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.