It was a long, but good, week!

Hi Everybody,

*sigh* I need about 10 more hours to my day and maybe 3 more days in a week! It's amazing how little free time there is! But it's all worth it... we're all living in the same state now! =)

Robert officially started his new job at Sacramento State University yesterday. He's the substitute instructor for ROTC and he actually lead his first class this morning. I have yet to get the details, but I do know there were only 12 "kids", so that's pretty good! Now that he's in Sacramento, he's able to devote more time in looking at houses with our Realtor. Lord willing, it won't be much longer before we have a house of our own!

The move went really well. I don't think any of us really thought it'd go as quickly as it did, because when I got to Vegas, the only thing that was packed up was the kitchen. Thankfully it WAS the kitchen, because that would have taken FOREVER to pack up! Being that Robert fixed it up, he had time to pack it up over the two previous weeks. The first two days I was in town, I felt like I wasn't accomplishing much by "just" wiping down and handing Robert cabinet doors for him to paint with the spray gun, but apparently I was helpful! I packed up some on Wednesday evening, then on Thursday got more packed up. The best part about Thursday was that my dear friend Amber had her beautiful baby boy, Josiah, that morning and I was able to meet him and say goodbye to them!

We picked up the moving truck on Thursday afternoon and pretty soon realized that not everything was going to fit! We ended up needing to pick up another truck... and ironically the biggest truck they had was the cheapest, so we had two 26 foot trucks! It's crazy that only after 4 years of marriage, we collected that much "junk"!! Being that we moved ourselves, the Air Force will pay by the pound, so that was why we didn't even go through anything.... we just took it all with us! Of course Robert's been collecting his ridiculously heavy tools over the past 2 years, so they definitely helped with adding more weight! =)

Robert and his dad did amazing work in the kitchen. A few of my friends came by on Friday morning to say bye, so I made sure they admired the work the guys did! The sad part is that we finally got our nice kitchen.... but we'll never be able to use it!

Mercedes has a little cold right now, but that's nothing compared to what she went through on Monday! The previous night, my Dad went to the store to get a few groceries and he bought some bread that sounded good to him. Monday morning, when my Mom was giving Mercedes breakfast, Mom decided to give Cedes some toast, not realizing Dad bought a NEW kind of bread. I'm not sure if you all know, but Mercedes is basically deathly allergic to ALL nuts and this bread contained about 8 of those, plus milk, which she is also allergic to! Mercedes told my Mom that her tongue was hurting, then it dawned on Mom that the bread on nuts in it. Mom was a basket case and called me at my in-laws house, so I told her exactly where Mercedes' Benedryl was and to give her some and just watch her. About an hour later, Mom and I talked again and Mercedes was back to normal and just playing as if nothing had happened. Robert and I were backing out of his parents' drive way and he asked if my parents took Mercedes to the hospital. I told him that she was fine now, but he made sure I called my Mom back to tell her to take Mercedes to the ER. Mom got her ready and they were there within a half hour.

While they were waiting in the ER, Mercedes broke out in welts ALL over her body! Her ears were bright red and her feet were all itchy. She ended up needing two shots, which she got in the tummy and on her leg. Mercedes is by NO means a trooper when it comes to going to the hospital! She FREAKS out when she has to stand on the scale or get her temp!! So, this was quite an ordeal for both my Mom and Mercedes!! Mercedes knocked out and was able to rest and the doc was able to observe her for about 2 hours afterward. Thankfully this episode happened the day we were coming back down to San Jose and not while I was in Las Vegas!!! Mercedes is doing great now, except for her cold! =)

Mia is doing great! She's a big girl, too!! This morning, I found her first TOOTH!!!! It's so tiny... it barely broke through, but it's still a tooth!! I'm so happy for her! =) She was seen by her physical therapist this morning and he said she's doing better! Her neck is getting stronger, which is wonderful! Her occupational therapist also worked with Mia doing a taste test and she was able to swallow the entire little tube of saline water! (Probably a little more than a teaspoon.) The OT said that Mia is now moving her tongue from side to side, so she's REALLY happy to see that! When Mia gets older and is ready for solid food, the OT said that Mia will need that tongue motion to move the food around in the mouth.

While I was away in Vegas, some family and friends came daily to spend time with Mia and hold her - thank you all so much!!

Monday, old friends of the Adamis family called saying that Robert could stay with them for a month. We weren't worried quite yet, but not having a place lined up a day before you're going to Sacramento can get you a little nervous, but God worked it out! We knew He would, so that's why we weren't worried! =) Thank you, Fox's!

Robert and I stayed in the trailer and we're still alive, so that's great news! haha I made sure I was as covered up as I could possibly get, but apparently my foot snuck out from under the blanket... and I ended up with 5 spider bites!!! Obviously not from a Black Widow, but still... I think I need to spray the trailer again. Or maybe I'll just wait until Robert gets back so he can do it. =) All in all, the trailer is great and I'm definitely glad we have it! I have big plans for it... I just don't have the time to make them happen! Hopefully soon I'll get it all put together so I will want to be in there more often! =)

I'm doing well. Just a little bit worn out, but it's mostly my fault for not being as organized as I should be. I have yet to come up with a realistic schedule - not just an ideal schedule. I need to work on that. I'm going to start Mercedes' preschooling, too, so I need to plan that into my week. She is SO excited to do her homeschool in the trailer! =) It's so cute! I'm hoping to start it next week, but we'll see.... she loves learning and I've been waiting years and years to teach my kids... and it's going to actually happen now!! I'm looking forward to it!

God's blessings be upon you all!

Much love,
Rachael <3