One year.

Beautiful sweet Amelia,

Today you turn one year old-12 months-52 weeks, 365 days...

It is so hard to believe that this year has already passed us by.

Mia, you are simply a joy. You are so loving and so smart. I have loved the last year-spending everyday (minus 2)  with you. You are my little nugget and such a huge blessing in our family.

You are 29.75 lbs. Your rolls are starting to thin out since you are moving all the time. You can walk but still prefer to crawl. You go up the stairs and back down at least 10 times an hour. You are very much a ham and will do ANYTHING to make people laugh. Your favorite trick is "going bananas" where you dance really fast then laugh hysterically at your self.

You wear 18month clothes. Creeping into  24 months. You wear a size 4 shoe. I can not wait to buy you squeaky shoes to listen to your little feet squeak across the floor. 

Your favorite toys are your Disney Princess Castle and Simple Piano. You love music and you sing all.day. 

You have 2 sort of loveys. Your bunny and chocolate bear.

You eat everything-except deli turkey meat. You adore hummus & pretzels and fruit and all vegetables. You also love juice boxes. You feel so big when you have one.

Your best friends are your sisters. They have adopted you into their sisterhood and it is the most precious bond to witness. You love going into their room and playing dolls with them. You will sit and hold a baby and wait for them to tell you to "put it to bed". 

You do not like to be alone. You always want someone with you-which luckily you aren't picky as long as it's someone. However, you would pick me as your someone if you had the choice.

You sleep good-once you get to sleep. But you don't like the going to sleep process. I am blaming it on teeth. You had NONE til you were 10 months old. Now you have 8. Insane.

Your learning style is "show me once." Once you see something done, you've got it down. This has helped me tons! (Holding your cup, brushing your teeth, flushing the potty) it has also been a challenge. ( opening the deck gate, loading dish soap in the dishwasher, turning on the blow dryer)

Your favorite shows are doc mcstuffins, jake and the never land pirates, and Mickey Mouse clubhouse. You dance to all of the theme songs.

Your favorite princesses are Ariel and Cinderella. You love to make them talk at your princess castle. 

Amelia, I am so thankful God gave you to our family. You are going to teach us so much and continue to bless our family with your radiant personality. 

Happy first birthday baby nugget.

We love you.

That time we surprised our kids with a trip to Disney....

Y'all. I am the worst. I have not told you about the surprise Disney trip! Blame it on the move-the sale of the house-the non sale of the house-the case of hives-the start of homeschooling-the cause of having 3 kids...or the fact I totally forgot.

So without further procrastination-the surprise Disney trip.

The girls asked Santa for a magical Christmas-so he obliged and arranged a trip to Disney on Christmas morning.

The girls woke up to this-

Wrapped Santa presents. This was highly unusually-because Santa normally leaves their gifts unwrapped. One said "open me first" so they did-and it was a letter

From Santa revealing the big surprise!

{{insert: when they read "you are going to Dianey" I expected tears and screams. However they were still asleep so they were more like okay"}}

After 5 minutes...it sunk in. They were bouncing off the walls! The other gifts were new shirts to wear-Disney headbands game-backpacks full of stuff for the plane ride & magic bands.

We rushed to get ready and headed to the airport.

This was Mia's first plane ride and Grandaddys first trip to Disney! We were stoked he was going with us!

We arrived at our resort-the art of animation.

And grabbed our rented stroller and headed to Disney. (For day by day break downs...visit our Disney blog! Link under "other blog tab")

It was an awesome trip and I am so thankful we got to experience Disney at Christmas! 

The empty calendar.

"I am so busy." "We are just never have  enough time." "If I only had time to do that!" That was my life. Those statements I said daily prior to his move. We were so busy-we had a full calendar every day. School activities, PTO commitments, life group, birthday parties, choir, dance, tball...there was something All. the. Time.

Since our move in January-I have noticed one thing has changed. Our family is SO much stronger. I never realized how disconnected we were before the move. 

It's like we went from running and going 80 different directions to coming to a complete stand still. We see each other 24 hours a day-7 days a week now (with the exception of Todd who works 4 hours away from home and 3 hours at home) but we have no commitments at the moment because we are still settling on...so we have a big ole empty calendar. No weekend plans (except the few when we have to travel back to Mississippi for something) so it's just us-and time.

Glorious time. I never knew how much I was missing out on. My house is "clean". Not spotless I mind you-because well...I have kids...and a husband. But it's not crazy because I have time to clean it. My laundry is washed and put away because I have time to do it. My kids each get one on one attention each day...because I have time to do it. It's insane how much you can get done when you have time.

During DNow a few weeks ago-BB talked about removing the things tht keep you from God. My first thought was how we use to miss church on Sundays growing up because I was at soccer games. How many times do we "miss" spending time with God because of sports activities? I use to miss time with God in the mornings because I was rushing to getthe girls to school-then to meetings or appointments...because they were my priorities. Not Him. 

Now-God and I start the day together-from the moment my eyes open the prayers start flowing. {{honest moment: when you have all day to be wih your 3 kids and no activities...it is 100% important to let God know how much you NEED Him}} 

The empty calendar is something I am enjoying during this season. I know once we settle in we will add a few more activities like Life Group back in..but the priorities will be A LOT different this time around. 

A lifely update :)

It SNoWed again this week. For real! However we were too busy setting up our new furniture to care! The house is coming along and I am hoping to have a home tour for ya! 

Here's a little bit about what we have been doing.

We went back to Mississippi to address our house stuff. We are praying we will know some GREAT news by next week. Pray with us please??

Mia screamed for the entire state of Alabama on the way home. I am not joking from the moment we left Mississippi until we crossed over into Georgia. 

I may or may not have worn earplugs!!

 We've been doing lots of school. Aubrie is FInally beginning to read. They are basic books but she is doing it. Working with a child like aubrie makes me so thankful for teachers who do this for a living. I am loving watching her "get it" first hand.

Today for valentines we woke up early to go eat at Waffle House and be the first ones at our goodwill. They've been closed all week due to ice on the roads-but we rode by yesterday and saw an item we wanted to go back and get...can you tell which child Is NOT the morning person??

Since school is out we have had lots of neighborhood visitors-today we made cupcakes!

It's been low key but next week is suppose to be 65!!!!

I can't wait to get out and explore!!

My struggle.

I have been very open on this blog about a lot of things-marriage-miscarriage-parenting...I've even told you about the years I loved to drink-a lot.

I have another "share because you care" topic that I have been dealing with. It is a struggle of mine that I am working on. 

I have anxiety.

I'm not talking about a small issue-it's large. And without support could be very dangerous.

This week has been a week that reminded me-how bad this problem is when I don't care for myself.

Let me rewind-

Last Thursday we were getting ready to go to Mississippi-our house closing was on Friday-finally.

We received the news-we weren't going to close. Issues.

So we had to make a decision-and then move forward.

We made our decision (and since other parties are involved-I will leave that out) 

We were optimistic our backup plan would work out. So Saturday we set out for a fun day-in our new town.

Well 2 hours in-things went array and it just turned out to be crappy. When we got home-I tried to settle in because I was feeling "out of control" but I couldn't. I began itching like crazy and knew the next few hours/days were going to be crazy. I tend to break out in hives when my stress level rises.

Sunday-we visited a new church and went to a Super Bowl party-still feeling optimistic I was trying to enjoy myself.

By the time we got home-the kids were irretible-Todd was moody and I was itching and dizzy. The broadus' were done.

Monday and Tuesday brought bad news on the house front and as the dollar signs were racking up in my brain-I could feel my heart rate rapidly changing-my eyes tunneling-and the amount of pressure making me feel like a balloon ready to pop.

As an alcoholic I could deal with these feelings easily. I would numb myself and life was good. 

As a believer-I am taught to trust in God and His timing. To give all my issues to The Lord because He will handle it.

This is the hardest part of Christian life to me. I am a fixer-I can see the issue and usually find a solution-stepping back and allowing God to be in control-is really-really hard.

I am ashamed of how I react to rejection and stress. It isn't Godly and it sets a bad example to my girls. I've had to explain to madyson today why I have needed to "rest" today. She knows about my years of drinking and she is thankful I "don't do that anymore" but it's hard to tell your kids-that you are weak and you have trouble understanding Gods plan.

Being in a new place without my support system around me has made this episode extremely difficult. Thankful for friends that text and FaceTime and pray and listen...even if they are states away.

Todd took the girls away for a few hours tonight so I could sleep and be still. It helped a lot but when i woke up I had this overwhelming feeling of guilt. I am thankful for a husband who nurtures during these times instead of making me feel like a burden.

Tomorrow we head to Mississippi-we have some decisions to make and a plan to form. I am praying it goes well and Gods plan is made clearer. Plus I am really thankful to get to see my mom. She  hasn't been feeling well and I think we both need a sonic drink and a hug. 

Happy 11 months Mia Margaret!!

Happy 11 months Mia Margaret! 

It's crazy to think in a few weeks you will be one!!

So what are you up to?

Weight: I haven't weighed you this month but I am pretty sure you are right at 29.5 lbs. 

You wear a size 4 diaper and 18m clothes :) and a size 4 shoe!

You will stand alone and have taken a total of 10 steps this month! You will be walking soon!!

You eat everything. Your favorites are cereal bars, pop tarts, and hummus.

You have 6 teeth. 4 on top-2 on bottom.

You love your little people princess castle and your sisters toys. Whatever they are playing with-you want.

You are very clingy and alway want to be held. I am slowly turning into the mom with awesome arms.

You had your first real snow this month and you loved it.

You hate when someone cries. We can be in target and if you hear a baby crying-you cry.

You have mastered going up and down our stairs and it makes us all a nervous wreck. But it's better than climbing over a baby gate :/

You also demanded no crib. You have your bed in toddler style now-u love it-whatever works.

Your best friend is Minnie pearl-y'all do everything together.

And you have started this shrieking sound when we tell you no. Aweome.

You sleep all the time...except at night. Real cute.

Your nickname is Shmia...not sure why but we all call you Shmia or Smea.

You are loved and we are so excited to celebrate your first year!! 

The sun came out

The sun came out today so we adventures out for a bit! 

The girls had never been to the Varsity so we stopped by there for lunch.

Mia Margaret loved the frosted orange drink.

We did some junkin today-but didn't have any purchases. We passed on a great table but it wasn't on our list of "needs" and I am trying to be responsible!

I've been wanting dip lately. So I made some Rotel and the girls had bagel bites for dinner :) super healthy Saturday.

Aubrie Kate has been walking around with this tooth hanging from her mouth for a few weeks. Finally tonight I got her to let me pull it!

Much more big girl!!

We have a busy week and I hear more snow :( 

Welcome february!!