Nick’s residency graduation
Road trip through the Columbia River Gorge
Hello hello 🙂
After a summer hiatus, we are surfacing again- now, officially residents of Salt Lake City, Utah! As predicted, the months of June and July for the Wegners were a whirlwind. Nick graduated, took his boards (HUGE relief that is done), Ara got baptized, we sold our Seattle townhome to a lovely Chicago couple, and packed and moved ourselves to SLC. We are now staying in an older, but charming and updated house in the Sugar House district that is only TWO levels, which is a relief after running up and down 4 levels of stairs in our last home. With a soon-to-be-crawling baby and active dog, that living arrangement was not ideal so we are pretty happy with the change. Sugar House is south of downtown SLC, and only ten minutes away from the University hospital and Orthopedic clinic. It is a cute area, which we are still getting to know, but seems family friendly with a lot of conveniences nearby (restaurants, stores, movie theaters, etc). There’s a Whole Foods, Chipotle (YEAH!!), and a Nordstrom Rack nearby. I’m taking that as a good sign. I think we’ll be comfortable here over the next year.
Favorite day of the road trip? Picnic along the DeChutes River
We had a few days before Nick started work to explore our neighborhood, drive up to Park City, and unpack our house. I’m itching to finally start Ara’s nursery but am aiming not to go too crazy with purchases since we’ll have to move again in a year. After starting out her first four months in a pack-and-play, we finally were able to move our girl into her own room and into an actual crib. Hallelujah. We’ll miss having her in our room but I think we will all sleep better this way! I have a few ideas for furniture and accessories for her room, and will hopefully post the completed product when it is finished.
Yayy our things have arrived!
Noo, we have to unpack!
Taking a break from unpacking boxes for a selfie
Ara came out into the world already pretty alert and active and at four months old, she is a happy ball of energy. Life got a little easier at 10 weeks when we learned how to read her cues and her personality began showing. This was also around the time when we started settling into a routine and sleep became more predictable. She has grown exponentially in the past couple months and is now smiling, laughing and engaging in the world around her. If you follow us on Instagram (knwegs or aralou325), you have a pretty good idea how much meaning and joy she has added to our life.
Now that we’re settling into our new home, I’m facing a new challenge: life as a stay-at-home mom. Like all other moms out there, I want to be able to provide as many opportunities possible for my baby to continue to develop and grow. I know that will happen anyway but I just don’t want to bore my kid at the end of the day (or myself.) Starting a new chapter in an unfamiliar area with no built-in support group or friends/family nearby is going to be a challenge at first, but one we’ll tackle a day at a time. Like Missy, I’ve discovered that being a stay-at-home mom has its own challenges and is a role that I’m not sure how I feel about quite yet. I’m so blessed to be able to take this year off to spend the time with her and want to make the most of it, however, I’m finding it to be a bit of a struggle. With a conventional office job, I was on such a predictable schedule these past 7 years. Wake up early, breakfast, go to work, come home, make dinner, repeat the next day. As someone who likes routine, that was comforting. Every day was certainly not the same, but there was a nice predictability and a sense of purpose for getting up in the morning and having a manager and team to answer to and tangible accomplishments to show for it. Now my focus is on raising Ara. Our days ahead stretch open wide and it’s my job to fill them in and give them meaning. To all the other stay-at-home moms out there, I would love your thoughts and advice on how to do this.
the beautiful and airy Children’s library at the SLC Public Library
I’ve made an effort to go out with her the last few days and find things for us to do during the days to stay occupied and productive. So far we’ve found baby book hours at the local libraries, enrolled into a little weekly playgroup at the Little Gym, and I’ve joined a few mom meet-ups to begin and meet other moms. In a few weeks, my parents come into town and Nick’s parents come in Labor Day weekend for a visit. We are excited to receive visitors and to start showing them around our new home and city for the year! Come visit, and don’t be shy! We would love to have you.
