The Countdown has begun!

10 days until we are supposed to receive our certificate of occupancy for our new house! 10 days! It does not even seem real as we walk through the house. We keep saying that we feel like it is someone else's home that we keep visiting regularly. I am sure it will sink in once we get moved in and there are other people living in our current house. :) Our tenants move in to our current house on May 27th, so that gives us some extra time to move. However, we just might have a family vacation planned for a week between now and then...it will be nice to take a break on the beach in the midst of all this craziness, but might add some additional stress trying to get everything done in time!

Here are some house pictures from this week...

Master bedroom

Master bedroom...

Dining room wall...there will be rock where you see black right now and rustic wine racks in each of the openings.

Kitchen

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Landry and daddy checking out the new countertops...

Back porch...

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Landry and me in her new room. Yes, we painted our little girl's room BLUE, but it is going to look precious with her pink furniture and bright bedding. Can't wait to put it all together!

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Landry's room again...

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Micah and Landry checking out Collier's room...

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Beams in the family room...

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Stair railings...

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Media room...

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Play room...

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Painted doors....I am loving the dark chocolate color!

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And the driveway that is about to be poured!

We are getting excited about getting moved and starting a new chapter in a new home that we planned all by ourselves. We love that we got to pick out all the details, and we love how we got to work together on something that we are so proud of. I have really enjoyed this time of building with Micah...we have had so much fun working together on this that maybe we will do it again someday (hopefully a long time from now!). The Lord has blessed us greatly, and we pray daily that we will use our blessings to glorify his name. We pray that our home will have open doors to those who need them, warm meals for those who are hungry, and a safe shelter for those who are scared or lost.

Easter!

Landry got to celebrate her first Easter this past Sunday. We were very busy running from one place to the next, but our day was blessed because we got to spend it together as a family. She decided not to take a nap at all that day, so she screamed the whole hour drive to Fort Smith, and the whole hour back. She faked us out when we got in the car to head home by taking a 5 minute snooze, but woke up screaming with all her might to be out of the carseat. :) I told a friend yesterday that God was certainly with us during the trip because I was about to go nuts on the way down (and Micah kept me calm), and Micah was about to lose it on the way home (and I was able to keep him calm). Luckily for all of us, we were not going crazy at the same time!

Here is a brief recap of our day...

First of all, we went to our wonderful church, FBC Rogers, for our Easter service. Y'all, we are blessed beyond measure to have the pastor that we do. He is a strong man of faith who is not scared to preach the truth. To be honest, Micah and I walked in, looked at the bulletin, and said to each other at almost the same time..."Oh my goodness, he is going to preach from Revelations on Easter!" Now, to be clear, he did not preach hell fire and brimstone, but he spoke on the truth of who Jesus was, is, and will always be (Revelation1: 17-18). Hell is a part of that, and Jesus holds the keys. It was a wonderful message to hear, and I know it was a message that needed to be preached. We are proud of our church and pastor everyday, but on Sunday especially, I was thrilled to be blessed with such a wonderful church home.


After our service, we headed down to Fort Smith to spend Easter lunch with Micah's side of the family. You have already heard how our trip down there went. :)

This is where we had lunch with the family. This is Gigi and Papa-D's new barn that they had built at their farm. Seriously, we ate in this thing...it is nothing like your typical barn! Gorgeous, to say the least!

After lunch, the big kids got to go fishing in the pond. They LOVE getting dirty, and are right at home being outside. This is Jackson checking out Avery's fish.

Great-grandmama and granddad with a few of the kids...

And Landry and Papa-D watching Avery swing in the barn.


After lunch, we headed back to NWA for an early dinner with my mom's side of the family...


Landry wasn't quite sure what to do with her Easter basket (or bucket), but she had lots of fun!




She finally found a few eggs, and quickly figured out that there was something she shouldn't have inside of them!

Cousin Judd was not too thrilled to share "his bench" with Landry. In his defense, she is taking up a lot of his space! :)

Judd and Landry with their matching Easter buckets that Aunt Jamia made.

Despite the fact that we rushed from here to there, got soaked in the rain, found 2 nails in our tires, and got to deal with a fussy baby all day, we are totally blessed to have the opportunity and reason to celebrate Easter. The gift that was given on the cross, and the fact that my savior and redeemer LIVES is reason enough for me to try my best to keep smiling through the trials of this life. I live knowing that one day I will be united with my Lord and be able to bow at his feet and thank him for the unbelievable gift that was given to me....to you....to Landry. We don't deserve it, we don't understand it, but I accept it! I pray you do to!

Rainy Mornings...

It is another rainy morning in NWA today. The rain really doesn't bother me a whole lot because Landry and I pretty much stay home during the day anyway. It does bother me in the evenings when Micah gets home and we want to get out and do stuff. :) Going to visit our new house is especially yucky with all the mud and water.
Landry doesn't know what to think of this crazy weather. She will stand at the window or glass door and just point and squeal. It is so sweet. She is pointing at EVERYTHING right now. She is so curious about everything around her, but she is also very cautious to do new things. That is probably part of the reason she is still not walking. She will take about two steps by herself, and then she squats to crawl where she wants to go. Since she was 8 1/2 months old, people have kept saying, "she is about to start walking!" Nope...not yet.

Here are some pictures of Landry "helping" with laundry this morning. She is getting very interested in getting herself dressed, and she tries all the time to put my clothes on. So funny!





Also, I noticed something new this morning...

Landry is getting so much hair, and she actually has a curl or two now! In my 1 year pictures, I had a curly mullet too. :) The above picture got me really excited (even though I shouldn't wish this on my daughter). My hair always flips out on the left side of my head no matter what I do to it....the right side will curl under, but the left side kind of has a mind of its own.

Micah laughs and tells me all the time how I am crazy I am, and this might confirm it for all of you too. When I saw her hair this morning I thought, "Oh my gosh, she is really mine!" I know I probably shouldn't question it after the 50 hour labor and all, but she looks so much like her daddy to me that it is strange to see something that is so ME! Even after a whole year, it still does not seem real that she is my little girl...my 2nd best friend in the whole wide world!

Landry's First Birthday!!

Landry's first birthday was Saturday, and we had a "piggy" themed party to celebrate with friends and family. She loved all the attention, and she really enjoyed playing outside with the bigger kids! I can't believe she is a year old!!


Here are the invitations I made for the party. I thought this was a great idea, bought all the supplies, then realized that I needed to make 30! This will almost definitely be the only year for handmade invitations. :)

Landry was fired up before the party!

We had pigs-in-blankets (other boring stuff), and yummy pig cookies and petifores from Shelby Lynn's.

The weather was perfect, and the kids were able to play outside for a little while...

Landry and Judd playing in the ball pit.

Playing with her golf club. Check out those leg rolls!!

Riding her new pig from Dado and Nana...

Cake time!!

We asked for donations to the pregnancy center that our midwife runs. We got lots of diapers, clothes, and monetary donations to help out the babies who need them!

I took this picture a little prematurely...we had several more boxes of diapers come after this!

And....of course, even though we said "no gifts please," our families didn't listen! :)

Landry got lots of special gifts (and lots of pigs!!) to celebrate her wonderful birthday! She is one blessed little baby girl, and we could not ask for better friends and family to share her life with. Thanks to everyone who helped make her birthday extra special!