All I Want for Christmas is.....

...my two front teeth! It was a great Christmas here at the new-improved-Walker house in Conway, Arkansas. JJ has 3 teeth coming in on top so that was literally what he got for Christmas. Robert's parents, brother Jay, Tiffany, and Wes were all here for the holiday. My dad came up for a couple of days as well. We were busy the whole time. I can't name much in specifics that we did but it was all time well spent. Tiffany, Wes, Scout, and I went on a walk and met another neighbor. They were very nice and gave me the scoop on one next door neighbor who uses that house as a second home or something. On Christmas day I formally met my other next door neighbor. His name is Jimmy, an older gentleman, and his wife is in the hospital. She, Willie, is not doing well after having had a heart attack earlier in the month. Anyway, I almost have all angles of neighbors covered. Scout was a great little dog with our guests here. She is well behaved and an excellent floor sweeper for falling food. Everyone left yesterday and it has been back to organizing the house. There is still so much to do but at least there isn't a time pressure due to Christmas. Last night Robert and I went to the city (what we will call going to Little Rock). It is only a 30 minute drive to excellent shopping. JJ is at such a great age. He continues to be such a joy to me and a great baby. Tiffany and Jay brought some great toys for JJ to play with. Grandpa Joe got him a walker which will be coming useful anyday. JJ's eyes light up when he sees his cousin Wes. He loves to play with him. I am anxious to get involved in a mom's group here so JJ can have that interaction he loves and I can make friends. For now it is time to get back to work. Happy New Year!

Feeling official

Well, we are integrating more and more here. Yesterday I got my license plate and driver's license. Again, unbelievable about the non-wait at the "DMV". We also got a local bank account. The house is really shaping up and it is just in time for our Christmas guests. JJ is excited to see all his grandparents. One of the funny things that he does is when he is crawling. He will start to head to something off-limits, a.k.a. the ficus tree, and knows he can't go there. When you ask him where he's going he buckles down and speeds up laughing trying to get to the tree before you can stop him. It is so cute. That is about all that is going on here. I'm back in action with the pictures. You can see more on the pic site. This is a pic of JJ and what we are seeing a lot of lately.

Neighbors Redeemed!!

We met the neighbors across the street yesterday. I saw the lady outside and took JJ over to introduce ourselves. Turns out that they had tried to come over a few times but each time either Robert or I would go back into the house so they did not bother to come to the door. The are a nice older couple who have only been living in their house since November 13th so they only have about 4 weeks on us!! Their grandchildren (2) live with them because their daughter died in their last house so now they are the guardians. They only moved from around the corner to a smaller house so I guess that speaks well of the neighborhood if they wanted to stay in it. They did not know much about any other neighbors since they are fairly new too. The grandaughter, Maggie, is in 6th grade and has a lot of experience with babies and little kids. Sounds great to me - a future JJ-sitter in our midst! I can see them being the type of neighbors that would loan me an egg. I will now feel more free to reach out to them now that the initial meeting is over. They said to come back with Robert so they could meet him and we will do that soon.
Robert worked a full day yesterday (12 hours). He leaves around 6 am each day. I pack his lunch the night before. I think he is enjoying the job much more since the ruf-nekking is over. That was horrible.
I am disappointed again with the pediatric situation here. I finally made an appointment for JJ's 9-month wellness check-up. 1) He can't get in until the end of January when he will be 10 months and 2) he is not even going to be seeing a doctor. I am really upset about it but have no choice. There literally are no independent doctors/pediatricians to see. I just have to trust that it is okay. I think it is harder coming from a situation that was very comfortable for his care. Now JJ will just be a number among many seeking healthcare. I will just plan that he won't ever need a doctor and that will solve that. Who knows...it could happen.
JJ and I were out and about around town yesterday. I am learning the roads pretty well. The agenda for today is to get my new license and tag for my car. The house is looking better. We don't have much time to be ready for Robert's family coming Saturday for Christmas. My dad is coming as well but will head back Monday to spend Christmas with his mother. Nana, my grandmother, is not doing well. Hospice has come in to care for her. Have a nice day.

One week under our belt...

The pressure is slowly letting up on getting everything unpacked and put in its place. I way under-estimated the job it has been! Karen was supposed to leave Wednesday to go home to Amarillo but ended up staying until this Sunday morning. What a lifesaver! It is raining here tonight but we have had manageable weather compared to OKC. We got out just in time! I'm so sad about my dad's trees that he lost in his yard. Many things will look different when we return.
STILL no neighbors have come by to welcome us. Karen suspects they may stop by tomorrow. Note to all of you out there - welcome your new neighbors when they move in. It just makes us feel unwelcomed but I'm sure that it is just that people keep to themselves. I think a welcoming gift in the form of fruitcake is a thing of the past. I miss my old neighbors. I would go visit them in their homes almost everyday. I don't expect that here. But there continue to be great things about living here: There was no line in the post office today - 11 days before Christmas!! That's unbelievable if you've ever been to the PO in OKC. I have yet to wait in line at Wal-Mart. That is a huge difference from OKC. Now I feel I can go anytime instead of being strategic about going in the morning before the mob attacks in the afternoon and evening. I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder being cautious about my surroundings like I would in OKC and realize that people are so relaxed here and there is no need to be uptight. Conway is into recycling bigtime! They recycle way more here than in OKC. I still can't believe sometimes that we live here.
All of our information is changed over to Arkansas. We still have to do licenses and car tags. Tomorrow is our last day with Karen helping out. JJ is really on the move. He regularly pulls himself up to the couch. He likes his jumper toy and is figuring out how it works. I call him my floor sweeper because he does the army crawl across the wood floor and picks everything up on his shirt. He can move fast too! I have been asking around about pediatricians and there are basically two options in pediatric groups. There are several doctors in each group but you are not guaranteed to see the same one each time. That really stinks in my opinion. The word is that all the doctors are good but some have better bedside manners than others. We don't really have a choice so I will call for an appointment Monday. JJ's 9-month wellness checkup is due next Friday. He still only has the two teeth on bottom but they are sharp! He is learning to feed himself but still working on the sippy cup.
Robert has been working since Tuesday. He has left by 6 am the last two mornings. We are going to his company party tomorrow night. I am looking forward to some socialization. It's weird that I really haven't talked or visited with anyone I know face to face for a week other then Karen. It will be nice to get out of the house for that reason. Sorry there are no pics. I am getting close to being able to get them up but there is still too mch on my plate. See you soon.

A New Life Begins

We're here!! The Walkers have spent 2 nights in our new home. I LOVE IT!!! I am so content with all space we have, no creaks in the floor when we walk, room for all the pets, all of our things under one roof, carpet, and this is just the beginning! Karen, Robert's mom, flew in to Little Rock on the night of the 6th, the day before the closing. The six of us, Scout, Jimmy, Frodo, JJ, Robert, and I, spent the night in one room at the Best Western. Everyone got along just fine. The closing went well and then we unloaded boxes all day - directing the movers, etc. It has been a big task to unload but we are getting there. It's been like early Christmas opening boxes and seeing what's inside. Many things we haven't seen in quite awhile because they've been in storage. There's a big gash in Robert's armoire and we see that they dropped a tv. The dishes are all unbroken except for a few. We haven't found our China yet. Karen has been a huge help being here. She has been taking care of JJ while Robert and I unpack. This experience would have been complete stress without her. As for today, we continue to work and enjoy our new home. We have met one neighbor and he seemed nice. If none others come over we will just go over to them once we are settled and introduce ourselves. I'll check in later.

Yea for JJ!

The last several nights JJ has found his game - in sleep that is. He is sleeping through the night again and I have been so grateful. Not sure how it happened but we're cool with it. JJ and I are just hanging out waiting for Thursday when we drive to Conway - one way ticket! Robert comes here on Tuesday. He only has two more nights left of ruf-nek work and he is very excited to be done with it. We will close on Friday morning and have a new home. We can't wait to get moved in, be settled, and all be in one place. It is a milestone for us and a fresh start. There is not much to report. Things will get interesting again once we become Arkansans!