House Hunting...

As mentioned yesterday, Josh and I are officially house hunting again. We sold our house in Branson back at the end of August but we weren't in a hurry to buy another one right off the bat. We've been renting a house from a wonderful couple from our church, and it has been a great set up for this "in-between" phase. However, the couple may have the opportunity to sell this house - which is great news for them - but really puts the pressure on us. Chances are we will probably need to be out of here by March. That will be here in no time!

Part of me is really excited to start looking for a house again. I think it will be the final thing to make NWA really feel like home. We already LOVE it here, but I'm excited to have a place to call our own. But the other part of me is a little anxious because I want this next house to be one we can be in for A WHILE. Not just because I don't want to have to worry about selling another house, but because I am tired of moving! Here's why - Josh and I have moved SO many times in our 5 1/2 years of marriage. It's crazy. Check it out...

1. Lived in Josh's K-Life apartment in Harrison for a month (while he wrapped up K-Life)
2. Lived with the Neaville's (amazing Searcy family we consider our own!) for a month while our house was finished being built

3. Lived in our Searcy house for 2 years

4. Lived with the Neaville's again after our house sold before we moved to B-town (I told you they were amazing!)

5. Rented an apartment in Branson for 9 months while house hunting

6. Lived with the Grimmer's (good friends in Branson) for 3 weeks before heading to kamp (our lease was up but our house wasn't ready yet)

7. Lived in our Branson house for 2 years

8. Moved to Northwest Arkansas and lived with the Harris family (more great friends...thank you Lord for the people in our lives!) for 4 months until our house sold in Branson.

9. Currently renting a house in Springdale until we find one of our own!

Yep, count 'em. That's 9 moves in less than 6 years. And that's not counting the two summers we "moved" out to kamp for 3 months. It is true though - home really is where your family is. I can vouch for that! As long as I'm with Josh (and now Jake), I'll be at home. But needless to say, we are ready to be somewhere for a while.

We actually already started looking and have a house that we have our hearts set on. We are in the middle of that process so any prayers would be much appreciated. Now it's just a waiting game. We'll keep you updated.

Long Overdue Update...

So, yep it's been over one month since I last posted. I have such high hopes for this blogging thing and just can't seem to live up to them. Here's my excuse - my child only naps for 25-30 minutes at a time during the day. I'm not trying to complain and I know every mom out there is just thinking "Welcome to my world," but I'm still adjusting. Jake is a GREAT night sleeper so I wouldn't trade that, but when I only have a total of an hour and a half to myself during the day, laundry, dishes, and showering take priority over blogging. :) So anyways, onto the update.

We are all doing really well. Sad that tomorrow wraps up our Christmas break at my parents' house in Mtn. Home. Josh is so blessed in his job and was given this whole week off, so we took advantage of the time to spend with family. And to be honest, it's nice having the extra help. I'm sure it will be a bit of an adjustment going to back to 2 on 1 again after being here for a week.

Jake is doing so good. It seems like it was just a couple days ago that we were coming back from his 2-month check up (and I was planning to post about that) and here we are past his 3-month mark. I know these little tidbits and milestones about Jake may not interest everyone, but I want them for my own keepsake. So skip if you choose, but here are a few updates on the little guy...

• At his 2 month check up, he weighed just short of 14 lbs. He's in the 90th percentile. Yep, he's a good eater...never had to worry about that. :) (His height was 23.5 inches - the 50th percentile.) 
• During Thanksgiving break (actually at my parents), he started dropping another night feeding. I would feed him at about 7:30 each night and he would sleep until 3 or 4ish. Now he stretches even further on most nights. Last night he fed at 7:30 and didn't eat again until 6:15. (That was a first though.) It's amazing what 6 or 7 hours straight of sleep feels like again! Thanks buddy. Still hopeful that he'll get to that 12 hour mark soon! 
• Right after we got home from Thanksgiving, we finally moved him into his own room. I missed having him next to us, but we are sleeping much better! We definitely should have made that move sooner, but couldn't b/c we didn't have a crib. Seeing as we didn't even move into our own rent house until 5 days before he was born, his room wasn't exactly set up and ready. It's still not but we at least have a crib and a glider. We're getting there!
• It was also just after Thanksgiving (just past his 2 month mark), that he seemed to outgrow his colic. THANK YOU LORD for bringing that earlier than we expected. We had a lot of rough days the first couple months. He just could NOT be consoled. Felt like we tried everything and he would just scream. I've never felt so helpless. :( But it really did just shut off one day. 
• He smiles and laughs all the time now. And seriously, he has the sweetest (toothless) smile. He smiles with his whole face, and it absolutely never gets old. We are the classic obsessed parents.
• He loves the mirror, LOVES his changing table, and loves to be naked (which is why I think he loves his changing table.) 
• He gnaws, I mean GNAWS on his pacifier. Sometimes he'll actually suck on it, but rarely. I would be concerned that he's an early teether but he's been doing this since like week 4.
• And a few pics of our little man from the past few weeks...

 

As far as an update on Josh and I, not a lot to report on except that we are on the house hunt again. More on that tomorrow (I know, I know you don't believe that, but for real, tomorrow.) 

2 Months (a little late)...

This past Saturday Jake turned 2 months old.  I'm a little late in posting these pics. Can't believe how much he's changed in one month. Makes me a little sad. Enjoy!

Gotta love those thighs.


Couldn't resist myself in posting this one. He has lots of big smiles these days. And did I mention a double chin?

Happy Birthday Ryan...

Today is my little brother's birthday. So I thought I'd take a minute to give him a shout out. Actually, he's really not so little anymore - he is 24 today. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of him. Ryan is 5 years younger than me, so I've always been the protective older sister and had high expectations for him. He has beyond exceeded them. One being who he married - we LOVE Libby! Way to go, Ry. He is driven, more of a perfectionist than he'd like to admit, and is an instant friend to everyone he meets. I really don't think he knows a stranger. He's always been that way.

The past 6 months have been really fun for Josh and I because it's the first time I've lived in the same place as Ryan since I was in high school. We love getting to see he and Libby on a regular basis, and we are selfishly praying that future jobs keep them here in Northwest Arkansas.

So, Happy Birthday Bud! Love you. Thanks for loving us even though Paige and I dressed you like this as a child...

Poor kid.

But wasn't he cute?

An oldie of Ryan and I.


Ryan and Libby. (Just so you know what he looks like today...he turned out okay, despite our torture.)

Update in Pics...

Seeing as I haven't done a good job of blogging this month, I figured I would do a quick Jake update in pictures - let's be honest, pictures are more fun. These are all from the past month (wish I would have taken more.) He's changing and growing so fast - ENJOY!

His daytime Halloween outfit. Thanks Aunt Paige for the "cutest monster" outfit.


Jake's first Halloween costume - sweet little monkey. He wore it for about 5 minutes before peeing all over it. :)

Not loving the monkey costume. Still cute though.


Dad thinks it's funny to put the pee-pee teepee on Jake's head instead of, well, you know where. :)


Liking bath time much more these days.


I decided I needed to start capturing more photos of him crying (well, screaming is the more appropriate term.) Seeing as this is what he does a good bit (we think he has mild colic), I will want to remember that little face someday. Hopefully he'll outgrow it soon, sweet buddy.

Yes he cries a lot, but he's also been smiling a lot more lately too. And his smile couldn't be any cuter. Warms my heart every time. And we have actually caught it on camera recently!

Another great smile (after eating). Full belly and naked - doesn't get much better.

Searcy Shower...

Well, this is long overdue (as usual). A few weeks ago, we made our first trip out of town since Jake's arrival down to Searcy for a baby shower some friends were throwing for us. It was slightly stressful, I admit, but it was totally worth it. Having a baby has just reminded Josh and I how blessed we are to have the friends and family that we do. Between our time at K-Seven, the Institute, K-Life, Fellowship Searcy, and now Fellowship NWA, we seriously feel like we have family everywhere. And Searcy is definitely one of those places. We've been gone from there for over 3 years now, and we still love going back to visit. The only problem is we can't possibly see everyone we want to in one weekend. Needless to say, it was such a blessing to have an afternoon to catch up with so many of those amazing women and young ladies - I miss them all so much. So thanks to all of you for coming out to love on us and for being extra encouraging while Jake screamed at us for most of the shower. :) Love you all!

A few pics from the shower...

Jake and I outside by the front door decoration. So cute.

Me with 2 of my small group girls (also hostesses) - Lex and Laura Beth (sad you weren't there Caleigh and Sarah Grace - missed you both!)

Me with the mom hostesses or as Kimber called you - the "bigger" women. Her words, not mine. :) Lisa, Kimber, me, and Rhonda - missing Susan and Stacy. Love you all!

The beautiful cake Stacy ordered. So yummy.

Fun cookies to go with it. Supposed to match the colors of Jake's room - well, when we get around to finishing his room, that is. :)

Me with the Scanlon girls. They finally got Jake to fall asleep after screaming for an hour and a half. Poor buddy. U of A is a great place if you want to transfer ladies! ;)

Me and Emily - one of my other amazing small group girls. Miss them all like crazy.


Opening gifts.

Speaking of pics and Searcy...we also had a newborn photoshoot done of Jake with our friend Kimber while we were there. Hopefully I'll be posting some of those soon. She captured some really great ones. :) Coming soon...

NWA Sip & See...

2 posts 2 days in a row - crazy, I know! (Truth is I did them both at the same time and scheduled this one for today.) Anyways, this past weekend, some sweet friends from our new church home threw us a Sip & See. It was wonderful!

I'll be honest, I was a nervous wreck going into it because Jake is still so unpredictable. He will be super calm and sweet one day and the next day be inconsolable at the exact same time of day. He's not exactly following a predictable pattern yet. I guess that's called being a newborn, right? But he did so well. He slept through the whole thing and let anyone hold him. Sweet buddy.

You would think moving to a new place shortly before having your first baby would be tough and kind of lonely, but we have seriously been so surrounded and loved since we got here. I guess that's the benefit of your husband being on staff at a church - you get an instant family. We are already so thankful to be a part of this community and cannot wait to form deeper relationships with all these folks. So thanks to all of you for the shower, for all the amazing gifts, for the meals, and for wrapping your arms around us so quickly. I could not be more excited about being back in NWA! :)

A few pics (I'm not great at remembering to take pictures, sorry.)

Before the Sip & See...I think he might have been pooping here. ;)

Looking sharp in his tie.

The food. So delicious...definitely ate too much.

Super cute owl cupcakes.

The hostesses - Kim Marquette, Mandy Baker, Leighann Rings, Alaina Shuler. So thankful for these women.