L.D.
Congratulations to your husband! My best friend's hubby works at H&R Block at the headquarters too and loves it.
If he's looking for a place to live for four months until you all join him, I recommend looking in Quality Hill downtown. There are also lots of condos going in downtown that are awesome, some of them furnished. The apartments in Quality Hill are a variety of rehabbed old buildings and new structures done in the late 80's and 90's and are really nice and affordable. He could walk to work and not have to deal with the rush hour traffic! I lived down there when I first moved to Kansas City and really loved it! Plenty of places to go eat and you're central to everything.
When you are ready to move to Kansas City with the children, I would recommend the western Shawnee area. We've been out here for five years and love it. The school is wonderful and the area has more of a small town feel, but with a quick commute in on I-70. While I like Lee's Summit and the Blue Springs area, the commute would be a nightmare every day. Independence is an older part of town and I wouldn't recommend the school district there.