Living in Iowa

This temporarily living in a new city in a new state is kinda strange. The thing is we have absolutely no schedule. No routine. No outside obligations. I mean of course Joe has a routine, schedule and obligations...at the hospital. But the kids and I wake up every day to a blank slate. Just hours to be filled and new places to explore. Some days our blank slate of a day gets filled with fun and adventure and it flies by! Other days have remained...well rather blank and drag on.

Living with just what fits in our mini van is also a very simple way to live. Which is good and bad I suppose. We have just three kid bowls, three kid plates and three kid cups. Meaning after every meal I wash the dishes and we start fresh for the next meal. I like the ease and simplicity of this new routine. We also have very few toys. Maybe too few toys! The kids seem to get restless in the apartment and I don't exactly have a plethora of ideas for entertaining them:( We of course try to spend as much time outside as possible but we do have to eat sometimes and the toddler needs her naps. (I have a newfound respect for anyone that lives in an apartment with children!) 

Speaking of the toddler and sleep, I was going to write about how wonderful it is having her sleep in the closet. Because she was sleeping GREAT! And by great I mean sleeping in until 10 or 11 am...one day she slept til noon! And naps were a breeze as well. Give that girl dark and quiet and she is a sleeping champ. Except of course the night before her daddy was going into the hospital for his first shift in the ER - a double shift actually so he would be working 18 of the next 24 hours - that night she decided to rebel. The closet was no longer acceptable to Hannah and she screamed and cried until well after our bedtime. I don't remember the exact details (it was too painful...I have blocked it from my memory) but I know it was after 11pm when she finally gave in and slept! Sorry apartment neighbors. I hope we have no repeat performances. No promises though. 

In our first week in Iowa we have explored a couple playgrounds, both city splash pads, our neighborhood, the library, Walmart, the hospital (of course!) and the Wii (that was left in the apartment:). Overall it's been a pretty good start to our stay here. 

Look...here I am in IOWA! Do I look like I fit in?!