Thankful Thursdays - Family

I know, I skipped last week.  Sorry!  So to make up for it, this will probably end up being a longer post.  But only because we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. 

Jake and I are very lucky people, we come from great families!  We both have a set of parents who still live together and love each other (which is becoming fewer and fewer these days) and a younger sister each, and one brother in law.  We also both have big extended families and are pretty close with our families as well.  We live fairly close to both families (within 2 hours drive) and get to see them a lot! 

We are so lucky to have such a great family.  Our parents and siblings all live fairly close by (all are within a 2 hour drive, some not quite so far)  and we see each other fairly often.  One thing I love is having our family together.  It's so great to sit down at a table to share a meal, and look around at all our family.  Not only that but we have several "honorary" family members (Ms. Beverly) who just happen to live close by.  It is so nice to have an extra "mom" close by if I were to ever need one! :)  I mentioned earlier our big extended families.  Between the 2 of us, we have 25 aunts and uncles, and about 42 first cousins (and spouses).  I HOPE I didn't leave anyone out, but it's hard ot keep track of that many!  We are all pretty spread out and don't get to see each other too often, so we love the holidays when we can get together and catch up..  There is always a big group at any family function!  It is so nice to have this big family unit, so many people that we know love us and are there for us. 

And the other part of our family that I can't forget, is Daisy.  She has really been a blessing to us.  When we were looking for homes around Oxford, Jake had 2 dogs that lived with his parents (we couldn't have fit 2 grown labs in our apartment).  We (especially Jake) were extremely excited to have our dogs with us again.  But before we closed on our house, both dogs died.  It was very hard on us, we lost 2 family members.  Duke, the older dog, was like a brother to Jake.  After a few months or so, we decided we were ready to start looking for another dog. And then came Daisy.  She was ADORABLE and I fell in love with her the first time I saw a picture of her. (I also fell in love with at least 1 of her brothers and sisters, but Jake said we should do this puppy thing "1 at a time.")  I can still remember the day we got her, and I love looking back at pictures of her.  Watching her grow up has been so fun for Jake and me, and we love seeing her personality develop.  She is our first child and is spoiled rotten.  And I'm sure, even though there will be some adjusting, she will remain spoiled rotten!  She's just too cute to resist!

And the last piece to our family, our little "Butterbean" Anna Kate who will arrive this March.  I am so thankful that she has this wonderful family that she will become apart of.  All the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents who are just going to love her.  We're so ready for her to arrive. These past 21 weeks have flown by.  And although I wish they'd slow down just a little (Mommy is a planner and she's not getting all her projects done fast enough), I'm glad they're not dragging by!  We are so excited about Anna Kate's arrival!  Anna Kate, we don't want to rush you too much, but as soon as you're ready to arrive, we're so ready to have you! :)

Thankful Thursday - Coming Home

It's getting close to Thanksgiving, and I can't help but think about everything that Jake and I have been blessed with and all that we are thankful for.  So I'm going to try and make Thursdays a day where we can reflect on all that we're thankful for, because so many days we seem to busy to sit down and count our blessings

One things that has really been on my mind lately is how everything has just fallen into place since moving to Oxford (well, Abbeville) last February. 

I can remember the day we found out where Jake would be working.  It was the day before Christmas Eve, and I can honestly say, it kinda ruined our Christmas fun.  It was NOT where we had wanted to go and had planned to go.  We were soready for them to say go.... only they said go somewhere else.  It was a huge blow to us and a big set back.  We had all these plans in place, but it didn't matter.  We were so dissapointed and upset that things did not work out like they wanted.  But now we can look back and so easily say that this may not have been what WE sought out, but God knew what was best for us and what we needed.  He has so richly blessed us. 

We moved just outside of Oxford to a little community, Abbeville.  It's perfect for us.  Not in town, but not in the boonies.  We bought the most perfect house for us (we walked in and just knew that this was it) and love being homeowners.  I had no problem finding a job.  And the two greatest things, we found an awesome church family, and we're having a baby!  We were so ready to find a good church home.  The church in Vicksburg was all older couples and we never felt like we fit.  Now, we have a large, loving church family and feel a part of something.  And probably the best blessing ever, our little Anna Kate that will be here in March.  Jake and I had been wanting to start a family for almost a year.  I am so glad we weren't during that stressful time (between Jake getting his job and us moving) but we were so ready to start a family and it just wasn't happening.  And now, it has and our precious little girl will be before we know it!

God has shown us that we need to be here, that this is the place and situation we need to be in.  We really learned what it meant to "let go and let God".  And we can't be more thankful!

Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice!

We are so excited to finally know what we're having!  And the funny thing is, out little girl is not even here yet and is already being spoiled!  We cannot wait for little Anna Kate to get here, but she needs to take her time and be ready herself.  For now we'll just be busy getting her room ready for her arrival.  I have been looking online and seen a LOT that I like, hopefully Jake can't narrow things down for us.  I'm hoping to make a trip to Memphis or Tupelo this weekend and doing a little looking/shopping.  Hopefully it will be a good trip and we'll find lots of stuff we like.

Mark Your Calendars!!!

We have an appointment at 3:30 on October 16th.  And we will get to see our little Butterbean and find out who's going to come out and play in March.  Will it be Jacob or Anna Kate??  We are so excited and cannot wait!!  Let's just hope Butterbean is a willing particpant so we can see all necesary "parts". 

Well Hello Stranger!

Wow! So...it's been a while. Life seemed to get the best of us for a while there. Well, we're back! and we PROMISE to be better. So, let's do a quick catch up since July..

Daisy is constantly growing and getting so big! Our baby is not a baby anymore. It's so great seeing her grow and gain more personality, although I don't know how much more personality we can handle sometimes! :) She has definitely gotten a mind of her own, and she likes to see how far she can test her limits.

We'll be adding to our family again in a few months, about 6 to be exact! Yep, for all of those who don't already know (have you been hiding under a rock???)... WE'RE EXPECTING!! Little baby Easley, whom we've affectionetaly nicknamed "Butterbean" is due March 18th, just a week after our 4th wedding anniversary. We're ecstatic, to say the least!

That is about all our catching up we need to do. We've been busy with work, playing with Daisy, and growing our little Butterbean, who is now about the size of an orange! We go to the baby dr. this Friday and are *hoping* to find out if we'll be saying hello to Jacob or Anna Kate! Oh, we can't wait!!!!! :)