Brad and Erica

There is so much to tell...... where to start?

Leaving Iowa was emotionally difficult. Brad and I - due to school - haven't had very permanent roots since being married. In ten years the longest we've ever lived somewhere was 3 years- Iowa. It was there that we bought our first home and our daughter came into our lives. We left behind many friends who I can barely call that....they're closer to family. They are the ones we spent holidays and birthdays with. Went on trips and planned weekends and dinners. We already miss each of you!

Amelia got her 2 month shots the day before we left. She was such a trooper and just clung to me like crazy afterwards. Due to a fortunate change in schedule, Brad and I were able to both be there at the appointment. This ended up being especially good since he was able to give Mia one of her shots. So they did the thigh ones at the same time and the last vaccination was given orally. I was nervous because she was still fighting a little virus when we took her but the doctor said since she was acting okay and didn't have a fever, we could go ahead with the immunizations. Mia did awesome and especially seemed happier after we took her home and gave her a warm shower.

The next day was rough. We had a lot of cleaning and packing and tetris to do in order to fit our remaining belongings in the car. We were packing all day- 14 hours and when we finished we loaded Mia up and away we went, leaving the house at 12:30am on Friday the 12th. We made it all the way to Wyoming- 15 or so hours away before I got puked on and we had to pull over. We stayed the night at this awesome place in Wyoming and rested up. We enjoyed staying there but it messed up our plans to see our friends in Utah so that was a bummer. We will have to make another trip out soon! Anyway, stayed in Elko, Nevada Sunday night and came into Medford late Monday.

We are loving staying out in Jacksonville it's so fun to hang out and swim and do yard work (seriously!) and have our own apartment and just enjoy the heat. Every day seems so busy I can't believe I even have one minute right now to write this lol. Mia's asleep :)

Brad has been working his tail off studying and Mia is growing like crazy. We love her and man she is like fireworks each day for us. It's thrilling to watch her learn and enjoy her life. She 'talks' like crazy to us all the time, we love it and egg her on for sure :)