The House!

Well, today was the day...the CLOSING DAY!! I haven't really blogged about the house at all because I think I have just been so nervous to put it down on "paper" until it was all said and done. Truly God answered our prayers in ways we could have never imagined. We had looked at so many houses over the past few years, made offers on 3 and none of them amounted to anything. We kept praying and I fully admit most days I very impatiently waited to find a house that suited our family. Our goal when packing up the old house was to be out of the cottage by Oct 1st and when the middle of August got here and there were no prospects on the horizon, we started to think about unpacking the pods, getting out the crib, the winter clothes, etc and what a pain it would be, but that we would do what we had to do. Then literally out of the blue, a day after we had made an offer on another house, a friend of ours at church called and said she had a friend who was going to be selling their house at Dutch Island and thought we might should look at it. We quickly figured out that the offer was not going to go anywhere on the other house so we went to look at this one on a Sunday afternoon with our almost 3 week old. As soon as the front door opened, I just knew it was the one. I couldn't believe it because I had that very same feeling with our house in Bacon Park and I never thought I would experience that again. As we walked around, I was just amazed to see how well our family would "fit" in this house. When we got back in the car, tears came as I told Chris we had finally found our home. He completely agreed that it was the one. He met with the owner the very next day and they came to an agreement. I felt like such a weight had been lifted to know that the looking was over.  We move in next Monday October the 8th. I will be sure to share some pics then.
I have a little Pass It On note card that I bought from Lifeway a few months ago. I have really had to cling to it's message over the past few months. As I read it tonight, I am just in awe of how God has worked in all the small details of this entire situation. Not always are God's answers aligned with our desires, and in the times when they do not, our faith is surely tested but it is a time to grow in our relationship with Him. Tonight I am feeling grateful that this time was one of those where His answer was better than our desires and I'm just thanking Him.

Had to share a few of my favorites from today!

Here she is in her onesie Mimi made and her fancy Trumpet socks. Chris thought she looked so silly, but the boys thought she was "so cute." Had to have a pic so we would remember forever.



Then of course my hilarious little men came in to tell me goodnight and said they were nerds. Can they get those pants any higher?







Thanks so much for all those who were praying for us during all these transitions we have been through this summer. I can tell you whole-heartedly they have surely been answered.

Soccer time is here again

The boys are both playing soccer this year for Coastal GA and are super excited. So far, Grady is absolutely loving it. He hustles and tries his very best. He has scored some goals in the games which is giving him the confidence he needs to keep practicing and trying.  Davis on the other hand, is just floating through practice and rather oblivious but he loves his soccer "gear." That boy has always loved to dress up and it definitely shows when uniforms and cleats show up around here. Although it certainly dictates our Saturdays, I love that it is family time and we are all together sweating and cheering for our little men. Fall truly is a great time of year! Thought I would share some pics of all the excitement!

These two pics pretty much sum up Davis at soccer!! Love it!

Aah the joys of being the 3rd child! And check out Grady giving his coach five after one of his goals. So cute!

Grady hustling and Davis and Dad striking a pose.

Grady resting in the shade of Gwynnie's stroller after his big game.

Bena & Papa came out to cheer for Grady

Little Gwynnie

Well, of course time just keeps on flying by! My precious little bug is already 7 weeks! Let's see since I last updated she took her first bottle of pumped milk and loved it. Her big brothers took turns feeding her which was hilarious to say the least.

Chris and I were able to go out for our first "date night" in a long time and Mimi and Poppy babysat Gwyn. They said she was absolutely perfect, funny how grandparents always say that. :)

I had to take her to the doctor around 5 1/2 weeks and she already weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs! Today, she had to go back to get a checkup for her first cold. Thank goodness she is just a little stuffy but she weighed 10lbs 12 oz! Wowzers this girl is a good eater! She smiles at us and even tries to "talk" sometimes with little coos. It is so precious and even though she is still waking up to eat usually once a night, I don't even mind because she is so darn cute looking up at me with her little sideways grin.

Here she is all dressed up from church snuggling with daddy and waving at the camera!

Couch to 5K

Wow, I have to say for a girl who ran a 1/2 marathon 1 month before taking her surprise pregnancy test, that title is NOT music to my ears! I have an OB who truly believes in not running while you are pregnant, sooo, I was a good little patient but now it's time to get back to it! Last week, I started a couch to 5K program on my treadmill. So far so good. I just have to take it one day at a time and not get discouraged thinking about how easy 3 miles was for me just 10 short months ago! My time is so limited right now but this only takes 30 minutes, 3 days a week. If you are considering getting into running or getting back into it for that matter, I strongly suggest printing out a plan, checking off your accomplishments, and most of all sticking to it. It definitely gives you a boost of energy and a brighter outlook on the day. Wish me luck :)

Kings of Crazy

Today was the start of Bible Study Fellowship and boy have I missed it! We will be studying Genesis
this year, and even though I have read Genesis a number of times and even done a small study on it, I know God will have so much to teach me this year. Today, my favorite point was this.
"God's people have the opportunity to be a part of something really big and our small daily choices show how much we VALUE God's plan for our lives and His purposes for His Kingdom. The opportunity to walk with God is His GIFT to us."
 Davis and Gwyn get to go with me this year, and for Davis especially this will be an awesome activity because not only do they teach them the Bible but also, all the teachers pray for each child and their salvation. In this world, parents need every bit of extra prayer they can get for their children and for that I am thankful.

Now I thought I would leave you with a little laugh for the day. After the little photo shoot I did with Gwyn on her 1 month birthday, the boys decided they wanted a shoot of their own. :) First we made crowns and decorated them and then it was posing time! It told them they were the Kings of Crazy Land.  They are hilarious!

 Please note Davis' crown is upside down in some pics...absolutely perfect!!

 

 

 And of course, I couldn't leave Gwynnie out!! 

Here she is 5 weeks old in her little flowers and deer dress from Bena!!

One Month and A Day in the Life

 Well, two more weeks have flown by. It's looking like the blog may be Gwyn's only baby book so please ignore the boring details that will be scattered over the next few months that are really just for me to remember what life was like when she was so tiny! She was one month old yesterday and just as we knew would be the case, we can't imagine life without her! She sleeps great still, some nights waking up once and other nights she has even gone from 11-7! Evenings and nights are definitely her "witching hour," but she is beginning to calm down some during the day. She started smiling more and more this past week and is beginning to really be able to focus her eyes better. She seems to love being around lots of noise, which is no big surprise seeing as how that's all she heard in the womb. The "newness" has definitely not worn off yet for the boys. They both still wake up wanting to hold her and kiss her. Grady is a huge help with her and  has perfected rocking her and getting her to take her paci. He held her last week for me while I cooked dinner. The funniest part was when I went in to get her from him so he could go eat he said, "I was starting to feel like a slave in here so I'm glad my food is ready." As you can imagine, I was cracking up!
I did a little mini photo shoot with Gwyn on her 1 month birthday and even got one of her smiling! Thought I would share a few more of my favs.

I've been meaning to blog about this since last week, but just never got around to sitting down to do it. Last Tuesday was Davis' first day of 3 year old preschool at Isle of Hope Methodist. The morning started out like this...

and then quickly began to spiral downward as we got in the car and were met with a high pitched squeal louder than Gwyn could ever dream of making. I quickly switched all the car seats and loot over to the trusty dusty Yukon and away we went. Not only was it Davis' first day, but it was my 4 week post-delivery check up too, so after screaming Gwyn and sweating mommy dropped off Davis, we raced to make it to my appointment. Once the humiliation of nursing and holding a baby while getting a check up was over, it was already time for Davis to get out of school so I headed back to the dreaded carpool line. After idling for about 3 minutes, I was reminded that the good ole Yukon's AC, yes that is air freakin conditioner, does not work if you sit still for longer than a few minutes. With sweat dripping down my legs I sat and waited for my little man. His teacher made my day when she told me he was such a "love bug" as she loaded him in the car. I felt like it was such a blessing that already she could see his heart despite his sometimes crazy exterior. :) Now from here the day just got a little crazier but thankfully Bena, my mom, saved the day by meeting us at Grady's school to load into her air conditioned van to grab some lunch, make it to Chris' office in time to sign some paper work, and then make it out to Dutch Island to show the boys the house we are BUYING! Yep that's right, we finally found a house which will be another post for another day, but I will just say it is a complete answer to prayer and truly a dream come true for our family. On the way home, Davis finally bit the dust and gave in to the utter exhaustion that pretty much summed up the day. Oh but we are not done there. When he woke up, he had a fever!! Great, just great! So as I am taking care of him, Gwyn proceeds to scream her lungs out for no good reason at all and thankfully, Daddy made it home before my head spun off my shoulders. We called a tow truck to get my car taken care of so our day ended looking like this...

Thankfully, this is not the norm for my days, but it was one I want to always remember I made it through. :) Hope everyone has a great week ahead!