Fun times, Fashion Faux Pas, and Updates

We haven't been the best family photographers since the holidays, but we managed to capture a few shots here and there.

We did enjoy the snow days last month, but our camera didn't make it outside - we instead were able to capture our first crack at finger painting. Good thing we bought the non-toxic kind because little monkey wanted to lick it off his fingers more then he wanted to paint. The end result was fabulous and we officially have our first piece of "kid art" hanging (well tucked away because our house is showing) on the side of fridge.


Love those chubby cheeks

Playing with my favorite toy - the highlighter from Mommy's purse

A few weeks ago we were in Greenville for a house hunting trip and Grandma found yet another of BJ's outfits from childhood. She had it cleaned and pressed and a photo shoot to follow. Doesn't every little boy need a blue leisure suit - I wonder what Joan Rivers would say? All kidding aside, Gus really did look precious in his daddy's outfit and enjoyed getting his picture taken as usual.


So fun!

Can you see the mischievous look on this little face...

Things that are new with Gus that evidently didn't warrant a photograph (because we are slack):

-Gus is officially walking (and nearly running) everywhere now
-We became a bottle free home 3 weeks ago
-Gus's vocabulary is still small, but expanding and includes:

• Dezzy (my in-laws dog) is now the word for all dogs - including our own sweet Ele
• Papa
• Baby
• Baba (for cup of milk)
  
• Milk
• Touchdown (with hand motion)
• Ball
  
• Dada
• Mama
• Woof Woof
• Bubble
  

- He will get on a kick and say certain words or respond to certain questions and then a week later its as if he's forgotten all of it - he was the most enthusiastic responder to "What does the sheep say?" BAAAAA - and now he won't say it at all
-He understands what you tell him though, and will respond with actions instead of words, so we know that he's taking it all in and taking his time - which is staying true to who he's been since he was in the womb
-He loves to dismantle the house - favorite drawers (that he's still allowed access to) are Mommy's make-up drawer and the tupperware cabinet

Things that are new with us and update on the move:

-Today marks 4 weeks of our house being on the market
-During this time we've had 11 showings, one TERRIBLE and rejected offer, and the prospect of cousin Eddy buying our house and parking his RV on the side is a strong possibility
-We thought we found our house in Greenville, then changed our mind, thought we found it again, changed our mind, and now we are back to square one with our house hunt
- Uncle Sam was good to our "kinda poor" little family this year and we eagerly await our much anticipated tax return for fun purchases for the new house

With more time outside and warm days ahead we'll be busting out the camera more and blogging our way into Spring. We hope to have much to share and celebrate in the coming weeks.

We're movin' on up, on up, to the Upstate

The time has finally come for us to actually move to Greenville. BJ gets officially "on-boarded" as an employee on Monday and we end our year long wallet emptying private medical insurance payments. I can't decide what I'm more excited about, moving or real medical benefits (probably both)!

My mom said to me the other day how lucky B.J. and I have been with so many events and opportunities in our lives thus far. I don't know if its so much luck as being on the receiving end of good fortune through God's grace. And although I know that its not without prayer and honoring him that good things come, I sometimes get caught up in my selfish ways and forget that all too important detail. So, it was at 4:00 AM when I lie awake dreaming of furniture, paint colors, and fabric swatches that I realized I hadn't done the most important thing of all during our home search - give thanks and praise to God.

We listed our house in Lexington two weeks ago today. So far we've had 7 showings and one second showing scheduled for tomorrow morning. Ironically the showing starts at the same time our church service starts, so we will be praying hard at 10:30 AM as we listen to a sermon on the Stages of Life, which will undoubtedly be appropriate as we transition into another stage of our lives in Greenville.

Here is the link to our house on the internet for those of you who live far away and have never visited with us.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/112-Pebble-Place-Ct_Lexington_SC_29072_M60265-13320

So while I continue to struggle with patience for God's plan to reveal itself to me, I will continue to praise him and pray for the right buyer for our house to come along. It doesn't mean I didn't stop at Ethan Allen for a little inspiration today - just window shopping of course :)

2010 Reflections & 2011 News

2010 was a very interesting year in our house, and I would be remiss if I didn't recap it in some way shape or form (not to mention its a little therapeutic and puts things in perspective for me as we embrace a big move and more change in 2011).

January & February 2010

I decide (after much prayer, consult, and personal struggle) to quit my full time job with Girl Scouts. God provides and I am able to bridge the gap between the working world and the mommy world by working part time political fundraising with BJ's old firm through the June primary.

May & June 2010

The gubernatorial primary heats up, Sarah Palin arrives, a scandal emerges, and the entire campaign momentum shifts. Our candidate loses and we are left without a job, a few enemies, a few less friends (or better said as the revelation of true friends vs. political friends), and a lot of time to reevaluate life. It was probably one of the most trying and blessed times in our family's life. It brought the need for big change to light. I believe God was trying to tell us to get out of politics for a long time, but a gentle push wasn't going to cut it to make us see his plan, we needed a big smack in the face and a child to make us listen.

Summer 2010

We are unemployed, one by chance and the other by choice, but we make the most of it and continue our summer plans. We spend two weeks at the beach, one week in Louisiana, one week in Pennsylvania and a few days in New Hampshire. Prior to our first week at the beach BJ learns that he did not get the job he really wanted in Greenville, but not to worry, they loved him and know of another great opportunity in Greenville of which he'd be perfect for and they refer him. While at the beach he gets a phone interview, drives to Greenville for an in-person interview, and gets a job! We made a point of embracing the time we had over the summer to reconnect as a family, and be patient with God's plan for us. God provides again!

Fall 2010

Gus cuts teeth and goes mobile - crawling all over the place. Papa O'Dell passes away, and we lose our last grandfather and say goodbye to a generation of great men. Gus turns one in November and we celebrate with a sock monkey themed birthday party. JLC Holiday Market consumed my life, but turns out to be an incredibly rewarding experience for me. BJ continues to commute to Greenville 2 to 3 days a week and we get closer to his contract going permanent and a permanent move to Greenville.

Biggest Lessons from 2010

Patience
Figuring out whats really important
Money doesn't make you happy, being kinda poor makes you stronger
Change is a good thing and can really be great if you embrace it

2011 Begins...

Gus has two more teeth and is now walking.

I am seriously contemplating going back to school in the fall to pursue my passion for nutrition.

And as of today, BJ has accepted a permanent position with his company and we are officially moving to Greenville (well once the house sells :)

We are so excited to see what God's plan for us is in 2011 - we can't wait!

All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth

We did in fact celebrate Christmas this year and have pictures to prove it, but post holiday illness and accompanying short naps delayed blog updates. We spent the few days leading up to and also Christmas in Greenville, catching up with friends and family and enjoying time together as a family.

Christmas Eve at Aunt CheChe's

One of Gus's first words was Papa - and he sure does love his Papa as you can see here :)

Gus cut his two front teeth the week of Christmas and also developed a cold, which turned into a deep chest cough (his first), a single ear infection (his first), and wheezing (hopefully not a sign of asthma to come) by New Year's Day. We started off 2011 at the pediatrician, and three antibiotics and 10 days later the little man is back to himself again.

Santa used his coupons wisely this year and brought Gus a Step 2 push car - he loves it! We cruised the neighborhood several times in the past week before it got too cold, but we aren't afraid to bring our Nascar rally indoors in the coming weeks.

Taking a milk break

Grandma and Papa brought Gus the cadillac of wagons, fit for him and a friend to ride around with cold drinks and an umbrella for those sunny days of summer. It also makes a great snow transport, as we learned yesterday.

He liked the wagon, but didn't want to be confined - let me out!

It was the first white Christmas on record in South Carolina since 1963 and we enjoyed every minute of watching the snow fall. It was too wet to play in, but we snapped a few pictures of course.



And what Christmas wouldn't be complete without a shoot using Uncle Brent's new 22

BJ apparently was the best shot - guess we know what he'll be getting from Santa next year

Grammy and Papou came to visit the week after Christmas and brought Gus a ride on fire truck - he loves the song it plays and its quickly becoming his theme song.



Gus keeps us in stitches with his comical faces. For a 13 month old he sure does command his humor well - its hard not to laugh with him most days. Here are a few shots of classic Gus expressions from the holidays.


I love how little boys just innately know how to push cars around the room - it made me smile :)

Not so sure about this whole opening presents thing

We had a wonderful holiday, reminding us of how truly blessed we are.

PJ's with Santa

One of the events associated with JLC's Holiday Market is PJ's with Santa. Its a great family event complete with a Little Gym crawl area, cookies and milk, Christmas movies playing, a reading corner, and lots of arts and crafts for the kids. But the big draw was the awesome Santa (special hair do and all). Last year we decided not to get Gus's picture taken with Santa because he was only a few weeks old, so I was nothing but curious to see his reaction this year. We stood in line for nearly 30 minutes with our friends Amy and Benjamin and watched many toddlers freak out in front of us. My biggest fear was that Gus would pull Santa's beard - well he didn't cry or pull Santa's beard. He gave Santa a few weary glances, but then true to form Gus's smiles came out and it was a great photo op. It was a great way to really get in the Christmas spirit!

Not sure about this whole Santa thing...

Seconds later - loving it!

First Haircut (and the curls remain :)

Being the fairly traditional folks that we are, we wanted to wait until Gus turned one to get his hair cut for the first time. So the day after Thanksgiving we took advantage of being in Greenville and headed to Jellybeans Salon for kids where the first haircut is only a $0.01. Its cheap and a great first haircut experience, complete with a certificate and a balloon. Gus did great and was so happy the whole time - we were so proud of him.

I'm driving this car

This a classic Gus expression - love it!

Don't I look handsome?


This haircut is mommy approved

Gus's 1st Balloon

Thanksgiving and everything in between...

My blogging time was trumped for the past 2 weeks by Junior League of Columbia's Holiday Market. Last year I joined JLC and this year I chaired the Special Entertainment Committee for Holiday Market, which is the League's largest fundraiser and funds our annual community projects. It was a lot of work, but it was a great experience and I met a lot of awesome people in the process - I'm really going to miss being on the Holiday Market next year when we are in Greenville, but hopefully I'll find an equally great placement with JLG.

We spent Thanksgiving in Greenville with BJ's family and kicked off the day with an 8k Turkey Trot benefiting Trees for Greenville. It was a great race course and I finised in 48:35 - a personal best and a big accomplishment for me. I've really gotten into running over the past few months and am determined to complete a 1/2 marathon before I turn 30 (another one for the bucket list!)

Here are a few pictures from the race - don't I look thrilled :)

We've officially entered the toddler years with Gus and the struggle (and sometimes battle) over food is usually won by the little man. Its very difficult for me to accept cheese and crackers as dinner for him because I'm so nutrition conscious, but I'm working on it and I will not cave on feeding him junk - so I like to think that we are in a period of suspended compromise right now, which may include a few peas and carrots, but also a lot of cheese and crackers. Thanksgiving was no exception to this. We thought for sure he would chow down on turkey, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings, but he wanted nothing - so I blended yogurt and cranberry sauce and gave him a dinner roll and he was happy and I was less stressed. He looks like he's happily eating all the food on his tray, but in true Gus form he tried and spit out most of it :(

He was happy because of all of his cousins, not due to the turkey his mommy cooked for 5 hours