Tag: moving

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Off to Minnesota!

The moment has arrived: the Werth family is moving to Minnesota!  This weekend we are packing the last of our belongings in to a U-Haul and leaving Iowa City (mostly).  While Elise and the boys will officially be in Minnesota, I (Jon) will be hanging back for one more week to wrap things up at work.

We’re excited about the move and being closer to family & friends, but we don’t have an official place to live yet.  Elise’s folks are allowing us to crash their basement until we find that perfect place.  Once we do, we’ll let you know where we end up!

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Activities Parenting

Hiatus adjourned

After nearly two months off the blog, I have lots of content to share with you.  I’m sure I have lots of stories too, but honestly, I just can’t remember what has all happened since I wrote last.

We moved into our new house in the middle of March and have yet to discover some of our things in boxes.  This was especially true since half our belonging were in storage, leading to a Christmas-like atmosphere upon opening some boxes.  All in all, we don’t have too many boxes left and it’s been a nice slow settling in to the new place.  (Of course we were delayed by two weeks waiting for carpets…but that’s a whole other story).

Right now Elise is wrapping up the school year (7 days left!) and preparing for summer vacation, where she will spend lots of time in the backyard with Jacob!  She has requested a small kiddie pool as her oven is back on (translation: we are expecting our second child)!  The due date is September 24th and we are excited to welcome a new member into our family.

As we start to prepare for number two (which will again be a surprise), number one is making great strides.  Over the past couple of months, Jacob has gone from an unsure toddler to an unstoppable force who gets a kick out of moving things 3-4 times his size (chairs, couches, playpens).  He is becoming very independent and his favorite word seems to be ‘no’, although he knows a few others:

  • mawmaw = I want
  • mawm = mom
  • buh-buy = bye
  • hullo = hello
  • eh, eh, eh = You’re not giving me what I want
  • Oh! = wow/look at that! (not real sure on that one yet)

In the meantime, Jacob has had his 15 month checkup where he received a few more shots (only a few more to go until age 3).  The doctor said his growth was tracking very nicely.

Other activities that we’ve been up to, include:

  • Hosting the Degen’s (Larry, Mary, and Laura) for Easter
  • Hosting the Werth’s (Fred, Cathy, and Teresa) for Mother’s Day
  • Going on hikes through the woods
  • Riding bikes
  • Visiting a wine bar
  • Fighting with home insurance companies (don’t use Liberty Mutual – again, another story).

So now that we’ve found our video camera again, I will be posting a number of videos of the (not so) little man walking and making noise.  When I find the other camera, I’ll hopefully upload some photos 🙂  Happy spring!

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Activities Parenting

New House: Week One

We have now been in our new home for one week.  While not too much happens during the weekdays, this past weekend was a fruitful one!  However, I should probably back up a week:

Last weekend (March 16-18), both immediate families came down and helped out with the big move.  Elise, Jacob, and I were to pack our belongings and move to our new house.  We were blessed with good weather (and lots of help) which led to a productive weekend.  Thursday, Mary and Larry (along with help from the cats), finished painting the upstairs and helped prepare for the move.  Friday, we were able to pack up the apartment, put it in the U-Haul, drive to Iowa City, unload, and drive back down to retrieve the items in storage.  While the necessities were unpacked on Friday, Saturday was helpful in preparing the rest of the house.  Fred and Cathy painted the basement while others unloaded the U-Haul storage run and/or raked leaves off the already blooming flowerbeds.  Saturday night and Sunday were a little more relaxing with small projects being completed and all the guests heading for home.

This past weekend, Elise and I continued to unpack boxes and organize the clutter :).  We were able to get a large amount of yard work done, such as mowing the lawn, installing our first rain barrel, and putting down some fresh mulch.  There’s plenty left undone, but it has made a significant difference.

During the week, we continued to meet and be impressed with our new neighbors.  It is a great neighborhood with a number of young families and some ‘older’ grandparents at the other end of things.

Jacob has made leaps and bounds in the past week, developing his confidence in his ability to walk.  He can now freely walk by himself for 10-15 feet.  I will post a video soon of his travels!

All in all, the move has gone well and the family is adjusting great.  The house has taken on new life and we are very happy in our new abode!

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Activities

Moving Day

Pictures from the move:

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Activities

Kalona Apartment

For those unable to make the trek to Kalona, we have put together a small photo tour of our new home.  After one week in the apartment, the boxes have finally disappeared:

A big thanks to Fred & Cathy who came down and helped us move.  They also celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary that weekend!

In other news, Jon has an interview Wednesday morning at the University of Iowa for an IT Support position.

 

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Activities

An Exciting 5 Days

Upon the setup of the computer this evening, I began to reflect on what went down in the past week.  Indeed, it has seemed much more time has passed since last Friday:

Friday was Elise’s last day of the school year at Washington.  Upon picking her up, the family (Jacob, Elise, and I) went out to Old Chicago to celebrate the end of the year.  Saturday morning we took off for Omaha to witness the beautiful wedding of Alex and Johna.  Arriving at noon, a few of us went out for lunch before heading to the ceremony at 2.  Afterwards, it was a quick trip out to view Camilla’s new residence and then on to pictures and the reception.

On Sunday Jacob was quite exhausted and caught up on much needed sleep while Elise and I traveled back to Coralville to meet my parents.  That evening we packed up the last remaining items in the house.  On Monday morning, I retrieved the U-Haul and we all began the move.  After an exhausting day we had our belongings moved down to our new apartment in Kalona, IA.  Tuesday I was off to work, followed by some cleaning up around the Coralville house and unpacking in Kalona.

Wednesday morning I left Kalona at 6:50 to arrive at Grinnell, IA before 8:30.  I had an interview for an Information Technology Support Services position at Grinnell College that lasted the entire morning.  I  was the third of three interviewees and we should find out the results next week.

All in all, it has been quite the exciting time for the Werth Family.  Jacob continues to grow and is now 16.8 lbs!!  Elise and I continue to unpack and settle in to the new residence.  Our new address is 505 11th St, Apt A2, Kalona, IA, 52247.

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Activities Parenting

School Year Ending, Moving, Closing

So you may have noticed the absence of posts lately…I apologize.  Things around the Werth household have been quite good, but quite busy.  Jacob continues to grow and be a delightful young guy.  At the beginning of May, Jacob was kicked out of his daycare due to another baby coming in (but we think it was his incessant flirting with the ladies).  Knowing that this would happen :), Mary, Teresa, and Cathy each took shifts in providing care for the young stud until his father completed school.  With only two days left, the end is rapidly approaching.

In the meantime, we have been searching for a place to live post-closing on June 3rd.  We found a very nice (but small) apartment in Kalona to rent for the next year (yes, year).  It is in between Washington (Elise’s work) and Iowa City (Jon’s work until the end of July), and cuts Elise’s commute from 40 to 18 minutes.  It is a quaint little town with many Mennonites, nice parks within a block, and even hitching posts downtown.

School will finish the last full week in May for Elise, followed by the move to our new residence. In the meantime, I (Jon) have one online course this summer and am continuing the job search, searching for positions relating to music, IT, or libraries.  Currently, two positions are looking hopeful and we will know more in the coming weeks.

Jacob has been quite active lately, growing much and exercising his voice and limbs.  We will post pictures soon. Best wishes…