Monday, December 10, 2007

Anna Ruth's Birthday...again

Here are some pictures as promised of Anna Ruth's second 2nd birthday party. She had her own personal cake, and received a mo-mo (monkey) that reminds her of the monkey that she loved at storytime in Birmingham. She also received a play laptop and a classic Radio Flyer tricycle. What a spoiled girl! Hopefully she won't be expecting as many birthday parties as her age every year! :)










Thursday, December 06, 2007

Trim the Tree

We didn't have to go far to search for the perfect Chtstmas tree to cut down...no farther than the front yard! Anne (Rich's mom) and I decided to save some cash and be a little bit adventurous. We found a saw in the garage, cut down the 8 foot tree, trimmed it down a little to fit in the house, and carried it inside. It definitely looks somewhat rustic, but I think it turned out very nicely. And you'd be surprised how rewarding it is to cut down your very own Christmas tree from your front yard.

















Anna Ruth helped us decorate and was very excited when she saw the lights. But her favorite decorations were the beads, since she thought they were all huge necklaces for her to play dress-up with.





















At the end of the day, though, she was tired out from all that decorating.


















Happy 2nd Birthday, Anna Ruth!














We actually celebrated Anna Ruth's birthday early this year, since my family was gathered together for Thanksgiving.
Anna Ruth enjoyed her chocolate cake that her Aunt Lisa made for her, and all her great presents.
As if that wasn't enough, she's having another party on Saturday
with Rich's parents with more cake and presents.
Check back soon for more pictures!

Catching Up

Wow. Who knew that moving could do such a number to our blog? Sorry to all those who have been checking for updates; we have been quite slack on posting about what's been going on. Well, we moved to Charleston, and excitedly told family and friends about my pregnancy of 9 weeks. But a week after arriving, I found out I was having a miscarriage. So, we went through a lot right at the beginning. For a while we were feeling very sad and confused, but we were able to find hope and joy in knowing that we would see our baby in heaven. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and e-mails of encouragement; that meant so much to know that people were praying for us.
The house search was rather stressful and time-consuming, but we had a great realtor in Troy Watson who attends Church Creek Presbyterian with us. We definitely saw God's care for us in the whole process as he closed doors, but then opened new ones to even better situations for us. We finally put a contract on a house that will be built for us in Goose Creek. It is in a nice community with a pool, several playgrounds and parks. It was fun for me to be able to customize colors of cabinets, flooring, and vinyl siding. The house should be ready in March if all goes according to schedule. We are really excited about getting into our own place. I think it will make the move here feel more real once we're settled in our own house.
Rich is enjoying his new job, but is looking forward to getting into the house, which will be much closer to his work. He really likes all his coworkers and feels like he has a lot to learn from them (which is good!).
Anna Ruth has taken a little while to get adjusted; she transitioned to sucking her thumb all the time instead of just at nap and bedtime. She's also been pretty clingy to me and definitely more fussy as well. We have been seeing improvement with each week, so that's been good. She does really enjoy being around her Memaw and Gramps (Rich's parents, who we live with at the moment) and Lita and Pop-Pop (my parents). They've already been such amazing helps to me since we've been here. I don't know how I could ever go back to living away from parents!
All in all, we've been so happy here in Charleston, and we are thankful to God for providing the job here to make it possible.