Where to start....

Oh, where to start this Blog...that is the question...I guess I will start at the end. The end of a 5 year journey...of sorts. We began our little adventure in Texas with a 3 month old baby, and 1 cat...we left with 4 children, 2 cats, a dog, and a Phd.!! I feel it is very important to include the Phd. in this list, because it was our reason for going to Texas, and Patrick worked SO extremely hard to get it!

Quite a lot happend in those five years. It was definitivley the best of times, and it was definitely the worst of times. The best, having three more children, all the wonderful friends we made there, all the amazing memories we now have, and of course the Phd!! The worst, having to live on a student stipend and the long hours Patrick had to be away from the family working on his dissertation. We are still on the fence about which category Baylee fits into...I guess it depends on who you ask :) I could write pages and pages about all the wonderful things we did while we were in Texas and the amazing friends we made...but that is such an overwhelming task and the reason I have postponed my writing for so long - there is just too much to say about everything and everyone...So, that is why I am going to start at the end...when we leave, and move to N.C.





So, this is how we arrived in North Carolina...ready to start on the new chapter of our lives... excited to see what was going to happen next for our family!

And this is where we will be staying (hopefully for a while- I am so tired of moving) while we are in North Carolina. I love it. I love living in a neighborhood that my kids can ride bikes in and go outside to play with their friends. (Anyone that visited us in Texas can appreciate why this is so important to me. ) I love that it is only a short walk to Isaacs school and the girls and I can walk to pick him up everyday! I also love that there are no bugs or rodents or sewage problems...but, most of all I love that I feel safe living here with my kids...


I also want to start this Blog with an update on the kids...

Isaac has been in Kindergarten for over 100 days...he's been keeping track at school. He was nervous to start but really enjoys it. He is doing very well with the school work and is learning so much. He really likes his teacher and is making a lot of new friends. He started walking into school by himself this past week (daddy had been walking him to his classroom) and has been excited in the mornings to go to school. He hasnt complained once about going (in the past week). And, he even told us he was the lunch helper yesterday, which is great news, because up until now he hasnt wanted to do things like this. He is so shy at school. His printing, writing and reading is improving greatly! He is constantly impressing me! I am so proud of him. He is getting so big! He adores his baby sister and is always wanting to play with her. He has always been so good with babies! Baylee is definitely his best friend. They are either fighting or cuddling...but they are usually together. Baylee even sleeps with Isaac at night. Isaac is such a sweet boy and he is constantly impressing me with his love and generosity.

Elizabeth has been struggling lately with testing her boundaries and working out some jealousy issues with her siblings. But she is a sweet heart and loves her brother and sisters SO much. She is happiest when she is with them. She likes to help me out around the house, cleaning and taking care of the baby. Whenever we ask her what she wants to be when she is older, she says she wants to be married and have kids. I think that she will be an amazing wife and mom, and these are great goals for her to have. You can tell she truly loves to help me take care of Catherine. She is very motherly. She has a new friend here, and she is thrilled beyond belief to finally have a best friend. Elizabeth is definitely a girly girl. She loves to dress up and play princess. Really, she loves all things princess. She is a very outgoing and happy little girl. When we walk up to get Isaac from school a lot of the other parents know her and she has little talks with each person as we pass by them. She wants to make friends with everyone she meets and is very welcoming to everyone. She is so happy she literally sings songs all the time! As we walk up to get Isaac each day, she runs ahead of me singing songs about what she sees outside...

Lucy is a lot like her sister when it comes to her need to mother everything she comes into contact with! She desperately wants to help take care of her baby sister, and is very willing to help me whenever I need her to. She is also the cleanest one in the family. She goes around picking things up and putting them away. She really enjoys dressing up and putting on shoes. Shes very girly with a bit of a tomboy twist. She can be sweet and quiet, but also rough and tough and loud! She is the silliest and funniest of our crazy group. She has always been that way. She is also very sweet and loving, wanting to give and get hugs and kisses all the time. Before Christmas she started sleeping in a big girl bed and now shares a room with her big sister. She will use the potty - when she wants to.  She only uses her soother at naptime, which is a very big step for her, because she was so attached to it. She is growing up very fast, and is very much a little girl now!

Catherine, the newest addition to our family, is definitely the sweetest most easy going baby around! She is a fantastic sleeper and has been sleeping through the night for quite a while now. She is always smiling and giggling. She does something new each week it seems. She started crawling in Dec, and standing holding onto furniture in Jan. She now walks around furniture pretty well. She has been saying dada for a little while now, and we are convinced she can also say Isaac, but dada she will do when asked. She can wave bye bye, and also learnt how to clap this past week. She is constantly amazing us and impressing her siblings!! She is adored by her brother and sisters, they are always fighting over who gets to play with her and hold her. She is definitely the most spoiled in this house!

So these are our children! We love them more then anything, and cant imagine what our lives would be like without them! We feel blessed to have such wonderful children and look forward to our future with them, and any more children we are lucky enough to add to our family!!! We may have our hands full, but our hearts are so full of love it makes all the struggles, and stressful, chaotic moments  more then worth it!

So, now that ive gotten this first post complete, I can move on to writing about the everyday happenings of the family.