Where? How? Why?

It's naptime and possibly the first moment of silence since Jackson woke up today. He has discovered question words and life is a myriad of questions.
Where is my bike?
Why?
How?
Where are the tractors?
Why?
How?

We are back from Kansas. We had a nice weekend. It was really nice to have some alone time with Andrew. We missed Jackson very, very much but we've never had Andrew to ourselves and that's important, too. We left Brian's mom and dad's house on Thursday morning at 5:15 a.m. The drive was pretty easy and went by quickly. Andrew slept the ENTIRE time. He only woke up to eat twice. What an angel. When we arrived in Manhattan our realtor picked us up at the hotel to take us on a tour of the city. That was really for my benefit. She's fantastic and knows everyone and everything about the city. She likes theatre as well and told a funny story about how when she was in high school and living with just her dad, he would travel a lot and leave her money. They lived in a suburb of Chicago and instead of using the money for food, she would FLY to New York and see Broadway shows by herself. She has seen a long list of incredible original casts. Anyway, I got to see a lot of the town. It was kind of a gloomy day out and I was tired from the trip, so my first impression was a little skewed. Thursday night Andrew SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! I fed him at 11:00 and he didn't cry to be fed again until 5:30! I had 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep! It hasn't happened again since, but at least we know it's possible!
We were up early on Friday morning to go to K-State so I could meet some people in the department. Everyone was very friendly and inviting. I can see why Brian felt so comfortable with them right away. I think he will fit right in and they will be happy to have him. We spent the rest of Friday looking at apartments. Rent there is high and we were getting a little nervous. Anything that we felt comfortable bringing our kids into had a price tag well above our budget. The affordable places are meant for college students who don't know any better or just don't care. Friday night we had dinner with a couple from the department. Saturday morning we had breakfast in the hotel and then went on another search for apartments. Our prayers were answered and we found exactly what we were looking for! A four bedroom apartment for three months and it's only 5 blocks from Brian's office. It has a huge fenced in back yard and tons of room for storage. I actually would have enjoyed a longer lease but it's already rented out in August. And we got a good deal on the rent since we are helping them out by filling the house for three months. Hopefully, by the end of July our house in St. Paul will belong to someone else and we can look for a house in Kansas. The couple that owns the house is very nice and the husband grew up in Austin, MN - about 10 minutes from where Brian grew up! Small world! We took Andrew swimming in the hotel pool after our successful search. He just loved it! I'm sure it felt so good to kick his little legs after being in his car seat almost constantly. On Saturday night we had dinner with four other couples from the department. We had a great time getting to know them. The wives that I spoke to were very nice and welcoming and quite accomplished. One is a librarian, one is on the school board, one in a judge, and the other is a voice and piano teacher! We got up early again on Sunday and were back at Brian's parents' house by 3:00. Jackson had a great time and wasn't even that excited that we were home. It always feels good to get a big welcome home, but I am glad that he is confidant enough for us to leave for a few days.

All-in-all, it was a good trip and I feel much better about the move. It is definitely a smaller town and that will take a little getting used to. It is charming though and has lots of little parks that Jackson will love.

Our tentative plan is to move on Saturday, May 3rd. Brian hopes to start work on Monday, May 5th. We're pricing movers this week. We're hoping we can afford to hire someone to pack the truck, drive it down, and unpack it for us.

Sounds like Andrew is up and I don't want him to wake up Jackson. Better boogie!