Moving Day

Well tomorrow is our closing for our home. We are really excited and cannot wait to get in there. The boys were a little sad today as we did the final walk through, but had to tell them that we couldn't stay tonight. But as we are doing the final "break-down" of things and finishing getting the apartment packed up, I am full of thanksgiving. Our Heavenly Father has blessed our move here, and given us a closer marriage, and a new place to call home with the ability to meet new people and make some friends. Nashville will finally start to feel like home tomorrow. Hopefully soon we will be able to find a church home too. We love going to Otter Creek but will be looking in the Hermitage/Mt. Juliet area for possible places to go. So as of tomorrow, our home is open to our friends! We may not have all the furniture in place or it all organized, but our home is your home!


There may not be too many updates till we are able to get internet hooked up, God bless and we will update as soon as we can!

Hunting Trip

As you can see from the pictures- Matt was successful in his quest for a deer! The boys were excited and had fun watching some of the processing stuff going on. She was a good size Doe, and gave us some good meat. We are getting some done up as pulled venison, some steaks and then ground. The boys were ready to eat the deer before we got it hung. So it will be fun to cook it with them. The kids also had a great time with Daddy on the 4 wheeler. Caleb had a blast and was sad when we had to stop. I think that is his favorite thing. Ian was pretty excited and kept smiling around the yard. Fun times with Daddy!

Thanksgiving

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year. Matt was able to hunt and the kids were able to spend some time with my parents and Aunt and Uncle. It is so nice to be able to be so close to my parents. They hadnever been able to come out to AR very much due to work and few vacation days. Now that we are closer we get to see them more often. It was such a blessing to live with them for a few months, and I know the kids will remember that for a while. We were all stuffed with the great food and deserts (yes in my family there they are divided into 2 catagories). Dad and Matt both took the kids out on the 4 wheeler. They had a blast and Caleb was sad when riding time was over. We hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving day!

Birthday Party

Here are a few pictures from Rileys 1st birthday party. It was a lot of fun. We were able to have many family members here. The kids great grandmas from Matts side were here and my Aunt, Uncle and cousin were also able to be here. She was showered with lots of love and gifts! Let me tell you too. My baby girl can EAT! She was diving into the cake before I even got the top snapped on. I don't think there were enough crumbs left to make a cookie! :)
Here are her stats:
18 1/2 lbs (9th %ile)
27 in long (11%ile)

She is still tiny and will probably continue to be. At least she will have 2 strapping brothers to watch out for her!

It's Official- She's One!!

It's happened...our baby girl is one. Doesn't seem that long ago that I was a mom of two. I remember my joy when Dr. Hubach told me she was really a girl AND she was small! At this exact moment a year ago I was sitting in a hospital bed holding her and marveling at her perfect fingers and toes, the way she smiled while she slept, how God created such a beautiful little baby. What a beautiful and exciting little lady she has become. Happy Birthday Riley- you are a sweet addition to our family! We love you

Mccord Family

The Mccord family is in need of your prayers right now. I did not know Keith and Stephanie while I was at HU but some of you might have. Keith is fighting cancer, and has recieved bad news in the last week. If you get the chance drop by their site and let them know they are in your thoughts and prayers- I am sure they would appreciate all the prayers they could get: http://mccordfamilytx.blogspot.com/

Realization

Wow. What a moment I have just had. In reading different sections of scripture and a few friends blogs, something has hit me. I know that my prayer life has been somewhat suffering lately and honestly through out my life has had it's up's and down's. But here is what I have come to realize: My God wants me to hash it out with him. He wants me to wrestle with him, to complain to him, to tell him of my anger and pain, to cry to him, to GIVE it to him. There are times I have done just that, but not to often. I know that prayer is our communication with God, and he yearns for us to talk to Him. But I think subconsciously, I have always tried to block those things from God, like he really didn't need to hear them or he had so many more important things to handle than my concerns. How untrue are those thoughts! My God does not have an answering machine for prayer requests. He doesnt leave me on hold, or tell me that I have to take a number and wait my turn. He hears my prayers right then and there- He knows them and has answered them before the words leave my mouth. He has given me comfort before my words of anger and pain leave my lips- If only I would tell him! How great is the faithfulness of our Father! If only I can keep my faith in Him strong and truly believe Him. To get my complacent self up and get to the grind for God. Only with His help can I change the things I need to change, and get my life on track (consistently) with His will for my life. Seasons of growth- all necessary, but sometimes quite painful.

I have a special request for everyone. Here lately I have been on the emotional side. I am not sure why but I am sure that my kids and hubby are hoping that it will end soon. I am usually not the emotional kind of person, but in the last few days I have been hurt by stupid things. I cried pretty much all day yesterday, because some college age girls were walking by the apartment and I heard them say some pretty negative things about me. I didn't know them and I usually would have just rolled my eyes and not thought a minute more about it. Please pray that I can get my sate of mind back and if this is a learning experience from God, that I will learn the lesson quickly. Thanks for your prayers!

Updates Galore

Well...I have several posts all at once. I finally was able to get the pictures to load! So hope you enjoyed the Halloween pictures. There is so much going on right now. I am in the process of starting to pack up our apartment since we are scheduled to close on our house on the 28th of November. I figured this way I have given myself plenty of time to get everything done before the Thanksgiving holidays. I'm getting pretty excited about the house. Espically since we have some friends staying with us on the way up north and possibly on the way back home. And hopefully it will work out that the Noels can stay with us on their way to or from KY. It will be nice to be able to really decorate for Christmas too.


Riley is now walking! She has taken several steps and has walked across the room to Daddy and her passy. I am pretty excited. She gets a little to excited in the middle and topples over. Caleb loves to cheer for her and have her walk to him. I think he has really been one of the biggest factors in getting her to walk. He would take her hands and help guide her to a certain spot and then would turn her around and bring her back. It was pretty neat to watch them have that fun time. I am sure by the time her birthday comes around (in 9 days she will be 1!) she will be walking like a pro. Now I just have to get a baby gate for the stairs... :)


They boys are doing real well. Caleb is Mommys little helper and Ian is Caleb's little helper. We have a lot of fun cooking and cleaning. We got a new game that the kids love. It is called Don't Spill the Beans. They have fun learning to take turns and tipping it over on the other persond tray. I am hoping to get more games for them so when the weather is bad we all don't go stir crazy!


I am considering looking for a few kids to watch once we get moved into our place. Aparently in Wilson county there are plenty of people needing childcare and not enough places. I haven't made up my mind. I think if I did I would only take kids that were Caleb and Ian's age. I wouldn't mind babies but the boys would enjoy that so much better. We shall see. I want to get in and settled before I even look at it!

Halloween Fun

Right before we went Trick or Treating at the Bellevue Mall, my parents came up to spend some time with the kids. My mom made them bat masks, which they had a ball with. They also got goodie bags with finger puppets, Scooby suckers and healthy snacks in them. (Riley got teddy grahms and animal cookies) We got the kids ready and took some pictures of them in their costumes with Grandma and Papa. Then we headed out to the mall. I wasn't sure how it worked but we went around to the stores and those that we doing the event handed out candy or toys. In the middle of the mall there is a play place and it was pretty neat to see all the costumed kids running around. It was pretty fun but we are excited to have a neighborhood to go out in next year.