Wisdom from Matt

Some wisdom from Matt as we are driving to closing and he is honking at an old car:

"Here's what men do:

1. We honk at antique cars

2. We honk at people who can't drive

And 3. We honk at people on the side of the road.

Betty, just wait until the next time you ride with an old man and you'll see."

Oh goodness.

Priorities

This poem came on Disney Junior a lot back when we had cable. Ahh... the days of cable. But, this never played without making me tear up. Because it's true, my babies are what makes me a mother. I sometimes (aka: every year) tend to view Mother's Day as I do the first day of the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, or Christmas. You know, those days that you think are going to be absolutely magical, so if the slightest thing goes wrong, I think the day is just totally ruined.

 


Well, through this blasted apartment/moving situation (which has gotten crazier, if you'd believe that), God is changing me. This year, all of our belongings but our couch, beds, and two loads of clothes were all packed in a Uhaul, and sitting in the parking lot. They should have been moved in to our new house on Saturday, and we were going to spend Mother's Day all day unpacking and organizing our new home.

Obviously, that did not happen. Hopefully we will close this Tuesday. But all of that aside, this Mother's Day was different. There were no expectations  As we read status after status of husbands cleaning the house, cooking meals, and buying gifts, Matt just kept apologizing. There is nothing to clean, because there is nothing in our house, and seeing how we are saving every penny for our down payment and all the furniture we are buying (!!), gifts are not something we're doing this year (That is totally fine with me, as I would MUCH rather have a new couch than some flowers).

And so we had a long long talk last night about holidays. And we have come to the conclusion that both of us take way too much value in gifts. "Well, it's Mother's Day, so I want ____." "Well, on Father's Day, I want you to buy me ____" And so on, for every holiday. So we have come up with a "new" tradition. We are going to focus on more QUALITY time for holidays, and worry less about the quanitative parts.

Take yesterday for example. We drove up to the Ocoee Olympic park (where they held all the whitewater events for the 1996 Olympics). We walked all over and around the rapids, watched the boats and kayaks go by, walked through the visitors center, played in the water, and sat in rocking chairs. It was one of those rare moments when there were no tantrums, no fights, and no scrapes/falls. A truly savored, beautiful moment. When we left, we went to the Terminal and had a great dinner together.

So that is our new goal. No money "I want" gifts (not that those are bad, we just are too focused on them, aka I am). More quality time as a family. We, as parents, need to be reminded how absolutely blessed we are. Also, we don't want to raise our boys to think that the reason for holidays and celebrations is to get stuff.

I know that is a random Mother's Day post, but just one more thing we are learning in our journey of moving home and adjusting to our new life here!

Catching Up

I just cleared 400 photos off my phone. I have never had that many. Back before we moved when my life wasn't so, um, messy I never let it go above 20ish. Funny how things change!

First, two things I wanted to post on Facebook, but I've basically stopped doing status updates. Not sure why. But this is my blog, so I don't have to worry about what I think someone else might thing when they read this, or how they'll misread it.

I was driving to work yesterday. I always (and was at this time) praying that God would give me a clear head, prevent me from making mistakes, etc. I looked around and realize that I had just passed my exit. Ironic.

Today we were talking about where Daddy was (Birmingham). Levi was really worried that he was all alone and so we were talking about God being with us, and Daddy, wherever we go. And then Levi pipes up and says "And Batman and Robin are with Daddy all the time. They made Daddy." Well, ummm... I don't know how to respond to that besides a big fat NO.

Now, picture catch up. Here is Easter. We spent Saturday with my family and Sunday with Matt's.

Precious, adorable baby Halle

The boys with the bunny, Noah just wanted to play with his fur and Levi did not want to smile.

Levi was very competitive

Noah just picked one and tried to eat it

All four cousins. Absolutely impossible to get a picture of all four being still and looking one direction

Noah and Daniel, two months apart.

Easter baskets. Pretty obvious which one is Matt's. right?

My handsome boys

Matt and his parents

Only a couple more big things to cover before I'm all caught up!

Transparency

So. Every day, randomly, I think of  blog posts. Beautiful, well written posts that explain exactly how I feel and what has been going on, and how I have/am changing. But here I am, night after night sitting in front of the computer not sure where to start.

This past weekend I went back to Birmingham for the first time since we left. It's hard to believe it has been 3 months. Dear Cally had a baby shower on Saturday, so of course I had to go. Friday I got off work, came by the house to pick up Levi and the two of us headed down to Bham. Matt goes back and forth there so much he was not up for driving down there for the second time in four days. And I don't blame him.

It actually worked out perfect. Levi has friends and remembers everyone from Bham and is very easy in the car. Noah is such an easy going baby he was perfect for Matt to just hang out with, and he's not great on long car trips, so it saved us lots of fussing in the car.

We got there a little before 9pm (central time, in Ringgold I am back in the Eastern time zone). The worst decision Cally and I made was to meet up at Target. As soon as we saw each other we started crying. Not kidding, Cally is 9 months pregnant and I was holding Levi and we were hugging each other and sobbing in the shoe section.

The weekend was so wonderful. Spending time with Cally and Ben, and his parents. Eating dinner and hanging out with Sarah and Anthony. Going to our church Sunday morning and seeing everyone in our small group, friends from church and youth group. And then lunch with a close friend from work Sunday on our way out of town (we actually went to Target after lunch, so I started and ended my trip in Bham with Target). And it was so so wonderful to see Levi playing with Sarah's boys and AG (Cally's little girl). To see those friendships pick right up like we hadn't been gone.

I find that I have the same problem with Cally and Sarah as I do with my parents and Ang. When we lived in Birmingham, I was around Cally and Sarah all the time, but not always/a lot  of quality time. I didn't get to see Angie and Mom all the time, but when we did it was all quality time. Just sitting around enjoying each others' company. And now that is reversed. And it is so sweet and sorrowful, all at the same time.

As to what I learned. I think I finally figured out so much of what has been my biggest problem since moving here. Everyone I talked to talked to me about Jesus. With such transparency. Sharing with me struggles, losses, wins, and triumphs. All with such humility and open-ness. All pointing back to Christ. In Birmingham, I was at work with Patsy (my Sunday lunch date) four days a week. I saw Cally and/or Sarah almost every single day of the week. We were with our small group Thursday nights and at church Sunday mornings and youth group Sunday nights. Everywhere I went, everyone I interacted with was feeding me, encouraging me, leading me, inspiring me, teaching me.

I was talking with Hillary at church Sunday about something, honestly, trivial. And she was talking about reminding herself who she was in Christ. Every day preaching the gospel to herself and living like she is a daughter of the King. And I almost burst into tears right then. Because I haven't heard that in 3 months.

So all that to say, God was so good to us while we were in Birmingham to absolutely surround us with transparent, Godly people who were so ready to open their lives to us.

And moving here, I am beginning to see the pride I came with. God gave us so much in Birmingham, He will just immediately provide all of that for us in Ringgold. We DESERVE it. It's not a blessing showered on us, it's a necessity that BETTER BE THERE.

And I am seeing how I was spoiled, and I'm lazy. I never had to seek after Christ, or even study on my own. Constantly being Shepherd-ed and taught, I never have had to try to do anything. And I am seeing the absolute necessity in having a strong faith in Christ NOT DEPENDENT on circumstances around me.

So this weekend was so many things to me. Sweet in spending time with so many people that I love and cherish. And miss so much every day. Refreshing. After three months of depression, change, and struggling with that change it was so good to go and be loved on, to love, and to learn. To sit and talk and remember that change happens, it takes a little while to get used to it, but life is still wonderful. God is still good. I think I have forgotten that in the past few months. God is in control, even when I don't feel it at that moment, or when life isn't perfectly smooth.

And in the face of so many parents that are parenting with grace. Parenting based on turning a child's heart towards Christ above behaving a certain way in public, was so good for me too. A reminder to every day start seeking the Lord first, and then loving my husband and children. Otherwise, I am not loving the men in my life WELL.

And I am excited about the future. Sarah and her boys coming up here in May, Cally's baby coming in May, which means I'll go right away to see them, lots of opportunities to see everyone.

As I was driving around (Levi was napping in the car), I drove past our old house. I felt such peace. Peace that I know we made the right decision to come here to Ringgold. Peace that I know things will move forward, get better. Peace that the changes that have occurred in our lives from our time in Birmingham, from our move, will remain. We will continue to grow.

So I came home thankful. Thankful for everyone I was able to spend time with. Thankful for the way they have changed our lives for the better, thankful for the promise of relationships carried on long distance, and thankful for all that I learned in two days.

That was my big leap back into blogging with a hugely open and transparent post.

From my Phone

Because I don't know where to start after almost two months of silence. Because the only real posts I can think to write are way to personal and current for me to not sound like a crazy lady as I babble.

Here are photos and captions from my phone over the past two weeks:

Nan's birthday party at the park

The joys/trials of potty training while walking in the woods. It helps that Levi is a boy and can pee outside and that Daddy can deal with all of that. (For the record, Matt is not peeing in this picture, he's just bent over Levi)

Throwing rocks in the creek

The happiest little baby in the world. Also, the worst sleeper.

Both my boys, matching, and standing up. This means I need another baby.

See? Also, he's an amazing eater.

Here is the world's second worst sleeper. After not napping today, he snuck downstairs at 8:15 and said "Mommy, I'm not sleepy." As I get my computer and phone out to blog he wanted me to take his picture of all his animals (puzzle pieces) in his butterfly net.

This was last week when I couldn't handle one more thing. Levi spilled an entire container of glitter on my sister's bed and himself (he was supposed to be asleep). It's been a week and I still randomly see glitter on him, me, in the car, and at my mom's house.

Hopefully this will be the start of more regular blogging!

Aquarium

With the apartment we are living in being smaller than we are used to, we try to be out as much as possible. And the small fact that Levi is not napping UNLESS he falls asleep in the car, and then we can carry him inside. That means our goal has been to be gone right before/during lunch and then head home right when he's getting tired. Out of the past 4 days he has fallen asleep in the car and then slept for at least an hour once we carry him inside! The problem is now I am working (a lot this week) so I'm not sure how he is going to do sleeping at all new houses. We shall see.

Katherine texted me last week asking me to go to a yard sale with her this Saturday morning at her church (she was in the youth group at our Bham church and now goes to college near Chattanooga). So we met that morning and spent some great time together! As we were walking out to her car it started snowing hard (for the South). Matt and Levi came to pick Noah and I up and, since it is the South, we figured the snow would not be a big deal. We drove to the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga. By the time we got there, the snow was over an inch thick and covered everything. We bundled up and headed inside anyways, hoping it would be completely empty. We were wrong, but we still had a great time! We went ahead and  got a year membership, since this will be a great place for Levi to run all of his energy out.

Matt and Levi out in the snow in front of the aquarium and Noah and I all bundled up in line for our tickets. I actually bought the backpack at that yard sale for $5! Perfect timing!

View of two of the bridges downtown from the top floor of the aquarium

Petting sturgeon. Well, Levi tried. 

A butterfly landed on Daddy!

He was so excited about the penguins

We are really liking Daddy's new schedule and all of this quality time we get with him!

So, all in all we had a great time and will be back soon. As soon as my training is over and I am working closer to 20 hours per week instead of over 40!

The Past Two Weeks,.,

...have been ______. Hard, Crazy, LONG, Stressful, Frustrating, Wonderful, Sad, Happy, Hard.

As usual, I am a mess of emotions. We moved to Ringgold on the 18th. It was an INSANE night and day. Thursday the 17th the girls in our small group from church took me out to one of my favorite restaurants. Lots of really good food, drinks, dessert and fellowship. I got home around 10pm and Matt and I decided to go ahead and finish loading the UHaul, attach the car trailer to the truck, and load Matt's Jeep on the Uhaul. Needless to say, by 1am we had someone gotten the car trailer STUCK on the lip of the Uhaul ramp. Yeah.

So, we left about four hours later the next day (Friday) than we had planned and were told by the Uhaul guy that came to help that he'd never seen anything like it. He even took a picture. Well, at least we are memorable in our mistakes.

That weekend (and holiday MLK Monday) was wonderful. We got moved in, got a little settled and went and drove around Ringgold and Chattanooga, seeing what had changed the last 10 years (well, 10 for Matt, 9 for me).

Then Tuesday, the week started. Matt worked in Birmingham all last week. It was an... experience. My respect for single moms is through the roof even more than it was before. Wow.

And as of today, we closed on our house today (a week and a half after we were supposed to). We made an offer on a house here. I filled out paperwork to start one of my new jobs (for a major chain pharmacy/store) and had my computer and cell phone shipped to me for the other job I'll be working. See I'll be working two 10-hour days at the chain, and then 12-15 hours a week from home for the company I used to work for. Thankfully most of the 12-15 hours a week from home will be in the evenings and during nap time, they are super flexible about when I work.

So, it's been hard, but a good week. We are seeing God's provision and slowly becoming adapted to our new apartment. Once this work from home job starts (in two weeks), I don't know how much I will be able to blog, so I'm going to try to get a lot written.