Christmas Time....

I LOVE Christmas time! From Thanksgiving until New Years, I am in my element. This year the kickoff to the holiday season was extra special as we spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey with my sister and her family. Since we were all the way in NJ, we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and that was the icing on the cake for our family. Many of you, my friends, thought we were NUTS to drag little kids to the parade but we have NO regrets and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Grace with her cousins Claire and Abby

Snoopy

Sarah and me

I also love the updates that we receive by way of Christmas cards and letters. All of the letters that we receive each year have prompted me to write a letter each year for our family. I was looking back at our old letters and cards recently and it is really neat to see our progression in my letters. I am happy I began this tradition and it will be something cool to give our kids one day.

I am THRILLED we are done with school for 2 weeks. This is not a new feeling for me...when I taught school, it was also a huge relief to get out for "winter" break. As many of you, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa and the energy in our house is truly fun anticipating the end of this week. More Christmas news to come after the BIG day. Merry Christmas everyone!

Fall 2008

It has been a very busy fall at our house. Between soccer games, practice, homework and life I feel like we have gone through a season of being insanely busy. Thankfully, things are starting to settle down. One more week of soccer and then we are going to lay low this winter with no organized activities except the things we do through school. There is something to be said for relishing these times when the kids are still young. Our really busy days are ahead and there is no sense in rushing toward the chaos that is surely to come when all 3 kids are involved in 3 different activities, etc.

The fall festival at the kids school in October proved to be a fun time for us. The kids got to participate in a scarecrow contest with their classes (mostly Grace), rode ponies and ate a lot of junk...etc.

Halloween was a fun night at our house. I tried to make it festive and with a little help from the October issue of Southern Living feel like I accomplished my intended goal. We ate "mummy dogs" for dinner and had "ghost" cakes for dessert. We trick or treated in our new neighborhood and then we headed to our old neighborhood where there are TONS of kids and a sense of familiarity. Our kids enjoyed trick or treating but it was so cool when they were like....We are done! I know a lot of kids that could go forever but not my 3. Once it was dark, Zach was very concerned that is was 9:00 and past his bedtime. I have no clue where the 9:00 came from but he was convinced it was that late and I had forgotten about bedtime. I guess he doesn't realize that his bedtime is much earlier than 9:00!

Naptime?

Zach is really struggling with naps these days. It is almost 100% a direct result of our schedule during the week that impacts Zach not getting a nap. However, I have been trying to make time in the afternoons for Zach to nap. Well, he pretty much refuses to get in his bed and take a real nap. So his naps occur in really random places at really random times. Today was no exception and I will let the pictures do the telling...

he was watching Drew play a game on the computer...

it was not enough to keep this tired boy awkake...

after lunch...it was all he could take!

Clean Hair

I went grocery shopping on Sunday and picked up some kid's shampoo. We ran out of Drew's favorite flavor so I remembered to buy more. No big deal...I unloaded groceries and I began to bake cookies. Tim and the kids were in and out of the kitchen and at some point Tim asked me where was Zach. I thought for a second...I don't know where he is but wherever he is, he is awfully quiet. Quiet, if you have kids...specifically 3 kids, does not always indicate something good is going on. Tim went to get bathroom trash and I quickly heard "I thought I smelled something really sweet..." There sat Zach under our bar washing his dry hair with the new shampoo. AAGGHHH. I wasn't exactly ready to bathe him but unless I wanted him to look like a greaser, a bath was our only solution. He thought he was pretty clever and here are the pictures that make this a pretty funny situation. I admit it...I laughed uncontrollably over this...trying to be a little more laid back than normal. At any rate, we all got a good laugh over Mr. Zach!

Are you serious???

So dang cute...even with shampoo in dry hair!

The things children say...

I am often amazed when I am "busy" at the things my kids say to each other. Lately, my favorite time is when the boys are in the car together without Grace...their conversation is priceless. I picked the 2 of them up one day last week and once we were all settled Drew pulled out his uneaten snack from his schoolbag. "We had a birthday party mommy so I didn't eat my goldfish..." Thus begins the conversation between Drew and Zach..."Drewboo (Zach's pet name for Drew and mine too...)you not eat your goldfish today?" "No Zach, we had a birthday today so we had a special snack." "Oh, Drewboo have special snack today???" "Yes, Zach...it was a special cookie." "Oh, Zachie (what Zach calls himself) likes cookies." "It was good but now we can share my goldfish." "We eat Drewboo's goldfish in the car?" "Yes Zach, I will share with you." This continued on the entire ride home. Drew indeed shared his goldfish and they chatted with one another until we got home. It is not always this pleasant, especially in the car but on this particular day it was.

On the other hand, I also hear my kids talking to one another in ways I would prefer them not to. Occasionally, Grace will speak to the boys as if she is their mother and she is mimicking me. She has never said anything inappropriate, but sometimes her tone is not how I would prefer. I realize that she takes in all that I say and how I say things so it is mine and Tim's job to model the way we want our children to act. This task scares me as I am often not who I want my kids to become. I try hard but I often fail. The other day Drew was being utterly ridiculous about something and I said "that is just plain stupid" and there was a hush amongst the kids and they all began to tell me stupid is a bad word. They are learning but I hope to lead them by example, not just by telling them how they should act, what they should say, etc.

Kidney Stones and Labor

What is the difference between these 2 painful events? In labor, you can get an epidural the minute you can no longer bear the pain. Now, I am proud to say that I did not receive an epidural with any of my kids until I was like 5 or 6 cm dilated. In fact, Tim thought it was a waste of money for 2 of my deliveries as I had the epidural less than 2 hours before my babies were born. Anyway, I got the epidural when I could no longer tolerate the contractions rocking my body. With kidney stones, you only receive drugs once the doctor is pretty sure he/she knows what is wrong with you. I had the unfortunate privilege to experience this last Monday night...



I had had back pain for a few days but I have 3 kids so no big deal. By Monday night, I could not get comfortable in bed. I tossed and turned, got up, layed back down...I was miserable. I finally dozed off for about 30 minutes to be awkened by what seriously felt like back labor. I was in agony. I could hardly catch my breath. I woke Tim up and we began to assess the situation. After about an hour, I finally decided I needed drugs and we didn't have anything strong enough at home so we headed to Piedmont Hospital. It was a quick process and lucky for me, I passed the stone before they finally shot me up with narcotics. It was misery. I wish this on no one.

I had a procedure done yesterday and there is still one more stone to come but hopefully my narcotics in the medicine cabinet will be my saving grace. We shall see....

Soccer Mom and Soccer Kids...

this is during the game... they are all standing around!

Soccer moms: 1) moms that drive all over for their kids and their lives pretty much revolve around the schedules of their kids. 2)moms that at some point played soccer

Soccer kids: kids that play soccer

I am fast becoming a soccer mom by my definition above. My kids are still little and their schedules are pretty much school and tonight we added a sport to the mix. My life does revolve around my kids but they do not nor will they ever dictate my schedule. Tim and I decide what activities our family can handle and we go with it. I love the fact that my kids are getting old enough to play sports. I am definitely a ball park mom. I played softball as a little girl and soccer as an older kid and loved it. I especially loved soccer. Tonight Grace and Drew had their first games and it was so much fun. Both sets of grandparents came and the only bummer was that Tim was out of town.

My Drew man did so great tonight. He was a good defender and scored about 10 goals. I am not joking either! Now there is not a ton of skill going on at 4 but he gets it. He is so obviously athletic and he LOVES to run around and compete. He told me after the game, "I was a great player mommy." Where is his modesty?? I look forward to watching his abiltity grow and I really look forward to t-ball in the spring!

He made a run down the field...to score!!

Grace is a diva. I am certain she is half my sister's kid as I don't ever remember being quite this way. I was dramatic and Grace is way dramatic but I just don't ever remember being a diva. My girl is high maintenance and watching her play tonight was true entertainment. She had a few good hits on the ball and her face...she got hit at least 2 times and it was hard to get her to chill out. Thank goodness GAGA (my mom) was there because my mom has this unique bond with Grace and can pretty much calm her down anytime. She was a cute soccer player but she admitted on the way home that she might need to stick to ballet and gymnastics. GREAT....we have 9 games left!!!

She sure looks cute!

The Thinking Chair...

aka time out. I have 3 kids and I could pretty much tell you who will get in trouble and who wouldn't dare get in trouble outside of our home. I will say over the last year, I have had a few surprises. The Heiskell School utilizes the "thinking chair" as a short time out if needed. They also use the "crying chair" if some sad soul needs to cry for a few minutes. The premise is that if you are misbehaving or crying, you need to sit alone. It helps the kids shape up so they can rejoin the group. I think this is used until kindergarten or so. Grace, I am proud to say, went the whole school year last year without sitting in the thinking chair. I admit that I was surprised but very pleased.

I assume that Zach will sit in the thinking chair multiple times in one day. I almost have no doubt...he is 2 and he is strong...willed that is!

I also would have bet my life that Drew would NEVER even come close to sitting in the thinking chair. Especially the first week...After he got in the car on his first day he said, "I sort of had to sit in the thinking chair today." I laughed out loud...."You did what???" He began to explain to me the events leading up to the sitting and I laughed even harder. This story is much better in person as his speech is priceless on several of the words he said but I will try and do it justice. "Drew, why did you have to sit in the thinking chair?" "Because I didn't say pwesent when the teacher called my name." Oh, he must have been confused...he didn't know about saying present when roll is called. "Why didn't you say present when your name was called?" "I didn't feel like it." "Were you told to say present when your name was called?" "Yes, but I didn't want to." Alrighty then...maybe my perfect obedient child is going to throw me a curve ball this year. I explained to him that the respectful thing to do is to obey the adult even when it is hard. He seemed ok with my lecture....

Today resulted in Drew getting in the car and announcing that he said pwesent today and raised his hand. I guess he was testing the waters yesterday. It makes me laugh but I want to always emphasize the importance of ALWAYS respecting adults. If the truth be told and I wouldn't dare tell him this...I think asking a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds to say present is a bit strange to begin with!

First Day of School Part Deaux

yes, Zach is missing his pants....

AAAHHHH...the sound of silence. It is a golden sound and one that I am not all that familiar with. I mean, there are 5 of us living together and 3 of them are 6 and under. Kids are noisy...I accept that. I am however, quite content with a morning ALL ALONE!!! Yesterday was insanely busy. Tim took Grace to school at 7:30 and I left with the boys at 8 for their meet and greet with their new teachers. From there, we ran home for 20 minutes, I took them to a friend's house and then I went to preschool orientation for the second year in a row. I dropped $800 in a matter of minutes signing them up for activities, early drop off...yada yada...I ran and picked the boys up, ran home to get my insurance card that was not in my wallet, ran to drop a RX at Publix and came home with 45 minutes to spare before we had to leave to go get in the carpool line for Grace. Phew..this was all before 3pm. In the midst of this, I saw Tim for like 5 minutes and told him to have a great trip to CA and gave him a kiss and was on my way. So, all 3 kids were in bed by 7:30 because the night before was just as crazy as our day and we were all exhausted!!

6:45 and I couldn't believe it was already time to get up. I am not a morning person...not now not ever. I faked it for a few months last fall when I did Boot Camp with some friends at 5:45 in the morning. I can't believe I ever did that...not again. Anyway, I got up and Grace and Drew were downstairs a few minutes later. I have been setting an alarm in Grace's room and for now it gets her up. She is more of a morning person than me. They got ready and when they went back upstairs to brush their teeth, I got Zach up. He was not at all happy when I turned the light on. It took him a good 15 minutes to perk up. Once he remembered he was going to school, it was all good. It is what often makes me laugh about him. As attached to me as he is, he loves going and doing new things. We left for school at 7:29 and thankfully did not hit the Vinings train or a whole lot of traffic. We dropped Grace off at 7:49 and pulled back around to the preschool. I got the boys out and we waited for early morning care to open. Zach began to play with another little boy and I knew he was fine. When the doors opened, Zach told me bye and went right in. Drew on the other hand, turned back toward me with those pleading eyes and for a second my eyes burned with tears. He went on in and I bolted. These are sweet times in our life. My kids are growing up but are still little. I am excited to go get them and see what all they did today!
Pictures to follow...my camera got damp at Disney and getting a clear picture is quite difficult...I may have gotten 1 this morning to post...

Potty Training Woes?

I feel so dumb even posting this on here...I have potty trained 2 kids and surely have it figured out enough to potty the train the third, right? Maybe not in time for him to go to 2 year old preschool on Wednesday though....have I mentioned that I am a mom that enjoys some time ALL ALONE???

Zachary Thomas...my third born child and baby. He came into our life as a big surprise and has ended up being a huge blessing to our family. I had a complete hysterectomy 7 months after he was born and considered him a sweet gift before I ended years of pain. Knowing he is the last has made me baby him A LOT longer than I babied the other 2. 3 days before Grace turned 2 she was a big sister to Drew and 19 months after Drew was born he was a big brother to Zach. I ran out of time to baby the other 2. All this makes some milestones difficult to accomplish with Zach. He still sleeps in a crib...and pretty much refuses his new bed in his new room with his older brother. He still has a paci and I make no apologies for that. He demands a lot and I often give in to him so that I can be effective with G & D.

He flat out refuses the whole potty deal. I am totally cool with this fact...I didn't potty train Drew until right around the time he turned 3 and it was a painless quick process. But, the school the boys are going this year - requires kids to be potty trained...even the 2 year olds!!!! I am frustrated that I missed this minor detail when I enrolled him ( a detail that is published NOWHERE) but am trying desperately to determine how to proceed. A friend suggessted a book that promises to potty train in one day...hmmm....not sure that is humanly possible for us. At any rate, I want to be a good mom to Zach. I need to buck up and break bad habits that I and I alone have established with him. He needs school...he needs someone other than me in his life and I am trying real hard to make this work. So, I am soliciting advice from anyone that might have some ideas. Shoot me an email if you have any ideas! :-)

All About Claire...

Abby and Claire

Hopefully this is not too inappropriate but my sister just called. She sounded devastated and I was worried when she told me to sit down. My oldest neice it turns out entered full throttle puberty this morning with the arrival for the first time of her monthly friend. Need I say anymore? How is it that I have a neice old enough for that??? At first, I said no way she is WAY TOO young and then I calculated her age versus my age when that occurred for me and I realized she is right on track. WOW - I remember the day she and her brother (they are twins) were born like it was seriously yesterday...and it was February 1996!!

I was sick and Sarah was in Savannah having the twins. I could not go with my parents the day they were born because I had a fever and they were preemies and well, you just don't do that to a new mom. I was devastated to say the least. My mom and I drove down the following weekend in time for Claire to be released fromt he hospital. She was my baby. I tried REALLY hard not to favor one so early on, but I was smitten by her. I still am. I think she is one of the coolest kids ever and I am so proud that she is my neice. I only wish she lived closer so that we could hang out more. She is artistic, athletic, and FLAT GORGEOUS! She spent time with us this summer when Sarah was down for the party and she was amazing with my kids and I could have kept her all summer! So here's to ClaireBear (what my kids call her and me too)...we love you!

Summer Recap...

We had an AWESOME summer! First and most importantly we moved into our house that we have been planning and working on for nearly a year. We spent the majority of the summer settling in. Don't get me wrong, there is A LOT to do but on the surface we are settled. My sister came down not once but twice this summer and we had a blast. Her first trip was planned around our grand housewarming party and I am sure I would have never been ready for the party had she not somehow flown down the Thursday before! We threw a bash at the new Casa and it was a so much fun. We hired a band, thanks to Big-Swig for a fabulous night of music even if it was an early night! Our quaint town of Smyrna, GA closes shop at 10pm if anyone calls and complains. So, around 10:16 a very nice officer showed up in our backyard to let us know we were done. He apologized for having to shut us down but he had to do it...we still had a great time.

Laurie and Amy after a lot of dancing!!

Sarah and Amy

KT and Amy

my sweet husband keeping the beverages open...

the very end of the night...souvenir tshirt and all

After the party, I began to focus on the last 2 trips of the summer. A work trip to Vegas for Tim and I and our surprise trip to Disney. The trip to Vegas was actually for me and it was kind of cool as it was a conference for ticket brokers. In case any of you have missed that teeny weeny detail of my life, tickets are what I do from home so that I can be at home. It has been a very successful business for us. So what started as a way to earn a few bucks on the side on eBay has turned into a full time business for us on multiple networks. Check it out sometime...Amy's Tickets. Who'd have ever thought?? Anyway, we went to the Ticket Summit at the Venetian in Vegas and had a REALLY good time. 3 nights at a nice Vegas hotel, good food, good shows, and some successful blackjack playing and I was energized for the rest of the summer.

We took some day trips to Rome to visit with Laurie and the girls but we mostly stayed home enjoying our new house. It was a great summer and I am looking forward to a great fall! Especially cooler weather and some football...

Growing Pains...

I am finding that the older my kids get, the more I want to keep them young. Grace just seems so big this week and so grown up. She has only been to school 2 days thus far(she was already home sick today AAAGGHH) but she already seems bigger to me. Not in the physical sense, but her mind. While she was up last night sick as a dog, she was asking us the funniest questions. We were watching the Democratic Convention recaps and she was asking tons of questions about the president, etc. She knew who our current president is and where he lives. I am sitting there going how in the world do you know he lives in DC? I am certain we have never had those lessons....



I was talking to my mom tonight while I was out alone (nothing too exciting just to Publix) and I was complaining about this new phase in our life. The phase that will last a whole lot longer than the preschool years and I told her I didn't like it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy time alone. I have always appreciated time away. I enjoy my kids getting to go somewhere like school without me. I need that time away...they need that time away. However, it was so simple before we were in real school. She encouraged me to embrace this new phase and look for the new joys that are sure to come. I know this to be true but sometimes in the mud it is hard to see clearly. The truth is my kids are growing up and not that 6, 4, and 2 are ancient by any stretch but we are cruising through and Grace will never be home in the mornings with us unless it is a break from school. Then Drew will head on to full time school and then Zach...then I fall apart?! No, I am assured by many that have gone before me that I will survive just fine. So I am resigned to enjoy the chaos of today because it will only be a different kind of chaos tomorrow.

First Day of School Part 1

Today was Grace's first day of prefirst at the Heiskell School in Buckhead. She attended kindergarten here last year and with her late August birthday we decided prefirst was a great option for her. She is a small peanut and we are looking forward to this school year. The big deal about today is that it is the first day of a FULL school day. Her hours are 8:00-3:05 and that is a LONG time for my baby to be away...the day began REALLY early...

Grace came down at 2:45 am complaining that her covers were off her bed. She seemed wide awake so Tim went to lay with her as we were really wanting her to get rested before her big day. Well, she was still talking Tim's ear off well after 3:30 am. She did not get back to sleep for a long time and was back up at 7am when her alarm went off. She was eager to get ready and she was thrilled that this day was finally here! She and Tim left at 7:39 and I promptly went back to bed until 9:30 when the phone rang!!!

The boys and I had a slow day and I was anxious to pick her up. We left too early to pick her up and sat in the carpool line for 20 minutes...a mistake I will not make again! She got in the car with a huge smile on her face and chatted our ears off all the way home! I am not sure where she gets the chattiness! ;-)

Birthday Surprises...

Grace and Drew have birthdays that are 3 days apart...3 days shy of 2 years apart. Drew was born 104 weeks and 9 minutes after Grace was born and so their birthdays thus far have been grouped together. Tim and I had this brainstorm about 7 months ago that we would go to Disney for their birthday. I had the idea to keep it a secret...until we left for the trip. So last Saturday at 6:23 am we rolled out of our driveway with sleepy kids and a rented minivan loaded with our stuff for the big trip. I was beside myself with excitement and the kids were just plain confused! A few hours into the trip we revealed our destination and it was cute to listen to them chatter about what all we would do once we were there, etc.

It was a great week. We stayed at Ft. Wilderness and for those of you with kids debating this trip...I can't tell you how awesome this place is. It is a campground but they have these precious cabins and it is a Disney Resort so you get ALL the Disney perks (after you pay for them). You take a boat over to the Magic King(dom)...Zach called in Magic King all week thus we have renamed the park! :-)

We were in for the next surprise...Tropical Storm Fay was headed our way and in all my secretive planning, I truly had NO CLUE! How moronic is that? We spent our last 2 days in blue ponchos but our spirits were not dampened. The parks were less crowded and we had a blast rain and all. I will spare all the details but both kids had a great birthday and I now have a 6, 4 and 2 year old! WOW, the time continues to FLY!

the very first ride...

mommy and her boys!

Drew's birthday dinner with Mickey

Happy Birthday Grace!

Splash Mountain...front row!

Our week alone...

This week Tim is at the North American Christian Convention in Cincinnatti, OH. He goes every year for work and I used to go with him before kids. We have gone with Grace and once with all 3 but my days are better suited at home with 3 kids as opposed to a hotel room at a conference Tim is working! Tim left Sunday night and I was MISERABLE. I had caught the dreaded stomach bug that had ripped through our family and I seriously could not get out of bed. Thankfully, Tim's mom came to do bedtime with the kids and Monday morning brought a less sick mommy.

We have had a good week thus far. Most of our days are good since we moved. The kids love just being at home and that makes a lot of things easier. We have a built in playmate next door...Addison is 17 days younger than Zach and we play each afternoon and sometimes in the morning too. It has been GREAT! Last night all 3 kids needed a bath and sometimes it is hard to convince all 3 to take a bath. So I told them they could get in mommy and daddy's jacuzzi tub and if they got all cleaned up we would put the jets on. This did the trick and after I washed everyone's hair we turned the jets on....HA HA! Bubbles began to grow and grow and grow...until we had to turn the jets off! I should know better and if you know me well enough you know what happened with bubbles on my wedding night! ;-) A blog post for another time , perhaps!

Bubbles + Jets = lots of SUDS!!

Tonight is the BIG PJ at our house. PJ meaning pajama party...Grace almost always asks to sleep with me if Tim is out of town. This week is no different. She asked in front of Drew and he jumped on board as well. I made a deal with them that they could BOTH sleep with me tonight. I figured that only took one night away from me being all alone in the bed while Tim was traveling. They went to bed like champs and I am looking forward to crawling in bed and snuggling them in a little bit. They are all 3 so great and I love them so much!

the 2 sleeping angels!

GOOD NIGHT!

Here comes the Fairy...

the Tooth Fairy that is. After 3 months of wiggling and fingers constantly in her mouth, Grace has finally lost a tooth. It has taken so long that her grown up teeth have grown in behind the 2 loose baby teeth! It was a long dramatic process tonight but Daddy was finally able to get the prize. As we said prayers tonight, I was taken back to the time when these precious baby teeth made their grand arrival...

She was very upset by the blood before the tooth came out

Grandmother held her while Daddy pulled

Grace had a horrible time teething when she was a baby. She would run, on average, a 104-105 degree temp and that is NO exaggeration. It was terrible. She got her first tooth, either the one she lost tonight or the one next door that is equally loose, on March 28th, 2003. I must admit that looking at the tiny tooth outside of her mouth made me so sad. How can it possibly be time for my baby to begin losing her baby teeth??? We have entered a new phase and tomorrow morning will be exciting as she unveils what the tooth fairy leaves behind!

Daddy and Grace with the tooth

Granddaddy offered $2 if she got the tooth out!

Bumps in the road...

We had a good weekend. It was great to have Tim home after he was gone the majority of the week. We were productive on Saturday and it was around lunch time that Tim let me know we were expecting a house guest that evening. WHAT??? About a month ago we invited one of Tim's coworkers to stay with us while he was in ATL for meetings. He was hesitant as it was to be our 2nd weekend in the house, etc...I assured him we would be fine. A week or 2 later Tim let me know that he would not be staying with us as the whole group coming to town had gotten hotel rooms. Ok, no big deal. Well, Mark was still planning on staying Saturday night with us. So, I was granted a free pass to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a few necessities for our guest bathroom. I was pretty excited about getting a few items that I had planned to wait on and I also enjoyed roaming around by myself for a few minutes....

My peaceful time alone was quickly interrupted when I received a message from Tim that we had MAJOR problems at home. What could possibly be that bad? A leak...a big leak at that. Drew and Zach took their first bath in their bathroom. All was great but once Tim let the water drain...things were not so great. Our ceiling in the foyer was buckling and you could see water behind another wall. Trim was getting soggy and it was TERRIBLE Thankfully, Tim noticed before water pooled on the hardwood floors so no damage there. So it looks like our house will be back under construction this week as the plumber fixes his goof and then sheetrock gets replaced and then painted. The kicker is we will be living here this time. I am proud of my reaction. I refused to allow myself to get overly worked up. It is all stuff under warranty and although it is disappointing, it can all be fixed. So another week of fun things to take care of...anyone want to trade? :-)

Moving Woes...

Well the last 7 days have definitely been memorable! Moving with 3 kids is a trip and it makes the process a lot slower. We are moved in and functioning...in fact most of the boxes are unpacked. I even have a few rooms looking like I "decorated" a bit. However, I know the truth. There is still a lot to do and I am not sure when it will get done. The kids do not understand why I would rather stay inside and unpack and put things away. I mean they have their stuff where they need it, who cares about the rest of the house?

We are having a minor issue with Grace at the new house. She is completely freaked out if we leave her in a room alone. I mean I don't specifically mean to leave her in a room she just flips if I go to another room without letting her know first. She literally bumps into me if I turn around as she is so scared I am going to disappear. She is very anxious and I get that. We are in a larger space and we now have a basement. She would FLIP OUT is she knew I had been to the basement while she was sleeping! At any rate, she is sleeping well so for that I am very grateful. I would however covet your prayers or suggestions on how to handle this new anxiety. I am sympathetic to a point and have found myself getting tense with her today. I am ready to get over this bump. So, any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

The boys are great. They have lots of wood floor space to race cars and trains. They love going outside to ride their big wheels on the driveway, dig in the mulch or play on the swing set. I am thankful that they are still too young to grasp all that has changed recently. These are the days I dreamt about while living in the APT. It is a ton of fun and I am very grateful that we are here and all we have now is time to get all the other stuff done!

Pictures still to come...I have not gotten around to taking a final finished photo!

Closing Day!!!

It is official...we are now homeowners again. We are in debt for what seems like forever all to say we have a house. I must admit it is overwhelming at the closing table when they show you the page that has what you will pay if you take 30 years to pay off, etc. All that being said, I am absolutely THRILLED and our family seems giddy about our move tomorrow out of the APT and into the house. Today marks 2 weeks shy of 11 months under contract. It has been a long time but one that I am proud to say we were patient with. We were almost done today when it was determined that our interest rate was incorrect. My stomach flipped a few times but 3 1/2 hours after we began, we came out with the correct interest rate and keys to the new house.

Like I said, we are all excited. Tim, Grace and Drew are so excited that they chose to go back this evening to sleep. I am sure they are going to sleep just great on the floor with no blinds on the windows! As for me and Zach...we are sleeping in beds tonight! :-) My excitement can hold until tomorrow morning and Zach has no idea that we the house is ours now! No pictures yet but I will be taking plenty in the coming days and will post a picture of the new abode. Thanks for the phone calls and emails. I was able to take 0 calls since I sat at the closing table so long but I heard all the messages. Stop by and see us soon!

Happy Sunday!

the 3 cuties...Zach refused to look at me!

This morning was a typical Sunday for us except the fact that Tim was out of town. There are times when I feel so inept at this thing called motherhood and there are other days when I am almost convinced that I might have it figured out. Those days pass quickly as I have not figured it all out! This morning was good...even great. Grace came in around 7:20 and asked to watch a show. I turned on the tv and went back to sleep. A little before 8, Drew came in. We hung out and had milk and juice and began to get ready for church. Zach kept sleeping and we continued on with getting ready. Finally around 9:25, I went in to check on the sleeping prince. He was in his bed rolling around in his blankies just talking. He was very happy to see me. Normally, Zach wakes up in a not so great mood so it was a nice change for him to be pleasant. Grace took a bath and washed her hair and before 10 am, we were all ready to go and looking good too.

I decided since we were ready early, we would go get breakfast at a drive through. The kids like doing this and I have to say, I am sick of this apt and trying to finagle meals in the TINY kitchen! So we headed to McD's and got food. We arrived to church 15 minutes early and still clean. I dropped the kids off and went to church all by myself. We attend Christian Church Buckhead. It is fantastic and today was no exception. It was a great service and the morning had set me up for a clear mind to actually focus on all that was said. Without going into a ton of details about the rest of our day, I will finish by saying it was great too. Yes, today being a mother brought great joy as well as a feeling of "hey, at least for today, I have this figured out!" Here's to a great week!

Grace and Drew had no problem posing

Mr. Zach finally cooperating!

Lifelong Friends...

There are few people in our lives that we can say have been our friends so long that it is hard to remember before they were our friends. My friend Laurie has been my friend since 8th grade. Yup, since we were like 12 or 13 years old. We were very close for a long time and after high school drifted apart as we went to different colleges, etc. We got back in touch during our engagements (got married 3 months apart) and kept up every few months during our first few years of marriage.

It was when Tim and I moved to Smyrna that things picked up again with our friendship. I did a mapquest from our new house to her house and it was literally 1 mile door to door! It was very exciting as she was pregnant with her first child and Grace was a baby. Really long story short...her husband(also a friend from high school...they are h.s. sweethearts)was doing his residency at Emory and my husband was getting his MBA part time after work. Our lives collided as we both endured long days and lonely nights while our husbands were doing their thing. She had 2 babies in 17 months and well....I had 3 in 3 1/2 years. Needless to say, we kept each other partially sane during those insane times. Well, Laurie's husband finished his surgical residency last June about 1 month before Tim finished his MBA. Kind of cool how God's timing works. Well, they moved to Rome, GA last July to take a job and I have missed them tremendously. Friendship like ours is very hard to replicate.

The really cool part of this story is our kids love to play and hang out. Tim is on his annual boy's weekend trip this weekend and so the kids and I hopped in the car and headed to Rome. Laurie and I went to the pool with 5 children! In order their ages are: 5,4,3,3,2. ARE WE CRAZY???? NO, we aren't crazy...in fact we had a blast and I think the kids had even more fun. At one point we were discussing how we probably are crazy to do what we do but we were sitting in chairs outside the pool while all 5 kids were in the pool! Now it was only 2 feet of water but the kids were totally entertaining each other! I love that our kids seem to jive. They all scream when we tell them that we are getting together and we have even had a few spend the night parties with ALL 5 kids! (Now that was crazy, I admit!) I am so thankful to God for all the amazing people He has put in my life but I am especially thankful that He gave me Laurie so many years ago. I pray that as our kids grow we can pass on that true authentic friendship that we have shared for so long. Pictures from the day to follow...I left the camera in the car tonight!

on the see-saw at Laurie's

posing at the pool...sorta

the 5 kids in the pool

Moving Days Ahead

I know we are not the only people in the world to move. However, this process has been a tad lengthy for our family! We signed a contract to build a house on July 24, 2007. We put our house that we were living in on the market on February 29th. I was WAY stressed about keeping our house perfect with 3 children running around and low and behold we were under contract on Sunday, March 2nd. Yippee...except our house was not done being built. Long story short, we have been in a 3 bedroom apartment since April 1st...all 5 of us. Well, Tim traveled for 5 straight weeks and I am not sure if work was busy or if that was a good excuse to escape. At any rate, we are set to close next Tuesday on our house and we are all 5 very excited. The kids ask every morning if today is the day that we are moving and everyday, I tell them not yet. I am not looking forward to the process again but I am so thrilled to be moving into our house. Last night, I took these pictures of the kids sitting on the steps by the front door. They were singing about their new house. They are wet because they had just run through the sprinklers that were running!

A New Blog...

I am officially joining the world of blogging. I have recently become really hooked on reading blogs and what started with 1 or 2 a day quickly became something that I had to limit. I would click from one to the next to the next and so on. I am reading blogs that have tremendous stories and testimonies as well as very ordinary blogs about family and life. I enjoy each of them a ton and I have been inspired to give this a try. Maybe this will work out a little better than all the scrapbook pages that are left undone, all the pictures that have not been printed, etc. I am not sure I have anything too exciting to write about but life with 3 kids ages 5 and under is pretty exciting most days. I will give this a try and see what happens. If nothing else, it becomes something fun for my family to follow. As the title of my blog implies, we are a family of 5. I am married to Tim for 10 years this past March and we have 3 amazing kids: Grace -5, Drew - 3, and Zach - 2. Life is full but we are blessed beyond belief!