True joy

We spent last Saturday at Shelby Farms park. The boys loved being outside and David and I loved the fresh air as well. The sequence of pictures below make me think of the word Joy...the boys and David are both showing so much joy in these pictures. I am truly so thankful for a husband and father who loves and adores his boys and knows how important it is to spend quality time with them. So thankful!

A little recap

We have had a busy but fun last few weeks.  It has been physically and emotionally draining because of the anniversary of Forrest's birthday but has also been a sweet time with my boys.  I feel like we are finally getting into a rhythm and one we desperately needed.  It has taken us well over a month to get in the swing of things and I am happy to report that I think we may be swimming now instead of drowning.  The move and transition back to Memphis did not go as smoothly as I expected with the family.  The boys desperately miss the slowness of Boston and have really become homebodies.  They both enjoy school but miss home when they are there.  I think they also miss each other.  In Boston they were never away from each other so that has been a new thing as well.  Mondays and Fridays we don't have to be at school or anywhere else for that matter so we take our time and try to do something fun together.

Here are some things we have been up to lately:

Our church had a carnival night for the kids and the boys loved riding Thomas the Train choo choo with their buddy Bo.

We enjoyed an afternoon treat at our favorite cupcake shop, Muddy's.
We bought a new kitchen table that had to be assembled so Dingdad and daddy spent time teaching the boys about tools and assembling things. It was the highlight of the day for sure.
We visited the Farmers Market and enjoyed some honey sticks.
Spot, the Pre-K class stuffed animal, came home with Austin on a Thursday which meant he spent 5 whole nights with us. Quite a treat to my little guy.
We had flowers displayed at our church in memory of our precious son.
Sweet friends remembered our son and loved on us during a difficult day.
The boys and I went on a long bike ride on Forrest's birthday. I thought a bike ride was cheaper than therapy. =)

We met a friend while on our bike ride.

David got off work a little early and went with us to pick out flowers and place them at Forrest's grave site.
 
We spent a fun afternoon at My Big Backyard with my best friend Bobbie and her 2 boys.
Austin's school had their annual Boosterthon where the kids ran laps to raise money for the school. He didn't want to participate but once he was there he loved it.
We spent this morning at the zoo with Bobbie and her youngest Charley.
While at the zoo we fed the giraffes for the first time. Austin loved every minute of it...Miller was a little unsure of the whole thing.

I am really trying to soak up this time with the boys before baby girl makes her presence in 3.5 months. The weather has turned nice and we are enjoying being outside and together.

*Thank you to everyone who commented, emailed, texted, and called on Forrest's birthday.  It meant so much to me.

Last few weeks...

Life around here has been C.R.A.Z.Y with a serious capital C!  Between moving, stuff not making it for 15 days, starting school, starting a medical practice, being in charge of a race...life has not slowed down long enough to even sit down for very long much less blog.  Now that the race is over I feel like I can breathe a little.  So a little recap of the last few weeks:


Sweet friends took the boys a couple times so we could get a few things done.

I spent some time visiting with my precious first born...its good to be near his grave site again.
We did a little celebrating before the first day of school.
We started Pre-K.


We started Parents Day Out and slept in a big boy bed for the first time.
Our stuff finally arrived after 15 days.
I went on a date with my love to celebrate his first day of work.
I obviously didn't get enough sleep before the race but there was so much to do that sleep had to come last.

The race was a success even though it rained (I will blog more about the 5k when I get the pictures back from my photographer).

So thankful to have this man by my side through all of life.
So great to see some of my favorite NICU families at the race with their precious children (that is water from the rain not sweat on my shirt).
2 of our very favorite families stayed with us over the race weekend. So thankful the McGuigans and Robinsons they made the trip!
My naked chef helped me cook dinner.

There is a lot more to blog about but I'm tired and have tons more to catch up on.  Be back soon!

Road trip recap

We made it to Memphis last Monday but unfortunately are stuff didn't make it.  The truck from Boston is taking 16 days.  What?!?  Definitely ridiculous but what can you do.  We thankfully had a Pod in Memphis that we left for 14 months that had a few things but right now we are pretty much living in an empty house.  There were some cross words shared with our friends over at United Moving Company. Not sure if they picked the right woman to mess with...20 weeks pregnant, a 2 and 3 year old, and 2 weeks away from the biggest event she puts on...this woman needs her stuff!!!  We are praying it makes it by Wednesday.

I took pictures along the way on our road trip for memories.  The road trip really was wonderful.  The boys did awesome and we were really proud of them.  The longest drive was a little over 7 hours.  Every other day we tried to keep it closer to 5 or less.  We watched lots of movies, colored, played with toys, and made numerous stops.  It was so great to catch up with old friends along the way as well.  Definitely something we will look back upon and smile!

Road trip day 1: packing up the house, loading the car, saying goodbye to our Boston apartment, and driving as far as we could make it.


Road trip day 2: waking up in a hotel in Danbury, CT, watching movies in the car, stopping for lunch, ending the day in Washington, DC meeting David's high school best friend's new baby boy, Whit.


Road trip day 3: touring DC, seeing the White House, Washington monument and Lincoln Monument, enjoying the Air and Space Museum, seeing an old college friend who works in the Senate, and taking hard naps.

Road trip day 4: longest drive of the trip (7 hours) and staying with great friends in Huntersville, NC.

Road Trip Day 5: drove from Charlotte to Knoxville, spent the night with wonderful friends and enjoyed catching up and seeing their home and children.

Road trip day 6: driving from Knoxville to Nashville, seeing our sister and brother in laws new home, and playing with cousins. 

Road trip day 7: making it to Memphis and seeing our new home!