Memorial Day

This long weekend was so relaxing! We loved having Steve home and Mel was with us all day, too!

 

We woke up, made Eggs and Toast Mixed Together (it's a Meyer thing), and Steve decided to set up the slip 'n' slide that Grandma and Grandpa had bought Evelyn for her birthday. It was hilarious and so much fun! Bella was pretty jumpy about it at first, but Evelyn is our brave one, and she was willing as soon as she saw Steve dive down the first time! The girls took most of their turns on Daddy's back, but they ran back and forth through the sprinklers that were on both sides of the slide. I cleaned out their pool and put it at the end of the slide, and Bella spent most of her time in there with her animals. It was a super fun morning!

 

Steve and Evelyn's faces in this picture are amazing! They had so much fun and Steve was a trooper in the very cold water!
 

Since Mel couldn't stay for dinner, we decided to have our barbecue for lunch instead - we have cheeseburgers, corn on the cobb, and a strawberry salad with ice cream sandwiches for dessert! All enjoyed under our new patio umbrella ('cause we're fancy like that).

 

Our back patio is so fantastic. The umbrella is navy blue, and I'm looking forward to adding some cushions that match.

And the magnolias are blooming! Aren't they beautiful!

After lunch, we took naps, got Mel hooked on the new TV series that Steve and I are watching on Netflix, and colored with the girls in the playroom.

 

Steve cooked up leftover steak and mashed potatoes for dinner, which was divine! And he did the dishes - he's a keeper!

 

We ended the night with a quick rainstorm and snuggling in bed with the girls, watching movies.

Our Wolf Pack Is Down By Two

So, Trey and Whitney have officially left. I'm still in the very healthy state of denial since it's only been 2 days, but I have a feeling that the more Sundays that go by without Trey teaching, and the more summer afternoons that I don't get to run over to Whitney's are going to make it much more real.

 

Their last night in Marietta was Saturday, and we got to be together, so that was amazing! We did normal stuff - sent Steve out for Taqueria Tsunami, sat on the back porch and laughed, wiped bloody noses when David and Charli both got smacked in the face by a rogue swing, and talked about life.

It's not like we don't have any other friends - our lives aren't desolate; we have the same small group, the same Sunday School class, and lots of friends who are off for the summer and free to come over for playdates now. It's just hard saying goodbye to your best friends.

 

I always describe Trey as this awesome trifecta of seminary knowledge, incredible humility, and a great personality that draws people in! He has been a big brother, a spiritual mentor, and a lot of "normal" when I was going crazy over ministry. I haven't agreed with every single decision, and he'll be the first to tell you how flawed he is, but I've just come to love him as much as I could without being a creepy stalker.

 

And Whit...Whitney is the...realest person I know. Sometimes it makes me laugh at how different we are; I think our few similarities revolve around our mutual love for books and our irreverent views on just about everything else. She takes her children, her husband, and her God very seriously, and you really shouldn't mess with any of them in her presence. She has held my hand when Evelyn was born in our upstairs bedroom and has cried over me when I delivered Lily in the hospital. She has prayed for me, loved my children like her own, and been fiercely loyal. She is my normal when I'm hating the image-hungry stereotypes of East Cobb, and she calls me out when I'm getting a little too image-hungry myself. We have sat on each other's couches and apologized for being so gassy (and also for not trying to hold it in!), we have counseled each other when our husbands were driving us crazy, we have listened to the other talk or vent when they were hurt, and we have seen each other at our very best and very worst of times!

 

The two of them (and each of the awesome little Sapplings) will be missed very dearly - as partners in ministry and as incredible friends. I get to fly out to Idaho in July, which thrills my little soul to no end! I told Whitney we can survive 8 weeks - we've done it before! So now, I'm counting down the days, sending lots of picture texts, and trying to enjoy all of her happy moments with her as their family travels West.

We love you guys!

Mommy Chuckles

You know you're a mom when you get excited about buying new underwear for your kids. Bella's My Little Pony underwear is literally falling apart, so we went to Target today to pick out new ones. Since school is starting soon, I thought we should maybe pick out ones that weren't ponies or Tinker Bell, so we settled on some bright colors and polka dots. I'm not sure why anyone would see her underwear at school, but on some freak chance that they do, I didn't know if she'd feel embarrassed about having "little girl" designs on her undies. (You really shouldn't be surprised that I'm way over-thinking this. Or that I'm also probably wrong.)

 

 

We are in the very earliest, teensiest stages of potty training Evelyn. After rushing it with Bella, I was pretty committed to waiting as long as possible to do anything with Evelyn, but she loves to copy anything Bella does and she's actually thrown a fit when I didn't take her diaper off and let her sit on the potty. She doesn't actually do anything once she's sitting there, but we got the potties out of the attic anyway, just to see what she would do. I know lots of moms who talk about the relief of being out of diapers, and yes, it would be fantastic if Evelyn were potty trained before the newest little human came, but I would much rather change a diaper than have to stop what you're doing in every single store you enter because one of your children had the slightest inkling of having to pee.

 

Friday morning, Steve was home from work, so we were still laying in bed when the girls woke up and came into our room. The girls usually run to my side right away and start asking for juice or a movie, but this time, Bella went right to Steve's side and whispered, "Daddy, I want your blood." You'd think we let her watch horror films sometimes with the random, creepy stuff that comes out of her mouth.

 

I always think it's funny to pause sometimes and realize the things that we say as parents that you just never thought would be an issue. I read an article written by a mom with four boys, and her best "mommy comment" was having to tell one of her little boys at the dinner table, "Please stop wrapping your penis around your fork." I pray she wrote that down in his baby book!

A Snapshot...

Steve's out with Trey and Matt for a little while, so here's a quick view of our home tonight...

I'm sitting in bed, eating fried chicken and chocolate pound cake, and watching Sense and Sensibility.

Evelyn has "snuck" into Bella's bed, and they're chatting away in their room. I'm tired of yelling at them to go to sleep, so I'm sacrificing bedtime for the awesomeness coming from across the hall.

Eventually, I'll have to interrupt them and be stern, but for now, I'm lost in the world of chocolate and Jane Austen.

Trey And Whitney's Open House

Yesterday was the open house that we hosted for Sapps. It was a long day, but is was soooooo good! Going into it, I was nervous that either extreme would happen - either only 5 people would show up or about 200 would! 

It ended up being perfectly in the middle! The event was 6 hours, but it went quickly! So many wonderful women volunteered to help with food, and the spread was incredible! We had a large, steady flow of people all day long, and we had plenty of good for everyone! 

Our friend, Nicole, helped me plan everything and I just couldn't have asked for a better showing of love and blessings for Trey and Whitney. We had people from all different ages who had come into contact with the Sapps in a large variety of ways. I was also so thankful that our Pastor showed up to offer his support.

All of the kids played so well together throughout the day, and the little humans got their fill of sugar with all of the delicious food that was right at their fingertips. Morgan took pictures all day, but I only have one so far. I'll add a couple of people as soon as I get them. 

I'm so thankful that Trey and Whitney were able to see a true outpouring of all of the lives they have impacted in Georgia before they leave for Idaho. 

Just the "first round" of all the delicious food that everyone contributed! Of the many things that I've come to love and understand about the South, one of my favorites is that Southern women know how to cook! Food is how they love and how they serve. If you ask them to bring one dish, they show up with three. It was such a wonderful blessing for me to have these wonderful ladies volunteer before I even had a chance to ask! 

It was a great day!

Getting Ready For School!

We are one step closer to being ready for the Fall! We've completed registration and curriculum fees and interviews...whew! It's a high-maintenance process to sign your child up for a private school! (Although, I'm pretty sure my mom friends who homeschool could show me how hard it is to plan everything at home!)

The students wear uniforms, and it's been in the back of my head for awhile now, because the uniforms are expensive! I was so excited to hear that the school has a consignment sale where parents can sell their old uniforms that don't fit their children anymore. I had no idea what to expect; I was just praying my $100 was enough! I kept imagining the sale as a mad-dash, free-for-all where people we're going crazy. Whitney was very supportive - I think she wanted to pat my arm and say, "Aw, honey" because of my nervousness going into the sale. 

I showed up a little early this morning, and there was already a line! Don't you love private-school moms? (I'm including myself in that, since I was there early, too!) I was only about the 10th person in line, so I was feeling pretty good. Thankfully, Whitney had already given me the fancy sweater that Bella will need to wear on chapel days, and her future teacher is giving us a chapel jumper (and those two things are the most expensive to buy, so yay!), so I focused on looking for the other two big-ticket items - a nice fleece that they wear during Winter on "normal" days and a few pairs of skorts that I've heard all the little girls love.

I scored some awesome stuff! I assumed the clothes for little kids would be the most sought after, but I was able to find everything I needed and even stop and compare condition and all of that. One of the moms I know who is also a preschool teacher was there to help as a "personal shopper", and I asked her a ton of questions! 

So, here's what I got...1 red fleece jacket, 3 khaki skorts, 3 red polos (they have to wear these on field trips), 2 navy polos, 1 yellow polo, a dress shirt to go under her chapel jumper, khaki pants for Winter (I was told that most of the little girls like to wear their skorts with stockings when it gets cold, but I figured I'd grab a pair of pants, just in case), 2 pairs of "bike shorts" that go under her chapel jumper, and a plaid hair bow. And all of this was only $80.00 - I was under budget! I love being under budget!

I can't imagine the hundreds of dollars I would have spent if this had all been new! Bella will still need a few pairs of shoes - white sneakers for normal days and brown dress shoes for chapel days - but I can buy those anywhere, so I'm waiting until we're closer to school.

I'm so excited to have all of the clothes she needs for the entire year. It's a huge weight off my shoulders. I wasn't sure how I felt about uniforms at first, but I can definitely see the benefit of knowing what she's going to wear each day and not have to worry if she feels like she's fitting in and all of that. Plus, how cute are little kids in uniforms? 

Sometime in July, we'll get the rest of her school supplies, and I'm weirdly excited about that, too! There is just something quintessentially "Fall" about buying crayons and paper and backpacks! The Sapps got Bella a My Little Pony backpack for her birthday, but I have Whitney's permission to look for a different one if Bella ends up needing one a little smaller. 

Bella's goodies from the sale today!

Disclaimer

Steve suggested that my last blog may have come across as though I'm walking around in the depths of despair. Granted, I'm pretty sure only about eight people read this blog, but if you're one of the eight, I'd like to clarify.

It has been almost a year since Lily was born. That year has had many moments of ups and downs, and getting pregnant again was a moment of unbelievable, incredible joy!

I think I just assumed that being pregnant again would act as a stronger balm over the pain of losing a baby than it has. Does that make sense? Being pregnant again was exactly what we prayed for and I am thrilled to have a new little life growing inside of me. I just didn't expect this pregnancy to bring so many...reminders of the last one. 

And lately that pain has just been a little more present. The reminders have been a little more frequent. And that's why I wrote a blog post about it. Hopefully, that helps a little in explaining without making it sound like I'm unable to function. 

One day at a time.

"And underneath are the Everlasting arms."