We've Moved!

Boy have we been busy! Life has been a series of roller coaster rides since Christmas. Back in November we decided to put our house on the market. The market was starting to heat up in the area, and we both felt like it was the right move. We knew if it was meant to sell, then the Lord would make it abundantly clear. After just two weeks on the market, our house was under contract with the very first couple that looked at it.     I was SO thankful, as trying to keep a house picture perfect and clean at all times was about to do this mommy in. We were scheduled to close and move out a week before Christmas, but we were given an extra month due to financing hold ups on the buyers side. This was another HUGE answer to prayer. We were able to enjoy the Holidays, and then tackle the move afterwards. We closed on January 15, and said goodbye to the first house we ever owned. The house where we spent the first five years of our marriage, and brought both of our babies home to. It was more emotional than we had expected, but we knew it was the right move for us.

We are now just trusting in what the Lord has to come for us. We have explored ALL possibilities, and have gone from building a new house, to buying, to renting for a year or so. We are beyond thankful for my wonderful in-laws who have so graciously opened up their home to us. They have loved on, encouraged, and supported us through every decision, and have really helped make the transition easy on the kids. I know that we'll always look back and treasure the memories we've made while living here for this short time. Nana and Pop Pop have been able to experience many of Layla's "firsts" which has been so fun for them! Just last night she took her first real steps and it was such a fun moment for everyone!

Pop Pop feeding Layla her very last bottle a few weeks ago.

 Nana doing what she does best!

 We've been enjoying many of the parks on the island that we usually don't make it to.

 Nana's laundry basket has provided hours of entertainment for my two.

 Layla has developed a LOVE for birds! She will sit for the longest time watching the birds at the bird feeder. They seem to eat all of their meals together!

Stay tuned for house updates! But be warned...things change hourly!

Layla's First Birthday-VA party

Our sweet girl had lots of help celebrating her first birthday! With her actual birthday being so close to Christmas, and us being in the middle of moving out of our house, we knew a big birthday bash at our house just wasn't going to happen. The blessing about a Christmas birthday, is that there's always plenty of family in town to celebrate with! We threw her a mini party at my mom's house in VA a few days before Christmas. It was pink and girly, and all about cupcakes!

 Love this little cupcake!

 Aunt Liz and the birthday girl.

 I know my grandparents were thrilled to be a part of her 1st birthday. 

 She got so many sweet gifts, and finally has some girl toys to play with!

 The hit of the night was this "Fur real" dog that she got. She LOVES dogs, and her reaction was priceless! So sad that we didn't get it on video. 

Eli thought it was for him...but Layla set him straight.

 Yum!

 Mimi and the birthday girl.

 Waiting patiently for her cake.

 It took her no.time.at.all to devour an entire cupcake. She needed no instruction!

 No explanation needed. She's definitely got a sweet tooth!

Her first year in pictures. Oh how we've loved watching her grow!

Thanks, Mimi, for letting us party at your house!

Christmas in Virginia - Christmas Day

Christmas morning is always full of such special memories, especially now that we have little ones! It seemed so strange that Layla was already almost a year old before celebrating her first Christmas. She made certain that she enjoyed every second of it too! Eli was both shocked and thrilled that Santa knew to bring his gifts to Mimi's house. It was a fun tradition filled day, and we ended the day with a visit with my dad. I sure do wish he wasn't missing all of this...

Layla and her knew butterfly rocker. She LOVES it (and so does her brother!).

Eli was so sweet and helpful showing Layla the ropes on Christmas morning.

                

Santa brought Eli the pirate ship he had been asking for!

And a very helpful present opener he was!

Layla's first Christmas brunch at my grandparents house. She was a big fan of grandma's homemade biscuits! This is what makes that 8 hour trip worth every second. Being at my Grandma's house on Christmas morning as a family.

All of the "kids" after brunch. I wasn't kidding when I said Layla is often attached to my leg. :)

Layla is attached to Mimi's hip like she is mine. I know it brings back memories for my mom, since Layla looks just like I did as a baby.

Gag gifts are a HUGE deal in our family. The more embarassing the gift, the better. We drew names this year, so we bought a real and a gag gift for our secret santa. It was fun to switch it up a little. Eli will grow up thinking it's perfectly normal for people to receive walking canes and toe fungus cream as gifts. :)

Grandma informed Eli that there was one special gift left for him to go find.

A new bike! My grandparents have been asking me for the past year about getting him a bike this Christmas. They were certain he'd be a bit too small for it, but that he'd grow into it. He showed them a thing or two! He hopped right on it and took off. I know those training wheels will be coming off sooner rather than later. He loves telling people that his bike is a 'Mongoose.'

The new addition to our family this year was the greatest Christmas gift ever! 

12 MONTHS

 Layla Grace, You are one year old today! You are the precious daughter that I always dreamed of having, and I wouldn’t change one thing about you. You and your brother provide an abundance of joy to our lives. Your daddy and I thank the Lord daily for hand picking the two of us to be your parents.

 If we could describe you in two words lately they would be, “mommy’s girl.” You keep a constant eye on me at all times, and spend most of the day in my arms or attached to my leg. You are completely fine if I’m not at home, or out of sight, but as soon as you spot me, it’s all over! I love the side kick that you are, and I spend a lot of time thinking of the fun girly days ahead of us.

 You are strong willed and rather vocal at times. We are working hard on learning new sign language and words to help you communicate better. You are very observant and love to try and copy everything we do. You’re absolute favorite pastime is eating! You amaze everyone at how much food you can eat, and that you are open to eating just about anything. I’m very thankful for this! We think you are refusing to say ‘mama’ because you think it’s a game now. We try SO hard, and we know you can make the “m” sound, but instead you smile and say all of your other words. Stinker! You are an excellent sleeper and love your bed. You are often times completely asleep before we can even leave the room. You are a speed crawler, and can cruise around the furniture, but still haven’t taken those first steps yet.

 We love you, our precious blessing, and can’t wait to see the plans the Lord has for you. We pray that your relationship with your Lord and Savior will always come first, and that you will always desire to be more like HIM. As you grow, be a Godly example to all that you come in contact with, and love the Lord and others more every single day. Let your light shine!

 Love always,

Mommy and Daddy