Winchell family update

The days are flying by so quickly! And yet, for the first time since Moriah's birth, I feel that the time is actually comprehensible to me. When she was a month old, I thought, "only a month?!" At two months, "only two?!" Too much had happened, and I couldn't figure out how it all had happened in such a short amount of time. Tomorrow Moriah will be four months old (from July 13 to November 13) and I finally feel like her age makes sense, that I can understand how all of the life we've lived since July might actually "fit" into four months.

Moriah is now 12 pounds, 10 ounces and an absolute delight (well, except when she's crying for food or a nap). She continues to sleep all the way through the night, and rolled all the way over (even better than on the video I posted) earlier this week. She is a TALKER; those who visit us (Early Intervention, the nurse) continue to be amazed at how verbal she is. She babbles a lot of the day, taking turns with me or whoever will talk with her. She makes all kinds of sounds, sometimes with a quite serious face, and other times, with a wide-mouthed grin that makes me laugh out loud every time. She is strong--holding up her head more and more now, gripping onto things so tightly, reaching for toys and faces, following movements across the room, kicking her feet, scooting around in circles on her back, rolling and stretching. She is, as I like to tell her, a "busy girl."

So what is going on with us these days? So much, friends. It has been a whirlwind four months; though I conceive of the time, I cannot yet understand how so much has changed and so quickly. I think Jason and I begin many conversations these days with, "how did we get here?" But here we are, and I am truly proud of the way we are sticking together and forging a new life for our family, trying to move forward as best we can.

Our house here in Lynn is under agreement; we signed the P&S last week. We're hoping to close on December 4th. Last Friday, our offer on a house in West Bridgewater was (finally) accepted; on Sunday, we did the house inspection and were pleased with the results. The boys were finally able that day to walk through the house and they loved it--they chose their bedrooms (for the first time, they will have their own rooms, which may or may not cut down on the amount of times they throw each other into walls, tackle each other, and trip each other...). Simply put, we LOVE that house. Here's the hitch: the couple who is selling it is divorcing, and talking with each other only through their attorneys. It's a mess. Currently, we're held up on signing a P&S because they are trying to figure out a closing date and a Title V certificate. I'm not sure if they're fighting about it or what, but it's prolonging our process and making us a bit anxious about if/when the house will finally be ours. It's also making us sad, that the house has become a place of great heartache for a family; we are praying often that our family life there will be marked by more peace, even as we pray for them to have the strength they need to move on.

In the meantime, we are making plans to move out. We'll be living in Jason's parent's house in West Bridgewater until we purchase a home; they are extremely kind to take in a family of five, especially right before the busyness of the holidays. Last Saturday Jason loaded up the first U-Haul of things and made a trip to our rented storage unit in West Bridgewater. He'll do the same again this Saturday (beginning at 8:30 am, if anyone is around and wants to help load it up). In this trip, I'm hoping to have packed up all the non-essentials so that the final move (scheduled for Friday, November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving) will be mostly furniture and "last things" only. So far, we've packed up Moriah's room, our office, our living room, our dining room, our kitchen, our attic, the garage, and the boys room--by Saturday, I've got some more boxes to fill from our room and the bathroom, and then we'll wait for the final moving day.

I think our biggest concerns now are helping the boys to transition and eventually finding work closer to West Bridgewater, so that we are not commuting to Lynn forever. We're working at both those things. The boys' final day of school in Lynn will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving; the following day, they'll tour their new school and begin attending there the Monday after Thanksgiving. Please continue to pray for them. It seems that as soon as we decided to put the house on the market, plans begin to push us forward...and here we are, two weeks away from leaving a city we've loved, and friends, and expectations, and dreams... For the boys, especially, this is no easy task.

We are trusting all will come together in due time. My good friend reminded me of what she's always called Jason's "step into the air and you'll feel solid ground" philosophy. We do feel that way--that we are stepping forward, and trusting for the next step, because we cannot see very far ahead at all. And in the meantime, we are enjoying time together as a family, playing nightly Solitaire games, reading aloud to Moriah, and walking Lynn Woods. "Play, and pray." It's what we're trying to do right now. Well, and pack a box or two more...