, though they were interested in him.  Nat also received some interest from another company.  They tried to move the interview process as quickly along as they could, but they were not going to be able to move the process quickly enough before we needed to make a decision.

Through many hours of talking and time of praying, we came to a decision to accept the position.  It was difficult for both of us to come to terms with being rejected from Nat’s top choice and the fact that we would stay in town.  We were both prepared to leave and start our “new” lives, and that bubble burst.  Nat was more quick to recover, though it took me some time.   In the end, reason won out, since it would be better to take a job that we knew Nat had instead of waiting.  We had enough savings to cover more months of job hunting, but we thought it would be more wise to have a job immediately after Nat graduated instead of having a gap in between.  As my dad had advised, this lack of gap between graduation and employment would make future companies more favorably upon him.

Since we’ve made the decision, I’ve been scrambling to look for pre-schools for Sean and finding a place to workout.  Fortunately, we were able to find both, though we would have been fine if Sean didn’t go to pre-school this year.  Sean will be starting tomorrow, and it’s very exciting for all of to see Sean off to school.

Nat has been working on some house projects that he’d like to get done before he starts work next Wednesday.  I’ve been also trying to find ways to declutter our house (mostly through buying furniture) since we know that we’ll be here for some time.  All in all, it’s been hectic, but good.

*  My cousin and his wife will have a formal dinner reception in Taiwan next year and a formal banquet dinner in the states after Taiwan.  I believe they did the court ceremony so they can move forward in his wife’s visa application.

Here is a list of other books I’ve enjoyed over the years:

Dragonfly by Julia Golding
The Goose Girl (Book 1 of the series) by Shannon Hale
The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley
Lightening Thief (Book 1 of the series) by Rick Riordan
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
East by Edith Pattou
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
The Singer of All Songs (Book 1 of the series) by Kate Constable
The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
The Tricksters Choice by Tamora Pierce
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Poison Study (Book 1 of the series) by Maria V. Snyder
Dragon Slippers (Book 1 of the series) by Jessica Day George
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud
The Naming:  The First Book of Pellinor (Book 1 of the series) by Allison Croggon

All in all, it was quite an experience.  We were racing the storm as the dark clouds started rolling in and the winds started picking up.  Mix in the fact that it was bedtime and the boys were getting cranky, you get a non-optimal photoshoot.  Our photographers were able to capture some good shots, and you can see them on their blog.  To see all the pictures taken, you can go to their website.  The password is thompsonfamily.  I love the pictures of the boys.  I think that Sean looks like a child model, but maybe it’s because I’m biased. 

I was encouraged earlier this week by a friend when he e-mailed me the following in response to my numerous prayer requests about the job search at church:

Let me first say that Nat’s perseverance is to be commended.  A certain level of discouragement is quite normal for both of you because we all go into things like this with expectations and I have always believed that when our expectations are not met, the Lord is really at work.  So, as strange as it may sound, I see this as very exciting as it is an evidence that the Lord has something very specific for both of you and His timing is going to rule the day.

One thing is for sure: your appreciation for the job the Lord eventually provides for Nat will be so much more intense due to your having to wait and go through rejection along the way.  Had Nat gotten tons of offers or found his dream job in the first interview, I’m guessing that what God is doing in you and through you may not have been accomplished the way it is now.  Abraham and Sarah had to wait beyond what any of us would consider reasonable.  Joseph too had to wait years for his dreams to become a reality.  Many times, the Lord brings the most growth in us when we are waiting.  Be encouraged in His promises.

This e-mail was just a reminder for us to trust in the Lord completely and that it is He that will provide the job for us, and not by our own hands.  Yes, God has blessed Nat with success in his education, and yes, God has blessed Nat with intelligence, but ultimately, it is God who will open the doors to the place He would like us to go.  He will let Nat’s resume get to the right hands, peak interest in the managers, and give favor with his interviewers.  He will use the knowledge that He has given Nat at the interviews to help Him succeed.  We will just have to wait.  Hopefully, not as long as Abraham and Sarah for a son, or like Joseph to be reunited with his family. 

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On a slightly different tangent, Nat’s traveling has taken a toll on Sean.  When Nat was getting ready this morning, Sean kept saying over and over again, “Daddy no go to work!  Daddy no go to work!”.  Then, when Nat called from O’Hare, Sean said to him, “Daddy all done California?  Daddy all down interview?”  Soon, Sean, very soon!

As a side note, Sean says that Nat is going to “California” for all of his trips.  We think it’s because the first trip that was taken was to California, so all trips are California.  Speaking of all of Nat’s trips, I thought it would be fun to list all of Nat’s trips since March:  San Diego, Albuquerque, Boston (twice), Seattle (three times), Dallas, Hartford, Baltimore, and San Jose.  Eleven trips in four months.

We’ll all be happy when Nat’s done with all of his traveling.

Speaking of Nat, Nat deposited his thesis last week, so he is officially a doctor now!  He also finished up his conference paper, so that’s another burden lifted off Nat’s shoulder.  He was still pretty busy last week despite his accomplishments since he needed to fix his slides for a job talk that he’s giving tomorrow.  Nat is interviewing at a company in Maryland, and his interview consists of giving a job talk and getting grilled afterwards.  Fun, I know.  Nat comes home late tomorrow night, and they flies out on Wednesday for another interview on Thursday.  Hopefully, Nat will get an offer from one of these two interviews, because all we’ve heard so far is no.  It’s definitely been teaching us to trust in the Lord and His provision going through this job search.  Nat is definitely feeling more confident, and dare I say, excited about his job talk on Monday, and he’s feeling more relaxed about interviewing, and I think we can attribute that to the Lord.

To add to the “excitement” at our house, Jonas developed a fever on Friday, and it has gotten worse as the weekend has gone on.  We took him to the doctor today, and it seems like it’s nothing serious.  We just have to ride it out.  Hopefully, Jonas will feel better this afternoon.

We left on Tuesday, June 22, to Dallas for one of our bridesdmaid’s (Mehvash) wedding.  We had a direct flight to Dallas, which was nice.  However, it took quite awhile to get Jonas to sleep.

Let me take this time and say that getting Jonas to sleep on the plane is a challenge.  When Jonas is tired, he likes to be left alone in his crib so that he can go to sleep by himself.  He may a few minutes to fuss, but in general, it’s not very long, and he’ll fall asleep on his tummy.  The plane is not conducive for what Jonas is used to or likes to fall asleep.  He does not like having to be held and restricted in movement (so that he doesn’t roll off my lap), and it’s distracting having everything else that is going on the plane.  Throw in the fact that Jonas has never taken a pacifier and the fact that he does not nurse to sleep, it means that there is lots of crying and fussing before he finally falls asleep.

When we flew down to Dallas, Jonas spent about 20 minutes trying to fall asleep, and when he finally did, we landed.  I thought I could pick him up and keep him asleep, but he woke up as soon as jostle him a little.  So much for a nice nap.   When we got to my parents house in Plano, there was a little chaos.  One of the AC units was broken, the crib needed to be put together, a closet needed to be cleaned out for Sean’s bedroom, and the pool was really dirty.  My parents don’t really live in the Plano house anymore, so it’s not surprising that there were some problems.  Nat and I got the boys beds and rooms ready (well, closets in the master bathroom), and put poor tired Jonas down for a nap.  My mom stayed at home to wait for the AC guy to come while the rest of our family went out to lunch and grocery shopping.  Speaking of my mom, she spent most of the afternoon cleaning the house on Monday before we got there.  It was pretty dirty and dusty since it hadn’t been lived in years.

Tuesday was also pretty hectic because Nat flew out in the afternoon to Boston.  We found out his paternal grandmother, Grandma Thompson, had passed away on Sunday.  It wasn’t sudden since her health had been deteriorating for years, but it was sad to hear the news.  I drove him back to the airport in the afternoon.

Tuesday evening, I decided to clean out my room, which hasn’t been touched since I moved to Illinois.  I realized I kept a lot of things and was quite a pack rat!  I had my old tests from Algebra II, Physics, and Chem II!  I had a lot of things that I threw out and set aside to be donated.  Most of the things I kept were sentimental, and I could easily pack all the things in one or two boxes.  My mom definitely encouraged me to keep some things that she thought were sentimental.    It took me a lot longer than I had thought, and my mom was a little overwhelmed when she saw all the things on the floor.  I finally got it all cleaned up so that my mom could sleep in the room. 

The rest of our time in Dallas was spent on shopping for things, going out to eat at lunch, and meeting up with people in Dallas who I haven’t seen in years.  We got to see Karl & Susan V, Kenton & Sarah V, Eva & her kids Morgan (Zoe was sleeping), Stephanie & Darcy and their kids Jubilee & Jonas, Shelley & her son Joshua, Nisha & her parents, Wei & Pete, and Dana and Ly.  We also got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle and their son Alex and his girlfriend Bonnie.  With all the people that we were visiting, we didn’t have very much time to relax.  We did to spend some time watching the World Cup, and I got to work out, but most of the time we were out and about.

We were able to spend some good time with our family.  Nat and I took Sean to watch Toy Story 3 one morning, and we also got to watch Knight and Day with my mom one evening.  We were also able to go swimming one afternoon after we got the pool fixed and cleaned.  We also had a family photo shoot with the photographers that did our wedding.  We had a to reschedule the photoshoot a few times because of the rain, and it ended up raining the day that we did our photoshoot.  We tried to beat the rain but only got a couple of shots before we moved into a mall.  I hope that we got some good shots!  I’ll post them as soon as Brooks and Leighanne get them up!

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On Thursday, July 1, we headed out to Seattle.  We had another direct flight, which was nice.  Jonas fussed and cried before his nap, but fortunately, it didn’t take too long for him to fall asleep.  He woke up earlier than he’d like because Sean was throwing a tantrum right when Jonas was stirring between sleep cycles.  all in all, the boys did well on the plane.

It took us some time to get down to the rental car kiosk since we needed to change the boys diapers, and we thought that someone took one of our car seats because we had similar bags.  We finally found that our bag was on the floor on the side.  We got our car packed and headed out to the bed and breakfast where we were staying, Chelsea Station Inn.  When we arrived, Nat’s Aunt Nancy, Uncle Jim, Grandpa Thompson, and Cousin Brian pulled up as well.  We were also greeted by Nat’s dad who was eagerly waiting outside.  Nat’s mom, and Nat’s maternal grandparents were waiting inside.  It was a great family reunion, and we had just enough time to visit before the rehearsal.  Everyone went to rehearsal except for Grandpa Thompson and I (well, Jonas too since he was napping), and so I had a chance to unpack our things. When everyone got back, we put the boys to bed, and Nat kindly let me go out to dinner with the family and bridal party.  He had been to the pizzeria before, so he told me that I could go.    Nat spent his time with his maternal grandparents downstairs.  We had all four of the suites (two for the grandparents, one for us, and one for Nat’s parents), so we had the whole house to ourselves.    It was really nice that we could keep our doors unlocked and to be able to hangout with family while our boys were sleeping.

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Let me take out some time and say that the Chelsea Station Inn is FABULOUS!  Each suite is exactly the same, and they are spacious – a living room, dining room, kitchen (including plates, utensils, glasses, coffee maker, small fridge, drying rack, dish racks, sponge, etc), 1.5 bathrooms, and a bedroom.

Each morning, they prepare breakfast, and it’s pretty fancy and delicious.  We had breakfast 3 mornings, and I’ll list what we had each morning.  Morning 1:  granola with yogurt and berries followed by a plate of french toast with sausage and mini quiches.  Morning 2:  fresh fruit plate (mango, kiwi, orange, Ranier cherries) followed by a plate of bacon, biscuits, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and avocadoes.  Morning 3 (the “light” self-serve breakfast because we and a brunch with the family):  croissants and berries with whipped cream.

Downstairs, there is a fridge filled with drinks and a shelf with snacks that is accessible to all guests 24-hours.  They keep the fridge stocked with gourmet sodas (i.e. root beer, pear soda, etc.), milk, and other beverages.  In the freezer, they have Klondike bars and some mini Ben & Jerry’s cup.  On the shelf, you can pick up some S. Pellegrino sparkling water and cookies and crackers (Pepperidge Farm Milanos, Fig Newtons, etc.).  They definitely don’t skimp on food.

In addition to all of this, they provide maps of the area and a small toiletries basket in the back hallway if you forgot anything on your trip. The staff are super friendly and helpful.  They helped us prepare some delicious egg casseroles and pick up some coffee for our large open-house brunch on Sunday morning at the bed and breakfast.

They are located right across the Woodland Zoo, so please do consider this place to stay if you are in Seattle, even with young kids!  We made our space work by borrowing a Pack N’ Play and pulling out the mattress in the sofa-bed to use as Sean’s bed. 

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Back to our Seattle visit.  Friday morning all of the family from Nat’s mother’s side came and visited.  It was chaos, but so much fun to see everyone.  Sean was particularly excited to play with second-cousin Roo.    Nat’s cousin Kim (and husband Rory), have two boys within months of our boys, so they make perfect playmates! The ladies headed out to a surprise bridal shower for Anne at 11:30AM, and we returned around 2PM.  The guys (Nat, his dad, and Jonas) picked up their tuxes while Sean napped.  After the ladies returned home, we relaxed as much as we could before the rehearsal dinner, especially since the boys were still on Central time instead of Pacific time.    We had a sitter come to watch the boys while we went out to rehearsal dinner.  As it turns out, the sitter actually lived in Champaign-Urbana while she and her husband were doing graduate school, and she knew one of our friends.  Small world!   We went to a seafood place by the water for the rehearsal dinner, and it was nice to see everyone there.

Saturday was a pretty slow morning.  We had breakfast and relaxed.  We had a little downtime after breakfast, so we visited Anne and Ethan’s house for a little bit and dropped off Nat to hangout with Ethan and the rest of the groomsmen for the rest of the day.  After I put both the boys down, Nat’s dad and I went on a date for sushi at Kisaku, which was FABULOUS!   We came home to two boys who had woken up and a car full of groceries in Nat’s parents rental car.  Nat’s mom had gone out to buy TONS of food for brunch the next day.  At 4PM, we took some family pictures with Ethan, and came home to relax a little.  Since the Inn was in walking distance of the Rose Garden at Woodland Zoo, a lot of people came to hangout and relax.  Everyone left for the ceremony, and I stayed to put the boys down for bed.  Fortunately, I made it to the ceremony before it started. It was a gorgeous afternoon – sunny and warm.  I was worried that it was going to be raining, like all the other afternoons, but it was perfect for Ethan and Anne’s wedding.  We headed to the reception after and had a great time at the wedding.

Sunday morning, Nat’s parents had planned a brunch for all the out-of-town guests.  We spent the morning tidying up our room and putting things back because both downstairs rooms were being used as a place to get food and mingle.  We had a ton of food there, and it was good to see lots of friends and family there.  Ethan and Anne showed up later in the brunch, and it was fun to see them there.  Later in the afternoon, we took Sean to the zoo, and came back for dinner.  Nat and I were planning on a date that evening, but it turned out to be a big gathering of family and friends.    After dinner, we visited Beth and Carl in their new home.

We left early on Monday morning, and we got home at 4PM with no delays and canceled flights!  The boys did fabulously on the flight, and we are so glad to be home.  Sean, especially, was glad to be home with all his toys.  He was asking to come home on the second day we were in Seattle.    Whew, now we need some time to just veg out at home!

Nat said his defense wasn’t the way that he pictured it to be.  First, he wasn’t planning on having to running experiments or finish writing his dissertation up until the day before his defense.  Second, he wasn’t planning to work after he defended.  Nat had to work on a paper submission that was due the same day that he defended.  Nat would have liked to relax after he defended and spent time with family.  Unfortunately, Nat had to go to work after his defense.  He was able to eat lunch and dinner with the family, but then headed back to work.  Poor Nat didn’t get home until 10:45PM on Friday.

My parents left on Saturday morning, and we were able to spend the day with Nat’s parents on Saturday.  Nat was able to relax a little bit more, which was nice.  Nat’s dad headed back to Nebraska via plane while Nat’s mom stayed for another week.

It was really nice to have Nat’s mom out here, especially since Nat left on Thursday to go to his brother’s bachelor party.  Nat’s mom was able to experience the day-to-day life that we have and enjoy the boys.  Unfortunately, both boys got sick while Nat’s mom was here (the same nasty cold that I was fighting last week).  That meant that Sean and Jonas were more clingy, so when Grandma tried to help, there was crying.  Nat’s mom took it well and wasn’t hurt by the “No Grandma” attitude from the boys.  As much as I tried to extend the boys, especially Sean, grace with being sick, I didn’t like the disrespectful words or attitude towards Grandma at times.  When Sean started feeling better, he acted better, but there were still occasional yellings of “No Grandma”.

It was nice for me to have Nat’s mom around those days that Nat was gone.  It nice to have someone there to help 24-7, and it was nice to have someone to talk to at night.  In fact, we stayed up late (around 11PM) each night!  I definitely enjoyed my time with Nat’s mom and I was sad to see her go on Sunday.  I’m glad that Nat’s mom had the opportunity to stay with us for an extra week.  Maybe next summer between Colorado and Nebraska, she can come out again to spend time with our family!

Ramona:  US plays on Friday morning.  You’re not going to work that morning are you?
Nat:  No, of course not.

Go USA!