Change

March 27, 2013

This won't be posted for a while, but I still wanted to make sure to account for all that is going on right now in our lives...

It all started a few months ago.  Steve heard about a position opening up in another city.  We began praying and discussing all the possibilities, pros, and cons.  There was so much to consider.  On the one hand:

• Steve has lived in Lexington his whole life and he still has a lot of family here.
• I have lived here for the past...8 years!
• After years of searching, we finally found a Church we are in love with (the people, teachings...).
• Most of our friends are here.
• Hudson's friends are here
• This is where Hudson was born

But on the other hand

• This would be a good opportunity for Steve
• This would be a fun and exciting adventure for our little family of 3
• we wouldn't be too far from family

So, Steve decided to apply.  He got the job (I'm not surprised.  He is such a hard worker.  I'm so proud of him)!  We found out about 2 weeks ago.   Sense then, life has just been a whirlwind of crazy!  We contacted our realtor (the same ones who sold us the house we live in now).  They are amazing by the way.  I would highly recommend them.  Roger and Chrystal Browning of Four Seasons Reality.  Last weekend we took a road trip to check out the area and different neighborhoods.  We found quite a few houses we were interested in, so the following day Roger scheduled some showings.  We crossed a lot off our list, but liked one and LOVED one house.  After a long discussion we decided to put an offer in on the house we LOVED on Monday (the day after we saw it).  We heard back immediately saying that there was another offer on the table and we needed to come back with our best and final offer.  UGH  I was/ am completely stressed about this.  A good friend of mine reminded me though that God is in control.  He already has a house picked out for us.  That was so reassuring and really helped me calm down.  It was exactly what I needed to hear.   

The Best and final offer had to be submitted by both bidding parties by today at 1:00pm.  We just submitted ours about an hour ago.  Now we are at the mercy of the seller.  Neither Steve nor I got much sleep last night.  We talked and prayed a lot about the situation and I think we are at a point where we will be comfortable whatever the outcome is.  Don't get me wrong, we will be disappointed, but not devastated. 

That brings us to NOW!  I have been busy cleaning and getting our house ready to sell.  Decluttering is easier said than done.  My house wouldn't be cluttered if there was more storage space to begin with....Yesterday I spent most of the day painting all the doors and trim work.  What fun What fun!  haha  Tonight our realtors are coming over to list our house and take pictures. 

I can't believe this is actually happening.  It is happening so fast!  As much as I am ready to move from this house (more space), I will miss it.  This was OUR first home.  It was/is a happy home and many great memories have been made here.  I have been praying for the future owners of this house.  I pray that they will love this house as much as we have and they they make wonderful memories here.  I pray that God protects them and that they are happy here.  

It's funny, because window shopping for houses is  A LOT different that actually house shopping.  It is a bunch of work.  They make this whole process look so easy on TV....  It doesn't help that I have a sweet little one year old who wants lots of attention and follows behind me as I clean and undoes all my hard work.  I feel like a subpar mom this week.  :(  Hudson has been so good through this whole process.  He has had to entertain himself quite a bit and gotten to watch lots of TV the past few days.  He hasn't fussed much and is just so sweet.  I love him so much.  

Things I'm praying for through this process:

• Thankful for the opportunities God has giving our family
• That Steve is able to be successful at his new job
• That God guides us to the right neighborhood with lots of kids for Hudson to play with
• That we will have good future neighbors who we can be come good friends with
• For new friendships
• For God to lead us to a new church
• That we will be happy in our new home/neighborhood (wherever that may be)
• That God uses us to glorify Him in all that we do

Daylight Savings Time....UGH

The recent time change has taken its toll on our family's sleep schedule.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to adjust the time twice a year was neither a woman or a parent!

You would think that it would be EASY to adjust one tiny hour, but it isn't!  Hudson has been so thrown off.  He refuses to go to bed on time and will cry and cry (this is not normal) until closer to 9:00!!!  He still wants to get up early (sometimes REALLY early like 3 & 4 am thinking its time to wake up) and take his nap during the day at the normal time or a little later.  After almost a week, things are starting to resemble our "normal" routine.  THANK GOODNESS!

***Side Note***
I am so glad it's Friday!  More time with Steve, more sleep, long walks, more playtime with Hudson, family activities, maybe a movie, hopefully a fun meal out, house work, hopefully Sunday School, teaching praise kids...  TGIF

Family Weekend

The laundry has been started, everything has quieted down.  Our house is a mess, but that's just fine with me.  We had a wonderful weekend!

My parents and sister came in town Friday night because on Saturday, Steve took my dad to his very first UK basketball game EVER!!!!  It was a great game.  The crowd was loud.  The game was intense.  The WildCats won! You couldn't ask for a better first experience at Rupp.  When dad and Steve got home, they were both so excited about the win.  My dad just kept talking about how he has never been to such an exciting/loud game before.  I'm so glad they both had such a good time.

While they were gone, US GIRLS (and Hudson) ran errands and made dinner.  It was so nice spending time with my mom and sister.

Frank and Elitha (Grandma and Grandpa Farmer) came over for dinner Saturday night.  We had lasagna, strawberry spinach salad, and garlic bread.  For dessert Elitha made individual lava cakes.  She is such an amazing baker and they were of corse AMAZING.  We spend the evening being entertained by two dogs running around after a cat and Hudson.

We had a wonderful visit and throughly enjoyed the evening.

This morning we had coffee around our kitchen table, chatted, and played with Hudson.  It was sad to see my parents and sister go, but we really did have such a great weekend with them.  I don't know why, but whenever they come to our house to visit, the time seems to go by so much faster!

Hudson loved all the attention he got from everyone this weekend.  We tried to keep him on his "normal" routine, but he stayed up later than usual and got up much earlier.  I think he was just so excited to have company at "his house" that the last thing he wanted to do was sleep.  :)  Now that everyone is gone, he doesn't know what to do with himself.  haha

17 Months Old

At 17 months old, Hudson is defiantly NOT a baby anymore!  He is very much an energetic little boy with a BIG personality.  Hudson is getting to be so independent!  My baby bird is learning to fly. *tear*

We pray every night before dinner, and recently Hudson started clapping his little hands together and saying "Amen" when we finish the prayer.  haha How stinking cute is that!

Hudson is our little parrot!  He tries to mimic and copy everything we say.  I think he has the sweetest little voice.  Hudson is such a good little talker!

Hudson loves his books now.  He will sit and listen to me read, but he also enjoys flipping through all the pages and pointing at the pictures.  When he is all finished with it, he even says "The End".  His favorite books are about animals and have textured pictures.  Hudson also loves to point the the pictures of animals and make ALL the animal noises!

His favorite things to play with right now are blocks and an elephant that blows balls out it's trunk...  It's pretty funny to watch him play with it.  Hudson is good at building with his blocks, but he REALLY likes to knock them down.  He also likes to figure out how to fit the different shaped blocks through their corresponding shaped holes in the lid.  Over the past few weeks he has gotten surprisingly good at it.

My good little eater has started detesting vegetables!  He will do just about anything to avoid eating them.  Luckily we have started making fruit and vegetable smoothies that he still LOVES!  He eats a banana most every morning with milk and some waffle wheels.  He usually has two snacks throughout the day that consist of graham crackers or goldfish crackers and watered down juice.  For dinner I try to make something he can have along with milk.  Sometimes he gets little toddler entrees, he really likes most of them.

Hudson is REALLY beginning to understand what we say.  He responds to questions and is able to follow simple directions (No, Go get ___, Do you want ____)

At 17 Months Hudson:

• Wears size 5 diapers
• Wears size 24 month clothes
• is getting his 7th ad 8th teeth in
• LOVES Mickey Mouse Club House
• Wears size 6 shoes
• goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps until 7:30am
• Sleeps pretty well through the night
• LOVES to climb anything and everything
• Thinks bubbles are THE COOLEST THINGS EVER
• Has started "paying attention" to our pets.  He likes to pull Milo's tail, pet both Milo and Sadie, and get "kisses" from both of them.
• has had his hair cut once by a barber and multiple times by me (I'm sure he'll look back in pictures and thank me)
• enjoys swinging and going down slides
• LOVES bath time and getting splashed
• takes 1 nap during the day for about 2 1/2 hours
• Is starting to like cars and will say "VRRROOOOMMM"
• Can make lots of animal noises

Hudson is LOVING Gymboree and is mastering so many skills.  He is interacting more with other children and is even learning to share.  I am really enjoying the time we get to spend together during this time.  Hudson is able to do a lot more by himself, but It makes me so happy when he reaches those cute little hands up for help!  :)  Is that wrong?

He wants to figure everything out.  I MEAN EVERYTHING!  He will sit and work this a toy for such a long time just trying to figure out what makes it work.  He flips it over and over and "tests" it many times. Opening and Closing things and putting thins in and taking them back out along with telling you "In" "out" "open" "close"is something Hudson really enjoys!

Hudson,

You continue to be THE LOVE of our lives.  The best part of our day is after dinner when we have family play time. You bring such joy and happiness to our family.  You are all boy and have more and more in common with your daddy every single day.  Your laugh is contagious and we love you more than life itself.  

Love, 

Mommy and DaDa

We spent this SPECIAL DAY doing all sorts of fun things together!  We had a pretty normal morning, but around noon we headed over to the local library for story & play time!  It was so fun!  One of my girlfriends from school and her son were there too.  Afterwards, we all went to lunch at a Mediterranean  restaurant.  The boys were so cute playing and interacting with each other AND everyone else in the restaurant!  haha  If you can imagine, Hudson crashed as soon as we got home and slept for a few hours.  When he woke up we went to Gymboree where Hudson played and played for a looonngg time!  After dinner Hudson watched Mickey Mouse Club House, then we read some bible stories from his Storybook Bible and sang songs.  He finally fell asleep just before 8.  Shooo  what a fun day!

The Bible in a Year

The Women's Bible Study I'm in started reading a book called Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus a few weeks ago.  It is about understanding Jesus's Jewish heritage in order to have a better understanding of his teachings.  After reading just a few chapters, I realized that there was and is so much I don't know.  I felt convicted to read and study the Bible myself to gain my own basic understanding of it.  So, a good friend and I set out to read the Bible using the chronological Bible in a Year plan.

So far, I have read Genesis and am working on Job.

I am realizing that through previous bible studies as well as the current one and reading the Bible, that my understanding of God is constantly evolving.  Just when I think I can safely place God in a neat box, information is revealed to me that completely blows my theory.  :)

Through conversations with the other women in the study, family, and friends I have come to realize that there is still so much I don't know.  My knowledge on the subjects of God, faith, religion, and the bible are very limited to say the least.  It has become clear to me though that as a Christian it is my desire to seek Him and learn as much as I can about His teachings.  It isn't about simply proclaiming that I am a follower of Christ, but that I work to obey him and am constantly trying to build my relationship with him.

If we are not actively seeking a relationship with God, we are unintentionally drifting farther away from  Him.  I read that a little over a year ago in a Bible Study I participated in.  These words really hit home.  How many times have I gotten lazy with my faith only to find myself a month later struggling with my relationship.  

So, I have decided to READ the whole Bible from start to finish.  I got myself a new study bible that is full of all sorts of helpful information as well as a book that gives facts and basic principles about each book of the bible.   I want to learn all I can about God and Jesus.  I want to experience Him and His word first hand instead of just hearing others interpretations.

So far I have read Genesis, Job, some of Psalm, and have started Exodus.  Already I have learned so much and feel so much closer with God.  I am excited about what else I will learn and find out about my Heavenly Father.  I am excited for this lifelong journey I am embarking on.

Just Another Sunday & My mama's birthday!

Life is pretty great right now.  I have no complaints, but I haven't had anything overly exciting happen either.  Hudson is adorable as always, and is always doing something funny and new.   He is keeping this mama really busy these days.

O yea, today is my mom's birthday!  I won't disclose her age, because that's just rude.  But I will say that she looks fantastic and is as energetic as ever!  haha  We sent her a birthday card in the mail the other day, but she hadn't gotten it yet.  Boooo for slow mail.  Happy ____ BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Anyway, it's just another Sunday around here.  This weekend we have been painting our entryway, doors, baseboards, and general touch up stuff.  I even got around to patching a hole in one of our walls from Hudson's baby gate.  It only took me 6 months to do it!  haha  So, yea we are having a super fun weekend here at the Farmer House.  :)