Let the Adventure Begin

                

We made it! We started our journey Friday afternoon leaving Mt Juliet behind us. It was a teary goodbye to the house that had given us so much but we set out to enjoy a mini vacation in one of our favorite cities--Asheville, NC. Lucky for us it's almost exactly halfway between Nashville and our new home in Goldsboro, NC. 

We've spent the 2 nights exploring downtown and hiking off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Chase and I have been to Asheville twice, the last time being last summer. Both times we have explored and hiked the Parkway and eaten at one of our favorite places, The White Duck Taco Shop. If you ever go to Asheville you should eat there. It's awesome and they now have one downtown. The original, and the only one we've ever been to, is in the River Arts District, also a cool area. Going with kids this time certainly put a new spin on the trip but we still had a great time, just not nearly as relaxing as the past 2 trips! 

                 

                 

While these aren't the greatest pictures, I love how sweet they look. And when did Emory grow up?!?

                             

It occurred to us that the kids have never stayed in a hotel room before Friday night. Well, Emory has but she was only 9 months old so she doesn't remember of course. The trips we have taken as a family have all been to the beach and we've always stayed in a house. Emory and Gavin loved riding along on the luggage carrier, Riley had to hitch a ride too--she gets heavy in that carrier. 

                            

                           

              

              

Every Friday night, at least in the summer, Asheville has a drum circle in the park downtown. It's very eclectic and interesting to say the least. Asheville is a very "free" city and great for people watching, as you can see from the pictures. I thought Emory would ask more questions than she did but I think she was just trying to take it all in! Gavin LOVED the drums and was not happy about being strapped into his stroller. 

             

                           

           

           

           

                         

                         

                         

                         

As I mentioned before, we spent Saturday on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The drive in itself is gorgeous, but there are so many beautiful places to hike. We did 2 different trails. The first one we have done twice before. It's about a 15-20 minute hike along a path through the woods. It's located at mile marker 417. You can't miss it because it's right across from an overlook stop called Looking Glass Rock. The second was called The Devils Courthouse (the last picture). Folklore says it's where the devil held court, hence the name. It was a 20 minute hike from the overlook parking lot, up a very steep paved path to continue up on a gravel path. On a clear day you can see 4 states--we saw 30 feet in front of us, if that! Being up that high makes me dizzy (I don't do heights) but I love seeing the world from there so I simply stay away from the edges! 

           

           

This is just part of the drive. I was trying to take it all in and take mental pictures. Honestly, these pictures don't do it justice. What I love about these pictures is that you can see the parkway winding through the mountain. We made a game out of the drive. There are 25 tunnels along the parkway in North Carolina. Chase told Emory it was a rule to hold your breath as you passed through them. Gavin liked that we rolled down the windows and honked the horn. He kept asking daddy for more! 

Sunday afternoon we rolled into our new home, Goldsboro, NC, and the craziness began. We are currently living in furnished living so we only have about 1/20 of our stuff. I never realized how much crap we had until it had to be moved. When we arrived the movers where there and had already unloaded all of our temporary stuff to the landing by our apartment. I took the kids and went to get lunch (I think Chase had the better deal staying with the movers)! We haven't really stopped since we got here which is helping distract me from the fact that we don't live in Nashville anymore. I've spent the last 2 days unpacking and trying to organize and we've made a conscious effort to spend time together as a family. We went house hunting this afternoon and tonight we all went to the pool to let Emory practice swimming. Anyone who knows my oldest knows she is cautious to say the least. I want her to love the water but have a healthy fear--cautious but not petrified. We are finally getting to the healthy fear and she is learning to swim and trust her ability to do so!! So proud of her!

I feel like we have been here a week and it's only been one night! 

See you later...

Seven and a half years ago we moved away from Birmingham and settled into Nashville.  Six and a half years ago we moved into this house just the 2 of us. Today we left a family of five on our way to our newest adventure. 

                      

                      

As Chase said last night to our friends: "Thank you for making Nashville feel like home." 

Saying our Goodbyes

I don't know that I will make it through this post without crying. This has been a long and stressful week, yet it went by way faster than I would have liked. While I am very sad to be leaving our friends here (I'm already crying by the way) I am excited for this new chapter in our lives.

Over the last few weeks we have been trying to say "bye" to as many people as possible. That being said I know we will see our friends again which makes it more of a "see you later" and that certainly makes it easier. We will visit and our door is always open for visitors. Well, after get a house, before then you will have to stay in a hotel! We barely fit in the apartment with all our stuff! 

Before Chase left he went to dinner with a few guys from work and I convinced him to take the camera AND take pictures! 

               

               

These guys have been with Chase from the very beginning. It's weird knowing he's not going to work with them everyday. They put up with A LOT from him! ;) hehe 

The night of Gavin's birthday I was able to go out with my girls. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times. I don't know where I would be without these women...I'm crying again. They have been my strength when I wasn't strong enough, they have been my encouragement when everything seemed to be going the wrong way, and they have been a shoulder to cry on when I just needed to let it out. I know that if I needed to talk to any of them they would drop anything to listen. I know that I won't find a group of girls like this again in my life and honestly I'm ok with that. Between the 9 of us in the group we have been through more ups and downs than anyone should ever go through. I honestly don't have the energy to be in another group that close and be that vulnerable! With the stuff we've been through, you can't fake a friendship! 

             

                                Tara, me, Laura, and Jess.

             

                                 Me, Rachel, and Leslie 

              

                            Me, Rachel, Christy, and Leslie 

              

We were missing 2 from our group, Liz (who moved to Kentucky) and Tara H.. Christy moved to Dubai and we still managed to keep up with her. At least I'm moving within the same country!! :) ummm but I think I need taller friends! Ha! I feel like an amazon woman when I look at pictures!! Maybe I should be in front and do the sorority squat! 

Sunday night we went to dinner with the Parker's and the Sevelius'. We drove down to Murfreesboro to eat at a wings place called Jeffersons. It started in Jacksonville, AL (where chase is from and where Leslie and Artie went to college) so we thought we'd eat there one last time before moving 9 hours away.

            

                                      The girls!

            

                                      The boys!

                        

The group. We took this picture with my phone so the quality isn't great!

We had a great adult only night (we love our kids but every once in a while you need to spend a little time away!) Great memories have been made with these people and unfortunately we have pictures (well in some cases unfortunately!) ha! 

Even Emory got to say her goodbyes. She has done so much better than I thought. Although I think the reality of it is hitting her and she had a small breakdown the other night. She told me she knew how to make new friends with girls but didn't know how to make new friends with boys. I told her I was ok with that for now! The boys will come, sooner than I would like I'm sure, she doesn't need to worry about them just yet! 

                         

She spent the day with Christy on Wednesday and was spoiled rotten the whole day! I honestly have no idea what she did because when you ask she says "nothing, we just hung out". I know they went to Nashville Shores and Panera but that's all I got out of her! 

                    

We've spent the last 2 nights with the Lees. Emory has known these boys their entire lives. It's a tough one on her. Us too but I take it harder when I know she's having a hard time. These last 2 days have been 2 of the busiest but it has been made easier by staying with such wonderful friends. If we hadn't move to Nashville 7 years ago, we wouldn't have met them. It's hard to imagine our lives without them in it. 

We spent our last night in Nashville with our first friends in Nashville. When we first moved here, we moved to a townhouse in nashboro village. Not the greatest part of town, but the friendships that resulted have been wonderful!! Tara and Jon and Cheryl and Travis were are first friends here and so it was only fitting that we spend our last night with them. I didn't make it through dinner without crying! 

                       

Somehow all the kids ended up in the picture with the boys! We started out as a party of six and adults. Fast forward 7 years and we are now a party of 12! 

                       

        The kiddos! Sailer wasn't having anything to do with picture taking! 

                       

      Me, Cheryl, and Tara. Notice Sayler's hands just below Cheryl's shirt! Ha!

This has been a rough and emotionally draining week. This morning was pretty rough saying our "see you laters" to the Lees. I know we will see them again so I refuse to say goodbye!

Happy 2nd Birthday Gavin!!

I seriously can't believe that Gavin is 2 years old!! He is still such a sweet boy but still a little monster! Katie called him a sour patch kid--first he's sour, then he's sweet! So true. Even today he hit a friend with a plastic stick but then 2 seconds later he was hugging him (and yes he got in trouble for hitting). He's lucky he's so cute but he's learning to play it to his advantage. He gives you those puss and boots eyes (from shrek) and it's hard not to smile, laugh, or crumble! 

                        

           

                        

We spent his actual birthday at the splash pad--Emory's suggestion, which I went with since he's not exactly old enough to make his own birthday plans. That night we FaceTimed Chase and sang "Happy Birthday". He loved seeing his daddy on the iPad until he discover his birthday present was Thomas the tank engine and tracks--not much else mattered after that! That boy loves his trains!

He has started saying more words in the last few weeks which has become very helpful and he's beginning to use 2-3 word sentences. Emory could carry on a full conversation by the time she was 2--Gavin may be closer to 3 before that happens. Poor kid. 

Chase was out of town this year on Gavin's actual birthday but we celebrated his birthday with a party this past Saturday. We kept it very low key since we were moving and we could only handle so much! No special theme just a Thomas cake and outdoor toys that involved water---it was HOT and we started the party at 10am! 

           

                         Playing on the slip-n-slide

            

Chase had the genius idea to move the kangaroo climber into the baby pool...make shift water slide! 

            

      The boys hung out in the little shade we had in our yard. 

            

I'm not usually a character theme person, I.e. Thomas, but when your 2 year is obsessed with him, you get him a Thomas theme birthday cake! The things we do for our kids!

            

Gotta love the farmers tan! He will be darker than me by the end of this summer. He might be darker than me NOW! 

            

He was so excited about getting to blow out the candles!

                        

                                 Opening gifts!

                        

Happy birthday sweet Gavin!! We love you so very much and love watching you grow up! 

Riley-6 months

                                  

This sweet girl turned 6 months old on June 11th. I could say I was waiting for her doctors appointment to post, but really I keep forgetting!!

The STATS: 

Weight: 15lbs 7.5oz

Length: 27in 90th percentile (the doctors office measured her at 25.75 which would have only had her growing 0.2in in 2 months. That didn't seem right to me so I remeasured and got 27in--which more on course with how my children grow!)

Let's compare:

Gavin:

Weight: 18lbs 10oz

Length: 28in 

Emory: 

Weight: 15lbs 5oz

Length: 26in

So it looks like she is keeping par with her sister and has actually surpassed her slightly! 

Things she is doing:

-FINALLY rolled from her back to her belly! She doesn't spend much time on the ground! I thought she would be the fastest mover of all 3 but as of right now she is the slowest. She LOVES to be held and when she is down on the ground one of her siblings is always on top of her---mainly Gavin of course but Emory loves to pick her up and hold her as well. 

-still only has 2 teeth

-sleeps 11-12 hours at night and is starting to catch on to the whole napping thing--not attached to mommy

-still loves the Ergo baby carrier. It is her happy place!

-starting to "talk" a lot more but her siblings don't give her much room to do so

-she will play on the floor with toys and allow mommy to cook or clean

I love this sweet girl and love watching her grow!

House Hunting

Last week, the girls and I flew to North Carolina to house hunt. We left Gavin at home with a sitter mainly because I didn't think I could fly by myself with all 3 kids but also because he wouldn't have any fun spending the entire day looking at houses. It was a little much for me, throw a 2 year old in the mix and I would have been ready to pull out my hair!

To be quiet honest, this was a rough trip. Being there and knowing that it was our new home was stressful enough in itself. Add on that I left part of myself at home with a sitter for 4 days (a great sitter but it was still hard) AND Chase set up Riley's bed in Gavin's room for the 3 nights we were there. Which meant for the first time since I found out I was pregnant with her, she was more than an arms length from me. Thursday night was a rough one for all of us. Emory didn't sleep at all. When I left her room at 11:00pm, she was, what I would have thought, half asleep. Evidently she was scared she would fall off the bed. So instead of coming to our room to tell us, she refused to sleep. Poor thing was miserable the next day. She spent the day sleeping in the back of the car while Chase and I looked at houses.

The trip improved greatly as our day went on. We spent the evening with new friends and everyone slept much better the second night.

Saturday was another day full of house hunting. We think we may have found "the" house...stayed tuned. Saturday evening we met up with some friends of our from college, Josh and Amiee Haswell. Josh was Chase's fraternity brother and Amiee was one of my sorority sisters. We've known them a LONG time and it's SO nice to know that we are going into this move already knowing someone!!

Sunday we tried a new church. Oddly enough it's called The Bridge. We enjoyed it more than we thought we would. The music wasn't what we are used to but not much compares to Josh and the band at The Bridge Fellowship! The preacher was great and we look forward to going back and meeting new people. We have another church we want to visit as well but we know that getting involved in a lifegroup and a church will definitely help in our transition to a new city and state.

While we might have found "the" house, I find it hard to make an offer because that makes this move "real." Doesn't seem to matter that the movers are coming next Monday or that we are closing on this house next Friday. Making an offer makes this move real. While I am excited about our new adventure, I am still nervous about change. A one of my friends keeps reminding me God is still God wherever you go and as long you're together, the rest is just details. 

Nerd breeds Nerd

Big Bang Theory is one of our favorite shows. One reason being it's hilarious, but also because it reminds me of the nerd in us. I grew up with a nerdy dad...no offense dad...and he has passed it along to all of his children. Probably more so in my brother and sister but I got it too. When I saw this shirt I had to get it for Gavin and when my dad saw Gavin's, he had to have it. Easy Father's Day gift for me! He loved it and Gavin was thrilled to match his beloved Papa!

This a GREAT picture and will definitely be going into a frame! Love those two!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad and amazing husband. You are two of the greatest men I know!

Lifegroup

For the first few years we were at The Bridge, we were in the same Lifegroup. The past couple of times we were asked to sign up, we checked a few groups and asked them to put us where we were needed. Our current group was 6 couples strong, dwindled to 3, and is back to 5 couples. It's a great group. We joked about just skyping us in every Tuesday night...I was actually being serious, but I guess we should actually find a church in North Carolina.

Nolan and Gavin

Will had no interest in taking a picture.

Group shot minus kids...well some of them and Rich.

Everybody...I love that Chase and I don't have any of our children...they are all divided up among the group.

Nolan "fixing" Meghan's hair

The girls

The boys

We have loved being a part of this group and will miss them very much!