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| Christmas 2014 |
Before I start, I want to let you know, this post is full of links to other posts. Anytime there is an underlined word (might be blue) it is a link to a previous post. Clicking that word will take you to the other post. =)
Last time I updated it was just before the wedding, since then, we did get married. In my personal opinion (however biased that might be!) it was beautiful. I loved how the colors came together. Loved that it was intimate and just suited us! I have posted a few pictures (here and here) and more on my facebook but it was just wonderful. Honestly, can't think of anything I would have changed. It was so amazing to be surrounded by our friends and family. We have also since had our family blending ceremony which also went wonderfully. There wasn't a great turnout of people there, but it was okay. We loved how it went. The girls were very involved and felt comfortable with everything. I posted a picture of the sand here. Besides the wedding I have been doing pretty well. My grandmother had a pretty serious fall and is in the ICU, but she has stabilized. She's not going to be too happy though, this fall makes it impossible for her to live independently. Keep her in your prayers if you wouldn't mind, her name is Carolyn.
Now I have a new person to update on and that is my wonderful husband Stephen!! He moved here to be with us, we drove back after the wedding. Things seem to be settling quite nicely in the house. We were able to purchase a few things with gift cards to make the house a bit more comfortable for all of us. It's a small one but we are making it work. When he moved, he had to find a new job. We had a lead on one, he interviewed for it and got the position but something felt "off" about it. Eventually we decided that it wasn't the right fit for our family (it would have been an overnight position.) I honestly believe that God is caring for our family because the day before he called to decline job one, he got a call from another assisted living facility for an interview. The day he declined job one he had an interview with job two. He was the only person (of eight interviewees) who showed up for the group interview. They offered him the job basically right away and he started this last Monday. So far he is enjoying it, even though it is a little different then his last job. The hours are 6:30 am - 2:30 pm which works out just perfectly for our family. God provides!
McKayla is doing really well. She has a stubborn streak and an attitude, but we are working on it. We are working together to make sure she understands that the rules for Stephen aren't any different then the rules for mom. Her and her sisters have been trying things with Stephen that they know wouldn't fly with mom. I had to explain to him my mom's box theory. Every child has a box. When a new person is introduced into their lives (or anytime they feel like it really) they test the limits of the box. They want to make sure it's still there and they only way they can do it is to do things they wouldn't normally do, that they know aren't okay, to make sure mom or whoever is going to tell them now. We just have to work extra hard on being on the same page and working as a team. No real other issues with her. She is just growing and turning into a young lady right in front of me!
Natalie on the other hand, not dealing with all the change so well. She has been having some pretty serious emotional breakdowns. I will give you a good example: the other night I told her to go in her room and get her pj's on. She went in her room, grabbed her pjs and started putting them on in the living room. My drink was on the floor (in a lidded cup!) and she knocked it over. Just spilled a tiny bit and we weren't mad at her, just wanted to talk to her. She started inconsolably crying. Wouldn't even listen to us talking to her. We were just trying to explain that there are reasons we ask them to do things the way we do, this is why we wanted you to change in your room. I was beyond annoyed. I know she's been through a rough year though, so I'm trying to give her some grace. I have also scheduled her an appointment with a counselor so she can talk about things. Hopefully we can come to an understanding of how to handle her best. We are also slowly working on things for school. Her papers are starting to look a little better coming home, so that's encouraging. Keep Natalie in your prayers. She seems to be having the toughest time with all the changes.
Then there is my Alivia. Sweet little Liv who isn't so little anymore. She is slowly gaining on her sisters in size. Only thing that's still much smaller is her feet. They are still so small! Alivia loves going to school and her after school program. She always seems to come home in a wonderful mood. Her favorite things to do are color and cut and make things for people. I am constantly finding scraps of this or that that she wants to give to someone. She also really loves to write. She asks me all the time how to "do" a letter she can't draw. I can already tell how much she has learned this year. I hope her love for learning and excitement about school continues. She's such fun to watch and be around. We have also gotten a few compliments from her Sunday school teacher about how attentive she is and how quickly she can understand things. I love the faith of a child that asks questions but has zero doubts about God. It's amazing.
So, that's us. Anything new with you?
1000 gifts: three gifts striped
- The wallet my girls got me, it's stripes of hearts, but they are still stripes. Makes me smile thinking of them every time I get it out. (see right)
- Candy Canes. I love them and it's such fun to get them and share them with the kids (even if they do get sticky everywhere!)
- The stars and stripes on our flag. They remind me every time I see or think about it how very blessed we are to live in a country where we are free.
