Baptism

A few weeks ago, at the end of September, we were able to witness something amazing; the baptism of Chris' parents!!! They have started attending church regularly, and we have seen an amazing change in both of them. We are so excited about this new chapter in their lives, and we ready to be see the Holy Spirit work in them! I am so thankful for second chances!

Catch-Up

Where to start...

I know. I'm a terrible person because I haven't written anything down in the last few months. Nothing of real consequence, anyway, with what's been going on in our lives lately. But, it's a beautiful Saturday morning, and I finally feel like I have some time to sit down and blog about our life recently.

The most important thing that has happened is that we have finally sold our home! I can't even begin to explain how amazingly God has blessed us throughout this entire process, but I am in awe and very humbled to think that He had this in mind all along. Every little detail has been taken into account and covered. Just amazing. It's not a process that I am anxious to go through again anytime soon (or ever!), but I am thankful for it all the same.

We started working with an amazing realtor last year, and officially put our house on the market on June 21st. Then we went to live with my Mom for the summer so that we wouldn't have to keep our already impeccable :) house clean. It was a wonderful summer, and I have so many great memories of being there with my Mom and our family. In fact, we may have started a tradition!

After only 3.5 months, we officially closed on the sale of our house last Friday, October the 12th (2012)!! It was an amazing feeling, although it still doesn't really feel real yet. We have been living with Nick and Alia's family for the past week while we wait for the paperwork to be finished on our new home. We are supposedly closing on November 5th!!!!!!!!

Our new home is simply wonderful! We thought we had lost it when this whole thing started, but God had his hand on it the entire time. Another couple backed out of their contract on it, opening it up for us!!! It has everything that we are looking for, and it just feels like home. We've had both the home inspection and the appraisal, and both have come back with great results! Now I just need to get all of the documents together for the loan officer and underwriter, and then we can close! Just as with the rest of this process, it's been an up and down roller coaster ride. It feels a little bit like the day before a wedding when all of the little details threaten to overwhelm me, but I know it's almost over. 

It has been a blast staying with Nick & Alia, and the kids have enjoyed waking up to find each other still in the house. Right now it just feels like a big vacation, and that we'll go back home in a bit. It is a little weird to think that we'll never walk back into the house that I brought my babies home in, but I know that feeling will be completely replaced once we move into the new place. I'm feeling very blessed and thankful right now, and life is good. :)

Evan helping to "label" boxes.

The packing has started!

I thought the kids would have a hard time with this, but that is obviously not the case!

The last time in our swingset before being sent off to Grammy's house.

We had LOTS of amazing help with our packing. We couldn't have finished without everyone's help; that includes the little boy across the street that reminded us to unpack the attic... :)

We celebrated the Twins' birthday in the midst of moving. It was pretty nice to be able to get Chris a new house for his birthday!

No one got her a fork, so she just went for the birthday cake in her own way!

We tried to pack Evan, but then we decided against it... :)

We love pizza around here; especially when the Texans win and Papa Johns offers 50% off pizza!

More wonderful help from our Sunday School class.

Soooooo many more clothes than I thought we had. I will never complain about how not having enough clothes again!

Sweet helpers. :)

Our first night in Nick & Alia's house.

The cousins hanging out.

Our new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer at Grammy's House

A Post in Pictures:

Playing in the yard.

 Konner's 4th Birthday Party.

 Working on Mop Tops by Brenda.

 Aubrie looking like such a big girl.

 Dayton drinking miracle whip (just joking!).

 Reading books with Grammy and Dayton.

 Story Time at the library.

Then & Now

It's interesting to me to sit back and think about where we were even a year ago. One year ago, we were dealing with the worries of Chris' job being cut, and him becoming the Head Band Director at Dueitt MS. One year ago, my daughter wasn't walking yet, and I was still nursing her. One year ago, Evan had just turned three and he was getting ready to take his first (only) airplane ride to Utah. And by around August of last year, Evan was completely potty trained.

This year, I've got a few short weeks before I go back to work. With me going back to work, we'll all have to make the transition to not having Kaytlynn and Delaney around every week for homeschool. Evan & Aubrie will be in daycare next year 5 days a week, and Evan will be in Pre-K (aagghh!). We are in the process of putting our home on the market, and we are trying to move into the home of our dreams (haven't found it yet, but still looking). Chris started the year off working by himself, at Christmas-time the school district hired Assistant Band Directors for all of the middle schools, and next year Chris will have enough students to hire a third director. 

Life is full of twists and turns, and I'm so glad that I don't know what's coming in our future. Sure, I think I'd like to know, but what would be the fun in that. :) Then I'd miss out on all that God has planned for me to learn along the way. Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have given us, and let us always remember them, even (especially) in the midst of change and uncertainty. :)

Evan Turns 4!!!

Aaaggghh! My baby boy is now 4, can you believe it?! I know I can't. 

This year we decided to throw Evan an Angry Birds party, which was so much fun! We had a "live" Angry Birds game for the kids to play, Angry Birds photo props, "Bye bye ham sandwiches," sour gummy worms, and Angry Birds poop to name a few things from the party. I tried to make "pulverized pigs" pudding for the kids, but it didn't quite set up with the almond milk that I used for Aubrie. Oh well, I tried.

Evan is really into Spiderman and Superman now. He got a really cool Spiderman car/airplane at his party, and he plays with it ALL the time! I love his imagination and the things he comes up with when he's playing! He's still into trains and cars and dinosaurs, but Spiderman is at the top right now.

Another thing that has really surprised me, but makes me soooo happy, is how close he and Aubrie have become over the last few months. Aubrie loves to climb all over Evan when they play, and they both love to pretend to be a baby and take care of the other. They now cry for the other whenever it's time to sleep. Aubrie just cries, "Evan wit me. Evan shleep wit me!!!" We actually tried to let Aubrie sleep in Evan's room the other night, in her pack'n'play. I had to go in there at 12:45am to take Aubrie back to her bed, though, because they were just playing so much that they wouldn't sleep! We'll try again soon; it is summertime, after-all!

Evan also LOVES riding his bike. We don't have any sidewalks in our neighborhood, so we only let him go out when Chris or I can push Aubrie in the stroller next to him on the street, but he loves it all the same. He's so cute, though, because he gets tired after like 10 minutes of riding! Now that I'm not watching the girls during the week and MDO is finished, I've been taking the kids out in the bike trailer, and they love it!!! I have to say, it's good for me, too!!

Lately when I look at Evan, I can see the outlines of him as a young man. He's definitely losing his "baby" quality, and turning into a "kid." His face is longer, and his features are losing their "baby roundness." I still can't believe that he'll be old enough for pre-k next year, but I have to say that he definitely looks the part. He has promised me, though, that he'll always let me hug him like I did when he was "little!" I've got his word, and I'm going to hold him to it! Hehe, even though he is starting to look older, then he'll do something so cute like say, "I hurt my fumb (thumb), Mommy. Can you kiss it?" I never get tired of that!

(pictures to come when I get them from Nick & Alia's camera; ours is kaput)

Tender Heart

This past weekend, we made a trip to the Valley for Chris' Aunt Martha's funeral. She passed away last week after 4 years of cancer. She was definitely someone who kept our lives very interesting, and we are so glad to have known her. One memory that will always stay with me, is that of Grandma Anita being the last to leave the funeral home at the side of her daughter's casket. Chris said, "It's one thing to lose your husband, but something else altogether to lose your child."

We made lots of memories on this trip, too. The kids loved the hotel, and they all loved jumping on the beds and playing together the whole weekend. We (I) also locked the keys in the van before the funeral, and we had to wait forever for the Progressive guy to come and unlock it; but it was free! One thing that I will never forget, though, is something that happened with my son while we were waiting for the key-guy to get there.

I had given the kids a snack to help keep them in one place while we waited for the van to get fixed. I told Evan to eat only one snack at a time, and he insisted on eating 3. Without a fuss, I simply took the snacks away and said, "Ok, just go have a seat over there while we wait on the van. Since you didn't listen well, we'll just stop having snacks right now." He immediately starts crying as he sits down. A few minutes before the snack, he had seen some ants (1) on the ground and had stood up to eat his snacks. When I asked him to sit down, he immediately said, "Do you want the ants to bite me?," as he's got this terrible look on his face and is crying. Talk about feeling like a terrible mother. To see the way a child looks at the world is very eye-opening sometimes. I felt so sad that he really thought that his punishment would be to sit there and let the ants bite him; and he is so sweet that he was going to let it happen. That boy really does love us and does such a good job trying to please us, and I hope that I am living up to his expectations. 

Is My Daughter Bipolar????!!!!

Aubrie, if you read this one day, just know that I love you now and forever. Just remember that.

Life is so much harder with a 2 year old little girl, than it was with a 2 year old little boy. I could tell that Evan had turned 2, but wasn't really all that bad compared to some other kids I'd seen. My little girl, on the other hand, although still not terrible compared to others, is definitely giving me a run for my money!

Lately we just can't seem to figure out what she wants all the time. One minute she wants juice, and when I give her juice she cries and says, "No, water!" There's no pleasing her most of the time. Oh, and don't get me started about how "strangers" make her act. That could be a good thing, but when it's her Grandpa or friends at school, it's not such a good thing. She cried as if being brutally hurt 

However, she is still my little sweetheart. When she is in a good mood, she is all smiles, hugs, and kisses. She gets really silly around bedtime and loves to cuddle. She loves to play with her brother and give him a hard time. You just have to catch her in a good mood!

Like I said, remember that I love you when you read this, Aubrie!!!!