My New Favorite Song

I have added a music player to my blog that plays a song called Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly) by Sanctus Real. It is number 1 on the list of songs and plays in full. It is currently my favorite song right now and the words are applicable to my life currently so I thought I'd share the song with all of you. Enjoy!

160 and Counting!

Since about the third or 4th week of school, Ainsley's class has been doing reading logs. They are given a log with space for 10 book titles and when they return one, they get a small treasure and a new reading log. When I dropped Ains off at school today, I decided to see how many books she's read since the start of school (Ms. Debbie posts them on the wall). Ainsley has read 160 books since the beginning of school! I am so proud of her and I'm so glad that she loves to read! I hope it continues for a lifetime too=0)

Bye Bye, Crib!

Z moved into his new bed on Saturday night. No more crib! He has a bedding set with trains, plains and diggers...his favorite. He was so excited about his new bed and has done really well the last couple of nights. And because Ains is in there too, I don't think he really has a reason to come out of his room a million times like she used to. I had the beds side-by-side originally but I moved Ains' and made an "L" shape so I wouldn't have to worry about Z falling out of his bed.

Only a Matter of Time

Z finally came to the realization today that he isn't confined to the bed like he is the crib. I remember how much trouble we had with Ainsley when she first moved to a big bed. During her naps she would literally pull out everything from her drawers and get out the lotion and the Kleenex. At night we'd hear her door open and find her standing in the hallway about a million times. This weekend we'll be starting it with Z! He's in his room right now protesting his nap. I have gone in twice now and warned him that if I come back in one more time, he's moving to his crib for the remainder of his nap. I'm sure tonight will be crazy considering they will both be roaming free. I guess we'll be looking at beds this weekend. We thought about bunks but I think Z is too young and I really don't feel like going to the ER any time soon. Then we thought a trundle bed would be good since it wouldn't take up as much space as two beds but we haven't found one we like yet. There is always the option of two twin beds but I'm not liking the idea of Ains downsizing that much because I know she'll end up on the floor. When we were in Rhode Island this last summer she ended up falling on the floor while sleeping in a twin bed. And it was a wooden floor too!

My Big Boy

Zechariah took a nap in Ainsley's bed for the first time today. I explained to him that he was going to sleep there, no funny business with the toys or coming out of the room, and then we'd get rid of his crib soon. He loved the idea and was so excited! I read him a story and tucked him in and this is what I found about 30 minutes later! I'm so excited to start this process because I'm really tired of the crib and would love for him to be in a bed.

Valentine, You're Out of This World

My brother finds the coolest toys! He brought over these little dancing and singing aliens for Ains and Z on Valentines day...they just love them! Z enjoyed dancing with his (see picture #2) and Ainsley played hers in the car all the way to church and back that evening.

Roly Poly J

Here are a few pictures of Jessica when she was rolling around on the floor the other day. She is growing so fast and learning new things all the time.

We're Finally Unpacking!!!!

Here at our old house. We decided to terminate the contract (that would expire on Tuesday anyway) and just stay here. Our buyers' funding failed with another lender and the owner of the house we thought we were buying would like to list it again so we're just going to be done and stay here. We'll either re-fi and get a home equity line of credit or just get the loan and redo the kitchen and second bathroom and enjoy them for the next 2-5 years and try again then. I'm just so relieved that this is all over and happy to be unpacking our stuff finally. It wasn't necessarily the outcome we were looking for but we are at peace with it and believe that God has something better in mind. Ains was a little bummed when I told her we weren't moving to a new house anymore but both her and Z were excited to know that we could unpack all of our stuff. Our house isn't huge but it isn't crazy tiny either and none of the kids are in their teens so I think we can hang here for a little longer and save money for the future. Thanks again for all the prayers and support during this interesting adventure. We have the greatest family and friends ever!

Sleepy Little Bug

This is how I usually find J at the end of her naps. She rolls onto her tummy all the time but has only managed to roll onto her back again one or twice. Usually when she ends up on her tummy she will just lay there and suck her thumb. I just love the little bum in the air!

I've Moved Onto Castles

I've decided to quit focusing so much on "all things house" and just stop worrying about it all. God is in control so I don't need to be!

And with all the boxes around the house, what better to do with them than make a fort. Ainsley prefers a castle so I built her and Z a castle in the corner of what used to be the play room. Now it is mostly the plain room or the storage room. They put the little denim chair inside and loaded up a bag full of toys to play with. Z thinks its really funny to knock the door down or climb out an alternate way. He's such a boy!

Bitter Sweet

I'm still trying to get over the fact that right now (9:28 am) we would have been closing on our current house and then closing on the new house at 10. And that we would be MOVING to a new house tomorrow and now...nothing. I am so torn because there are some really great things about staying here but at the same time, I was already making plans in the other house. If we stay here we will be spending a lot less on a mortgage and will have money to make a lot of changes to the bathroom and the kitchen for sure. But we're still out an extra room for the kids which I know isn't horrible but I just don't see this house working when the kids are like 8, 10 and 12...especially with two girls sharing a room.

Now there are issues with an amendment to the original contract because those dates no longer apply. If the amendment isn't signed by both parties by 5 this evening, the whole thing could fall through and we'd have to start over. Plus our loan (and the great rate we locked into) will expire at the end of the month. You may be reading this thinking it is not really an issue and can be easily resolved...I would think that too if our buyer wasn't currently out of the country right now. We tried to set the closing dates for last week so he'd still be in town but no one could turn the paperwork around that quickly so we had to settle for this week and he's already left.

It is not the end of the world if we stay here but I'm tired of waiting with half my house packed up! It's difficult on the kids and they don't understand why mommy is so stressed out and why half of every one's stuff is in boxes.

Faith Remains

God has a plan and everything he does, he does for a reason...I've never doubted that for a minute although I try to put a "reason" to his will. I constantly struggle trying to figure out why he does what he does and that "this must be what ________ means" when I should just fully trust what he is doing and marvel at the work he is doing in me along the way.

Things with the houses have come to a screeching halt. There are some issues with funding for our buyer and a possibility that the whole deal could go south. That's the worst case scenario. If our buyer can find a lender, we'll just be closing in a week or so instead of Monday. Please pray that we find out a definite yes or no answer ASAP due to the fact that so many other things are contingent on this house. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers throughout this whole adventure. I will post things as they happen.

Moving Right Along

Things are progressing fast! We are now closing on both houses Monday so hopefully we'll be in our new place Tuesday which would make things soooo much easier. No kenneling the dogs, paying to store our stuff or having to get a hotel for one night. I guess we'll just have to see if everything works out.

The kids are doing well. Ains and Z know we're moving but it doesn't really mean much to Z because he just doesn't get it. Ainsley is having trouble understanding why some of her things are packed and she can't have them. She asked for her jewelery box today and told me to "just get it out of the box" for her. I told her I didn't know what box it was in and she said it's in the box with her name on it. I told her she had about 4 boxes with her name on them so I wasn't going to untape them and go looking for it. It will be an interesting couple of weeks getting adjusted to everything.

Both Ains and Z have their Valentine parties next week in school. Ainsley was so excited to write her name and the names of all her classmates on all her valentines. They both also have school pictures next Tuesday...note to self-comb Z's hair!

Jess is growing like a weed. She is rolling and scooting everywhere. Well, mostly rolling onto her tummy and then getting frustrated. She is close to sitting up now too. I can't believe she's almost 6 months!