30 years and 4 months

I turned 30 last week. Somehow, with all the other things we've had going on in our lives this year, that just does not seem like a big deal. In more exciting news, Hope turned 4 months, and she's still doing splendidly!

For my birthday, David took us all into the city. We left the kids with the officers (all girls) of the house that David will be advising* (one of whom we had on good authority that she's a great babysitter!), and went out to dinner by ourselves. Well, with Hope. That's by ourselves, right? After we picked up the kids, we ran around the 15th floor of the Empire State Building a little, then took the kids over to his office to let them burn off some more steam there. Before heading home, we went to Greenwich Village and found some cannoli. It was a fun evening, and I'm thankful for a husband who can navigate Manhattan!

*To help its students bond, King's has a house system. This looks very similar to a frat/sorority system, except that every student is assigned to a house as a freshman. David will be advising the Queen Elizabeth I house this year.*

In other news, we have had a little bit of a rough start to figuring out Hope's doctors here. While we love the neurosurgeon that Dr. Young referred us to, our insurance situation it not ironed out yet, making the process of seeing more doctors and getting her head ultrasounds done very messy. I did go see a pediatrician with her on Friday for a 4 month check up and immunizations. Unfortunately, this doctor is not somebody that I will get along well with, and I left the office feeling very discouraged. It didn't help that I had all the other kids with me, and Laura had an accident in her pants close to the beginning of the visit. Once we got home, I gave Laura a bath, made a couple phone calls, did some online research, and found a doctor who will let me interview her before becoming an official patient. I will be doing that Tuesday morning, so please pray that she and I will hit it off, or, if not, that I will find a doctor that I am comfortable with. After that, we will be waiting until our insurance sorts itself out a little bit more before seeing any more doctors.

So, what's coming up next? We will be starting school on Monday. Carver doesn't start until a week from Monday, but the girls are pretty bored, so we're going to go ahead and start. We have not found a church home yet, so please pray that God will show us where He wants us here. We are having ClearNote friends come visit over Labor Day, and I'm sure I will be making more trips down to Philadelphia to spend time with the C's. We are getting settled in, figuring out grocery stores and shopping malls and indoor playplaces for rainy days. Slowly it's starting to feel more like home.

Hope has been doing a little better with sitting up and holding her head up, so I'm hoping to capture that with my camera over the next few days to show you. And I am working on a house tour--it's coming, I promise!