What's happened in eleven months

It has been 11 months since my last blog post.  And it has been a crazy eleven months!  A lot has happened, as it always does. 

Our fourth child was born!  Nathanael James was born September 12, 2011.

In October, Isaac turned TWO!

At the end of January this year, we moved 450 miles away from our home for the previous three years.  We were blessed to move close to family!  But we do miss our friends and the area of Charlottesville.


We bought a house, and have been dealing with the joys and "joys" of being homeowners again. 


Elizabeth turned EIGHT!

Josiah turned SIX!  (We had our first Chuck E. Cheese birthday party.)

AND we are expecting our fifth child!  The newest one is due February 25th! 

Of course, that's just the really big stuff.  Phew!


I'm hoping to be better about blogging again.  (Shouldn't take much effort to be better than a blog post every 11 months ;-))  We've got so many more big things coming soon.  In a couple weeks, Elizabeth will be starting third grade, and Josiah will begin Kindergarten!  In a month, we'll celebrate Josiah being in our family four years!  Right after that is Nathanael's first birthday!  I don't think things will be slowing down any time soon :-)

House situation

So, I'm realizing I never posted here that we are not going to be buying a house right now. Sorry, sometimes I put things on Facebook and totally forget about the blog! Anyway, through a series of events, one with our mortgage company, the others with the bank that owns the house, we were put into a situation where we will no longer proceed with buying the house. And since time is running low before school starts and then Baby comes, we decided to rent for a year. We've been approved for the lease, just need to get everything signed. We'll be moving to another townhouse. We're kind of excited because we like the location, the age of the house, the elementary school, and the storage potential we will now have. But we are sad, and a little frustrated, that we found a great house at a good price (down the street from friends, during a time when you would think the banks want to get rid of everything) and we lost it.

BUT we know that God is working in all things for our good.

Somewhat related, we are seriously looking to find another family for our big dog, Diego. (And I do mean big! He's weighing in at 95 lbs. right now.) He has done pretty well with all the changes we have thrown at him, but in moving to another townhouse, he just doesn't have the space he needs. There is a small fenced area, but not enough for him to get the exercise he needs. And to be honest, we are not giving him the attention he deserves. With E. starting school and the Baby coming, I just don't see that improving. It is a bit hard, though. Part of me is just ready for him to move on, but he has been with us over 6 years! He lived with me in our first house before David ;-)

Adventures in Unpacking

Here's a guessing game:

Read the list of items found in one kitchen box. Then guess the "contents" label on the outside of the box.

Ceramic Noah's Ark Clock
2 Stone Trivets
All of my dried spices
2 Mugs
4 Stone Coasters
Cake decorating kit
Measuring cups
Apple corer/slicer
Metal paper towel holder
5 Plastic plates
Rubbermaid bread saver
Kitchen Towels
Aprons
Table Cloths
Cloth Napkins
Sippy cup lids
Insulated lunch bag
Hand Mixer
Decorative Glass stones

Ready?

What is your guess?

So much for me putting things neatly in groups that go together, right?

Do you know?





This box's contents were labeled as "Tupperware"!

Isn't that what you would label it? NOT! We're having fun finding things. The plates and cups were in an unlabeled box. Not in one of the six boxes labeled cups and dishes ;-) It's like a scavenger hunt!

6 months, and counting

Amazing, isn't it!? Josiah's been home 6 months. Where has the time gone? We've been so busy with moving an stuff, life has definitely been a little crazy.

Demarie and the kids even took this past week to go visit her parents. A friend even flew out to drive with them. Her parents are even graciously going to keep Jake (the beagle) for a while.

We are in the midst of moving out of company paid temporary housing to one we've found. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to look for something more permanent.

One thing we have found out here already is Christian friendship. It is a blessing to know that relatives of friends are out here and they want to get to know us and help us out how ever they can. God is definitely watching over us.