The longest blog post ever.

Whew, where to start?!? I guess I'll start with showing you some pictures of our new home, and then do an update of what we've been doing this fall...

So, first, our house. We moved in October and it already feels like home. There are still two rooms that need to be, ummm, addressed, the office and guest bedroom, but most everything else is unpacked. I still have some decorating projects to do, but for the most part we're settled in!

The kitchen. One of my "to do" projects is something to cover up the mirrored area over the sink. My first try was a chalkboard that I could put a memory verse, menu, etc. on, but it turned out to be too much black for that area. My next idea is sort of a burlap covered bulletin board type thing, but I'm not wild about it. Any other ideas???

The kitchen from the other side.

Dining room area. I still need to hang pictures on the wall in here.

Looking into the living room from the dining room. I'm waiting for a good fabric sale so that I can recover that rocking chair and make new drapes.

Will's room. Looks just like it did at Mimi and Papa's.

The master bedroom. Why, oh, why do I have to have a gun cabinet in my room? **sigh**

Our backyard, and the view from our bedroom. Actually, this is pretty much what our view is like on every side. Sooo beautiful. You would never know we are right in the middle of a city.

Working on our house and unpacking have taken a lot of our time and energy.

This was what the kitchen looked like before I got my hands on it.

Will pressure washed the deck. Nahhh, just kidding, he was Michael's helper :).

Will dressed up as a monkey for Halloween. We didn't go trick or treating, but we did go to Boo at the Zoo, a carnival at my old school (my mom still teaches there), and a fall festival at church.

Me, Will, Shelley, Katelyn, Mimi, and Taylor at the Lower School carnival

The fire fighters brought out two fire trucks, which was right up Will's alley :).

We carved a pumpkin, and let Will choose what to put on it. This year he chose a...

Stegasaurus!

Every once in a while, Will asks me to hold him "like my a baby." I can hardly hold him like this anymore. It's hard to believe I use to hold him in one arm!

Will loves his hard hat, which he calls his hard worker hat. Apparently he contracted my explanation of "it's a hard hat that construction workers wear" into "hard worker hat." So, any time he is helping me (like with the laundry in this photo), he wears his hard worker hat :).

And that's it! This has been a very special season of our lives. Thanks for reading along :).

We moved...again.

Sorry for the long silence, but we have been moving across town into our wonderful, new (to us) home. While we are so thankful that my parents let us stay with them for the past 8 months, we are beyond excited to be back in a place of our own, just the three of us.

We are just about finished unpacking, and then I'll post pictures :).

I think we have just about adjusted to our new, busier schedule. I love all of the activities and the new friends, but it also helps me to cherish the one or two days a week that we have at home. Will loves BSF, and it's so cute to hear him say "BSF" in his little toddler voice :). He's a little unsure about MOPS, because they start the morning in a gym with lots of balls, tunnels, and hula hoops. I think it's a little overwhelming for him. When he talks about how MOPS is scary, I've been trying to encourage him and remind him of his friends who are there to play with him, but he's not buying it yet. I hope I can talk him through this one, because I have been enjoying it! Kindermusik is awesome, of course, and we have worked through some of the discipline issues Will was having at the beginning. (I'm really thankful for that, because I felt like a big wuss for being stressed out by Kindermusik!)

This morning we went to my mom's class, because a fireman was coming to do a little talk and to show the kids his gear. Will loooooves firetrucks and firemen, so he was super excited to go see a "REAL fireman!!" (Never mind the fact that my mom takes him in the fire station practically every time they drive by :).) Will has taken a huge leap in imaginative play recently, and he spends a lot of time putting out fires, running back and forth to the fire station, and putting on his mask while coughing from the smoke. (He also likes to pretend to pick muscadines at Mamaw's house. I LOVE that he has gotten to know my grandparents so well. That has been a really great part about living here.)

After we got home from seeing the fireman, going to Kindermusik, and having lunch with some new friends, we frolicked in the front yard. Okay, fine, we weren't really frolicking, I was bribing him with Oreos and tickling him, but, hey, I got some fall pictures!

I was just looking through some old files and found these pictures of my baby boy, who's really not much of a baby boy anymore. These were taken at my friend Jenn's wedding, which was just a couple of weeks after Will was born. I was still very much delirious and sleep deprived...some matron of honor I was! I looked back in Ye Olde Archives to see if I wrote about it at the time, but apparently I was having trouble forming coherent sentences. (Good thing I missed the toast portion of the festivities. No telling what secrets I would have let out!)


That paci sure didn't last long! That thing drove me crazy.


Michael looks a lot younger here, doesn't he? I think the trials and tribulations of the past 2 years have aged him a bit...or maybe it's just that he's in his 30's now ;). And also, isn't it funny that I can say that about him and know that he won't care, but if he talked about how much older I was looking...well, it wouldn't go over well!


And this one's just funny :). I LOVED those pants. They were plaid linen, and I bought them on sale for just a couple of dollars about a month before he was born. He may have been a little under-dressed for an evening wedding, but I don't think anyone would hold that against a 2 week old.

Just a little walk down memory lane :).

Saving Some $$

Yesterday Will and I went to Bi-Lo, Kroger, and Publix to get our groceries. I bought tons of stuff, including chicken, Lysol, granola bars, fruit snacks, toilet paper...you get the idea.

Pretty boring morning, right? NOPE. My total at the three stores would have been $71.43, about what I would expect to spend for a week's worth of groceries. But instead of forking over all of that cash, I spent a grand total of $19.34. I saved $52.09!!! I was never a great math student, but the way I figure it, I saved 73%! Woohoo!

I'm starting to get the hang of couponing at the three grocery stores (although I still need to figure out Kroger's e-coupon system). So, now I need to tackle CVS and Rite Aid. From what I understand, you shouldn't have to pay anything for toiletry items (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.) if you work the system.

Why the sudden interest in pinching pennies?? We are MOVING!! We don't have an exact moving date yet, because there are still some details to work out. But at some point in the next few weeks we'll be moving out of my parent's house, where we've been living for the past 8 months, into our own place! Our new house will be within walking distance of Michael's job, and about a mile from our church. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, an office, a huge laundry room, and tons of storage space. The details of the how's and why's this came about are a little too sticky for me to blast all over the internet, but God has definitely paved the way for us in this new opportunity. (I would love to tell any of you in person how God has worked all of this out for us, I just don't want to cause trouble for anyone because you never know what Google is going to turn up :).)

If you're still reading, you deserve some pictures...



Big boy coloring in his underwear. Have I mentioned that he will wear only boxer briefs?



Will enjoying the fruits of his labors. He got the Cars DVD as his big potty training reward.

Busy Busy Busy-ness

This has been a hard move for me, even more so than our move to Greenville a year or so ago. In an effort to not sit around feeling sorry for myself, I scheduled us for tons of stuff this fall so that Will could hang out with some other kids and I could meet some other stay at home moms. A month or so ago I was anxious for fall and all of our new activities to get under way. Now I'm thinking "Waiiiittt, I can't keep up!" We are meeting tons of wonderful new friends, but we're too busy to get together with them. Ha! My plan backfired, didn't it?!?

We have MOPS two days a month, which I have never done before, but seems like it will be a lot of fun.

Then we have Bible Study Fellowship once a week. I'm super excited about BSF for several reasons. The Bible study is supposed to be a major feast on God's word, and both Michael and I are doing it. Will is in the children's program, which I have heard wonderful things about. So, all three of us will be studying the book of John this year!

And, finally, we have Kindermusik once a week. I signed Will up for that because it was something we could do together, he needs to work on some group interaction skills, and because he hated music. Not kidding. The child did NOT want to sing songs or listen to any music...kids, adult, classical, not of it. We are just a few weeks into the class and his attitude towards music has taken a major turn around. He has been singing, dancing, and playing "instruments" (rhythm sticks, etc.).

One other thing that has taken up a major chunk of my time has been couponing. I am trying sooo hard to learn this system for saving money on groceries, but, honestly, it isn't fun for me (yet). I'm doing it because I want to be a good steward of the resources God has given us, and because I want to be an encouragement to Michael who is working so hard for us right now. I'm hoping that as it get easier for me and I start to see results, that I'll find some enjoyment in it! I'm using Southern Savers and daily phone calls to my sister as I learn how to get the most out of our grocery dollars.

Oh, and the potty training? It is finished. Hooray!!

Will's song

The song will sang to himself today before nap, after I finished the required round of Old McDonald with a cow:
(and this is word for word)

Old McDonald had a farm E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a really, really big tunnel
E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a baby tunnel
E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a Mommy tunnel
E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a Daddy tunnel
E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a My Special (read: I'm special)
E-i-e-i-o


Yes, darling, you are so very, very special :).

A Video Message from Will

I know what you're thinking. Where did Will go?

With all the potty training updates, I haven't been posting any pictures. But Will's still here, just hanging out playing with his tractors and diggers.

And he wanted to say hello :).

Potty Training Update (again)

Will has got the pee-pee half of potty training down! I think it's been a week, or at least close to it, since he had one of those accidents. The other half, however...

We are still working on it.

We switched from stickers as his reward to Hershey's kisses. He is MUCH more excited about using the potty now. I guess he's motivated by chocolate like his mama. The stickers were just getting too complicated. He was always begging to get more, and wanted to peel them off and stick them on himself, even though he realllly doesn't have the motor skills to do that yet.

Now, if I can just keep from eating all the chocolate myself, we'll be in good shape!



And just for the sake of recording memories, some funny Will stories from the last couple of days...

Will placed a matchbox car under each of his feet, and said, "Look, Mommy! I have roller coasters!" I thought about it a minute and then asked if he meant rollerskates. "Oh, yeah," he said, "I have rollerskates!"

He calls fountains "water mountains."

He told me God was going to make him big so that he could touch the ceiling like Daddy.

We have been praying for Will's great-grandmother Mimi Wing, who had a pacemaker put in this week. The first day she was in the hospital, I was explaining to Will that she was sick and that we needed to pray for her. He asked if she had a boo-boo and if she was going to the doctor. I said yes, her heart had a boo-boo and that the doctors in the hospital were taking care of her. Will had a simpler answer than surgery. He said Mimi Wing needed to lay down on the couch...Will's cure-all for every ailment :).

Okay, this one's kind of gross, so brace yourself...
The first time he pooped in his little potty chair, he stood up, looked in the potty and said, "Whoah! A monster!" (See, I just had to record that so I can tease him about it later.)

Potty Training Update

Will's attitude improved drastically after its Sunday nosedive. So, he's back in the saddle...or back on the potty...

No accidents Monday or Tuesday! Today, he had a small poop accident that he redeemed by letting me know about it and then finishing on the potty :). That may be too much information, but if I have to clean it up, then other people should at least have to read about it ;).

I cleaned out a spot in his dresser for the big boy underwear, so it looks like they are here to stay!

Adventures in Potty Training

***Warning: This post contains a lot of the words pee-pee and poop.

Last week, I very randomly decided to try potty training Will. As in, made a late night run to Walmart to get juice, salty snacks, big boy underwear, and some stickers. And then the potty training commenced. Will is only 26 months old, so I didn't have very high expectations. If anyone had asked, I probably couldn't have verbalized why I even thought it was worth trying. My plan was to try it for a week and then reassess the situation. I prepared myself for a week of staying at home, and of lots of accident cleanup. Again, no high hopes here, I just didn't want to keep buying diapers if he could, you know, use the potty.

So Potty Training Day #1 (henceforth referred to as PTD #1) got off to a great start, with an early morning pee-pee in the previously unchristened potty chair. I then started pumping him full of liquids so that he would have lots of opportunities to learn to use the potty. Over the course of the day he had 10 pee-pees in the potty and only 2 accidents. AND a poop in the potty! He got a gazillion stickers and was VERY proud of himself for getting to wear big boy underwear.

PTD#2 was smooth sailing. Not an accident all day. I scaled back the liquids, so there weren't nearly as many pee-pee opportunities, but he made it to the potty every time he had to go.

PTD#3 was another great day. I ran out and bought pull-ups because my Mom and I wanted to go run an errand. Waste of money. Will refused to wear them because they were not big boy underwear. So, we left the house for the first time DIAPERLESS. I was more than a little afraid. But I shouldn't have been, because as we were checking out at a store, Will told me he needed to go pee-pee. He held it until we got out of the store to his froggy potty, which was waiting in the car. Again, no accidents all day. At this point I'm starting to think, "He totally has this! I think he might be potty trained! That was sooo easy!!!" But, we still had church the next day, which I thought would be a major hurdle.

So PTD #4 was a Sunday, and Will went to church in big boy underwear (with a bag containing extra shorts, underwear, and a pull up). I was a nervous wreck all through Sunday School and church, but when we went to pick him up, there he was in his same shorts!! We even went out to eat for lunch...again no accidents. So we get home, and I'm doing the happy dance. Will is potty trained! That was the most painless potty training ever!!

Nope. FAKE OUT.

He got up from his nap saying he wanted to put a diaper on. Huh? Big boy underwear were cool, like, a few hours ago! Well, not anymore. Apparently, little man decided that all this Thinking About Going to the Potty was too much work. APPPARENTLY, he finds it annoying to have his mama asking every half hour or so, "Will, do you need to use the potty? Are you sure??" So, now, although he has the ability to use the potty, his attitude has taken a turn for the worse. And the rest of the afternoon was full of accidents.

Today, PTD #5, should be an interesting one.

Edisto 2009

We have just gotten back from a week of vacation at Edisto with the Reynolds clan. It was fun, relxaing vacation, even if we did have three kids under three along for the ride!!



On the way down, Michael, Will, and I made a short detour through Columbia to meet up with the Brodines, who were in town from California. We've been keeping up with each other through blogs (ahem-Brodines, you could update more often ;), facebook, and phone calls, but it was so nice to sit down and share a meal together, just like old times.

Will with the guys

...and the girls.

Our beach house was on the sound side of the island so there were very gentle waves...great for the little ones! Will, Taylor, and Katelyn had a great time playing together, and there were a minimal amount of arguments. Will and Katie especially bonded. I guess their play was on the same level, while Taylor has moved on to more imaginative things!

Michael and Will walking to the beach

Will and Katelyn



Will and Mimi

Papa, Taylor, Will, Katie, and Mimi

Now, watch Will playing catch with Michael:

Yay!

The only picture I got of the 3 amigos together. Hopefully Shelley got a better one!

The house we rented had a great screened in porch, complete with porch swings and ceiling fans. The kids loved to play out there before and after dinner.

This kept Katie and Will occupied for the longest time...until they broke the ice chest. Ooooops.

Will got tired of the paparazzi following him around. Here he was saying, "No, Mommy, NOT take picture of Will!"

We took Will to the Serpentarium, or as we called it for Will's sake, the "snake zoo." Here we were waiting for a little snake talk/demonstration to start. Things weren't so peaceful looking about 15 minutes later, because Will decided it was a great time to practice counting at the top of his lungs. I had to take him out :(.

Watching the alligators at feeding time. Two started fighting right in front of us. Will got an eyefull!

Funny Boy

A couple of days ago:
Will put on my shoes and said, "I going work now, Mommy. Go golf course!" I told him they were my shoes, not Daddy's. He said, "Oh, I Mommy. I going Bible study!"

This morning:
Will gave me a kiss, patted my shoulder, and said, "You a nice boy, Mommy."

Later today:
We were driving down the interstate and Will shouted, "Look, Mommy, an overpash!" Where did he learn about overpasses?!?

Thy Word Can Bring a Sweet Relief For Every Pain I Feel

God has taught us so much about how He uses trials in our lives over the past year. To discipline, vindicate, protect, refine, and temper us. This is just a fragment of one of the lessons I have been learning, but it has been consuming my thoughts lately, so I thought I would share...

I had a plan. I thought it was a good one, and I thought it was God's will for our family. We were supposed to buy our first home in Greenville early this year, and then start the adoption process to bring our second child into our family when Will turned two. We have desired both of those things for so long, and it seemed like everything was finally about to fall into place...and then Michael was laid off.

Over night, our adoption and house savings, which had seemed like a good nest egg, were the only source of income we could count on as South Carolina's unemployment program teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. God provided for us abundantly and preserved our savings, but once Michael found a job, a wonderful blessing of a job, we moved in with my parents. So, we don't have a home to have a home study done of...our adoption dreams again postponed indefinitely. The circumstances of the past year have left me asking God a lot of questions. Were we not ready? Was our child not ready for us? Or was our desire to adopt from ourselves and not from Him? Was it not His will for our lives? I have spent a lot of time and energy asking these questions, and the Lord has started revealing some things to me that He confirmed at my Bible Study this morning.

I'm taking a break from asking how to know His will, how to distinguish my desires from what He is calling me to do. Instead, I am going to spend my time delighting in Him, because Psalm 37:4 tells us "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." My light bulb moment this morning was that, as we delight ourselves in Him, the desires of our heart will be more in line with God's heart, and we will find ourselves in the center of His will. Which is right where I want to be.

Thy mercy seat is open still,

Here let my soul retreat

With humble hope attend Thy will,

And wait beneath Thy feet.

-From the hymn "Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul"

My Favorite Fireman

This is the cutest fireman I know.

Even if he does have the occasional accident with a parked vehicle.