Pastures new

Have you heard the song Pastures New by Nicklecreek? If you have, then you'll know how I'm feeling about moving away from Kentucky, to New Jersey, and ultimately to Eastern PA. The song is wistful, sad, and hopeful at the same time. And that pretty much sums up the mixture of feelings I've been experiencing this past week. I turned in my last assignment of the semester on Tuesday night (well, actually more like 1am Wednesday morning), celebrated a make-shift birthday for Abbie and Matt on Wednesday, then started intensive house-packing on Thursday when my Mom arrived. Matt's parents came in on Friday afternoon, right after I got my tattoo finished (pictures to follow...eventually!) and right before our open house when our friends stopped by to wish us well. More packing Friday night, graduation events on Saturday, more packing, church this morning, final packing, then Matt, his dad, and my mom hit the road around 1:30. Matt's mom, the girls, and I are spending our last night at Asbury Inn, and we'll fly back to Jersey tomorrow afternoon. Needless to say, I haven't had very much down-time to rest, much less process my thoughts and feelings about ending this phase of our lives and beginning the next. So, while I'm sitting in the dark listening to Bella's Lullaby (from the Twilight soundtrack) on repeat in an attempt to get Abbie to finally fall asleep, I'll do one of my favorite things: make a list :-)

Things I'll miss about Kentucky:
the big sky, and especially the amazing sunsets
our church. our small group. our Sunday school class, and all our church friends
Ryan, Aura, and their awesome kids
my professors and classmates who have taught me SO much
Christmas in Wilmore
our first home, where Karis was born
the many odd and goofy "Kentucky Moments" (my favorite was a homemade bumper sticker on a rusty pick-up truck that said "I'm the only hell my mama ever raised." Classic.
seeing tractors and the occasional horse driving/trotting down our street
my friends from school
Ale-8-1

Things I'm looking forward to about PA:
waking up to singing birds
making new friends
being closer to all 4 parents
being closer to the city
seeing our backyard in the fall and winter
moving into a new home
Abbie's Goodnight Moon room
seeing Matt grow into his calling as a minister of the Gospel

I am so thankful that the Lord brought us to Wilmore to begin our life together as a married couple and to start our family. Although we've experienced some extremely lean times, we've lacked for nothing. We've made friends who have loved us and cared for us and our kids, and who have taught us how to really BE friends, even though we knew that our time here was short. The Lord has truly provided for us in every way, which had helped me to trust Him even more.

The church I grew up in had a message in big gold Gothic letters painted on a panel across the ceiling. It said "He Goeth Before." I know that's true for us as we rest in Jersey for the next month, and then as we move to PA to start our ministry. Praise be to the Lord for His faithfulness. How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?

Abbie's birthday!

A few pictures from today's events for your enjoyment!


Breakfast in bed with Daddy

"I'm TWO!"

First ever haircut--before...

...during...

...after!

Abbie's cake, decorated lovingly by Aunt Aura, Jesse, and Caleb...

...which she inhaled :-)

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she beautiful?

Painted nails!

First ice cream cone


Happy birthday, sissy!

Tattoo: phase one

Last night I endured about two and a half hours of being stuck thousands upon thousands of times with a needle injecting ink into my dermis! Ha--that sounds so dramatic. I was actually pretty surprised with how little the process hurt; the only time I had to employ my labor relaxation skills was when Elli was doing the initial outline toward to top of my shoulder. Other than that all I felt was a mild stinging sensation and as long as I was talking or someone was talking to me, I was distracted enough not to feel any pain at all. Fortunately my best friend Pamm came with me and provided much comic relief. If you're at all interested in learning how tattoos actually work, check this out.

So at long last, here it is!



I am VERY pleased with how it came out. I have an appointment in two weeks to have the artist add color; I have to wait until my skin heals from the first phase. She could have done it all at the same time, but the shop closed before she could start with the color.

Milestones!

Karis was chomping on my knuckle this afternoon and I felt something tiny and sharp--her first tooth is starting to come in! I was a little shocked, because she really hasn't been drooling that much, and she's only been a little fussy during the last few days. Yaay for pain-free new teeth!

Have I mentioned that she rolled over from back to front for the first time last week? She still gets stuck on her belly :-)

Also, equally as shocking--on the way back from our family trip to Kroger this afternoon Matt and I suddenly realized that Abbie (sitting in the back seat, babbling to herself as usual) was reciting the alphabet! RECITING THE ALPHABET! Yes. She is 23 months old.

Falling in love (again)

This experience with potty training Abbie has been pleasantly surprising! Although we have a little potty I used when I was doing infant potty training with her when she was a few months old (which I still think is a fabulous idea, and I'm fully convinced that it would have worked if I would have been more persist ant...but wuddia gonna do), Matt and I decided that it would be better to put her on the big potty every time, for consistency's sake. This is really only possible because Matt is done working at UPS, so we've both been home the whole week.

Basically several times a day I sit on a folding chair across from Abbie and just hang out. I guess I hadn't realized how little time I've spent one-on-one with her since Karis was born. These times with Abbie have really made me fall in love with her again! I think for several reasons we've been functioning in survival mode as a family for a few months now, not just because we have a toddler and an infant to care for, but also because school/work have been stressful and we've been so busy preparing to move. It's been easy for me to just be a functional mom for Abbie instead of functioning + fun + affectionate, which is what I want to be for her. I love hearing her squeaky little girl voice repeating the alphabet after me and seeing the HUGE smile on her cute face when she finally pees! It's hard to believe that she's almost out of diapers.