Letter to Sadie Beth 1 Year

My Sadie Beth turned One Year Old on Monday but we will not have her party until Saturday. Pictures will follow the party.


Dear Sweet Sadie Beth,

We have enjoyed this year with you. We are so happy that God gave you to us.

You are a true SPITFIRE in every way!!! (not sure where you got FULL PASSION from, in EVERYTHING you do...smile)

You are eating everything you can get you hands on and loving food right now.

You love Gerber Graduates Crunchies......they are by far your favorite and will turn down everything else for them...even your bottle.

You are not fond of the transition from formula to whole milk but it will just take time like your sister.

You do not like your cup right now but it will get better the more you drink from it.

You love to roam the house....you are defiantly our free-bird child.

You are trying to take some steps on your own now.

Walking around furniture is a cinch to you these days.

You LOVE the theme song to the Backyardagins.

You HATE HATE HATE your play pen and are not too fond of your walker......can we say free-bird again.

You are signing eat, more, milk, please, I love you, bath, night-night, and daddy.

You are sleeping like a big girl in your crib in your room shared with Mili.

You sometimes don't make it until nap time and you fall asleep in your play pen.....this is not the case if you are free to roam.

I love the way you put you hands on my throat and hum....wanting me to hum so you can feel the vibrations.....you have done this since you were old enough to touch my throat.

I love your toothy grin with your cute little dimple.

Your laugh always makes me laugh.

You now have 4 teeth showing and more on the way.

I love to hear you crunch your Crunchies with your gums.

I love the way you smack your lips when you hear me say kisses.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way you sign I LOVE YOU when I say it or sign it to you.....melts Mommy's heart...ahhhh.

I love the way you hug your baby dolls and stuffed animals when I say LOVE the baby.

I love the way you hold out your hands for someone to pick you up. Everyone says it is irresistible and I agree, of course.

I love the way you hold out your arms to hug Mili.

I love the way you pat me when I pick you up....not to mention the huge smile on your face too.

Happy 1st Birthday Sadie Beth, Sadie Bug, Punkin, Punkie

I could never list all the ways I love you but these are just a few.
I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some. I am so glad God gave you to me.
Love,
Mommy

Our Trip from MD to AR!

Ok...I know....I know.....it has been WAY too long since I blogged. So here goes the story.

Our plan was (plans don't always go as expected)....for the movers to come early Friday morning to load the truck (that went as planned), then we would clean (that went as planned)......then we would go to our church's VBS family festival to get last minute (or last hour) hugs before heading out early Saturday morning (that went as planned as well).

We were glad to spend the last few hours with our friends from church and enjoyed it even though we were already exhausted from getting everything ready to move ( I have never moved when I had to have EVERYTHING.....I do mean EVERYTHING in a box).

We planned to sleep on an air mattress that we have used many times before but at some point developed a slow leak. Brian and I were touching the floor through the mattress by midnight. We planned to get on the road by 4 am but didn't get going until about 5. You can tell by the picture below why it took so long to get on the road. Brian stuffed the trunk from one end to the other (we had to throw away some things because they wouldn't fit). We even had every place in the car stuffed as well.

You may be asking why so many things packed in the trunk. Well...traveling with two small children and because our plans were to live at Brian's parents house for 5 days (notice I said our plans were...).

After leaving our "home" for three years of our life and where ALL of Mili's 1's took place (first laugh, word, roll over, crawl, step, and so many more) we took a moment to reminisce in the car and we were a bit teary.

Soon our sites were on Arkansas. We had an incredible trip with a few patches of rain and GREAT children. Mili watched her DVD player for the whole trip (minus the two naps) and Sadie played with her toys (and me....I sat in the back seat next to her many legs of the trip). Mili would say, "Daddy, we are ALMOST there!" I love her positive attitude.

What more does a girl need (DVD player with plenty of movies, marshmallows, and sippy cup)

Satisfied Sadie






This is an "Are we there yet" kind of look!


Pooh Bear is good for keeping hands AND feet busy!

If we had forgotten these fancy shades then we would have had some complaining. My fair skinned child HATES the sun in her eyes.

DIVA!!!!

After 18 hours and 4 or 5 stops we made it to Arkansas safely (10:30 PM CST). We were VERY tired....especially our driver. Brian drove the whole way despite my many offers to take on a leg of the race.

We rested up on Sunday with many tears (and several looks at our beautiful scrapbooks from our GBC family). We missed our GBC family SO much it was incredibly painful (our life group, our friends, our services, our pastor, our children's teachers). We had NO idea we would grieve so deeply for our church family since we were coming home to family and friends we have grown up with most of our lives. Mili has had several transition issues including crying for her blue classroom at her church in Maryland. She often says she wants to go back there and misses Ms. Shelia and Ms. Lynn. She asks about James and Clayton on a regular basis (her best buds from church and play dates).

Our move-in date was suppose to be Friday, August 1st or Saturday at the latest. Thursday night, after calling the moving company many times with no response, we find out from the driver that his truck is broke down in Knoxville. You know the truck with EVERYTHING we own in it (except the 10,000 things stuffed in the car....which was now stuffed in a bedroom where all four of us slept). Later, after many more attempts to reach our moving coordinator, we find out that her son has chicken pox and so she was not available our entire move. Then we think that we can get moved in on Saturday evening or Sunday. Later we found out that the move-in had to take place during business hours at our apartment because it is a gated complex and so someone had to let the semi in through a different gate.

Anyway, we finally got moved in on Monday morning (that was delayed an hour due to the drivers fuel card not working properly). That meant that we lived out of bags for 8 days. Oh well, it all turned out ok and all of our stuff made it here safely (with the exception of a crushed filing cabinet...but Brian has since worked his magic on it). We are extremely grateful for Brian's parents hospitality while we took over their home for 8 days.

We are happy to be in an apartment that has working appliances. The dishwasher works on the first time around and I don't have to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher. The dryer dries the clothes the first time not after the third and the kitchen faucet turns on and off with ease with no need to strain a muscle in the process. The AC actually works without calling maintenance three times a month. Having room for Mili and Sadie to run and play has been a huge plus too.

We are adjusting but it will take some time, especially for Mili since the only home she has ever known was Maryland. Thanks to ALL who have prayed for us during this time. Please continue to pray for Mili's transition. While you are praying, pray for Mommy because the girls start a Mother's Day Out two days a week at the first of September. I am trying to look on the positive side of this but I don't leave my children often so it is hard on me.

Kmart Ku-tees (heehee)

I am sorry blog world. I have not been good about keeping everyone up to date about our family recently. I will try to do better. This is not the blog entry you want to see if you are waiting on the story about how our move went. I want to wait until I have some time to sit and type that uninterrupted (oh, that may be never....remember I have a 3 year old and an almost one year old on the move).



Anyway, I wanted to let you guys in on my marvelous finds at Kmart. We went to Kmart yesterday in search for something else and FOUND some wonderful clothes for the girls. The girls were a tad bit fussy last night while we were shopping so I decided to take them back with me today to search for all the good bargains I could find.



You tell me if you think it is a bargain. I got 11 outfits and 4 shirts for under $40 (that is.... COUNT THEM 26 items.......WOW)

Here is what I got....CUTE....HUH!!! (everything looks cute on my girls anyway........AHHH a mother's love)


Stay Tuned for The Moving Story.......

I AM Alive!!!

Just a note to say we are in Arkansas and FINALLY at our new address. I will tell the REST of the story on a day that I am not still buried in boxes, paper work and phone calls. Did I mention....I HATE moving....especially with two small children.

More to come later when I have a bit more time.

love to ALL

GBC family...WE MISS U SOOOO MUCH!!!!