Things That Have Already Happened

in our new house: - Several men from our church showed up early on a hot and humid Saturday to help us move. They had us out of the apartment and into the new house in 3 hours. It was pure amazingness. It takes a special servant’s heart to help someone move in the middle of July in Florida with the only payment being in the form of doughnuts and coffee. And baby smiles.
- Coke was spilled on the fresh tile. By one of us. Thankfully we had already sealed the grout.
- The nursery has been painted half way. Each time we try to finish it the baby wakes up, the sun goes down, or we just plain run out of energy. This means the peanut is sleeping in our room in the pack and play. No, that’s a lie. She’s sleeping in our room in our bed (after much wailing and drama at 3AM when she realizes she’s not in her crib). She sleeps in my spot. It’s fine sweetie, mommy can sleep on the 4 inches of mattress you left her. I’ll try not to wake you when I fall out of bed.
- One of us let the paint can drip onto the concrete in the garage and bake there for a day. The other one of us freaked out about it and was like “can we PLEASE go at least one day in our new house without destroying it??????”. But I’m not naming names.
- We got locked out. It was my fault. In my defense, I forgot I had a copy and not an original key on my key ring. I thought I was being all responsible when at the last minute I flipped the lock on the door in the garage b/c you never know who will break into your garage, yada yada. When we arrived back at our brand new casa, we realized that the copy didn’t work. We had to eat our mexican take out in our garage in fold out chairs, wearing our Sunday best while waiting for the locksmith. Several neighbors drove by and I’m sure they think we’re loco. “Why yes good neighbor, we have summer Sunday garage picnics EVERY week!”
- One of us burnt our hand severely on the brand spankin’ new lawn mower. Before any mowing was done. The other one of us is just going to let the yard grow until the first one’s hand is better. Because one of us doesn’t mow lawns. But I’m not saying which one.
- We joined the neighbors for our first driveway hang out. A few nights a week everyone who is inclined to brings out a chair and a drink to sit around shootin’ the breeze while watching the kids play in the street. I’m in heaven. I can’t wait until the peanut is one of the hooligans popping wheelies and getting scraped knees.
- During driveway hang out I met a neighborhood mom who has a darling 8 month old girl. We were introduced, and then I introduced her to the peanut. Then she’s all “Oh! They’ll be in the same class in school!!” I died. And then I came back to life, clutched my baby girl to my chest and yelled “SHE’S NOT EVER GOING TO GROW UP EVAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!” and cried my way back home. Ok, maybe I wasn’t that dramatic, but shoot y’all. Didn’t I JUST give birth to her??
- We had direct TV installed. And we have DVR for the first time in our lives. I can’t wait to watch my first recorded episode of So You Think You Can Dance.
- I unloaded ALL of my clothes into our closet. And P’s. And I still have room left over. Hallelujah and Amen.
- We have waved at several friendly neighbors, both pedestrians and drivers, on our path to the house. I love that! It’s nothing like the old hood where I would expect a middle finger and possibly the cops called (man I REALLY need to post about our old neighbors).
- I took a shower in our stand up shower. I’ve never had one. We’ve always had the shower/tub combo. I’m converted and will never go back.
- Peanut has crawled EVERYWHERE to get into everything she’s not supposed to. What a perfect time to learn to crawl. Right when there are all sorts of tiny objects strewn about that pose a choking hazard. Gone are the days where I only have to baby proof the things within her reach. And that, my dear little girl, is why we leave you in the pack and play with your toys. Baby cages come in handy when you’re moving.


It’s been a crazy few days, but overall I just feel blessed and lucky and happy. Hopefully this home will see years of our family’s ups and downs, smiles and tears, and overall resilience b/c we stick together when the goin’ gets tough. And we really know how to enjoy ourselves when times are good. So come on over when you get a chance. Head out to the back porch, I’ll pour you a drink, and P will grill up something fabulous. We can contemplate life, laugh our heads off, and watch the peanut and Stella play in the yard. Life is good.


“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” Joshua 24:15b

Dear Little Peanut,

You are SIX MONTHS OLD today!  Happy half birthday!!  I say this with a smile on my face but a tear in my eye.  You are determined to grow up no matter what I do to hinder the process.  You live life with a huge smile on your face and improve the mood of whoever is in your presence.  That is a gift I hope you hold on to.  You are fearless and resilient.  You are extraordinarily affectionate.  You are easily amused (that you get from your Dad).  You are special.  You will grow up to do great things, and God has such a plan for you!  I can't wait to see it unfold.  We're so blessed He chose us to be your parents.  Or to be parents at all (we definitely don't always have it together).  We'll always love you to pieces and we know you love us too.  Those slobbery baby kisses say it all.

Facts about YOU:
- You are still in size 2 diapers.  And that's totally ok with me.  You have the cutest teeny baby butt.
- You can still fit into 0-3 onesies, which is crazy.  You were wearing one yesterday that I have a picture of you in when you were 5 weeks old.  Although it does look quite different on you now.  The best fit right now is Carter's 3 months.  Gap 3-6 also fits but is still a bit baggy.  And you are now in 6-12 pjs...mostly because that's the smallest size the cute ones come in.
- You roll over consistently now.  Better late than never.  You have perfected sitting up on your own, however that is never good enough.  You are trying to crawl.  You can go from sitting to your hands and knees, but sometimes your feet get in the way.  You have taken one step while I've been watching.  And the desired object you were crawling to?  The laptop.  You are your Daddy's daughter.
- You want to stand ALL THE TIME.  You can pull yourself up with just a little help.  The time is fast approaching to drop your crib and remove the bumpers.  But not yet...I'm not ready to yet.
- We have successfully started solids!  Your first bite of food was avocado, which is entirely appropriate for our family.  To be a member you must be able to down copious amounts of guacamole without batting an eye.  You took to it immediately and already want to feed yourself.  I love that you love food.
- You still suck your thumb.  And it's cute.  For now.
- Your hair is strawberry blonde, and it doesn't seem to be getting lighter.  You might actually stick with your current color, which would be a total surprise.  We pegged you for a blondie (I mean, you do come from two blond haired blue eyed pale parents).
- You have your Daddy's eyes.
- The song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" makes you laugh.
- You LOVE attention.  And the camera.  There have been several occasions where you have been on the brink of a meltdown, and we bring out the camera.  Instant smiles.  And even POSES.  I'm a little worried about this trait, but for right now it's just cute.
- You try to "talk" over others.  Sometimes you won't let me get a word in.  But it's ok.  You probably just have a lot to say!

I'm sure there are several other things I'm leaving out, but basically:
You are growing up
We think you're pretty fantastic

It's Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!  It's my favorite holiday.  To me it means summer, beach, good food (usually crab legs), and sparklers.  All awesome things.  This year we are having a low key celebration at my parent's house.  We're forgoing the crab legs for something lower maintenance and our fireworks will be displayed on the TV.  But this might just be my favorite 4th to date because we have our teeny little Peanut snoozing away in the other room.  And when she wakes up we get to play with her.  There is nothing better.  So in honor of this day I give you...more Peanut pictures.  You're welcome.  Oh, and the lack of posts are due to a shortage on time and brain power.  Believe me, there have been plenty of things to report!  All in good time, and hopefully from our NEW HOUSE (update to follow...but not, like, tomorrow...because of previously referenced time problems).