little frustrations

On Saturday, we noticed our computer was running so SLOW and that every 4.5 minutes a message would pop up telling us something to the effect of No Wireless Connectivity and that meant no internet for anywhere between 10 seconds to 45 minutes....frustrating!

Here is where I should mention that we have another computer, a somewhat antiquated, but reliable desktop. However, when we still had hope our house would sell within our time-frame, we packed that baby up and stuck it in storage to help our home appear less cluttered...frustrating!

I'll bring this one up because I love my husband dearly and while, I could've cared less, he was very concerened on Sunday when he wouldn't have internet. He has a routine on Sunday afternoons of setting up our living room with the computer, the remote, and various snacks. Then he spends the day obsessively checking his points against the other people's in his Fantasy Football league and flipping from game to game. For him, not being able to check on the points was, you guessed it...frustrating!

In the past week, we've had 4 showings postponed by an hour. We have gotten the call to postpone the showings at least 45 minutes into the original showing time. 2 of those actually called well into the postponed time to let us know they wouldn't in fact be coming at all...very frustrating!

The most frustrating thing I've been dealing with has been my attitude. I've been letting myself get bogged down by all these little frustrations. How can I expect the Lord to use me for Great Things - Things that will most assuredly prove more challenging than a few glitches with our internet - if I can't even get past these little things?

Even our house not being sold by now is a little thing. We, or I never really considered that our house would still not have a contract on it. Unless we get a contract on it very soon, the girls and I will be staying here while Bryan moves on to Dallas. He'll come back every other weekend and while some of you may be thinking that sounds awful, I'm okay with it. Honestly, I wasn't and that disappoints me greatly. But, I quickly remembered a 6 month period I spent as a single mom. And, I remembered that only a month ago Bryan was still able to be activated and deployed. That would've been a 15 month time period of being a single mom to 2 and then 3. Just under 2 weeks is nothing! It's a vacation that thousands of military spouses would scoff at :)

Some of my favorite scripture is found in Jeremiah, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

That's a passage I go back to over and over again. I need to remember it the next time a showing is canceled :)

*Certainly not frustrating news came on Thursday. I had an appointment at my OB's office. For the first time in all my pregnancies, I am measuring right on! I'm excited about this (even though it means I am bigger than I was at this point with either Addi or Libby). This also means I've gained more weight than I had at this point with my other two. In fact, with Addi, I was still throwing up everyday and hadn't even gained a pound. I'm hopeful this is an indication that this baby will gain weight a little more quickly than it's sisters did and not an indication that I will be gaining too much weight with this pregnancy.

And, now I must get something to eat...I'm famished :)

Miss Inventive

Addi needed a large, flat space to work her puzzle during roomtime today. She took care of it herself.

That is a bookshelf Bryan built for Libby. It's in Addi's room for the time being since Libby's room is much smaller than Addi's room. We wanted to give potential buyers the allusion of more space in Libby's room by removing "extra" furniture.

All the stuff surrounding the shelf is what is usually on it. In Addi's words she, "carefully took everything off the shelves and then I very carefully laid the shelf down without a big bang." I'll say she was careful and there was no big bang! I didn't realize what was going on until tonight when I happened to look in her room on the way to my own.

I tried to get Bryan to build a matching shelf for Addi when he made this one. I don't think he'll be able to get out of the chore now. Or, at least once we move and this shelf goes back into Libby's room.

And, for once, I won't be the one nagging him about it :)

homemade applesauce

I got this recipe from Hollie's blog, Crown Laid Down. It was simple and, I was told, it was delicious. (I, myself, don't care for applesauce)







I, inadvertantly, cut the recipe in half. (After not writing down a list, I bought half as many apples as I needed. I blamed it on pregnancy-brain!) But, this is what we did:

1. Peeled and cored 3 Gala apples and 3 Granny Smith apples.


2. Cut each apple into about 8 slices...and since you only need 5 apples for half the recipe, I gave the girls each a few slices of apple to enjoy.


3. Throw apple slices, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon into a crockpot.


4. Turn crockpot on high for 2 hours and then low for another hour or so. Or, you could turn it on low and let the aroma fill your house for the day.

Thanks, Hollie, for posting the recipe on your blog. My girls really enjoyed the applesauce!

"...but don't tell Libby"

Addi has been very frustrated lately by her sister. Libby copies everything Addi does. Everything.

A few times I've asked Addi to answer a certain way because I knew Libby would also give me the same answer. For instance, I might ask, "Addi, would you like peas?" And she, obediently, answers, "Yes!" I can almost be guaranteed the same answer from Libby.

Obviously there has to be a little bit of secrecy for this to work.

And, obviously, I realize this favorable situation is not going to last forever, so I'm taking full advantage while I can. I've learned a few tricks over my almost 5 years of mothering.

Now, Addi has taken to telling me her answer to any question in secret, quickly adding, "but don't tell Libby. I don't want her to copy me." For instance, at lunch today, I asked the girls if they wanted some chips with their sandwiches and strawberries. Libby immediately said she did. Addi ran to me and whispered, "No, but don't tell Libby. I don't want her to copy me."

Ooookay.

I've also learned not to point out that while Libby might fall for the pea trick (only because Libby really does like peas), it wouldn't really matter what Addi had to say about say chips or candy or ice cream. Libby knows good junk food when she sees it and any adoration she feels for her sister isn't going to change what's in her blood:

Chips trump peas any day of the week!

watchin' Daddy

Maybe I just smell like a mom

Addi likes to watch tv on my bed while I take a shower. Unfortunately for her, I took a shower last night. So when she asked if I was going to take a shower, I explained that I had taken one last night instead. She wrinkled up her nose and said, "But, you still smell!"

a little planting

The girls and I spent a little time at a nursery this morning. Addi has been begging to get some mums. I let them each pick one out and we planted them together this afternoon.

I feel the need to explain Addi's hair...she loves that neck-warmer/scarf thing and only wears it on her head. It isn't something I ever put in her hair, but sometimes I have to choose my battles :)

photo shoot

Addi grabbed my camera the other day. I was impressed that most of the pictures were in focus. Libby took the picture of the ottoman and the one of Addi. Maybe one of them has found her future career?!

What happened...

I've tried and tried to write up a clear and concise paragraph or two consisting of the highlights of our recent house-hunting trip.

It hasn't worked.

Instead, I'll list the highlights because I know y'all have been waiting with baited breath for this recap.

• We had a fairly uneventful flight from RDU to DFW last Thursday. I even arranged it so that I sat with Addi while Bryan sat a row up and aisle over with Libby. With a laptop and a few movies, traveling with Addi is almost as easy as traveling alone. Of course, when Libby was about to begin screaming because she was so tired, Bryan forced me to switch places with him.
• We had a delicious lunch prepared by Nana and a surprise visit from Bryan's Meme and Aunt Ginny when we arrived.
• The rest of Thursday was spent looking at houses for Bryan and me and playing with Ethan, Rachel, Aunt Lisa, and Nana for Addi and Libby.
• Thursday night was our first taste of yummy Mexican food at La Hacienda Ranch. We can't wait to move closer to that restaurant.
• Friday we woke up to spend the day looking at house after house after house with a break for a great lunch at a cool shopping center that I will surely spend lots of time window shopping. And Friday evening brought more Mexican food.
• After filling our bellies, we drove to Bryan's parents' house to visit a little and transfer the girls to my parents' house. We were reasssured to find that we were neither needed or missed during their stay at Nana and Poppa's....well, except for Thursday night when Addi couldn't find the pajamas I'd packed her and Bryan received a phone call with a plea to "come quickly" and bring more pajamas. We knew the same would be true while the girls spent the rest of their trip doted on by Grammy, Grandpa, Uncle Brett, Meme, and PaPa. And, fortunately for me, I found Addi 2 pairs of pajamas in her suitcase.
• Saturday was more relaxed. We only had a few houses to look at, so Bryan and I decided to search out someplace good for breakfast. While on the hunt, we were honked at by a friend from A&M. We didn't even know Jenny lived in the city we're planning to move to. It was wonderful to see her and such a blessing. She will surely be a wealth of information and a friendly face a little closer to our new house than our family will be.
• After breakfast and checking out some houses, we drove out to a neighboring city in search of dill popcorn. We found an adorable downtown and I'm already planning on meeting Shana for some shopping and more popcorn.
• Of course, we had to take an afternoon break for the Aggie game. That's really all I can get out about that since I'm fearful if I think back too long, I'll end up throwing this laptop through the window. And, the blame for that unfortunate incident would also be poor coaching!
• We spent the evening learning the area and ate at Razzoo's. I'm wondering now why we didn't eat Mexican again that night.
• Since we didn't need to be at the airport until 4, we slept in on Sunday morning and then ate an early lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. It was there over my fish tacos and Bryan's (whatever it was that he ate?!) that the house we were pretty sure we liked the best became our all-out favorite.
• We made it to my parents' house with a couple hours to spare before we had to load up our rented van and head to the airport. At about 15 till 4, we waved goodbye and noticed it was raining. This is almost where the fun really began.
• As we walked into the rental car building we looked on the monitors to find which terminal our flight would leave from. But, our flight wasn't listed. We noticed the flight to RDU before ours was delayed and started to feel the dread of spending countless hours entertaining 2 children (past their bedtimes) in an airport.
• By the time we walked all of Terminal A to find someplace the entire family could agree upon eating at, our flight was delayed by 2 hours. Leaving then would put us back home at midnight. It wasn't looking good.
• When the flight was delayed another 30 minutes, we decided to ask about moving our flight to the next morning. We got on a 9 am flight, but our luggage would go on to Raleigh without us.
• My parents picked us up and ran us to Wal-Mart for some essentials we didn't have in our carry-on luggage. If you've every traveled with children, you know that your carry-on bags are filled with markers, snacks, coloring books, snacks, books, snacks, a laptop, snacks, movies, snacks, diapers, snacks, wipes, snacks, no more than 3.4 ounces of hand sanitizer held in a quart-size plastic zip-top baggie, snacks, blankies, and more snacks.
• The next morning, we were more prepared. Bryan checked our flight information before we headed out for the airport, which really wasn't that early considering we didn't have any bags to check and didn't have to check-in and my parents live about 15 minutes from DFW.
• But, after only spending 10 minutes in line to go through security, we found that our flight had been canceled. We practically ran to the closest counter and were told we could be put on a flight at 8 pm. Or, we could possibly fly stand-by on the 11 o'clock flight. We decided to take our chances with the stand-by flight and found a playground the girls enjoyed. Although, I don't believe the people still sleeping there enjoyed the squeals coming from Libby. But, it was almost 9 o'clock and I was in whatever-will-make-you-happy-and-thus-make-my-life-easier mode. Plus, they were sleeping in a playground!
• It seemed each time Bryan obsessively checked the monitors for flight information, he returned with news of another delay. So, after about an hour, and a confirmation for all of us on a 6 pm flight, we decided to grab a taxi and head to Bryan's parents' house for the day.
• I'm sure you can imagine how often Bryan checked the flights throughout the day. But, everything went well. We did notice tons of other flights being delayed. Ours, however, remained at 6 and we even got both girls to take a good nap. Everything was going great.
• Until about an hour before we were planning to leave for the airport. The 6 pm flight was canceled.
• We consoled ourselves with more delicious Mexican food.
• Our trip was finally completed on Tuesday, September 11. It was a very uneventful flight...Libby even slept, so I was able to spend almost the entire time reading.
• I'm sure I would've thought about the significance of the day, but flying on that day really made me think about it. I can still remember (I'm sure I always will) what I was doing when I heard about a plane hitting the first Twin Tower. I was buttering some toast to take with me on my way to a staff meeting at school. I sat there and watched the plane hit the second building. I can still remember driving to school, listening to news on the radio, wondering if Bryan would hear about this out in the field, and thinking "this will directly affect our life". And, it did. That was a hard day for everyone. I remember wanting so badly to hug my family. This September 11 found me flying in an American Airlines plane with a family that hadn't completely exsisted on that September 11 and praying for all the families directly affected by that September 11.

So, in a recap of my recap, we had a great trip with lots of great food and found a great house that we hope will still be available when our house finally gets a contract. We know this is all in God's hands and so we are trying to remember to pray when we begin to feel anxious. I keep telling myself that in a year everything will have worked out...I'll be holding a 6-month old and walking my 5-year old to kindergarten while my 3-year old begs to go stay with her sister. And, we'll walk home to a house that is perfect for us.

Do you agree?

Since I should be packing, I decided I would spend a good amount of time on this instead. Worthwhile, don't you think?! Especially since the results are less than exciting. It is just as I've always suspected...we all look alike! I'm wondering if the results would be altered by different pictures? Probably. The Look-alike Meter doesn't seem too scientific. Maybe the next time I really need to do something else I'll test out that theory.

If you want to see who your children look like, go here (myheritage.com).

Baby or Mermaid?

Addi is now convinced I actually have a mermaid in my belly.

I had an appointment this morning so, in the interest of keeping my sanity, I really tried to pump the girls up about it. I told the girls they would get to hear the baby's heartbeat and that the appointment wouldn't take long at all. Last night Addi started saying she hoped we'd be able to hear the baby crying. I told her I didn't think that would happen, but to be sure and listen carefully. (listen carefully=be quiet and still so as not to annoy the doctor or nurses)

So, this morning I started telling them about the baby's current size and what body parts the baby already has, which led Addi to wonder why the baby wasn't already fully developed and the size Libby was the day she was born. I went on to explain that in the very beginning babies are so tiny you can't even see them and then they grow arms and legs and fingernails. I told her that all babies start out with tails because I thought she'd think that tidbit was funny. She did, but she didn't really attribute it to herself or Libby, just Baby P.

The girls were wonderful the entire time we spent at the doctor's office. Of course, the last thing the doctor did was listen for the heartbeat. He left the thing (what is it called?...you'd think by my third child I would know!) on my belly and moved the speaker closer to the girls. They were thoroughly unimpressed. But, when we left Addi started imitating the sound of the heartbeat. Then she said the baby must have been sleeping because it was making a sighing sound. I said that was the sound of the "water" (I wisely thought mentioning amniotic fluid would lead to more than I wanted to get into) the baby lives in. To which, she replied, "Water! The baby lives in water? A baby that lives in water and has a tail! Are you sure you have a baby in there?! I think you have a MERMAID in your belly!"

Well, there you go. Her guess is as good as mine.

And, guessing is what we plan on doing with this pregnancy. Bryan and I are planning on this being our final addition to our family and found out the sex of both of the girls. This time is our last chance to be surprised, so that's what we'd like to be.

I know some of you will think it is ridiculous to be surprised when it is so easy and common to find out the gender. And, some of you (grandparents) will be disappointed. In fact, I told my mom today and she acted totally fine with our decision. Even though I suspect she's disappointed, I appreciate the fact that she kept her opinion to herself and that she loves me enough to be supportive of even something little like this. Maybe we'll set up a poll on the blog when I'm around 20 weeks to see what y'all think the gender of Baby P is...with the winner getting to stay with us for 1 week during the first 6 weeks after birth and take complete care (except feeding, since I'm kinda the only one who can do that) of the new little one.

Sounds like a deal to me!

Is anyone else out there scared to buy a toy?

What is going on with all these toy recalls? The weekend before our house went on the market we purged the playroom and that happened to be around the time the first recall went out. I was shocked that my girls had several of those toys.

Today, we had to get birthday presents for 2 parties the girls are going to this weekend. We almost went to Target because I also needed groceries, but then I worried that we'd get a toy that would be recalled later. I had almost decided on a bookstore and then changed my mind. We headed to a local toy store that specializes in more expensive one-of-a-kind toys. I was still able to stay within my birthday party present budget, but, let's just say, the kids won't be getting a bag full of goodies.

Kids these days have too many toys anyway!...mine do, at least!

Baby P and other updates

1. I think it's a combination of this being my third pregnancy and all the other stuff going on in our lives now, but I have to remind myself I'm pregnant sometimes. I'm about fourteen and a half weeks and I have an appointment tomorrow. My puking has stopped although I had a close call this morning...still having trouble when I brush my teeth each morning. I solved that one Saturday by not brushing my teeth until the afternoon. Bryan went on and on about how gross that was so now I'm too self-conscience to continue with that remedy. I can eat most anything I want and occasionally crave things like beef brisket with potato salad, fried okra and pickles from The Q-Shack. The only other thing is I am extremely tired. I remember being tired with the girls, but not like this. I always love the second trimester of pregnancy, so hopefully my energy will peak soon.


2. Our house hasn't had any offers. I am sick and tired of keeping it clean. In fact, if a realtor called right now and wanted to show our house in twenty minutes, we'd be in trouble! Thank goodness it's eight o'clock, so if we got a call it would be for tomorrow. I will have to pick up, sweep, mop, and vacuum tonight so we'll only have to worry about making the beds in the morning before we leave. It seems like the mornings I leave the house are the mornings we have showings. We have an Open House scheduled for the weekend after next. It will be as stress-free as anything we've had to do because we'll be out of town during it.


3. During the Open House, we'll be in Dallas looking for a new house. We're getting excited about that, of course! We've narrowed it down to about thirty houses and we have two full days and two half days to look. It sure would be comforting to have a contract on our house here before we go :)


4. I'll end this with a picture of a kiss:

a picture of a goof-ball:

and a picture of a princess:

Where is Addi?

Addi has been growing her hair out for about 19 months. For probably the last 4, she's been begging me to have it cut. I showed her the Locks of Love website and we decided she could wait until the end of summer so she'd have enough to donate. You have to donate a minumum of 10 inches! That didn't seem like too much at first. Even this morning before we left, I estimated how much would have to be cut off. I knew it would be a little more than what she was saying she wanted, but didn't think her hair would end up as short as it did. Before she could see a mirror, she ran her fingers through the back of her hair and said, "Why did you tell her to cut it so short?!!" Once it was dried and she was handed a mirror, she said she liked it. And, while we were waiting to pay (which, incidentally, we didn't have to pay anything here since we were donating) she looked up at me and said, "My hair is really adorable!" It is cute, but she looks like a different person. She looks like she's at least 6 and that makes me a little sad. What doesn't make me sad is how much time and heartache we will save when doing her hair...no more whining about how badly the tangles hurt!

before

back view, but she's looking down

the 10 inches cut off

after

Where is Libby?

Hiding, I'm sure.

She still loves to hide and she's getting pretty good at it. The other day, I found her hiding under my bed. Other favorite places include closets, behind any furniture, under tables, and on the far side of her bed where we "hide" her laundry basket. Oh, and, of course under a blanket :)

I've got ants in my pants!

Really, I do. Or, really I did.

On Saturday, I had the great idea to get out in the oven-like temperatures and attend the Lazy Days Festival. Our first order of business was to find the snow-cone stand and some shade. We sat on a half-wall of a flower bed while we enjoyed our sweet frozen treats. After a few minutes Libby decided she had to be sitting on the wall instead of in her stroller, so I moved over for her...into a pile of mulch.

We finished our treats, stood up and I realized I had been sitting in mulch. At that point I was much more concerned with getting the dirt off my bottom than with all the ants I saw crawling around where I had been sitting. Then, we started walking and I starting feeling some tickling...and then some stinging.

What else could I do, but repeatedly stick my hand down the back of my pants?! I was bothered by them for a good 30 minutes, but kept trying to tell myself it was really my imagination. Plus it was so hot and I was hungry and my daughter began to have a meltdown because, "I CAN NOT take ONE! MORE! STEP!", so I forgot about the little bugs crawling around my toosh.

Sure enough, I have 4 huge, itchy bites on my rump and a few more on my legs. One of the worst parts is while we were eating our frosty delights, I claimed we don't have fire ants in NC...maybe not, but I can testify to the presence of biting ants in NC.

lover of sweet potatoes

Libby loves sweet potatoes...always has and I figured she always would.

Until today.

As I began to cube up a previously baked sweet potato, she yelled (with authority), "EWWWW! 'Sssgusting! No, NO! 'SssgustING! Don't want it!"

I was perplexed and thought (to myself)...She loves sweet potatoes. She just ate some the other night. This is all Addi's fault. Addi, who won't eat anything. Addi, who just looks at something nutritious and turns up her nose. She's even picked up the word "disgusting" from Addi.

Not one to back down from a challenge, I told her I would heat a little up and she would have to try it, but if she didn't like it, she wouldn't have to eat any more.

I'm proud to say All is right with the world again...she ate one bite, I asked her if it was disgusting, and she smiled and said, "Noooo!" As I write, Libby is gobbling up a plate full of sweet potatoes and peaches.

A (Birth)Day in the Life of Libby Lu

Good Morning, Birthday Girl!...


Cinnamon rolls with candles and Happy Birthday...

Mom made us take a picture by the new sign in our yard...

Enjoying pizza...
Decorating cupcakes...

I need to taste the frosting to make sure it's good...

Addi's culinary masterpiece...

How am I supposed to eat it with the candles sticking in it?...

Present time...with lots of help...

Pinata time...

I was just trying to share my treats with sweet Baby Cecelia...


I love my new car!...

Tears at the end of a long birth day. I just couldn't stand for it to be over!

I know what I know...and not a lot else

Just a couple nights ago I boasted about how "I'm not stressed about the sale of our house or upcoming move".

And, then, I got stressed.

You see, we are working with a relocation company for this move, so we can't just call a realtor and list our house. Instead they sent out two different realtors last week to look over our house and talk with us and take pictures. We will be allowed to choose which of the two we'd like to work with and we were pretty sure by the time the first one left (I'll call her Ann) we would use her. The second one (I'll call Sue) came the next night and by the time she left, we knew we'd be using Ann.

Ann was very professional and it didn't hurt that she was complimentary of our home. She claimed to have worked with our relocation company numerous times. In fact, she told us she already had most of the paperwork filled out and would complete it and send it in the next day. Ann called Bryan to let him know she'd sent in the paperwork that next day and then we found copies of it in our mailbox that afternoon. The day after that we got a thank you note in the mail from her.

Now, we met Sue the evening after Ann's visit. She pointed out several things about our house that would be problems. I expected that...that's her job. But, they were things we couldn't change, like we live on the main street in our neighborhood, so there tends to be lots of traffic during peak hours. Only she didn't just point these things out, she kept reminding us of them. And, really, what can we do about it? She brought all the information that Ann did, but chose to not go over it with us. Honestly, that made me wonder how many other "short cuts" she'd be taking. Right before she left, Bryan asked her when she would have the completed paperwork turned into the relocation company. She paused and finally committed to a few days from then. We were disappointed with that answer, but there was nothing we could do.

We both expected to hear something from the relocation company Monday...nothing. By yesterday afternoon, Bryan called our counselor to see what was going on. After all, we have to wait to hear from them before we can get Ann back out here to officially put our house on the market and time is ticking.

Turns out, our counselor is still waiting on the paperwork from Sue! Today it has been one week since her visit. I want to call her myself. How does she ever sell a house if she takes this long to fill out some paperwork??!

So, that is what I stressed about last night. I couldn't sleep as my mind swam with anxiety. What if she never turns in the paperwork and then we have to get another realtor out here and start over? We don't even want to use Sue, but we still have to wait on her! We were already on a short time schedule and the longer our house sits off the market, the more impossible our time schedule gets!

Then I realized I'd been doing what I often do when life gets hectic. I was trying to go it alone. But, I don't have to. I don't have to shoulder this burden. God is always there for me.

I haven't been praying about this. Sure, I've said a quick little prayer on occasion, but I haven't really been praying about this. I've thought and even joked that we will be going through three of the most stressful life events at one time...a job change, moving, and a new baby! Yet, it hasn't dawned on me to devote daily prayer time to our current situation. Until now...

I know myself and I know that I don't stress too easily, but when things build (as they were bound to in this situation) I do tend to melt down.

I also know that I'm a planner. I find security in plans. I want to know our house is going to sell quickly and I want to know we are going to be able to find a house on our one short house hunting trip. I want to know that house will be in a great neighborhood with impressive schools and in a convenient location.

But, I don't know any of these things. Bryan and I have done all we can for now and all that's left is for me to hand over my worries and anxieties to God. I truly believe in the sovereignty of the Lord. He knows who will buy our house and when that will happen. He knows which house we will pick and whether we'll actually find one and be able to decide on it in only a few days. He knows it all. Not only does He know it all, He's taken care of it all.

There are people looking for a house just like ours in NC. There is a house for us in Dallas. It may not be the perfect house in my world, but it will be where the Lord wants us. We will be there for a reason. It is comforting and exciting for me to know that.

For me to get through this without stressing out, I must be in specific communication with Him. I haven't been doing that, but I'm going to start. And I would be ever so appreciative of more prayers lifted up on our behalf. Thank you, in advance.

This and That

1. Ladies, don't send your husbands out alone to buy stain for the deck! Our deck is now a nice, subtle shade of orange. (and we're Aggies...we don't like orange) But, it isn't that orange, it is more of a terra cotta color. In fact, that is exactly what it is...our terra cotta pots just blend right in :) In all fairness, I don't know that I would've done much better if I had picked the color. The swatch Bryan had doesn't look at all how the deck turned out.
2. Our 4-year old came running into the living room tonight hollering that Libby was after her. A few seconds later, the 2-year old ran in and tried to pelt Addi with a baby doll....over and over and over again. Bryan and I were in a bit of shock and finally realized we needed to tell her to stop. After it was all over and the girls left the room, we had to chuckle at the fact that Libby was "beating up" on Addi.
3. A few of you pointed out that I was going to have to change my title after this post. Very true. We will be moving from North Carolina, so I'll have to take off the little part about Living in North Carolina, but I'm gonna have to change the number of Texans, as well. We are expecting another baby...in late February! I guess it will be 5 Texans actually living in Texas!
4. Our (for now) youngest is about to turn 2! I am amazed by her. She is truly a delightful child. But, more on that later...

I think that's it. I'm not stressed about the sale of our house or upcoming move. We're just trying to enjoy Raleigh and our dear friends while we are still here.

So, I'll be back later this week with pictures of our 2-year old.