Goodbye Condo, Hello House!

So, exciting news!! Our condo finally sold, thank the Lord. No literally THANK the LORD. If it was not for His perfect timing and plan we would not be in our beautiful new house. I feel so blessed. I am so excited for SPACE. For anyone that has never lacked space, well you just won't understand. But for those that have started off small and then are suddenly in a home with space....well it is something I won't be taking for granted...even when I have to clean it :)

Our condo had been on the market since January (for the second time) and we were beyond the hopeless stage. I do not know what emotion is lower than hopeless but we were there. We truly thought we would be in that condo for a lot longer, due to the state the market is in. But God had His hand working and wanted to drive the patience lesson completely home before He brought along the perfect people to buy it. Through a series of events, that were all totally God-oriented, the right people entered the condo and made an offer. We were truly shocked and really felt like we were in a dream and going to wake up to find that yet again we were waking up in the condo. Though there was some whining, some tears, some frustration, some anger, some bitterness, and lots of questioning, we are here and we feel so blessed. Our prayer is that our new home would first of all be used for the Glory of God, that it would be filled with happy memories, lots of love and lots of laughter. Thank you for all of you that have been praying for us during this time.

When looking for our new home we had a long list of must-haves. I mean come on, we had lots of time to dream :) I must say, that this house hit most of our must haves and has lots of little extras, including a POOL. We have no idea how to take care of a pool, but we know that there will be lots of memories made in it.

This is a house that our family can grow in to and we can see our family in for a long time to come. Five bedrooms, 3 full baths. Our first priority in our house hunting was location. We wanted needed to be closer to Adam's office. For our family, Adam's commute, and my sanity. It was taking Adam at least 45 minutes to get home and he was not leaving the office until 6:15 or so. You do the math. You stay at home moms know, that is a long day. A LONG day. So, our new house is 15 minutes from the office. And when I say 15 minutes, not a minute more, even in horrible traffic. The last two night have been amazing!!

There is a long list of things we need to do to make the house our home, as in any house you buy. Every wall needs to be painted and there are four rooms that need wallpaper taken down before we can even paint those. Luckily, I am not one of those people that cannot live with it for a bit while I decide what colors to paint. We have bought some furniture (we actually sold our living room furniture with the condo, so we just had to buy new furniture, which I was not excited about at all ;) ) and then Adam and Adam's dad are building some pieces for us.

I am in love with our new house. I just keep thinking how blessed we are and thanking the Lord for this wonderful gift. I hope that we can use it the way He wants us to.

So here are some pictures, cause I am sure everyone would rather look at pictures than read my blog. Just a warning. These are pictures we took during a walk through after we were under contract. So it is all the original owner's furniture and decor ;)

Formal living room when you walk in the front door to the right.

Entry way.

Entry way again.

Guest bedroom on main floor to the left when you walk in the front door. Gotta love the wallpaper.

Downstairs full bathroom.

Main living room. I definitely wanted open concept and tall ceilings. Check, Check.

Family room again. Pool is right outside the two windows on far wall.

Kitchen and eating area. Lyla loves having her meals served to her at the bar. Especially since we have no kitchen table right now. My father-in-law is building it.

Kitchen.

Formal dining off the kitchen. Connected to formal living.

Master bedroom which is upstairs.

Master bathroom.

Double sinks...must have.

Giant soaker tub. Lyla loves this feature. Separate shower.

Lyla's room. Very girly, yes?

Lyla's bathroom.

Third bedroom upstairs.

Bonus room also known as Lyla's playroom. The floor is currently covered in toys. You cannot even see the floor. I love it. I love that she has this space and that is can stay messy!!

So these are the before pictures. You will have to wait for the after. We are excited to get started creating our space.

Quick Getaway

Adam and I had the opportunity to get away on a little vacation this summer....just the TWO of us!! It was absolutely amazing. While I will be the first to admit I missed Lyla, I came back saying that I wished our vacation was LONGER!

We are pretty low-key when it comes to vacations and REALLY needed some time to un-wind. So we chose to go to an all inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We had honeymooned at a Sandals Resort, but this time went with Excellence Resort. We were a little nervous since we did not know anyone that had gone to Excellence, but we figured as long as there was a beach, pool, good drinks and endless food we would be good to go.

I decided that for my first "real" time away from Lyla, five days would be the perfect amount. Next time we will be doing six or seven :) She was in good hands with both sets of grandparents, who were so sweet to split the time while we were away. I am sure Lyla did not even notice we were gone and I know that the grandparents loved having that special time with her. We will definitely be taking advantage again! We are so thankful for our parents and the fact that they love us and Lyla so much to let us go on vacation to spend time together.

I want Adam to know that he is a priority over everything else, except for God in my life. I know a lot of the time he feels my focus is on Lyla first. I has been an adjustment since having Lyla, and I hope to do a better job of putting my husband first and love him well. I know these vacations are so important for us to have that time, away from our kids, just to reconnect and be together without distractions.

So the week of our vacation (we went Saturday-Wednesday) we were GLUED to the weather channel since Hurricane Isaac was headed straight for the DR. We did not want to spend our whole vacation in the rain or get stuck there if it was bad enough. We debated about canceling, but in the end just decided to go ahead and go. Atleast we would be able to catch up on sleep, read, eat and drink, right?! Our flight was never delayed and when we got there it was slightly overcast. We had an hour long cab ride from the airport to the resort. I loved seeing part of the country and the people. Those kinds of sights just fill a certain place in my soul. I love soaking up the different cultures.

The resort was beautiful. The room was really nice and we paid extra to be in the Excellence Club which allowed us special services. We changed into our suits and hit the lounge chairs by the pool. It rained a little while we were getting ready for dinner that night and that was it! The rest of the trip it could not have been more PERFECT weather. Clear skies, sun, breeze, blue water. Perfection. Honestly, this may sound boring to some, but we did nothing, absolutely N-O-T-H-I-N-G the entire time we were there. It was A-mazing. I think moms of kids can relate to that feeling of having no responsibility for anything is SO relaxing.

So our days were filled with sleeping in, eating, reading by the pool and on the beach, eating, drinking, naps, drinking, more reading and more eating. Then we would go in as the sun was setting to get ready for dinner. The restaurants were actually pretty good, some better than others, and of course we ate more than we needed to. It was so nice being able to enjoy every meal for five days straight. Thats 15 meals! No kid!

Our vacation ended all too soon and like I said we were sad to leave, but so excited to see our Lyla girl. And we knew going home that Adam had the rest of the week off to spend with us, plus Labor Day!! It was so nice to have him around.

I think we would do Excellence again, although we did decide that there were a few things that put Sandals above it. #1. At Sandals they tell you ahead of time that you are not allowed to tip. No tips would be accepted, so do not even bring the money to try. At Excellence the more you tip, the better service you get. Umm, hello? I just paid good money to come to an ALL-INCLUSIVE so that I would not have to worry about money. Needless to say, this cheap girl did not tip because I did not feel like it was right. I did however tip both cab drivers for getting us safely to and from the airport to the resort. #2. At Sandals they had a desk where you went to sign up for the "extras" you want to do. If you wanted to go out and do an excursion, you get to the desk or called to schedule it. At Excellence they had people walking around ALL. DAY. LONG. asking you to sign up for the excursions. Excuse me, can't you see that I am laying here reading or napping??! If I want to do something I will find you! I came here to get AWAY from the nagging!

Our trip was amazing and I cannot wait for our next getaway. That might be awhile though since we just bought a house (post to come). Goodbye sandy beaches, hello my sweet Lyla.

So the camera basically staying in the room the entire time, of course, but here are a few pictures I remembered to take.

Wonderful lounge chairs out at the beach.

Beautiful blue water on a beautifully gorgeous day!

Enjoying relaxing.

Last night.

Pool.

This is the life.

Sad to leave this. So blessed to have had this opportunity to go on this wonderful vacation.

Mom?

Lyla Gray, you are too funny at this point in your life. I really just want to eat you up. You know just how to get a laugh out of your daddy and I.

Currently, you love to dance, sing, and make funny faces. Your vocabulary is starting to grow. You have added a few words, such as, help, up, no, barney (ahyyy), mom, daddy (da-ee), cheese when you take a picture (chee).

The two words most commonly spoken by you are mom and da-ee. You are constantly saying "mom?". Then you wait for me to answer. If I do not answer right away, you continue to call my name, "mom? momma? mom?". After I answer, you then ask for da-ee. "Da-ee?" If he is there, he answers. If not, then I tell you where he is. They are the first two words you say when you wake up and the last two words you say as you go to bed.

These two words melt my heart. My heart is full as your little, sweet voice speaks our names. I. LOVE. It. You could not say my name enough. I hope that I will never feel annoyed with you calling my name. It is such a blessing to be your mom and I love that you love talking to me. I pray that I will never be too busy to answer your call and your questions and always have time just to listen. I hope that you will always know that.

You are my sweet girl and I cannot believe you are grown up enough to call me mom....
I love you.

Last Year vs. This Year

 Well, I am long over-due for a post, but we have been so crazy busy it is just going to have to wait!! I am so enjoying this summer with Lyla and she is growing and changing every second. I feel like I have turned around and she has grown into this little lady over night! It is definitely sad, but boy do I love this stage!! She is able to do so much more, understand everything, and is just all around SO MUCH FUN. I really do not want this stage to end. STOP GROWING UP!



June 2011

                                         

July 2012

 UMMMM??!! Seriously?! What happened? I cannot believe how fast it goes!

Summer Fun

Lyla is so different this summer than last summer. I guess a year makes a huge difference when they are this little. Since she is at such a fun stage, I really want this summer to be super fun for her. So pretty much, we have been doing something different everyday. Going new places, trying new things, as well as our usual staples. The zoo membership we got a few months ago has WELL payed for itself. We go once a week for the most part and this outdoors-loving girl absolutely loves going to see the animals. She also loves the freedom she has running around on her own. We have our little routine down and she knows when we are pulling in the parking lot. We have been going right when the zoo opens in the morning, since it is SO cool in the mornings. Yes this summer weather has been A-MAZING so far. Cool in the mornings and bearable in the afternoons. We pack a lunch and when she is done running around and checking out the animals, we sit and eat. She has discovered the playground there and is obsessed and still loves the elephants. She especially loves that one of the elephant's name is Kelly.

We tried the Splash Park in Roswell the a few weeks ago, which would be awesome now that it is starting to get hot, but this playground-obsessed girl spotted the regular playground about 10 minutes into playing in the water and from that point on that is all she wanted to do. Oh well. Maybe we will try again. After all it is only $1 to get in and we brought our lunches and were able to have a picnic.

Testing out the water.

We went with Eva and Courtney which always makes for a good time.

Tasting the water.

Eva was not so sure at first.

Loving the fountains.

Eva quickly figured out that it was fun!

Happy girl.

Lyla has spotted the playground.

"Let's go to the playground Eva"

Lyla LOVES Eva.

Picnic time.

Time to go.

We tried out LegoLand at Phipps and Lyla was WAY too young for it. Plus I felt like it was too expensive for what it was. We won't be going back, but I think if you have kids that like legos it is a good place to go to get out of the heat...just not for us.

We have and will continue to spend a lot of time at the pool this summer. In just the fews weeks that we have been going, Lyla has become so comfortable with the pool. She by no means can swim and we have to watch her like a hawk since she has no fear, but she wears water wings and is so content to just float around the pool and jump in a million times. She can stay at the pool for hours and not get tired of it. And she sleeps SO well at night.

Ready to jump in.

At the pool with Tripp.

Walking down to the pool.

Love that girl and that pony-tail!!

 Before it started getting too hot, we were of course doing the park and playground a lot. Lyla loves to go and feed the ducks and geese.

Lyla and Tripp playing.

 Lyla's new found obsession is the carousel. There is one at Northpoint Mall and one at the Zoo. She loves picking out her animal to ride on and says "weeeeeeee" the entire time she is on it. She also does her beauty-queen wave as she rides around.

On the carousel with Eva.

We are loving summer. I have such wonderful memories of summer fun and hope to create lots of fun memories for Lyla. Summer days filled with staying up late, sleeping in, eating ice cream, living at the pool, cooking out, trying new activities.