To AZ!

On August 1 Elena turned 6 weeks old and we headed out in a moving truck for Arizona! She did great on the drive -- mostly slept. I pumped in the car.

In the Uhaul!

Kelsey (I know from Kent, WA) and her husband Alex came to help us move in, which we appreciated so much! It went really quick with their help. It will be fun to have them close by. Also, Mamma and Papa Skidmore came with us for the move and helped SO much.

Kelsey, Delaynie (6 months), Elena (6 weeks) and Me

Moving boxes inside went quick, but unpacking those boxes went a lot slower than I had anticipated. I just can't get as much done in a day with a little baby to take care of and feed! So I had to practice some acceptance and get used to that. Eventually I got everything unpacked and decorated. It felt so good!

We love our new apartment. Definitely a lot more spacious than our old basement apartment - which, don't get me wrong, we loved - it was perfect for us for that year.

We feel that we are in the right place. Jeff is loving his research position. We love our ward! We've made friends already which I don't take for granted because that seemed hard to do for some reason in our huge Provo ward.

One of the coolest things -- my friend Serena is here! We met in a health class at BYU -- Chronic Disease, I believe, back when we were both as single as can be. This is us on a hike in Rock Canyon on St. Patrick's Day in 2011. 

It's been a few years, but it was so exciting to find out we would be in the same city. Little did we know, we would be in the same ward! I was feeding a Elena in the mother's lounge at church and in walks Serena. So cool! Serena is one of those people who just says it like it is and puts me at ease. : ) 

Serena's little Kai was due June 26 and born on the 24h. Elena was due the 24th and born on the 22nd. So they are just 2 days apart! It's fun to have a friend with a baby the same age. We're already exchanged babysitting!

Kai and Elena

Today Elena and I went swimming! I thought a swim would be good. By the way, people keep asking how I'm surviving the heat. It's more like, how do I survive staying inside all the time. You just don't go out when it's 110 degrees! So I'd been getting a little stir crazy and I thought a morning swim would be a great way to get out. Plus it would be refreshing and a little bit of exercise.

So I got Elena in her swimming suit (please note, it is supposed to be for a 3 month old and she's bulging out of it!), put her in the car seat and took her over to the pool. I got in for a minute before bringing her in. I think she liked it!

After the initial shock of coming into the air-conditioned apartment in a wet swimming suit, she fell asleep after drying off and being wrapped in a blanket. I was grateful cuz that meant I got to shower really quick!

Tomorrow Elena will be 2 months old!