We Bought a House!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!! Closing is done, keys were handed over, the moving process has begun! We are even more in love with the house now that all their stuff is out and we can picture our stuff there. Painting will begin next week--woo hoo!!

A hodgepodge of thoughts!

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I just haven't had a lot to say! So I figured I'd write a post with a hodgepodge of thoughts, updates, etc.!

• Bryan's back is doing much better...still sore at times, but nothing several Motrin can't fix. :)
• We may be closing on our house as early as this Friday!!!! It doesn't seem real, but we can't wait! We've been watching lots and lots of HGTV to get ideas of things we want to do. Have I mentioned how excited I am about the kitchen and backyard? I think our dogs won't know what to do with themselves!! We will definitely miss being right across the street from a Kroger, but it will be ok. Our new house is on a very quiet street, and we have no neighbors behind us (nor will we ever!), so that is a WONDERFUL thing.
• Caleb is growing and changing so much every day. We are trying to teach him some signs so he doesn't just whine and scream when he wants something...today we worked on "please" and he did SUCH a good job! He is happiest when he can walk wherever he wants to go, as quickly as possible. He is definitely strong willed and stubborn as well--he IS the firstborn of TWO firstborns, so we aren't surprised! When I took him to the doc this week, he gave me a copy of James Dobson's New Dare to Discipline...he said he normally gives it out at 18 month appts, but "some need it sooner"...hahahahaha! This is a whole new world, and although not the most fun, we need to get it right, now. I read a wonderful book called Raising Children in a Grace-Filled Home or something like that, and learned so much about creating an environment of love, grace, forgiveness, honesty, openness, caring, warmth, prayer, etc. in a home. It is so exciting because this is our goal...and Caleb is only 1...so we have all the faith in the world that we can achieve it! He talks a lot in the book about how the NUMBER ONE priority in your home should be the husband and wife's relationship...because your family starts with two--and will eventually be two again...and how you don't want to get to that time and realize you are married to a complete stranger. So much of the world teaches that children are the main, #1 priority in a family--and although they are so important and special, the parent's marriage should trump it in importance. Bryan and I really try to be intentional about taking time to go on dates, talk together when C is napping, romance each other, etc. I hope we can continue this for a long, long time, even when life is crazy!!
• Have I mentioned how much I love our church? ;) We're doing a great series on the book of Revelation at the moment...and a lot of the IT series is tied into it, amazingly. We've started this "dollar club" where each member gives an extra dollar each week, and they collect that money and use it to bless someone in the community (not necessarily a Southland member at all) in a RADICAL way...they are doing it based on attendance--which is in the 10-11 thousand range...so far our church body has paid for a single mom's surgery to remove a tumor from her heart, and another single mom to keep her house from going into foreclosure. INCREDIBLE stuff. I get chills just thinking about it!!!
• We are so excited to be going to Gatlinburg with some friends for a weekend in November. These are new friends in our lives, and we've all just clicked SO well. We can't wait to eat Smores, let the kids play (all girls except Caleb--can we say, "ladies man?"!), smell the mountain air, Christmas shop, and just relax...ahhhh...is it November yet???

Picture post

Bathtime fun!!! Playing with the shakers at Chloe's birthday party!

The mess a 14 month old can make in a matter of minutes...Trying on his Halloween costume...not a fan...but looks cute!
Having a juice box at Chloe's party

This was on the way home the other day from a playdate--thought he looked so big and handsome. :)

I can never get pics to post in the order I want them to! This is the "after" shot of his first haircut.
This is RIGHT after his first haircut!!!
This is DURING the first haircut. He was NOT going to sit in the super cute airplane chair...he would only allow this to be done if daddy was holding him. He enjoyed the "Old McDonald" Baby Einstein video as well. :)
This is a shot of my beautiful 30th birthday cake made by my fabulous friend Juliana! My camera died so I didn't get any other good shots of my party, but I loved this one.

WHAT a weekend

Wow...well, let's just say that I will NEVER forget my 30th birthday, EVER!! And not necessarily for the best reasons! I'm still reflecting on everything that has gone on, and I am pretty tired, so if this doesn't make sense, please understand!

On Sat, Bryan kept talking about my "big surprise" that was going to happen that night. I did some shopping in the morning (got Caleb's Halloween costume-a whole other post-but it is SO cute! He's going to be a dragon. A cute one. LOVE IT!), came home and was relaxing. Bryan was emptying the dishwasher when all of a sudden he yells and is pretty much on the floor, writhing in pain. He says he thinks he pulled something when he was closing the dishwasher. At first we thought it was something that would get better after a few minutes, but those "few minutes" came and went and he was still in pain. The thing is, he had to go with our friend Tyson to pick up our new (to us) kitchen table and chairs from some people who were moving and selling it to us. So Tyson gets to our house and Bryan manages to make it to the truck with him, saying he feels better when he doesn't move, and that he would just give T the directions and stay in the truck. There was an unfortunate incident with a nasty lady in Winchester who we were going to buy a dryer from, and that is certainly another post for another day...but it has scared me from buying things off Craigslist! Anyway, by the time he got home, in was in CRAZY pain, and couldn't even get off the floor. I wanted to call an ambulance but he kept saying no, that we had to get ready for my big surprise. I was already ready, but I knew Bryan wasn't even going to be able to shower. I kept asking him if this was something we could redo another time, cancel, etc. and he kept saying no. I felt HORRIBLE and didn't know WHAT to do. He would have none of me taking him to the hospital. So we drove to this restaurant--Bryan, unshaved and unshowered, but saying we HAD to go (I had to drive, although his initial plan was to blindfold me) and he managed to hobble in with me, and I was greeted by many friends, some from college who drove in from out of town, a room decorated so beautifully, a gorgeous homemade cake made by Juliana, a birthday crown, presents, etc...it was perfect. But I was feeling pretty subdued by all the drama from the day, and knowing Bryan was in so much pain. Once we got there, our friend Todd offered to drive Bryan to the ER, and I wanted to go but knew I couldn't, since there were so many people there and so much time and effort had been put into this party. I felt so terrible, because everyone had been saying that Bryan had been planning this for MONTHS...had even set up a special email account so I couldn't be sneaky (who, me???), and everything...and yet he couldn't stay. Sigh. But everyone really took my mind off things while he was gone, and Todd sent regular texts updating us about what was going on. He ended up being given lots of drugs (3 different kinds) and told he had "bad luck", which I'm still not quite sure what that means exactly. I went there as soon as I could, which happened to be right when he was being discharged. He slept all day yesterday, Caleb WOULDN'T sleep, and I was pulling my hair out!! He has slept a lot of today as well, but can move a little better than yesterday...I think it is getting better, but he's definitely not 100 percent yet. He's supposed to make an appt. with our regular doctor tomorrow, to see if things are better. I'm mostly worried that the only reason he seems better is because of the strength of the prescriptions he is on. Praying it's not anything more serious than what they're thinking.

I really did appreciate the party and everyone who was there, though. I loved seeing Liz's new baby, sorority sisters from college who I hadn't seen in a while, life group people, my awesome playgroup mommas, etc. I felt quite loved and special. I know Bryan feels terrible for missing it, and it hurt my heart that he wasn't there...but the fact that he put the whole thing together means so, so much to me...I truly have a wonderful, thoughtful husband. And between this and the food poisoning, I will NEVER forget this birthday...WHEW!!! Let's hope this isn't an indicator of what the rest of my 30s will be like, hahaha. :)

The Big 3-0!

Well, I turned 30 this week! The pictures above are from right before dinner...Caleb looked so cute I had to snap a few. :) The day actually started out pretty badly--woke up around 1 am SICK as sick can be, and Bryan was working, so that made it even more miserable! I really thought I might never get off the bathroom floor again, haha. But I eventually got back to sleep and woke up feeling pretty normal...I think it was food poisoning, brought on by eating raw cookie dough and brownie batter the night before (I know, I know, NOT SMART SARAH!). I was mostly bummed because I was hoping to walk with 3 of my favorite people that morning, but obviously didn't so I could rest up and feel better. Bryan came home from work, helped me with Caleb some, and slept till about 3. When he got up, the three of us went out to eat. It was a very yummy meal (and free for me, yippee!!). I randomly saw my old youth minister and his family there, which was awesome, since I've been keeping up with them on Facebook...fun to see them in person! We then went to Culver's for dessert and I got a pumpkin shake-YUM. I LOVE fall, and a huge reason for this is everything pumpkin flavored! ;) We came home, put Caleb to bed, I opened some presents, and just relaxed. Bryan says more birthday fun is happening this weekend, but I'm not quite sure what that entails, so I'll keep you updated! All in all, it was a nice, low-key day. I joke about dreading this birthday, but really, I am exactly where I hoped I'd be at 30...married to the love of my life, mother to a precious son, buying our first home, and letting God lead my life in more ways than ever before. I have been blessed in my life, that is for certain. I'm really pretty glad to put my 20s behind me...because, while fun (and at times crazy!), I am ready for the stability of the 30s. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the next 30 years! (cue Tim McGraw...lol) Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone! :) :) :)