Easter

Happy Easter everyone – He Has Risen Indeed! We had a fun Easter here in Rolesville. Our community had an Easter egg hunt that we went to the weekend before Easter. They had it divided into age categories and it was a beautiful day! Lilly and Hudson both got a few eggs. As you can see – Hudson was content to just sit and have his snack. They had a fire truck there the kids could get in and also little owls to see.

Easter weekend, we dyed Easter eggs – aren’t they pretty? We went to a church that we are pretty sure we want to join. They have lots of young couples, tons of kids and babies, and Lilly will go to preschool there next year. After lunch we made Easter cupcakes – they were yummy! My little ones sure love their sweets – can’t ya’ tell? :) We did an egg hunt in our back yard and then had a big meal here at the house that evening. It was a good day!

Yesterday we decided to go to the Raleigh Children’s Museum – Lilly and Hudson really enjoyed it. Then we picked up Snoopy’s Hot Dogs - (delicious by the way) and had a picnic at a park downtown. We ended our day by a visit to the capital and ice cream looking at the statues.

We Have Arrived

Greetings from Rolesville, NC!  I am so glad to be here and getting settled into our new home after a crazy few weeks.  Let me back up and let you know about what we have been doing along our journey here. 

My family came to help me pack up my house in Houston after Brian had left to start his new job in NC.  It was a HUGE help and I am so thankful for them.  After that, Lilly, Hudson and I stayed with Brian’s parents for about 5 days.  They really enjoyed being there and exploring on Nina and Papa’s “farm.”  Lilly overcame her fear of the horses and continually asked to ride the pony Belle, so papa let her and she loved it!  She even went to the barn to help feed one day – that is a big deal for her!  While we were there she wore a pink dress up dress the whole time – playing, feeding horses, running errands, sleeping – she is definitely my dress up queen.  Hudson really expanded his vocabulary during this time – he is saying so many new words these days – truck, tractor, car, train – very boyish words, huh?  

Ada, Brian’s mom and I headed out on our road trip to NC on a Sunday morning bright and early and armed with my GPS, thank goodness.  We drove for about 10 hours that day – which is a lot with the 2 kiddos.  The mornings were fine, but in the afternoon, they got bored and we tried anything to keep them happy.  Thanks ADA for Elmo puppet shows!  The road side stops were nice to let them get out and play in the fresh air.  We stopped in Montgomery, Al the first night.  Then the next day (after losing 2 hours due to daylight savings and the eastern zone time change), we set off at 6 am.  About 1 hour into the trip, Lilly starts screaming and tells us she has a fruit loop stuck in her nose.  Are you kidding me?  We pull over in the pitch dark, get a flash light out and sure enough, there it is and it did not want to come out.  I called our pedi in Houston, but we kept on going.   During the day, it seems to have gone backwards down her throat, so all ended up okay. 

We made it to NC that night and finally got to see Brian!  After 16 days without him, we were so glad to see him.  We closed on our house the next morning and moved in with whatever we had in our 2 cars.  We slept on sleeping bags for 2 days until the big moving truck arrived.  It was definitely exciting and overwhelming to see all your house on a big truck arrive.  It was a reality check that we were really here and it was time to start making my house a home. 

Most of the boxes are unpacked now, minus hanging things on the walls and a few other things.  We have met some nice neighbors, there is even a 3 year old little girl down the street we have played with.  Rolesville is very small, but very cute.  The blooming fruit trees were starting to bloom when we arrived, they have been so beautiful, they are everywhere.  We have found lots of parks and found where Target and Walmart (the necessities) are.  Lilly started a preschool at a church last week 2 days a week.  She seemed to do fine – they are on spring break this week.  We even found a pre-dance ballet class for her to take on Saturdays.  Today we ventured out to story time at the library.  Hudson is always full of energy, and in our first week, we had to find an emergency clinic for stitches.  He fell on a matchbox car and it punctured his nose.  He was a trooper and we already got the stitches out this week!

 

Lilly's first day of new preschool

 

I am excited about the new possibilities of our new town.  We pray we find a good church home soon so we can get plugged in.  It has been amazing weather and we are enjoying playing outside.  Thanks for all your prayers during our journey here, they were truly felt. 

Our new house!

Here We Go

So why have I not blogged in a while?  Well – we are definitely going through some exciting changes in our world.  A while back Brian had a phone interview with an appraisal company in Raleigh, NC.  It went well….so we went up there to check it out and see if it would be a good fit for our family.  The job will give him more opportunities for advancement.  When we went, it was a weekend that it snowed, so we got to experience Raleigh in the snow.  His new boss picked us up at our hotel and drove us around and took us to his home for dinner.  So yes – we are moving to North Carolina!  We found a house during the snowy weekend (have you ever looked at home in a foot of snow), in a small town outside of Raleigh called Rolesville.  It is close to Wake Forest as well.  Brian will start work the first of March and we will close on our house here on the 12th and then his mom and I will drive the kids to NC to close  on the 16th on the new house.  Been a little busy packing up the house – what a process it is!  I know I will have to do good blogging when we move to keep everyone updated on how things are going there and show you the new house and area.  Please pray for us as we make this transition – from everyone in our family being in Texas to not knowing anyone at all.  We pray that Brian’s job goes well, and that God will place Christian friends in our path, that we will find a good church home, and the kids will feel comfortable throughout the move.  We will keep you posted over the next few weeks. 

Christmas and more

Oh my!  I have not blogged since Thanksgiving, where has the time gone?  Lots going on here, so lets catch up!   

Christmas was so much fun this year – Lilly really understood this year that it was Jesus' birthday and that Santa was going to bring presents.  We went to a Christmas eve service at our church, it was a really nice time to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  We also got to spend actual Christmas day with just the 4 of us at our house, we took our time, opened presents, ate, played, made a cake for Jesus.  We had spent the weekend before Christmas in Tyler and then the days after Christmas with Brian’s family. 

The cousins in Tyler

Hudson helping to rake

Lilly was a flower girl in my cousin’s wedding in Austin the Tuesday after Christmas.  Her new husband is from Copenhagen and so some of the ceremony was in Danish and included some of their traditions.  Lilly did very well – made it down the aisle okay – and the kids had a fun time at the reception. 

 

Our last celebration was Christmas in Centerville.  It was a fun time catching up and for the kids to play.  I just can’t believe how cold it has been though, we have all worn all of our winter clothes multiple times and can’t wait for a little warmer weather to play outside. 

Brian had a birthday the 4th of January, we celebrated at our house on his birthday and then got to go out as a couple over the weekend. 

  Hudson hanging out in the hotel with daddy in Austin

Birthdays and more!

I need to play catch up!  Since I last wrote we have had 3 birthdays, a holiday, and snow!  So here goes……

I turned the big 30 in November.  My sweet hubby made me dinner (chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and eggs) and he and Lilly picked me out some cute birthday presents – cookbook, Santa socks, candy, plastic panda bear (Lilly picked most of it out:)).  I really enjoyed my b-day with my family!

Then, Hudson turned 1!!!!! I can’t believe it has been a year since we were in the hospital being handed our precious little son.  How thankful that we were chosen to be his parents.   He is the sweetest thing and we love him so much.  He had a monkey party this year.  I think he had fun playing with all his cousins and grandparents.  He was not too sure about the cake – it was very sweet and he puckered his mouth after each bite!  He did manage to eat about 1/2 of his smash cake.  He is walking around everywhere now and is very adventurous!  He loves all balls – I think that is his favorite thing.  He got his first hair cut  the day of his first party and he did so good – my hair cut lady did it and she was great, so now some of his curls are gone, but I left some on the back for now.  Happy Birthday Hudson! 

Then we had Thanksgiving in Tyler.  I can’t believe that a trip that once took 3 1/2 hours without kids can now take 5.  We had a great time hanging out with our family – we even had a new family picture of the England side done.  We also got to meet my cousin’s fiancée – they are getting married in December and he is from Copenhagen.  It was neat to get to meet him.

Then it was Lilly’s 3rd birthday.  Her party will be next week, but we had a good time celebrating her special day.  She really understands birthdays this year – she is one of the last in her class at preschool to turn 3, so she was glad it was finally her time.  It even snowed on her birthday – she thinks just for her!  She definitely loved her cake and opening her presents and is still wearing her birthday crown around the house.  

Halloween

This year for Halloween, we got to celebrate many times.  Lilly and Hudson were Tinkerbelle and Peter Pan. Our first was at Nina and Papa’s house.  Their neighborhood has a tractor ride that took the kids to houses on their street to trick or treat.  Hudson and cousin  Ruthie rode in strollers and Lilly rode in a wagon, and the other cousins rode the tractor.  They got lots of candy!  We also had a smore roast – Nina built a fire pit that is really great and we had tons of gooey fun!

 

 

Second, Lilly got to dress up for dance class.  They learned a short dance to Ghostbusters and performed for the parents.  It was pretty cute!

 

Then, on actual Halloween, we went to a Fall Festival at Lilly’s school.  She did the bouncy things and played lots of games and of course got more candy.  Hudson hung out in the stroller looking cute as Peter Pan.  Lilly helped me hand out candy the trick or treators at our house.