Filling in the gap...

I am behind by a couple months now... It's comforting to read other momma's blogs and see that's just where we are at sometimes in this stage of life. So... in order to somewhat fill in the gap.... Here are some high points from April and May (and maybe earlier too. ha!) 

As for some of the details of life as we know it... Our time here in Beaufort, South Carolina is coming to a close very quickly.  Let me just say, "low-country living" IS all it's cracked up to be. For real. We were really hoping that we would live here for longer than 1 year, but such is life in the Navy. It's been a great ride so far, so we are looking forward to the next adventure. Mitch's next duty station -- Millington, Tennessee. Dear old Rocky Top :) My first thought when Mitch told me Tennessee was a probability for us was... "oh yeah, it borders Kentucky!" This past year has been so precious to us and very binding for Mitch and I, however I miss my family. So bad. And when you have small children a 10-hour drive can feel like crossing 'the great divide' if you know what I'm saying. Also, Mitch's brother and his family live in the town we are moving to which we are SO excited about. So, Tennessee here we come! When we started piecing the coming months together back at the beginning of the 2013, we knew it was going to be a little wild. Here is the deal: Ivy will be born the first week of July. July 28th packers show up at our house. <> July 31st all our belongings are loaded onto a trucked headed for TN and hoping to arrive for delivery sometime before August 13th. Mitch has to be in Beaufort on August 1st to have his orders stamped and then be in Millington by August 2nd to report. To a seasoned military wife this probably sounds like nothing. But, let's just say I have shed at least a few tears over this timeline. There are worse things in life. MUCH, MUCH worse things. These are just the details. So we will press on. 

Due to Ivy's arrival and therefore the inability to travel too close to her due date, we headed out on house-hunting leave the end of April. Scarlett got to live-it-up with Nonni and Boo while we were out on the hunt because strapping her in the car for 3 days straight after a long drive would have been miserable. So, while we were trying to find our new corner of the world Scarlett played with Nonni and Boo's chickens... 

That's right... a baby chick in a stroller :) 

Now, the house hunt. In a nut shell, it was an emotional roller coaster ride. We drove around for 3 days and saw nothing in our price range that we were interested in. We did find one place that was doable, made an offer and then found out the seller had already accepted another offer before ours was even place. Exhausting. So, needless to say we ended up having to break-off our relationship with the realtor who we had been working with (It was so uncomfortable. But, if someone tells you to find a house on the internet and then let them know when you want to buy it, they are not working for you...you are working for them). After being away from Scarlett for 3 days, being really pregnant and riding around in a car all day and then getting back in our car for a 5.5 hour drive to my parents' house, I was bursting with tears. It was that feeling where you know God is faithful and will provide at just the right time, but you had made such great plans in your head and things were simply not turning out how you thought they would. Anyhow... The fabulous part comes in when God allows small details to work in such a way that you see His hand in a large way. During our emotional  and empty handed car-ride home I was looking at realtor.com (for the 15, 879 time) and decided to just call the listing agent on a house that had actually already been sold, but that was exactly what we were looking for. She ended up to be a dream and already knew of a house coming up in her neighborhood that she thought we would be interested in. Long story short, we waited a little over a week for that house to come on the market, sent our darling sister-in-law over to scope it out and ended up making an offer the evening she saw it (yes, sight-unseen for us. Nuts!) Mitch flew up the following weekend and voila the hunt was over! I can only attribute the pleasant outcome to the Lord. We close on our new home (below) next week. 

When we went back through Kentucky to get Miss Scarlett (who I missed so bad I could hardly even stand it!!!!) we were super short on time, but I got to visit with a precious friend who was also in the area from out-of-town. Jilly and I went to high school together and I guess you would say we are kindred spirits. Although many miles separate us and we live in different time zones and in totally different stages of life, our relationship has remained ever true and is a treasure to me. Here are SJ and I with Jill. 

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 Fast forward to May...

We had some visitors from Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mitch's parents, Memaw and Uncle John came to see what low-country life was like. We enjoyed their visit which included a trip the the Parris Island Museum on base, beach time, sea food and front-porch-swinging. 

Ok, I think that brings things somewhat up-to-speed. I am sure I missed some things here and there. Honestly, I am just trying to just keep my to-do lists going each day and soak in my last few weeks as a mommy to one. Everyone (strangers and even friends) that I talk to say that the transition from 1 to 2 children was so challenging. Hearing that makes me anxious. I would love to hear from you if you have something to share on the transition from 1-2!