All moved in!

Well, today was quite a day!! We had the house closing at 9 this morning and at 7:30 AM we got a text that the buyer wanted to do the walk thru at 8:30. Wow, talk about last minute. Our sweet realtor got stuck doing it and the alarm went off so she was calling us asking the code with the siren blaring in the background. Truly a comical moment. Sooo, we headed down to the attorney's office and got all the millions of forms signed, collected our check (praise the Lord) and headed back to the house just in time to meet the movers, or so we thought. Turns out they were "running late"...FIVE hours late! We had booked them to arrive at 10:30 and 3:00 turned out to be start time instead. Very very frustrating to say the least. In the end, it all got moved into these two pods that will be stored in an air conditioned warehouse until we find a new house. Pretty insane that our attic, all of our furniture, outdoor stuff and things we wouldn't need at the furnished cottage all fit inside!! Anyway, we are all moved into Dolphin Cottage and boy does that feel nice. Davis is definitely having a tough time adjusting to a new house and a big boy twin bed (he had a toddler bed before), but I am praying that in a few days, he will calm down and feel more at home here. Seeing my house all empty is such a strange feeling. I sort of thought I would be more sad but after meeting the precious couple buying it today, I feel absolutely certain that God has orchestrated this whole thing and it is time for our family to move to a new chapter. Peace about change is a whole new feeling for me and I like it!
Hope you all have a fun weekend. We will be RELAXING!! :)

More than I could have imagined!

On Saturday, I finally got to see the "cottage" where we will be living for at least June and July and maybe August. Now the reason for the quotations is quite simple...the place is basically the same size as my house now! I was walking through in absolute shock and just thinking about how many details God had paid attention to when it came to finding this place for us. It is decorated cuter than I could ever even attempt to think of, has TONS of storage room and it is a split bedroom floor plan so when Gwyn wakes up in the middle of the night, NO WAKING UP HER BROTHERS! YAYAYAY!! I am so excited to get in there on Wednesday and even more excited to be there Friday when all the moving is DONE and I can just relax for a little bit. Hope everyone has a great week! I know I will be emotionally and physically drained after this one but I truly am so excited to be moving on to a new phase in our little family life. Here are some pics for you!

kitchen

 When you walk in side door of house, this is where you are...eating area and breakfast bar. Straight ahead is laundry and to right is master. To the left is the kitchen and then living room and 2 other bedrooms around there.
Oh and weren't my tour guides cuties?? :)

HUGE master! :) plenty of room for Gwyn

Grady's room

living room sans the christmas tree :)

Davis' room

Time flies

Time truly does fly by and sometimes that is a great thing, like when Chris just called me and said that he landed safely in China, and sometimes that's a tough thing, only FIVE more nights in my little cozy house!
I can't believe that Wednesday was the boys' last day of preschool. I feel like it was just September and I was taking their picture on the 1st day! So precious to see how they have grown both physically and mentally.

We had a fun time at the Sandgnats baseball game last Saturday too even though Davis was not a fan of the fireworks.

Plus wanted to share my two favorite photos of William's big graduation day!! Life is flying by but it is so fun to see what will come next because I know God has a plan!!

William was Grady's exact age on my graduation day! Craziness!!

Absolutely priceless!

His Grace is Sufficient!

In my devotional Jesus Lives by Sarah Young I read this amazing word of encouragement.
"My grace is sufficient for you, but it's sufficiency is for one day at a time...Your mind so easily slips into the future, where worries abound...meanwhile, splendors of the present moment parade before you and you don't even notice...My presence is with you always, providing everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow's needs. My sufficiency is for a day at a time - today!"

I think this can be so hard to remember when tough, uncertain times hit, but it is an eternal promise that Christians can and really must cling to. God brings us to points of utter surrender in order to draw us to Him and ultimately to bring glory to Himself. When we hit "rock bottom," and receive the blessing of God Himself picking us up to our feet, we are then able to share that with others and God is glorified. It is truly an amazing thing to watch and even more to experience it yourself.
I went to the doctor Tuesday to check on little Gwyn and it turned into quite the drama. I'm starting to think little girls are dramatic literally from conception. :) After having an ultrasound and seeing her adorable little face, chubby cheeks and precious lips, I had to get on the monitor for 45 minutes to make sure her little heartbeat was bouncing around as it should and praise the Lord, it was. I had 4 contractions during that time though and for 29 weeks, that concerned my doctor since I have NEVER had contractions before my due date with both boys. Long story short, the test for preterm labor was negative, another HUGE praise, BUT he did say I need to try and take it easy some. I laughed at the prospect but was amazed when he said, "It's a good thing you are moving somewhere that is furnished because otherwise I would tell you that you cannot unpack at this point." Sends chills down my back to know that God already knew this would all happen and found us the perfect little relaxing place to live while Gwyn finishes growing. God truly is an awesome God! 
I am praying for so many around me right now who are hurting or feeling like they just can't take one more thing on their overflowing plate that they call life. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will meet them in the darkest of times and bring light back into their life and for that I am so grateful!

"What if your blessings come through raindrops, what if your healing comes through tears. What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near. What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?"

Laura Story's "Blessings"

Highlights

During all the stress of deciding where to go on moving day, we have gotten to enjoy some highlight moments. Today is my little brother's highschool graduation!! Where has the time gone! It really does feel a little surreal, but I am so excited to see him grow up and become the man God created him to be. Last week was Grady's preschool "graduation" program and it was too cute. He has been so blessed this year to have our family friend as his teacher. He will miss Isle of Hope next year but is looking forward to being an SCPS Raider like his mama and Uncle William!!

 Grady walking in and sitting with his adorable little friends!!

The boys sang the famous "Peanut Butter & Jelly" song and this was them chewing! Hilarious!

Grady and Mrs. Powers :)

 The next day, Davis had his mothers day program and it was absolutely precious. His little buddy from church is also in his class. It was fun to watch them sing their songs. Davis sang Old McDonald to all the moms solo style before the program even started, and at the end, let's just say his focus had moved on to the cookies we were having as a snack instead of the music. As I sat and watched him, I realized how much we had both grown over the past year. He has gained so much self confidence, sleeps in a big boy bed, wears big boy underwear and absolutely loves carrying on conversations with adults. I on the other hand have stopped trying to fit him into my mold and learned to love him for EXACTLY who he is, quirks and all! I just finished a book about a boy with sensory processing disorder who when he was 16 had a skateboarding accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. This quote is form his mother who grew so much through his miraculous recovery.
"Motherhood is about raising - and celebrating - the child you have, not the child you thought you would have. It's about understanding that he is exactly the person he is supposed to be. And that, if you're lucky, he just might be the teacher who turns you into the person you are supposed to be."
I feel so grateful for Davis and all that we have gone through and will go through because he truly is the greatest teacher I could have ever asked for and I thank God for giving him to me and supplying me daily with the strength and patience I need to raise him!

Davis and his buddy during the program

Davis and Mommy

 Enjoy your Sunday!

The Plan...for now anyway!

Well, it's been quite a week around here! Last Thursday, Chris and I both "hit a wall" and basically came to the end our our own strength. We were so confused and broken over what should be the joyful sale of our home being completely overshadowed by having no where to move our family. This wouldn't be such a huge issue if baby Gwyn wasn't due to enter our family in 11 weeks, but thankfully she is, so it definitely adds pressure to the already stressful situation! That same day, I got an email from a friend about a furnished rental cottage on Isle of Hope that the owners rent weekly/monthly. I immediately followed up on the lead because every rental property we had found was a 6 month-1 year lease with either no early out or severe penalties for breaking the lease. This to us seemed like it didn't make any sense because then we are locked in and can't move on a house if one should come on the market that suits our family. Our plan is to move our entire house into pods and then take clothes and the bare minimum to the cottage, which we've never seen by the way, on May 30th.  :) There are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a tiny kitchen and no dishwasher but hey at least there is a washer and dryer! It will be such an adventure and we are up for it! I truly feel like God provided just when He knew we couldn't take it anymore. I can't wait to see when and where this home search ends, but God is using it to draw our family closer to Him and for that I am forever grateful!!

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life...but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God!"

Miracles everywhere!

Well, my 31st birthday came and went and I can honestly say it was probably the most relaxing birthday I have ever had. No fuss over what to do or how to celebrate. Just fun time spent with family. Davis woke up that morning with strep throat which you may think sounds awful, but when that means constant love and snuggles from one of the sweetest little boys I know, it made for an even better birthday. Thankfully, he is feeling much better now and I might should mention is attempting to potty training himself. He has only had about 4 accidents in the past week and one night even slept in underwear (because Daddy forgot to switch him to a diaper, oops!), but no worries because he was dry in the morning and got up and used the potty all by himself!!
I wanted to take a minute this morning to let you all know that truly miracles do happen! I have had the most uplifting few months and in this world filled with so much heart ache and pain, I wanted to take the time to share these wonderful miracles with all of you. I have been praying for some people I know for a couple of years and recently they have turned back to the Lord and truly turned their lives around. I can honestly say, I didn't think this was possible. I had given up hope in a lot of ways, but the Lord had His own timing and it is amazing to watch. I also have been praying about our house for a year and a half. As I told you, we have a contract on it which so far seems will go through. The inspection went well Tuesday and the appraisal seemed good to go yesterday. It looks like the Lord is leading us to rent a house so I will continue to pray for his guidance as to where He wants us to be while we look for our permanent home, but I know He will show us. Lastly, I have been dreading potty training Davis like the black plague. I have worried and angst-ed over it, even though I know I shouldn't have. Well, I am sure God is getting a good ole laugh because Davis just decided last Wednesday to be a "big boy" and relatively speaking it has been a pretty easy transition so far. Keeping my fingers crossed for when the "newness" rubs off.  I am truly humbled and amazed as always though by the Lord and His blessings!
Wanted to share a funny story with you that happened a couple of weeks ago as well. On my way to BSF I was talking to my mom having a mother/daughter vent session as I like to call them. I pretty much was going off about the house situation and being tired of waiting and just that I was ready to see some answers to all my pleadings with God. I walked in, and was not shocked to find that the lecture was on James 3-5 which in a nutshell talks about taming the tongue and the importance of patience. Our first principle was the most eye opening of all...
"How I talk to others reveals my relationship with God."
Wowzers! If we really stop and think about that, I think we might all have some adjusting to do, but I sure as heck know I do! She asked the question, "How are the people around us being affected by the way we talk?"
She also gave these awesome points on how a true friend of God lives:
1. submitting to God daily
2. resisting the devil - life is a battlefield
3. seeks God with passion - desires to communicate with the Lord
4. wants to pursue what is good and put to death the bad
5. treats God seriously knowing that God hates sin
6. trusts God completely - if we humble ourselves, He will work in us!
The last principle we learned that day was "Patience and prayer are necessary for spiritual growth!"
This was one of those days where I just knew God had sent that message for me that day to open my eyes and refocus my heart. I really do feel like this next month is going to be emotionally and physically draining but it is my choice to make it spiritually filling and that is what I am going to attempt to do! Happy weekend!