What's new?

I tend to concentrate on the kids a lot in my blog posts. They are the biggest part of my life (and take up the most time, too) so that's to be expected I suppose. But there are 2 other people in this family and you might often be wondering "What's new with you?"

If not, I'm gonna tell you anyway, hahaha! Plus, I have worked 3 nights this week therefore I am being a night owl lately. I get in the "zone" about the time everyone has gone to bed. Even though, I myself, have slept only 3 1/2 hours out of the last 40. Which leads me to my first update.....

We have spent the last few weeks finishing our house to have it ready to sell. I know this is something I haven't really talked about, mainly because it seems to be up in the air as far as the details go. It still is really. Living for God is kinda like that I am finding as I surrender more and more to Him. We feel God moving us in a different direction and we still aren't sure where to yet.

Many doors have opened and shut lately, with some still remaining open. Every since we moved into this house we have discussed where to send our kids to school. We aren't zoned for bad schools necessarily but we just don't have a great/perfect elementary around us that we feel warm and fuzzy about. Moving to a different area has always been in the books for that reason. To add, Nana and Poppa bought some property in a great school area and offered to let us build on it. Still the same county, just in Sale Creek near Dayton. So that lead to the idea of building and sending them there. And for now that is the plan. Like I said, other doors have opened and some of them have already shut since that thought but for now we feel that is the path God is directing us towards. In order to build, though, we have to sell our house first. Which means, in the in between, we will be renting most likely. Where, we don't know! When, we have no clue! It all depends on when this house sells and where we find most suitable.

As I was originally saying, we have been busy doing finishing touches and repairs in order to sell our house. After many to-do lists and lots of sweat (mainly on Tyler's part), we got the house on the market today! I am excited yet sad. We have a lot of memories in this house bringing both our babies home to it. I think the business of getting it ready has masked the idea of actually leaving it until today when we actually put the sign up.

In other news, ITS SUMMER! Garyn is really excited about it this year. He is able to understand that school is out for him and daddy. He also gets that its hot outside and that's when we spend more time in the water. We have a busy summer ahead of us and I just hope it doesn't go too fast! The beginning starts with the best trip of all, too! DISNEY! We leave in a little over 24 hours and I am actually supposed to be packing right now. But aren't you glad I'm not?! :)

Garyn still has no idea. I can't believe we have made it this long without slipping up. We have said a few things in front of him thinking, "Oh, no!" but he hasn't asked or said anything about it. Our plan is to let him know once there or almost there. We are leaving in the middle of the night to make the drive go faster since Ansley hates the car! I.CAN'T.WAIT!

Back to house things.....I am notorious for killing plants! lol! My husband and father n' law always rag me about the dead plants that sit around our house until I finally throw them out. I am out to prove them wrong though! But before I do I must pay homage to some of my victims....

This was my longest living plant actually. I bought this African violet to put in our first house when we put it on the market, ironically. I had even thought about that just days before killing it. It had gotten so big that I had to transplant it into this larger pot. I felt I could do no harm to this one being that it had made it through droughts and neglect over the last 5 years. But for some reason, I got the crazy idea to set it out on the deck. I even knew it couldn't stay out there forever since it isn't a full sun plant. However, it had been a little gloomy its last few weeks of life and I thought maybe it needed more sun. Two days later, I remembered and saw that I had scorched the poor thing! I brought it back to its home, the kitchen windowsill, to die in peace. And now my father n' law actually has it. Not sure if he thinks he can revive it but I'll be grateful (and surprised) if so.

This is a grave site for another plant I had, a Peace Lily. There have been several of them in this pot actually over the last few years.....maybe its the pot???? Or maybe its just me, the plant killer. Anyway, this pot has sat in the foyer for the last few months like this. I was trying to give it's remains peace, I guess. But not anymore!

I bought and planted this today, as well as a couple other plants. I am out to prove the boys wrong! I have got to keep these plants alive or I will never live it down. We were making bets when leaving Lowe's today as to how long they would live. Garyn gave me a month. (Yes, even he knows how bad I am.) But Tyler said he must not know me too well because they wouldn't even last that long! My goal is to make it waaayy past a month! So I will keep you posted on how they are doing!

And I can't do this update without mentioning that my baby girl turned 13 months yesterday. I am bummed knowing the monthly updates are dwindling since she won't be going to the doc as much, probably will grow a little less fast, and her age will now be referred to in years and not months. But I intend to still update because she has changed in this last month and... well...... it is my blog! :)

One of her biggest changes has been in her eating. As you can see in this picture, she loves to feed herself....anything and everything. I didn't realize there were Hershey kisses in this bucket until I found her sitting here having a snack and making a mess!

She is eating mostly table food and less baby food. She has most recently tried macaroni and cheese. I have found she isn't too fond of fruits yet. Which is exact opposite of Garyn. I don't think she can chew them well yet, though, so I will keep trying. She will eat some banana. She has become quite the beggar, too, wanting whatever you are eating. Garyn thinks it's funny when she makes grunting noises at you and points to your plate. Grilled chicken, cheese toasts and crackers are her favorites. She is also drinking better from her sippy cups getting more milk down. But she still nurses in the morning and at night right now.

Speaking of chewing, she just today got her second tooth! She also has another that is so close to busting through. So she has her bottom right and top right teeth now to hopefully chew things up better. Although, you would never know she didn't have teeth in that she tries to eat chips,crackers and other hard stuff. Some times she can mash them and other times she just spits it out if it isn't working out for her.

Her vocabulary has expanded some in the last month. She now says "pee pye" when playing peek a boo. And she seems to say "EI EI O" when we sing Old McDonald. She also puts "Hi" with names sometimes. Like "Hi Nana" She uses all the words appropriately now, too. Her favorite thing is "uh oh". I laughed the other day when we were out on a walk. She kept saying "uh oh" and I didn't think much about it. Then I noticed her looking for something to realize she had dropped her pacifier a ways back! Guess I'll listen more often now. Other times, we feel she is just jabbering as if she knows exactly what we are saying to her and she is answering us back. Its too funny to carry on a conversation with her little expressions and such.

Here is a little snippet of her saying ball. And I want to say that I totally know she looks unsafe in half this video! I don't typically leave the side of the buggy when she is standing in it. As you can tell, she is still a climber and will climb everything to get to what she wants. I put her in the seat of the buggy only to have her climb out quickly so putting her in the bigger part is how I get by! Don't judge!

Alright, I think I have updated on every member of the household now. And I really need to get busy so I can go to bed soon!

Won't be back till we are back from Disney!