Busier and Crazier

Things are about to get even busier and crazier around here...



God has blessed us with a Baby Taylor to be born in September! 9/10/11 is the due date, so that makes us 13 weeks!

We have had to keep in mind what a blessing this is because, let me tell you, it has been a doozy! Found out I was 4 weeks pregnant when I was battling the flu! Rough! Then had some issues and had to take progesterone supplements until recently. Have had what I thought was horrendous evening sickness (which we think and are experimenting to see if it's issues with vitamins). And add on a bulging disk in my back and asthma problems! Whew! I am definitely so thankful everything is healthy so far with the baby though. It is hard to not be anxious with all of that going on, even though I know (in my head, probably need to work on the heart part) that God is sovereign and has a plan greater than I can imagine for our family.

I was hoping for a cooler ultrasound picture to put up, but evidently I won't get that until 21 weeks when we'll also be able to find out the gender (beginning of May). It has always amazed me to see how babies grow and develop, but it's even more miraculous when it's happening to you. Such evidence of a Creator.

Taylor Made for Taylor

Here's Joey and his Dad's latest project...


They made this for some friends of ours daughter, Taylor's 5th birthday. She adored it, and they did such a great job!

Crazy Busy

I did not remember moving being this involved and busy! Maybe that means we have accumulated too much stuff? :\

We are happy, though, to be back in my hometown, Guntersville. We have been in the new house since Sunday and are slowly getting settled. I don't know what we would have done without the help of our amazing families and friends! Thanks to all of you!

Come by and see us if you're around...


We also have a new family member...
I should have included a description/explanation in our Christmas cards, sorry about that. Anyway, we have/are in the process of getting guardianship of a 16 year old young man, named Casey. He moved with us to Guntersville and will be enrolling in GHS!


God continues to bless us, and we are so thankful!

The Blizzard

I had mixed emotions about this snow. It was definitely pretty (and lots of it, 7 inches!)






And the dogs had a blast...






And the boys played...



But I must confess...I'm a little ready for it to go away already. Time to get things done and get back to work!

For Sale!

I know it's been a while, I apologize. But I wanted to let my blog friends in on the newest thing going on at our house....
It's for sale!


We always knew this place would be temporary, but the opportunity has presented itself for my sister and I to start a non-profit counseling center near the Hampton Cove area (more details on that later when we officially know how it's going to happen). So we are hoping to move back "home" by the summer! It will be bittersweet - maybe more sweet because I will be closer to my family and starting this non-profit is my dream, but also this is the first home we owned and we put so much elbow grease into it. Plus we have met some great people that we will miss.

So all of this is obviously in God's hands, so we will see how he works everything out! Check out the listing here.

Charleston

Thanks to credit card points for gas and hotel points from Joey's work traveling, we got an almost free trip to the beautiful city of Charleston! I had always wanted to visit this town because I love all the old charm of it (reminded me of Savannah).


We took the dogs with us which limited us a little bit (kind of like taking children!), but it was still fun to watch them have fun. Their two favorite parts, I believe, were watching the squirrels in Battery Park and playing on the beach.




The history was so visible in the scenery everywhere! Gorgeous!





I loved all these old trees!




We ate great food, whether it was seafood (amazing shrimp and grits) or wonderful Southern cuisine. If you ever go, we highly recommend Bubba Gump's (I know it's a chain, but it really is good), A.W. Shucks, Hominy Grill, and Southend Brewery.

The Windy City

I had a wonderful opportunity to visit my childhood best friend who's in a doctoral graduate program in Illinois. So she, of course, showed us all around Chicago.





I really enjoyed Chicago...much more than NYC. It felt so much cleaner, maintained, and less crowded. Plus, the pizza. Oh my gosh! It was amazing!

Heart attack on a plate, I'm sure, but oh so good!

We did some sightseeing, saw the Bean...




and the Fountains




We also went to the Field Museum and saw "Sue," the largest, most complete T-Rex.




One of my favorite parts of the trip, though, was the view from the Skydeck at the top of the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower).





My other favorite part was the gorgeous architecture downtown and in the Sheffield/Lincoln Park neighborhoods.





I would definitely recommend Chicago!