New Beginnings

Big announcement for our family!

This summer, we're MOVING to Kansas City, Missouri!

Why? Will is starting PhD work at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary this fall.

We are so very excited about this new adventure in our family.

I've been secretly blogging through the application process, and since we found out that Will was accepted, so you can read about that here:



Please pray for our family as we make yet another huge transition!

We're In!

3-28-13

I feel like we've been waiting on pins and needles all day long! The committee of men at Midwestern Seminary who decide Ph.D admittance (I'm sure they have an official name) met this afternoon to decide who would be admitted for the fall.  Will FINALLY called me at 6pm today to let me know that HE GOT INTO THE PH.D PROGRAM AT MIDWESTERN SEMINARY!!!!

Praise the LORD! We have been praying about this for SO long!  I'm so thankful that we have a plan for moving forward.

What Will won't tell you is that the program only admits 8 Ph.D students a year- during odd years they admit New Testament students, and during even years they admit Old Testament students.  Will was admitted as an Old Testament student during an odd year. They only had 1 spot available because someone else dropped out of the program, and they had several other applicants.  God worked this all out in so many ways and it's completely clear that it is His will.  It's amazing what He can do to accomplish His will. 

So stay tuned... big move coming!!!

The Great Clean Out

3-26-13

Cleaning out for our big move has begun! We still don't know yet if that move is to Kansas City, or to another home in Louisville, but either way, we figured we better start cleaning out.  We've set a goal of being moved by June or July.  So... I've been going through everything and deciding what to keep, and what to toss.  My plan is to clean in at least 2 phases.  This is phase 1.  I'm cleaning out, and tossing a lot of stuff, but there are some things that we use that we may not be ready to toss just yet- glue, for example, won't make the trip with us, but we will still use it in the meantime.  So I'm tossing now, and then when the time comes to pack boxes, I'll reevaluate again.

Basically the theory is that I don't want to move junk.  Obviously, moving is expensive, but the less we have to move, the less expensive it will be.  So things like glue bottles (I've found 5 bottles of glue so far- why?!)  and crayons are just easier to replace rather than lug cross-country, or cross-town.  And then we have other things that just need to go- some old cheapo laminate bookshelves that would be easily damaged, our mattress that is in desperate need of replacement, etc.

Those of you who have moved before: What's your criteria for what goes to your new home, or what goes to the trash?

AND, I REALLY need help with how to get through this with Kristen- how do you help your kids clean out their stuff, and how much do they help/how much do you do while they're out of the house?  This is the part I'm dreading most! I really just want to do it myself, but I know that it would be better for her to help and have some ownership over the process.  Tips? Here's looking at you, military families!

The Big Move?

A few days ago, Will told me that he felt like the Lord may be leading our family to move to Kansas City.  Why Kansas City?  Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is there, and Will feels called to pursue his Ph.D there.  We actually felt like the Lord was leading us there a year ago, and then we found out we were pregnant with Sam, and decided that I should continue working at least until he was born because, well, insurance is a good thing.

So, as we've talked the past few days, I've realized that I have a million emotions and thoughts running through my brain all at the same time.  I want to use this blog to "flesh out" some of those thoughts, as well as give (and get?!) some practical moving advice.  This will be our family's biggest and most challenging move thus far.  It will be our 1st with children. enough. said. :)

So here's some thoughts:
On the positive side:
-Will and I feel certain that this is what God has called us to do.  Over the last few months, we've sensed we were out of the Lord's will, and let me tell you- there's no scarier place to be.  As I told my dad, "we got a little lost for a while, but we're back on the right track now."

-For Kristen: it will be a fresh start where there are no established bad memories.  It seems like everywhere in Louisville reminds her of something...

-Midwestern has an exciting PhD program, and they've actually continuously pursued Will since he began to submit his application last spring- asking him often to complete his application, come visit, etc.

-We'll be more centrally located in the country, and can visit some places I've never been.

-We'll only be a 2 day instead of 3 day drive to my parents' house, and that might actually be feasible to do.

On the negative side:
-It's a BIG move! Change creates lots of anxiety and acting out in Kristen.. There's also a million little details to figure out.

-We will miss our church family dearly.  I'll probably do a whole blog post on it, but it makes me cry just to think about it.  I seriously doubt we'll ever find a church that we love as much as 9th and O Baptist Church.

-We'll be farther away from Will's side of the family, and my brother's family.

So that's where we're at.  Big move.  Big emotions. Stay tuned!

Kristen is 8 years old!

Our 1st family photo- Dec. 2011

Sweet girl, you are another year older!  It's so exciting for you (although a little sad for me!)  You are growing into such a beautiful young lady. 

Your 8th year of life brought you a forever family, and a baby brother! What a year!  This next year will bring some exciting changes too.  :)

Your daddy, brother and I love you so very very much. 

You are a daddy's girl for sure! I love how much you love him, and how you think he can do nothing wrong.  You'd rather spend time with your daddy than just about anyone else.  He loves spending time with you too, and you will always be his little girl! (You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I thought you were ready to get your ears pierced! "My little Kristen?!")

Your baby brother absolutely adores you and it's been amazing to watch you be a big sister to him.  You take such sweet care of him, and you tell everyone, everywhere we go, "That's my baby brother!"  You genuinely get excited for him whenever he does something new.  You want to help care for him in every way.  I'm excited to watch your relationship develop as you both grow older.

As for me, you've taught me so many things- about how God loves us unconditionally, about how He wants the best for us always, even about why He disciplines us, and how it breaks His heart to do so.  You and I are working together on "girly" things- how to become a young lady.  We love to paint our toenails, watch "girly" movies, and do crafts together.  Homeschooling has given me a greater appreciation for you.  I think since our pace of life isn't so frantic (still very, very busy though!), I've slowed down and have been able to better appreciate your sense of humor, your tenderness, your helpfulness, and your care of others.  I wouldn't trade that time that we have together for anything. 

Kristen, you have a smile that can light up a room!  We can't wait to watch that smile continue to grow, and we can't wait to see how God is going to work in your life over the next year!  We love you to the moon, and back and back and back and back and back.... ;)

Sam is 5 months old!

One morning before church...one of the 1st warm days of spring!

Well baby boy, another month has come and gone.  Why do I constantly feel like they're going faster than normal?  :)

One of your 1st bites of rice cereal

This month was pretty tame.  You started solids, and you have yet to eat a food that you don't like.  You've tried rice cereal, avocado, bananas, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and green beans.  You eat way more than is recommended on the feeding chart the doctor gave me- I have to cut you off- and you love every. single. bite.  Meal time is certainly entertaining!

avocados!

My friend Miss Rachel came to visit.  We went to the Kentucky Derby Museum, Louisville Slugger Museum, shopping, and more! We had such a good time!

We celebrated your cousin Carson's 1st birthday, and ended up snowed in in Indianapolis.  It was your 1st hotel visit, and you hated it!  The hotel was out of cribs, and we didn't have a pack 'n play with us, so we thought you might sleep in your carseat as you've done before when you were sick.  That lasted all of 3 minutes, and then you screamed.  So, I thought maybe you would sleep on my chest, but you woke up screaming every 45 minutes.  You may have gone 1 stretch that was 2 hours.  Maybe.  It was a long night, but you did sleep the whole way home the next morning! And the most important thing was that we were all safe.

Easter Sunday!

We also celebrated Easter, and you looked so handsome in your pants, vest and tie.  Seriously. Adorable.  You went back into the nursery on Easter Sunday too. Hurray!

This is what happens when your sister feeds you- and yes, you had a bib on!

This has been the month of MOVING! You are all over the place! You still don't like to roll over much, but you wiggle yourself around to get to wherever you want to go.  My guess is that army crawling will be coming very soon...

Hey, I think I'll go see what's over here...

...and now back over here

hey mom..

You're looking more and more like your daddy, and you have his silly personality too.  Although, like me, you're very happy to be home after we've been out running around.  The day we got back from Uncle Matt and Aunt Jill's house, you didn't stop smiling and looking around. 

We're excited to see what the next month brings!!!

Sam is 4 Months!

 At your 4 month appointment, you were 16 lbs. 1 oz. and 25 inches long.  Since your 1 month appointment, you've consistently been in the 75% for weight, and 50% for height.

This month was the month of LAUGHING! Oh, that laugh! It's such a sweet sound.  We like to do whatever we have to do to get a laugh out of you. :)

adios 3-6 month clothes!

You also learned how to roll from your back to your belly this month- although you've only done it a couple of times, and it usually takes some persuading to get you to- you don't like to be on your belly!

This month was also a rough one. You spent about 2 weeks sick with bronchiolotis (non rsv) but the dr. Said that the virus you had acted just like rsv. We did breathing teeaents and were able to keep you out of the hospital. I don't think I realized just how sick you really were until we were at a dinner party. You couldn't breathe to eat, and we spent most of the evening in the back room- with you screaming, going back and forth between breathing treatments, and trying to get you to eat.  I'm not sure why it didn't register until then- I knew you were sick, and we had been to the dr. 3 times in a week, but I guess since the dr. said "non-rsv" I thought, "well, he's not that sick and he's not running a fever, and he's just an infant and not interacting with other kids yet, so..."  Once we got home that night, I apologized to you for taking you there, and then vowed to keep you at home until you felt better.  Lesson learned.

breathing treatments

So after that- it was your 3rd sickness in 6 weeks, the dr. recommended that we pull you out of church nursery until you are closer to 6-7 months old to give your immune system a little more time to develop.  So now, your "Sunday School Class" is at the preschool desk, by yourself with two of the sweetest ladies in our church, who just so happen to be totally smitten with you.  You flirt with them the whole hour until daddy and I come get you.  With 2 teachers to yourself, we're expecting you to have John 3:16 memorized by next week. ;)

Silly boy!