Memories of mine from 8939 Sunbow Drive

We are nearing our moving date and I find myself, in the rare moments where I'm sitting still, reflecting on the past 8 1/2 years we have spent in this house. I will warn you, this blog may make me weepy and you don't have to read any further.......this particular entry is more for me than anyone else.

I remember moving in here and praying over our home with Lenn's and my parents. At the end of the prayer, my mom quickly included,"And please fill the bedrooms with lots of little girls and boys." Praise God for his providence. Thank you, Mom, for offering up such a sweet request.

I remember bringing home Nala from PetSmart in Castleton where we had adopted her from the Golden Retriever rescue. We brought her home on Feb. 9, 2002. That very same day we hosted several of our college friends and their families. Alexa Buckley and Claire Hurley were just little girls and we barely knew Nala and yet we were all comfortable letting those girls hug on and love on Nala. We could already tell what a wonderful family dog she would be. She has aged so much and is really a favorite of many of our neighbors, both adults and children. I think they will be sad to see her go. Some of Nala's naughtier moments include her tearing siding off of the back of our house in order to get the chipmunk, breaking into the garden to eat my tomatoes, and tearing off our neighbor's downspout in order to trap yet another chipmunk.

I remember finding out that we were pregnant with Nicholas. I remember painting his nursery. I remember my water breaking while simultaneously the power went out and we weren't sure if we could get out of our garage or what to do with Nala. I remember bringing that precious boy home from the hospital and letting Nala smell him. The poor child.......it was the middle of January and I had dressed him in a fleece outfit, then put him inside a fleece wrap, then covered his car seat with a fleecy cover. He was smothered!! Nala thought he looked like a stuffed animal and she tried to chew on his foot! Then I remember sitting Nicholas on the coffee table, still asleep.......praise the Lord......while Lenn and I tried to figure out what exactly we were supposed to do when he woke up.

I remember giving Toby away and my heart absolutely breaking. I remember Ross going peacefully to heaven and again my heart broke in two. I remember our miscarriage and the night I laid on the floor of our closet and just cried until I thought there were no more tears.

I remember the joy and anxiety of becoming pregnant with Ella. I remember bringing home that beautiful, tiny, colicky mess from the hospital and I remember 6 solid months of trying to cope with the screaming. I remember discovering that 6 months of screaming was worth every moment of fear and pain.

I remember my yearning for another child and the joy of becoming pregnant with Mae. I remember telling Nicholas and Ella that we were expecting a child. I remember the sheer joy of sharing Mae with her siblings.

I remember so much laughter, so much joy, so much love, so many tiny blessings, so many indescribably amazing blessings. Through it all, the constant thread that has held this life together is my wonderful husband and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Lenn has been my rock and my best friend and I praise God for the beautiful life we have created in this home. I could never have predicted the twists and turns that we have taken in life and I would not have it any other way. God absolutely is so good. It is with mixed emotions that we leave this home and move to our new home. I look forward to the future as our children continue to grow and thrive and as we as a family learn together and love together. What a blessed life.

Easter 2010

Our beautiful girls......ready for the Easter Sunday church service. Mae Mae's lovely dress was compliments of Mimi and Papa Don. Mae looked like a little doll.

Handsome Nicholas

Buddies

Ella hunting Easter eggs

Enjoying a beautiful afternoon on Papa Don's swing

We spent a wonderful Easter Sunday in Columbus with Yia-Yia, Pappou, Mimi, Papa Don, and Uncle Tim and his fiance, Stephanie. The food was amazing and we enjoyed a beautiful day of good family time. Mae and Uncle Tim really hit it off and spent a lot of time together at Mimi's. The kids enjoyed hunting Easter eggs in Papa Don's yard.......the weather was perfect and the eggs contained money or candy......what could be better?



Our trip to Columbus followed an amazing service at Chapel Rock. The sanctuary was absolutely filled with spring flowers......lillies, daffodils, hyacinth......it was beautiful. The orchestra and choir along with the praise team shared incredible music with the congregation. What a blessed day. Christ is Risen. He is Risen indeed.

Cute pics to share

Wow.......we're juiced around here. Butler just won their Final 4 semifinal game and will be playing in the National Championship game on Monday night. Woo hoo!!

Before the game, the kids received their Easter baskets from us and their hooded towels from Meemaw and Papa Carl. Lenn snapped a few pics of them trying out their new towels. Cute. The other picture of the kids with Meemaw was taken when Meemaw and Carl were here for several days so that Carl and Lenn could work on our house. The men had a list of projects to tackle from our inspection so they were very busy boys.

First Solid Food!!

Mae's first time in her high chair!! Ella was so excited to sit by Mae Mae for dinner.

Mae Mae trying her rice cereal

Mae's such a biggie girl today. We had her 6 month check-up and whe did great. She weighed 18 lb 10.5 oz and was 27.5 inches long........all in the 90th percentile. We worked through some major feeding issues over the last 6 months and I'm so thankful for how well she's doing now and how big and healthy she is. Now it's difficult for me to accept the fact that she's old enough to be moving on to the world of solid foods. I'm not ready for her to be this grown up. Nicholas prayed tonight before bed about Mae and he thanked God for her "development." Awesome.



So, tonight for dinner, Mae got to join us for the first time in her high chair and she had her first tastes of rice cereal. She seemed to get the hang of it quickly and really seemed to enjoy it. She didn't pull my hand to her face like Niko had done but she didn't spit it all back out at me like Ella had done either. It was really sweet watching her. What a big girl.

Mae is 6 months old!!!

"Happy to be me"

Sisters

Mommy and Mae

Lovin' those feet

Just a swingin'--Niko and Ella are helping Mae in the swing

Oh my! Where has the time gone? Our little Mae Mae is now 6 months old. She is rolling everywhere and much prefers to be on her belly. She will even push up on all fours, rock her little bottom and scooch backwards. Then she gets frustrated because really she wants to go forward to whatever toy is in front of her. So cute. I'll find out her ht/wt on Thurs at her check-up but we do know that she is a big girl. She has lots of fat rolls. We're getting ready to delve into the world of solid foods.......when we're eating, she gets very grabby and wants to have a handful of whatever it is that we're putting into our mouths. I don't know if she really understands the whole "solid food" concept but she would much prefer to watch us eat than to be nursed at the table while we're eating.

Her siblings continue to totally love her and even the neighbor girls are taking a liking to Miss Mae. One neighbor in particular, Gracie, loves to come over and hold Mae or play with her. So sweet.

Snacks

Nicholas was so creative the other day and asked for marshmallows, tortilla chips, a banana and pretzels. Then he created little snack people. He taught Ella how to make one too.....you can see her version in the photo above. Then, of course, they quickly devoured their snack people!

SOLD

Well, we've sold our house. On our second scheduled showing, we got an offer. Our house was literally on the market for a month in the midst of a very snowy February. On March 1st, we got a phone call in the morning to schedule a showing that evening. The buyers spent 30 minutes here and must have loved it because we received an offer the next morning. God is so good. At the rate we were going, about one showing every 2 weeks, we thought we were never going to sell. It just goes to show you......it doesn't take a bunch of showings, just the one right showing. Wow. And now we're awaiting news on an offer we've made on our next home. This whole process has been so interesting. We've talked ourselves into and out of building new, buying a spec home, moving to Plainfield, moving to Pittsboro, etc. The house that we've made our offer on didn't require hours of conversation and pros/cons lists.......we just knew. It has everything that was on our wish list and if just feels like our home. It feels like my dream home.....even though it needs some updating/cleaning/painting on the inside. I LOVE this house. I just see my kids playing in the backyard, me planting flowers, Niko playing golf, Nala eating the neighbor's poodle......just kidding. We eagerly await the news about our offer......waiting is difficult but I'm patient about this because it feels very right and we know God has been in control of all the details leading up to and including this moment. What a journey!