A house for hermit crabs

Not to say we're hermits, per se. Or crabs, come to think of it. Only now I know what it feels like to go from a cramped space to something nice and airy. So there's that connection.

As it turns out—there is something worse than moving while pregnant. It's called moving-while-pregnant-and-having-a-miserable-cold. Last Saturday—the day of our move—I woke up with a sore throat (rude) that only picked up steam as the day went on (rude) and by evening it was raging and then the incredible stuffies settled in (rude) and for three days I could hardly breath and was forced to make ridiculous gurgling noises whenever I tried to eat or swallow (rude).

Tom says I got sick because I was too stressed. And he's 100% correct. I was stressed. But, alas. We're here and goodness do we love this place. It's a big improvement—for us. I mean, our kitchen has working space for at least four people at once, I'd say. Four! Maybe if we were feeling real crazy we could even fit five. Five!

Please excuse the clutter. We did just move in, you know. And heaven's to Betsy if I know where to put that lamp. Perhaps it'll stay put. Right there.

Basically, we keep giving ourselves high fives over a choice well-made. This week has just been a basketful of newness. New home, new neighbors, new work schedules, new vacuum after the other one keeled over (again), new ward—new bed! Since everything else was changing around these parts, we figured we'd just throw a new toddler bed into the mix and Clara looooves it with a capital everything. We've never seen this little miss more excited about anything. The night Tom set it up she couldn't even bring herself to eat dinner because she wanted to go to bed so desperately. And periodically each day, the joy of it all will sometimes get the best of her, culminating in an exuberant "New bed!" shout-out. It also results in a whole colony of toys hidden in and around her bed each morning—and who wouldn't be filled with exuberance over that?

I don't have too much to report on the new ward as of yet. Today was our first go-around. The nursery has 22 kids. And that's only Nursery 1. Also, the back of our ward program had addresses for missionaries. You know, in case we want to write them? Could it be that maybe—just maybe—we're in more of a real-life family ward? Time will tell. Our relief society had a heckler—I'll try to develop that in coming weeks. Not a bad heckler—a positive one who'd call out "What a blessing!" or "Just beautiful!" or "We'll keep a prayer in our hearts!" here and there throughout the lesson, and altogether had waaay too much to say. See guys, it's the little things like Sunday hecklers that bring me joy.

Anywhoodles. As soon as things are settled, you're all invited over for a dinner party. So at the rate our "settling" is going, you can expect an invite in about 1-2 years.

Oh yes. And a very over-the-top happy Mother's Day to my mom and Tom's mom and your mom and everyone's mom.

And me. Let's not forget me.