Good Morning!

Sometimes Elise is up all night. I've fed, burped, and rocked at all hours, slept on the floor next to the crib until I felt carpet bumps indented on my cheek, and changed diapers with no recollection of even doing it. I've even attempted to swaddle and burp my poor sleeping husband in foggy states of midnight confusion.

But no matter how sleepless and crazy the night has been, this is the face I see in the morning:


It's as if she's saying, "MOMMY!! It's been so long since I've seen you! You look beautiful with your disheveled hair and the dark circles under your eyes. I don't care if you have dragon breath; exhaustion suits you! Isn't it such a beautiful morning? I'm so happy to see you, I could just bust!"

And somehow the lack of sleep doesn't matter anymore. I think, Gosh, I love this baby! And I realize, I could stay up a million nights. This face makes it all worth it!

From One Purdue to Another

Three months later and I'm finally posting something on our blog. There is a lot of catching up to do, so I'll try to give a synopsis of the last several weeks:

Elise made her grand entrance into the world on July 6th, following an exhausting labor. It all made sense, however, when we learned that our little girl wasn't so little after all: 9 pounds, 1 ounce to be exact!

I have never felt so physically spent in all of my life. Even smiling was difficult after 3 1/2 hours of pushing! Without D.J., I don't think I could have done it. He made a fantastic coach and patiently encouraged me through the entire process. He didn't even complain about sleeping on the pull-out vinyl couch in the hospital room (you can see it in the picture to the left-not exactly the epitome of comfort).

Grandma Young arrived the next day to help with the baby, and quickly fell in love. It was nice to have someone take care of Elise while we got some much-needed rest. Mom also helped pack for our move to Indiana and faithfully hand-watered our lawn every day in the record Texas heat.

Two weeks later, Grandma and Grandpa Crandall flew to San Antonio to meet Elise and help with the move. Thanks to Bob's master packing skills and Candy's ability to make gourmet dinners out of random frozen food, we stuffed all of our belongings into a single Budget truck and said a tearful goodbye to our friends and home at 13406 Purdue Valley (San Antonio) and headed to Purdue University.

One adventurous road trip later (including a blowout in Little Rock and record rainfall in Louisville), we arrived in West Lafayette--Boiler Country. Bob and Candy helped us unpack and settle in, then flew back to Washington. We don't know how we could have survived through the last several weeks without all of our helpers!

We live in a 3-bedroom basement apartment on Wyndham Way, with a big and sunny front window, fabulous neighbors, and a lawn with REAL (not Texas) grass. D.J. just started his 2nd module of classes at Purdue's Krannert School of Management and already has several interviews and an offer for an internship in the summer. Elise has visited 8 states (not counting airport layovers) in 3 months of life, and feels quite at home in her car seat. We also caught some live Purdue football before it got too cold!

We miss San Antonio, and will always feel a bit nostalgic when we think of our time there. From making life-long friends and buying and selling our first home, to welcoming our daughter fresh from heaven, a part of our "home" will always be deep in the heart of Texas.