Makin' Progress

We're making progress getting many boxes unloaded and broken down.  The only ones we have left to unload are those in the garage and those holding our clothes (Michael and I's) that we can't fit into our closet.  Our closet in this house is 1/2 the size of the closet we had in WV so we're going to be parting ways with clothes we don't love and only keeping the clothes that are in season in the closet at that time.  Moving is good for cleaning out closets and getting rid of things we don't want or need but it sure is tons of work!

A "Deer" Friend

This little stinker was outside of our kitchen window right before dinner one evening last week.  We couldn't believe he was so close in broad daylight.  The deer love to eat our plants.  We need to get the repellent sprayed on them but we sure do love watching them in our backyard.

Daddy Time

Laying on the floor watching a video or show with Daddy is a favorite thing for the girls. 

Another Fair

This weekend the Washington Co. Fair started and the girls have been asking to see more animals so we thought we'd go check it out.  They had so much fun seeing and petting animals and riding the kiddie rides.  We even got to take a hay ride from the parking lot to the fair entrance. 

The bunny with black eyeliner  :)

The 4-H Fair

In July we traveled to Indiana to visit my family for a weekend of birthday celebrating (there are 5 June birthdays and 1 July birthday) and the 4-H fair. It was great to all be together as that doesn't happen very often. My brother and nephew were both home from college and we had lots of fun hanging out together. We started the weekend off with the 4-H parade which the girls loved as they got lots of candy. In the picture below they're waving at the kids on the floats. It was a great weekend and I know it'll be awhile until we get to visit again. While we were there we got to meet up with my lifetime friend Cara. We grew up together and I'm so thankful we still keep in touch! She is expecting a baby boy as well about 4 weeks after me. As you can see, Audrey was not cooperating, but we still had a good time visiting. Love ya Cara! There were several kid friendly areas at the fair that we frequented often and one of them was the blocks/wood building area. Milking the cow was tons of fun for the girls. This was something we did several times. One of the best things about the fair is the ice cream! The girls insisted that we check on the baby chicks each day. It was pretty cool to see some of them hatching from their shell right before our eyes.

Fishing with Daddy

While we were visiting my family in July, Michael and Anna went fishing at my parents' pond. Anna was thrilled to catch many fish and she loves to go fishing with Daddy. If you look down towards the grass, you can see one of the fish Anna caught on her Barbie pole. Mom and Dad's dog, Suzie, loves to play with the fish. Now that we have a pond right beside our house, I'm sure these two will get lots of one-on-one time with one another getting their poles wet. Anna took these two pictures of Michael with a fish. She didn't do too terrible. :)

Family Pictures

Before we left WV, my photographer friend Meghan took some family pictures for us. She did a GREAT job and worked hard to get Audrey to smile. The pictures turned out good and I'm hoping to place our order soon. I thought making a slide show of them would be the easiest way to share them. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

27 weeks

Here I am at 27 weeks, measuring 29 weeks and have gained 18 pounds so far (ugh!). This baby boy likes to grow thankfully and has always measured ahead. His heart rate continues to stay around 145 bpm and he's fairly active and has the hiccups often. I'm feeling good as long as I don't sit or stand for too long. I've got to alternate each so that my feet don't swell and so that my sciatic nerve doesn't start throbbing in my behind down into my leg. I hope to get started on his room soon but we need to get the room painted first. As far as a name for the little guy... we can't agree on anything so we'll just keep praying about it and probably won't name him until we see him just like we did with the girls.

Getting Settled

We're slowly getting settled and have the majority of the boxes unpacked in the house. We've still got a garage full of stuff that can't be unloaded until the basement is finished but for the most part, the house is looking like home. Anna has been a great help putting things away and picking up when asked. She especially likes to help out in the kitchen such as cleaning grapes or anything else that involves messing in the sink. The girls love to have their snacks at the island bar. It is nice having a few extra seats. I'm so glad they have one another. They play really well together most of the time. Here's a picture of our backyard friends. The deer come out every night and sometimes during the day and we love to watch them. Audrey calls them giraffes every now and then which cracks us up and even introduced herself, mommy and Anna to them the other night. =) Daddy got a new lawnmower that has saved him lots of time mowing our huge yard. The girls love to go for rides on it with him. I wasn't outside when Anna took her ride but I'll get a picture of her soon riding with Daddy. We've enjoyed the picnic table the previous owners left behind. It's great having a nice secluded area in our backyard to enjoy some yummy food and nature.

Lots of help!

This past weekend, Grandpa and Grandma Smith and Aunt Aimee came to help us get some house projects done. We got so much accomplished and we are so grateful for their help. The guys put cabinets in the laundry room and changed out several ugly light fixtures while us women unpacked boxes and kept the girls entertained. I snapped these quick pictures right before they left and we headed to church on Sunday morning. Thanks so much for your help - we love you!

Moving...Ugh!

On July 23rd we moved out of our home in WV and started the transition to PA. The night before we moved, we dug out a BOZ board game to play to keep us entertained. It was fun playing on the boxes and good to have the family time before our life turned upside down. We celebrated with ice cream sundaes from McDonalds once we arrived at the hotel. It was a long, emotional drive from WV to PA for Mommy and of course ice cream, especially chocolate, always makes things better. :) The girls enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool. Both of them love the water and I'm amazed at how well they're each doing with swimming. Anna's doing great on her own without any floaties and Audrey swims all over and even likes to jump in and go under with her floaties on. I'm so thankful they're not afraid although they definitely keep us on our toes!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The moving truck arrived with our stuff on Wednesday, July 28th. I cried when it pulled away and left us with 176 boxes to unpack. I've been through this many times but it's still completely overwhelming each time! Where's the kitchen? Can't see it but it is back there behind all of those depressing boxes. Too bad Audrey's little sweeper didn't really pick up anything. The boxes make such a mess! Anna thought she'd make a bed out of a paper towel roll. Our first breakfast in our new house. Mommy had to make some yummy cinnamon rolls.

On the road again...

The movers are arriving tomorrow morning and we're not ready. They just called to say that they need more time to pack us so they're coming tomorrow instead of on Thursday morning like originally planned. I'm not panicking - yet! God has it all worked out and He knows what needs to be done when so I guess I'll just get done what I can tonight and worry about the rest later, or at least before Friday when the truck pulls away from our house here and heads to the new place in PA. I praise God for working everything out like He always does, that's how we know it's His will. We can't make these things happen nor do I think we would choose to. Moving is no easy job but when He's leading it, it does go fairly smoothly. We'd appreciate your prayers as we transition to a new area once again. Each move requires finding a new church home, new friends, finding our way around, new doctors, new hairstylist =), and organizing yet another house. It'll all come together in His timing.