back home

We're back home after being gone for 9 days! We took a trip up to Birmingham to visit with Woody's family and for him to do some work, and we also went up to Nashville for his cousin's wedding. I realized tonight that of the 9 days we were gone, we spent 6 of those days in the car for 3-5 hours each day!! Needless to say, I'm fine with not going anywhere else until this baby comes! :) Even with all the traveling though, we had a really good time visiting with family and friends and we're glad we made the trip. Here are a few pics highlighting the trip...
The girls with their cousin, Kai, who just turned one! They loved playing with him and mothering him as well! Isn't he a cutie?


The girls and I went to the Birmingham Zoo with Heather and her boys one morning and had a fun time catching up, seeing all the animals and riding the train! We also got to catch up with the Byrds and the Glasgows while in town, which was really great, but unfortunately I didn't get any pics.


The girls loved dressing up with Nonie's jewelry and shoes!! (Notice the princess shirt Arden is wearing...if I would let her, she would wear this shirt every single day. After she's worn it, I have to basically hide it until I can wash it b/c she'll pull it out of the dirty clothes...I think she set a record one time of trying to wear it 4 days in a row!)


For the weekend, we traveled up to Nashville for the wedding, and we were able to go visit a dear friend from college, Jamie, and her family for a couple of hours before the wedding. Arden and Owen had the best time playing together while Esther and Libby napped. The girls did terrific at the wedding...Arden was mesmerized during the ceremony...Esther made it up until the exchanging of the vows and decided she would start naming everything around her, so Woody took her out. Here's a family pic at the reception...


Arden LOVED the whole wedding experience! Apparently since we talked about Will and Anna getting married, she thought the bride's name was "Mary." She was so excited when they got to the reception and wanted to follow "Mary" and her pretty white dress around! When she wasn't occupied with finding the bride, she was out on the dance floor having a blast! When it was time to leave, we had to practically drag her off the floor with her saying, "Just one more dance, Mommy!" SADLY, our camera battery died not long into the reception, so I didn't get any dancing pics, any pics of the great Grands all dressed up, but I did manage to get this one pic of Arden checking the "pretty white dress" out...


I guess the wedding made quite the impression b/c last night Arden wanted to pray for HER wedding!

The girls and Nonie at Lance and Kathy's the next day for a luncheon.



And now that we're back at home, we officially have our suburban! We went and picked it up yesterday, with it pouring rain all the way up to Orange Park. As we were headed home, the rain stopped and the sun came out along with the biggest, most complete rainbow I have ever seen! It was really beautiful seeing the arch of colors and was such a sweet blessing from God! It took a while for Arden to spot it and when she did, she got so excited and talked nonstop about it...I don't know if sweet Esther really saw it, because she just talked about the clouds and the sky...but it was a precious moment to talk to them about God's creation and His promise to us. Here's a pic of the suburban...I realize it's not the best of the car, but thought it was cute of Esther. :) (And don't worry, Woody was standing by ready to catch her.)

Esther's first haircut

Esther got her first (and much needed!) haircut last week! She did a great job sitting still for the girl who cut it and after a few classic "Esther looks" seemed to somewhat enjoy the process. After all was said and done, Esther still has her curls-yay! Although I was told that the top layer of hair growing from her crown is growing out straight :( I guess only time will tell if she'll keep those precious curls!

growing

Here's a pic of our growing sunflowers...I actually took this at least a week ago and have been meaning to post it, so they're actually taller now, but you get the idea... :)

goodbye tahoe

The beloved Tahoe doesn't have a third row and since we'll have three girls in car seats, we decided to sell it. Well, we put it on Craigslist Saturday night and by Sunday evening, less than 24 hours later, it was SOLD! Praise the Lord that everything went smoothly and we had a really good experience. I think though that we're still in shock that it happened so fast and I didn't have to time to say goodbye...I know, probably sounds silly, but I'm pregnant and emotional and I REALLY loved this car!! So we said goodbye to the Tahoe on Monday. Thankfully and providentially, a friend from church let us borrow his Honda Pilot on Sunday to test out for a few days. (We really like it by the way, but it still want work comfortably with 3 car seats, strollers, ect.) Woody called him Sunday night to let him know we sold our car and he graciously told us we could borrow his until we find something. To add to it, we're going to B'ham next week and he said we could even take it on the trip...we're very thankful, but maybe we won't have to do that. So...this week has been an exhausting, crazy one trying to find a car...we're wanting to buy used, which unfortunately means, the selection is somewhat limited...at least it seems to be around here. We've been looking at cars for several weeks now, and have a good idea of what we want to spend and what we'd like...just waiting on the Lord's timing...He's definitely teaching me to wait and not be anxious!! :)

quick trip

Last Thursday we took a quick trip up to visit with Woody's grandparents, Jean and Bill. Although our time with them wasn't long, we really enjoyed our time together and it was great for the girls to be around their Gram and Bill. We love you and are praying for you!
On the way up, we spent a night in Statesboro and so were able to see my family as well for a short while. We got to go to Harrison's ballgame (he's the catcher in one of the pics) and while there, I also got to visit with a dear friend, Betsy and her son Jack.