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! :)

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!!!!! :)

Daisy's First Week

I'm really late updating this. Last week was Daisy's first week home, and she did very well! I believe she loves her mama and daddy as much as we love her. She has been VERY spoiled, and we all enjoy it! Originally, she was only going to be an outside dog, and was only allowed inside the porch. Well, that didn't last a day. I've posted a few pictures from last Monday, her first day at her new home. She got to come inside that night, and she's been inside every night since! :) Here are some pictures from her first night.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Daisy's First Night Home

Daisy did pretty good her first night in her new home, away from all her siblings and mama. We got home around 8:30 and played a little bit with her. She made fast friends with a toy lamb and it is now covered in grass and leaves. Jake thinks I'm crazy because I told him I was going to buy a new one - one for inside and one for outside. She loves the bush right next to the patio, especially all the leaves underneath them. She did pretty well on the porch last night. She woke Jake up a little before 5 and he got up with her. I took her for a walk about 6:15 so Jake could get ready for work. We didn't go far because I didn't want her to go around the house with all the big dogs around. Hopefully she had a good day today. Jake was going to leave work early to check on her. I told Jake I'm going to be a horrible mother when it's time to leave my kids at school - I hated hearing her cry when I had to leave and I've wanted to go check on her all day! :) Enjoy the pics of her playing last night. More to come soon.

Her lamb she loves! It is now covered in grass, dirt, and leaves.

She tuckered out pretty quick! :)