Pre- Thanksgiving Update

We are right in the middle of the big move! I have some cute pictures and videos to share but no way to get them on the computer, because our camera charger is in storage. We've been living in a hotel for the past week just patiently waiting on everything with the new house to fall in place. There's only four more days till closing! I can't wait! After a little termite and ant trouble, a new wall, and some fresh paint we are finally ready to get this show on the road.

We spent a long time at our friends Andrew and Taylor's house doing laundry and watching movies last night. (Thanks!) It's so nice to have friends in the area that we can hang out with.

Emma is doing really well considering the circumstances. She's sleeping in a pack-n-play and mostly staying on her regular schedule.

AND...

Emma is officially walking. We're hoping to get over to the park today and take some video. I can't wait to show you all. It's so exciting to watch her. For weeks since her first step she hasn't been interested at all. In fact she's been SO uninterested that she cried when we tried to get her to walk. So we just backed off and two days ago she decided she was ready.

In other news, the pregnancy is going well. Robert and I found out that Baby Bou-Two has Choroid Plexus Cysts. With everything else that was going on we only had about a day to worry about it even though all the doctors said not to worry. Most of the information I read said the same thing, but with a slight chance of more serious problems I was concerned. Needless to say we have been in some serious prayer for health and protection for the baby and peace and faith for ourselves. We have been really calm actually. The ultrasound also showed that all of the baby's other organs looked perfect, so that's a good sign that the cysts don't mean anything more serious. We'd appreciate the extra prayers though!

I'm going to add another poll on the sidebar so you can all cast your votes for what you think the sex of the baby will be! So check that out before you go.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

ELEVEN MONTHS OLD

We are officially eleven months old.

We love shoes.

We love kissing stuffed animals.

We love pickles.

We love taking naps on daddy.

And we love being eleven months old.

The Time Traveler's Wife- A Book Review

I actually had an interest in this book before I realized it was being made into a movie. In fact, the day I received my copy in the mail (I participate in PaperBackSwap. GREAT service!) I saw a trailor for the movie.

The concept is so intriguing. A man spontaneously time travels to moments in his past and future due to a genetic disorder. The story line actually chronologically follows the life of his wife, Claire, who meets her future husband, Henry, at a very young age. The book is a collection of the moments in her life that she spends with Henry, either in the present or a time traveling version of him.

It's a little rough around the edges, but I couldn't wait to read the next event. (The book is seperated by event dates and not chapters.) I wouldn't say it's a light read, but it's definitely an entertaining one.

I haven't seen the movie yet. Anyone seen it? What did you think?

A quick peek

Part of the reason I took a little blog break was because.....

A NEW HOUSE WAS IN THE WORKS!

House hunting, loan shopping, paperwork signing, emails, and phone calls galore were all a part of the last two weeks. It's not completely a done deal yet, but we are SO EXCITED.


I can't wait to get in there and make it a home!

BIG, BIG, BIG thanks to Andrew and Taylor who let us stay with them while we were looking. We can't wait to be close to such great friends. Taylor was PRICELESS during the hunt, as you can see.




Speaking of....
I just would like to say I think a 'Turtle' rematch is in order.

What's Black and white and pink all over?

Emma's nursery, of course!

(I actually had this post ready about 8 months ago and just never put pictures with it. I feel kinda silly posting it now since we're moving, but I thought you might enjoy it anyway.)

Well it took who knows how many months to complete, but I finally feel like Emma has a mostly finished nursery. When I was pregnant I had no idea whether my precious cargo was male or female so I decided to use black and white to decorate the nursery. My mom had a blast finding all kinds of fun black and white prints and making various pieces for the room. I had full intentions to accessorize in appropriate accent colors once Baby Boully arrived. Back in December when Emma was born, however, we were still in an apartment that forbid us to paint or hang things on the wall. Needless to say the room was a little flat. Now that we've moved into a more permanent place I was able hang some things and add lots and lots of pink!

I never got around to hanging everything I had, which included some wooden letters that spelled her name and a photo collage from her 4 month portraits. In spite of that, I thought the room was pretty cute. I can't wait to do some REAL decorating in our new place.

More about that tomorrow!

Moving!

We'll folks, our time here in Louisiana is finished. (For now anyway.) We are officially moving and Robert is starting a new job.

It's been in the works for a few months now and God has really put the pieces together in a way we couldn't have imagined.

You see, two years ago, Robert applied for two jobs. One with a company in Georgia and one with Schlumberger. He REALLY wanted the job in Georgia. God had other plans. So we found ourselves in Louisiana. And now we're heading to Georgia for the exact same job Robert applied for two years ago.

It couldn't have come at a better time. With a new baby on the way and some family health issues, we really needed something that would allow Robert to be more available. And while he didn't go looking for the new job, it was nice that God gave us this opportunity when we needed it.

I wouldn't trade the past two years for anything. Just as I explained in this earlier post, God knew exactly what he was doing.

Was it hard? yes
Did I complain? haha-yep
Did I grow up a little? oh yeah
Am I a better wife and mother than I would have been? I like to think so.
Are we SUPER EXCITED about moving on to a new chapter in our lives?

YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR!

Parenting by the Book- A Review

Ok sorry about such a HUGE cover picture. I couldn't find anything else.



If you are a parent, this is a MUST read. I devoured this book. The minute Emma starting throwing temper tantrums, I thought, "Oh boy, I better get my act together." I needed a game plan. In my opinion the best place to find your game plan is from God's word. But since I'm not a bible scholar, I opted for a little help.

John Rosemond uses the basic principles for parenting and discipline from the Bible to give parents a practical application in today's world. Given his psycholgy background and work history, he has an interesting take on all the current theories of parenting. The entire first section of the book is devoted to completely discrediting any parenting theory that does not have God's principles at it's core.

As a teacher with some experience in the current public school systems of America, I found myself muttering a few 'Amens' along the way. In Rosemond's opinion (and mine), children these days have no respect for authority and absolutely no work-ethic. Rosemond contends that this is largely due to the complete lack of consistancy in parenting. He says there is so much "psycho-babble" going around that parents these days are confused about the "right" way to discipline.

Rosemond breaks down a child's life into three distinct "seasons" that each have a different style of parenting associated with them. This was the most helpful section of the book for me, because it helped me create a framework in my mind when thinking about appropriate responses to situations with my child.

Without giving too much more away, I highly recommend reading this book if you're a parent with children still in the raising stage. You won't be dissappointed.