9 Months Old

Sooo...I think the last post I've done on Peyton was when he was 6 months old...oops!  So maybe I'll do a 7 month and 8 month post...or maybe not.  We'll just see how it goes.  But for now let's talk about Peyton at 9 months! ;)  He's just a doll.  I mean, I literally cannot get enough of this baby.  Just see for yourself...

 Yes, I realize that I've already put this one up, but I just thought you may want to see it again.  I mean it really is so adorable that it deserves to stand on its own...not share space with another picture....don't you think?

I am quite shocked that the child's cheeks aren't constantly rosy, or bruised or something from all the kisses he gets.  I could stare at him all day.  Ok...so I'm making myself move on to what Peyton is like at 9 months ;)...
-He has finally started crawling!  Actually (for my own documentation)...he started officially crawling this past Monday..June 3rd.  So he's not super fast yet, but he's doing great!
-He can pull up but isn't very stable with it yet.
-He is FINALLY sleeping through the night again!  It was a long confusing process as to why he wouldn't sleep all night...he was sick a lot and even when we moved here he had a few colds and such, so I never had the heart to make him cry it out.  And then finally one night...I knew he wasn't sick or hurting, so I let him cry it out.  And he honestly cried for MAYBE 15 minutes (and mostly wimpered) and fell back asleep!  A few nights of that and now we have a sleeper!  And a momma with a lot more energy for that matter.
-He will finally eat some baby food, but he really wants to feed himself table food!
-He has started eating LIKE A HORSE!  Way more than the other babies did! (He LOVES avocados, bananas, turkey sticks, noodles, sweet potatoes, broccoli, mashed potatoes...ok so the kid likes to eat).  This is a big step considering that when we first introduced baby food he acted like he was going to be a VERY picky eater.  I had the hardest time getting him to eat anything!
-He puts everything in his mouth.
-He loves people.
-He loves his brothers and sister!
-He stays very entertained on the floor with toys.
-He is still nursing, but has started taking a bottle just at night.
-He is very active and always reaching for something!
-He is a wild man in the bathtub...especially now that he's crawling!
-He's always smiling and happy.
Overall, he is a GREAT baby!  We all love him so so much and can't get enough of him! (Have I mentioned that yet?) :)

Cousins

One of the things we have LOVED about being back in Memphis is getting to see these people a lot more!

Cousin time is the best!  I had really missed my little nephews and niece (and soon to be nieces)...oh, and of course my sister and brother-in-law too. ;)  Here's a few random pictures I've been storing up since we moved here two months ago...

 Right after we moved here, Aunt Kristina came in!  That was the best!  We all went to the airport to pick her up and they were all so excited to see her!

 I especially love how she is holding one child in each arm and still managing to hold Lily's hand.  She's the super-aunt!

So much fun!  Now if only we could get some hugs and giggles with our other cousins!  We are REALLY missing us some Lucy, Andy, and Ruthy time!!  We hope to get to see them soon too!!  I really do love both our families!!  We are so blessed!!

Bike Ride to Target

A couple of Sundays ago we decided to visit a little church plant in Midtown.  They meet in a little cafe down there, and they can't get their building until 5pm on Sundays.  I needed to go to Target that morning for a few little necessities, so we up and decided to ride our bikes!  All 3 kids can now ride their bikes without training wheels and have been wanting to go on a bike ride, so we took off.  Most of the ride was on a nice bike trail, but there was one busy road we had to cross and then ride down to get there.  We had the kids walk their bikes during that short stretch.  Before we left Jason gathered up the kiddos and gave them the rules.

 The baby rode in the buggy behind Jason's bike.  He had a blast in there and that also gave us some space to put our Target stuff.  We got a little ways into our ride before I realized Austin had this really awesome belt on with his outfit.  That kid has some style let me tell you.

 When we got to Target this cutie fell asleep and we were able to just lay him out right in the buggy.  But it didn't take long before he woke up and then he pulled himself right up!  This is one of the first times he'd ever pulled up all by himself.  (He doesn't do many things ALL by himself due to his three older siblings that try to do everything for him). :)

 During our adventurous bike ride we decided that we needed to purchase some helmets for the kids.  They probably should have always had them, but since they are now riding without training wheels, and taking such grown-up bike rides, they REALLY needed them. (Side note: Daniel has been riding without training wheels since last year, but he didn't get to ride near as much last summer and well, I guess we just forgot about the whole helmet thing then).

 It took us a little longer than we initially planned to get to Target, and then we ended up spending awhile in Target, so since it was lunch time we decided we better fuel up before we headed back home.  So we rode across the street to Wendy's for lunch and frosty's!

We got back around 3-ish and showered up and then went to church!  It was a WONDERFUL day.  We figured up that it was a 4.5 mile bike ride to go there and back.  FOUR AND A HALF MILES!!  And I'm telling you...those kids did GREAT!  It was a nice leisurely bike ride for Jason and I, but their little feet were pedaling the ENTIRE time and they never complained!  We did stop some for them to rest, but not near like you'd think.  And Peyton didn't cry once.  I mean, who would if they were getting carted around behind a bike with a cool breeze?!  It was so much fun.  We so could have driven to Target to get toothpaste and razors and body wash.  But instead...we turned a boring ole trip to Target into an adventure....thanks to my awesome hubby who thought of the idea!  I hope we do it again soon!

Eating...kid-style!

One night last week-ish, I decided to let the kids make dinner.  Yup...you read that right....the kids made their own dinner.  Years ago in college we went on a retreat where we made these foil dinners over the fire.  So I decided to re-create that with the kids one night for something different.  I made the ground beef into balls; cut up some onions, carrots and potatoes; and set out all different kinds of seasonings.  I gave each kid a piece of foil and let them put all their stuff on their foil and then season it!  I kinda forgot to get some pictures of them actually making their dinner...I guess the combination of a 7, 5, and 4 year old with raw ground beef made me a little cautious.  But here's a few right after...

 They said it was the best dinner they've ever eaten....they're kinda conceited if you ask me ;). The ground meat was actually deer meat and on top of that it cooked too long so it was actually not even close to the best meal we've ever made.  It's amazing what having kids help does to their overall dining experience.

I also thought I'd randomly share our breakfast experience the other day.  We dropped Jason off at work one morning and ran some errands after that.  We didn't have much at home to eat for breakfast, and I had to run by Kroger anyway, so we decided to grab some breakfast in there...

 The minute we started to step out from under the awning it started pouring rain.  I mean pouring.  I can handle some rain, but I in no way, was about to attempt to get 4 kids in the car in that.  So we plopped ourselves down right in front of Kroger and enjoyed our breakfast while waiting for the rain to let up.  Perfection. :)

 (side note: no, I did not feed my 8 month old baby a hard, crunchy cereal bar). :)

The kids enjoyed it and it saved us from the rain!  So there we go!  Who says you can't have fun running errands and making dinner with 4 kids? :)

Homeschooling

Yes...you read it right...I am HOMESCHOOLING!  It was kind of a quick decision when we moved here.  I mean, I had pretty much decided to start it in the fall, but I originally planned on letting them finish the year in school.  But when we got here, the process of getting them enrolled was so complicated that we just decided to go ahead and start now.  Beginning the process was very hard because I had to figure out where to start them.  I had an idea of where they were, but I didn't know exactly.  Plus I have a different curriculum than what they had in school so it goes in a different order and...well you get the picture.  It was challenging.  But, now...it's awesome!  It's nothing like I thought it'd be and I am really loving it!  We still aren't done for the summer just yet, because we took quite a break waiting for our workbooks to come in...but we shouldn't have too much longer to go!

 Sometimes when Daddy is home while we're doing school he'll come in and help.  Usually I have been trying to explain something for 20 minutes and he will come in and say it slightly different and then the light turns on.  Gotta love that.

I really love homeschooling.  There is nothing like watching their wheels turning and watching the light turn on when they learn something new.  I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I do.  :)

Dayton

Before we arrived in Memphis, me and the kids made a week-long visit to Dayton to see Jason's mom and grandparents.  While we were there we also got to see a few of our friends that live there too!  It was a great week!  The only thing missing was daddy.  He had to go on to Memphis for some job interviews.  But we were so glad and thankful to have gotten to spend a week with Grandmaw!  I am SO thankful for the relationship I have with my mother-in-law and I can't wait til we can go visit again!  Here are a few pics of the kids from our stay...

Sporting their new outfits from Grandmaw...

One day the kids pretended each room of the house was a different fast food restaurant. Lily made signs for all the doors.  Can you guess which fast food place this is?  :)

One day we went and had lunch at my friend Jill's house.  Jill is actually the person who introduced Jason and I in college!  The kiddos had a blast playing at Jill's with her little boy Anthony.  And of course the trampoline was a hit!

My boys...

I got to eat at my most favorite restaurant...Jacob Myers.  They have THE best kettle cooked chips you'll ever eat.  Ever.

The first summer we lived in Dayton (about 3 years ago) we purchased some land there at an auction.  Several months ago we decided to sell that land.  It was a beautiful lot, but we just don't really have use for it anymore.  When I went to visit it was a little hard seeing this adorable new house sitting on our land!! 





So...the stay was great!  And now, being that it's been almost 2 months since we've been, I'm ready to go back!  We are having a ball here in Memphis, but I am always missing our Dayton family as well!  Even though I grew up here, I can't get over how much Dayton feels like home to me too! 

We Moved!

Sooooo, we moved! 

 

After many months of prayer, Jason and I felt the Lord leading us to church planting.  We aren't exactly sure what that will look like yet.  Maybe we will start a church, maybe Jason will pastor a church and plant other churches through that church.  We don't know yet, we just know that God said "Go!" So we went!  We are currently back in Tennessee...whoop whoop!  We are living with my parents right now, just outside of Memphis, while we pray through what our next ministry looks like!  Jason is currently working at Chick-fil-A and eating it up...no pun intended..(ok so there was totally a pun intended). :)  And we are hoping to get our own little place here in Memphis as soon as we are able!

 I have always heard over the years of God telling people to just "GO" without the confirmation of another job and have often wondered what that looked like.  Now I know.  It does take a lot of prayer and confirmation through His Word.  We were also very blessed to have had a lot of christian counsel and people praying for us.  And through all that, you just know!  And God has been so faithful through this whole process for us!  My favorite example of His provision for us was this...April 1st was our first official day without a job.  We were on the road, with a U-Haul, and had over 500 miles to get to our destination.  We weren't super loaded with cash by any means.  God chose that day to be the day that our income tax would be deposited into our account.  That gave us money to sustain us while Jason found a job.  I am so thankful for the way God works in our lives.  I am thankful for both our parents who offered to take us in, rent-free, during this time of transition for our family.  And I am so thankful for the peace God has given Jason and I during this time.  It has truly been..."the peace of God that transcends all understanding." (Phil. 4:8).  I am thankful for these little blessings below who are so trusting of us and never worry about anything (except who touched them, or who isn't their best friend anymore). :)

And I am so thankful for the man God has put in my life to lead me and our family.  A man I can trust and follow...knowing that He is seeking our Lord Jesus and His perfect will for our lives.  All you single ladies out there reading....WAIT for that man!  He is WELL worth the wait!!  I know many other women with godly husbands who will give a hearty "amen" to that! 
So...that's a summary of our story!  I hope to be updating the blog regularly from here on out....(but those of you who read regularly know that I go in spurts).  I have lots to catch up on ranging from homeschooling our children, to our baby boy being 8 MONTHS OLD!  I cannot believe it!  Well..until next time! :)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:8-9