Beauty

Nine Months

Gabriella is getting REALLY busy these days! And SUBBORN, too! She is starting to really have strong opinions about a lot of things. Parenting of this little one has officially begun! :( She has especially strong opinions about food. She loves fruit and will eat just about any variety as a fingerfood, but no vegetables whatsoever- she won't even touch whole grains or cheeses! This makes a mommy (who, unfortunately, has a natural tendancy to worry) a little uneasy. I have known a few babies who have needed physical therapy for developmental delays that have presented themselves in rejection of fingerfoods. Now, I know I'm overreacting. Especially considering the fact that she is not only progressing "normally", she is ahead of the developmental curve in many areas. But, nevertheless, I'm still a little uneasy about it. Hoping that this phase ends soon! Overall, she is still doing very well. She's active, happy, and beautiful. Loving this baby is so easy! :)

Oh the Things They Come Up With...

Today, when the babysitter (Betsy) came over, Mollie refused to say hello. After she finally agreed to talk, she said, "Bets, I'm over you." We asked her what she was over, to which she responded, "I'm over you babysitting me." Rude? Terribly. But somewhat funny? YES!

Gabriella and Friends

My friends, Melinda and Amy, came over to help me finish unpacking and decorating. And with them came their adorable little girls. These girls were each born a few weeks apart- Gabs in June, Kensie in Mid-July, and Sadie at the end of July. I love that Gabs has little girly friends to grow up with, just like her big sister does. Here the girls are posing on the couch. From left to right is Sadie, Gabriella, and Kensie.

Five, Six, and Seven Months

What a precious girl! Time is flying with our little one. She has two teeth, is saying "dada", sleeping through the night, waving hello, sitting up, and starting to crawl! She has an unexplainable sweetness to her personality that none of us can get enough of- especially Mollie. The girls hug and kiss goodnight every evening. And Gabs' eyes follow Mollie whenever she's in the room. We love this little one so very, very much!

I'm Terrible...

It has been way too long. Life has been a tad overwhelming, to say the very least. Since I last posted, I went back to work part-time, took a Mom and Babies trip to Seaside (crazy!!!), got sick, had two sick babies, did Christmas (all the shopping, baking, cooking, planning, and wrapping all by myself), packed our entire house for our move (all by myself), moved with lots of wonderful help, and unpacked entirely in our new house (again, all by myself). All this while caring for the little ones. I hope that I can get back to regularly posting, now that life is starting to calm down... At least I hope it gets "back to normal", if there is such a thing at this stage of life! :)

Our New Home!

(Off the subject, but I haven't posted anything in such a long time, because our computer is on the fritz and won't let me upload pictures to blogger! I need to take it to Best Buy for repairs, but have been avoiding the trip. An errand like that with two little ones sounds oh so awful and if it needs major repairs they ship it to California for up to two weeks. In this day in age that seems somewhat unbearable. Two weeks without a computer?! Pure craziness!!!)

Anyway, I wanted to share our super exciting news! We officially know where we are moving. It's going to be a big step for us... Right across the street. Yep, that's right. Our house number is changing from 1616 to 1617!

Almost five years ago, when we bought our house, we made friends with the couple across the street. They were planning a wedding for July 1st and we were planning our wedding for July 22nd. And they are both educators, just like me. And just four months before Mollie was born, they welcomed their first child into their family- a little girl. Their daughter was one of Mollie's first friends! Needless to say, right from the start, we had a lot in common. All this led to a wonderful friendship and we are so thankful to have them in our lives.

Right as we were getting serious with our thoughts of moving, they announced that they had bought a new house. We were pretty upset to be losing such amazing neighbors and to see our friends move away. However, they were thinking about renting out their old house. They asked us right away if we'd like to rent from them, but we had to make sure the timing of their move would work out for our move. We put the idea on the back burner and just kept praying for "the right house at the right time".

God is good and works all things for His purpose. He aligned our time lines and has allowed us to rent our friends' house, stay in our neighborhood, and get a truly amazing deal on rent. This will allow us a couple of years to follow Dave Ramsey's plan for financial freedom and to prepare to repurchase the right home at the right time. We are so very, very blessed. We couldn't possibly have imagined a better scenario. Again, God is good!!!

By the way, check out Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. It will change your life. The concepts are for everyone- those who need a little help in the finanical department (like most people out there), those who feel comfortable with where they are, and even for those who make mega money. The principles apply to us all!!!