Samuel's First Hair Cut

We took Samuel for his first haircut last weekend! I had been putting it off for a long time because I remember how sad I was after Nathan's first haircut because he looked SO big afterward. I wasn't ready for Samuel to look any bigger than he already does, but his hair was looking pretty ragged and hanging over his ears, so I gave in. My mom heard about this fun kid's place to take Nathan to, since he still has a hard time with haircuts, and I thought it would be perfect for Samuel's first.


Here are a few before pictures. Pay close attention to how he looks like a baby :)

He did really good. A few whimpers and some unsure looks, but nothing a sucker couldn't cure. That child would not let go of it. He has his Mommy's sweet tooth

Oh gracious, he came out of that airplane a toddler, but a beautiful, sweet one at that.

And we couldn't forget Big Brother. He has done so much better with haircuts lately. He loved the police car and all the fun toys he played with while he was waiting for his turn. He asked to go back the next day.

Precious baby boy, looking all grown up!

Moving

It's been a really long time since I blogged. Usually, January is a slow blogging month for me, because it's a pretty boring month for us, no celebrations, no fun activities because the weather is cold, just a little boring and sometimes dreary. This January, that is not the case. The lack of blogging has been due to the fact that life is crazy right now! Painting, moving, cleaning, unpacking, organizing, wiring, address changing,  all the while caring for two little boys who have needed extra loving and attention because of the major life changes their brains can't quite process fully. Oh yeah, and then throw in the growing a baby and first trimester exhaustion, and I'm a little surprised we're all still alive around here :). This move has about done Matt and I in. Our last move was so smooth and easy. We didn't buy a single gallon of paint, we had a lot less stuff to unpack, and a smaller space to organize and clean, and no boys asking to be held and played with. I know we both expected this to be harder, but not quite this hard. We are thankful for this new home and have to constantly remind ourselves that the tasks on our ever growing to do lists do not have to be completed immediately. Our walls can be bare for a few months, and our garage can be cluttered. Life's not going to end.

We've made a lot of progress and things are starting to come together. I am loving having more space and especially a play room that helps to keep some of the  toys contained. Most of our boxes are unpacked and our closets are not overflowing. It's a great feeling!

Through this move, I've been reminded of so many of our blessings. We are thankful to the Lord for his provision to our family in allowing us to buy this beautiful home, and I was blown away by the physical help we received from so many friends and family throughout our move. We had so much help with painting and helping us move. The Body of Christ is an amazing thing and made the process so much easier. And my parents, they were invaluable to us. They watched the boys the entire weekend we moved, and were over at our house every night cleaning or painting or babysitting for two weeks straight after we closed. I tell Matt all the time that when our kids are grown, I hope we can bless them they way my parents constantly bless us with help.

One thing I loved about our move was we were able to do it gradually, which helped tremendously. We did have one big move day with a Uhaul and about 15 friends and family members, but before that we moved a few things at time. It made everything go so much faster. I would throw a few things in a box (especially for the kitchen), not worry about packing it well, drive it over and immediately unpack it. So by the time we moved, we had very few boxes left to be moved, and our kitchen was almost entirely unpacked and organized. We had everything moved over and unloaded out of the Uhaul in about four hours on our big moving day. It was awesome.

Nathan was so cute during the move. I don't know what his parents were thinking giving him some authority over what color he wanted his room to be painted, but he was adamant on an orange room. We settled on a light creamy peach color that everyone was satisfied with. His little brain had a hard time comprehending moving especially that we wouldn't live in two houses. He wanted some things to stay at our old house and some to be at our new house. Moving is rough on a two year old. I worked hard on that Saturday evening to unpack and organize his room so everything would be ready for him when he saw it for the first time. I knew that would help him. He was so excited when he saw it! He ran around screaming and pointing out everything that was his. "That's my bed!" That's my dresser!" "That's my book shelf!" "That's my dump truck!" That's my cash register!" It was such a fun memory watching his excitement.

Samuel is obsessed with the stairs. He can climb them like a pro, and I think he has a sixth sense to notice when we haven't closed the stair gate. He heads straight for them. Matt says they are his favorite toy. They are not as fun for Mommy in the middle of the night, but we are getting used to it.

We are certainly settling in and getting things figured out, and this home is starting to feel like our home. I'm looking forward to all the memories these walls will contain throughout the coming years.

A Sweet Surprise

Matt and I have had a few weeks to adjust to the news that we are adding another precious one to our family in a few months. We are super excited now, but we've had a few shocking moments along the way. I don't want to forget my crazy emotions surrounding the news.

I should say that this baby came as a surprise to us, and for a very planned out, organized person, it's taken a bit of getting used to. We've always wanted a third baby, but we also planned to wait at least another year before even really thinking about a third baby. I felt like I was still getting a handle on having two kiddos, and I wanted Nathan to be close to starting school, so I'd have more time to devote to two little ones at home during the day. However, God had other plans, and we praise Him for this special gift of a new life.

It's so funny to me why I even took a test. I think it was God's way of protecting this little life by letting me know early, so I could care for him or her. I didn't really have a hunch or anything that I was pregnant. Nursing Samuel took away any obvious signs of pregnancy. I had an extra test in our bathroom, and on a whim I decided to take it on a Monday morning. I still can't really figure out why I took it. I had had a weird headache the day before that reminded me a bit of pregnancy headaches, and I guess it got me wondering, and I knew there was a chance I could be, but I remember opening the pregnancy test and telling myself how crazy I was for taking it and that I was just wasting money on a test I was sure would be negative, but I took it anyway. And well, it was far from negative! I'll admit my first reaction was complete shock and disbelief. I even hopped on Google to search for false positive pregnancy tests. I had gone crazy, I know. I just could not believe it. My emotions were a wreck that day, and Matt was at work, so I was dealing with them all by myself. I wonder what Nathan was thinking of his crazy Mommy that day!  I went from freaking out and stressed to elated and thankful and back and forth, back and forth all day. I had irrational fears about my boys not getting any undivided attention once this baby arrives, especially Samuel who will still be a baby. I worried about finances, another 529 to set up, never ending diapers, probably a new car. It would be impossible to go anywhere by myself with three Little Ones, just getting them out of the car would take all day. Every worry jumped in my head, but they were counteracted with moments of joy: the thrill of holding a newborn again, Nathan's reaction to a sibling now that he is older and has a better understanding feeling baby kicks, decorating a nursery, pure thankfulness that the Lord opened my womb when so many couples struggle with infertility. It was a wild day.

When Matt came home from work, Nathan handed him a gift sack with the test inside. His reaction was perfect. A giant grin, followed by, "Really! Well you said you wanted them close together." And then, "Good thing we already bought a new house." I love him. He had his share of freak out moments, but he is so very good at calming my irrational worries. When I told him about my worry that the boys won't get enough attention and will have to make sacrifices because of the new baby, he was quick to remind me that this baby will be a blessing to them too. That put me in my place, and calmed so many of my fears. We also took a trip to Target that night to buy another test. I hadn't totally recovered from going crazy yet :).

Now that we've had a few weeks to adjust to the change in our family, I can't help but laugh at how crazy I went the day we found out we were expecting. I still have freak out moments, but they are rare, and have almost totally been replaced by excitement and elation at adding another child to our family. I know there will be adjustments, but I also know that all of us will adjust. It's just how it goes. It happened that way when we added Nathan to our family and again when we added Samuel. Why would this baby be any different?

And I am so thankful to the Lord for this child. This was not a surprise to Him. He is knitting this fearfully and wonderfully made child in my womb, and this is His plan for our family. I realize that He is the giver of life, period, and that we really have nothing to do with it, but there's something extra special about this baby that was not in our plans. I can't describe it accurately, but it just feels like a greater gift in some way, because he/she is coming in His time alone. I know many couples who struggle with infertility and try for years and years to have a baby. I will NEVER take for granted the gift of this pregnancy (or my other pregnancies). Children are a gift from Him, and we await the birth of this child with humble and grateful hearts.

A Good and Perfect Gift

 From His abundance, we have all received

One gracious blessing

 After another

 

Our family is praising God for this good and perfect gift!

10 Months Old

Samuel Jacob,

You are 10 months old! Double digits! You are growing so fast right before our eyes and continue to be such a little delight. You are a joy!

You have six teeth now! You got two right in a row on 12/20 and 12/21 and then another top tooth on 1/8. You seem happier now that they are in, and I'm hoping for a little break before the next round of teething.

You and your brother! He can be a bully to you a lot of the time, and you just take it in stride. One day you'll be big enough to stand up to him. For now, you deal with him taking your toys and pushing you aside when he wants you out of the way. We're working with him, but thankfully, you're a tough kid. He sure loves you though, always wanting to know where you are, telling us he misses you, and asking to "play" with you.

You are fully in crawling mode now, no more army crawling. You just made a sudden change one day, and we haven't seen any belly crawling since. You are increasing your speed too. You can get into anything you want.

You have been pulling up on everything for the last couple of months and have started walking behind things. My goodness, you look so big when you do it! We don't have a lot of furniture since we put our house on the market. I think if we still had our coffee table in the living room, you'd be walking around everything.

You have a particular fondness of Papa Joe. You always want him and will refuse to go to anyone else (even me!) when he is holding you. We've started to see the beginnings of separation anxiety in the church nursery. I'm not looking forward to that stage.

You are over baby food. You slap the spoon away when we feed you almost anything. You want to do it yourself, you little independent guy. You're going to drive your Momma crazy at meal times. You eat finger foods like a champ, and we are slowly introducing more and more table food as you get older. I try and get you to eat oatmeal or rice cereal and yogurt for breakfast, a veggie and fruit for lunch, and cereal and meat for dinner, but you have been solely interested in finger food and bottles the last few days. I hope it's a stage. You need more than cheerios, yogurt melts, crackers. bananas, and green beans in your diet.

You love balls and Rhapsy. I caught this on video last week.




You say ball anytime you see Rhapsody. It's adorable. And you have a good arm! Ball is really your first word after Mama and Dada. Sometimes we think you're saying ball and sometimes bye bye. It depends on the context. You are waving bye bye too. It's so sweet, and you're clapping on command.

Cognitively, I've seen some big developments this month. You have a better understanding of cause and effect. I see it in the way you play with your toys especially your gum ball machine and piggy bank. You have them figured out! It's amazing to watch you learn.

You are wearing 9-12 month and 12 month clothes. Your 9 month clothes are all too snug and too short. I've been squeezing you in some until I can get your bigger clothes sorted and washed, but they really are too small. You wear a size 4 diaper.

Your sleeping is hit or miss. For most of the month, I'd say you were improving with even a handful of nights where you slept all night without me having to get up with you. But then you've had nights where you're up for an hour or so at a time, refusing to sleep. I stopped feeding you in the middle of the night. It's rare now if you get a bottle at night, but you still like to be soothed and rocked at some point in the night. I savor the good nights and pray for extra energy in the morning after a bad night. You are a consistent napper and take a morning and afternoon nap daily.


Your smile and sweet demeanor are evident to anyone who sees you. What a special blessing you are to our family.

He is in the Details

We are currently just days away from closing on our new home, hopefully our forever home. The process of selling our home and finding a new one was not without stress, but I wanted to document our process because God's hand has been in every detail, and we praise Him for His faithfulness. It may be boring for anyone but Matt and me, but I don't want to forget the details.

When we bought our first home 5.5 years ago, it was never intended to be our forever home. We planned to stay in it for several years, until we outgrew it, and then find something bigger. We have three bedrooms, and Matt and I have always wanted at least three kiddos (and ideally they can each have their own room), so we figured by the time we we started thinking about Baby #3, we'd look for something bigger and start the process. In our plans that looked like Spring 2015.

But interest rates are super low right now and no one expects them to stay so low for much longer. After receiving counsel and advice from a few people, Matt and I decided it would be a better financial decision to go ahead and sell/buy sooner to save money on interest payments. Even though we thought our current house value would increase some and we'd have more time to save for a bigger down payment if we waited another couple of years, we also believed that rising interest rates would easily offset any savings we might have had by waiting, so we made the decision to put our house on the market.

We planned to try and sell our house without using a realtor to save over $4,500 in commission. Matt heard of a realtor from a coworker who would list our house on the MLS for a small flat fee, so we could still have the advertising of a full listing without paying thousands of dollars. That was such a great decision. Our realtor has been so helpful, and while we did do most of the work ourselves (did our own showings, took our own photos, made our own fliers), she has been involved in every step of our contract and negotiations with our buyer's realtor. She has been a blessing for sure.

Our house was on the market for six weeks when we found a buyer. We had a few showings the first week it was for sale, and then it was dry for another month. We were a little discouraged but knew it was a slow time in the market, and also knew that we didn't really have much to lose. We didn't have to sell it by any certain date. Matt was out of town for a men's retreat when we had back to back showings scheduled, so I did the showings. The first showing that weekend led to an offer! I think the back to back showings helped because it made the buyer feel a little extra pressure to make a (good) offer quickly. We also found out that our buyer's realtor works for a man from our church who Matt sought counsel from about our selling process. He really is the one who encouraged us to go ahead and sell now because of rising interest rates. We joked that Sam told us to put our house on the market and because of it, he was making money off of the sale. Really though, it was a sign from God that He was active and involved in the sale of our home. We were very pleased with the offer. In fact it was higher than the price Matt even planned to list our house at, but thanks to the advice of our realtor, we listed it a few thousand dollars higher. And the buyers are the sweetest family. I know it shouldn't matter, but I really wanted a special family to buy our house, and this family is wonderful

The other great thing about the offer is they asked for a later closing date (due to a lease agreement). We were a little leery to wait so long to close, so we countered that we close in a timely manner, but we would pay them rent to stay in our home for another few weeks. That is one of the best decisions we made. It meant we had less pressure to find a home right away. It also meant that we could have a gradual move, without the stress of trying to close and (move) on two homes in one day or having to store all our stuff and live with my parents. Our realtor kept telling us that that never happens, and it relieved so much stress for us.

After we had a contract on our house, we were anxious to start house hunting. After all the stress and work of getting our house ready to sell, this part was supposed to be the fun part. We had a list of several important things we wanted in a new house, and we were pretty picky because this was going to be our forever home. We didn't want to make huge compromises in a house we planned to live in for 30 plus years. I did a lot of online searching, narrowed down to a few houses and we started showings. By the time we had looked at around five or six houses, we had made an offer on one (that eventually fell through) and came really close to making an offer on a different house. We were a bit frustrated but trusted that God had the perfect house prepared for us. I took one long day looking at seven or eight houses by myself with our realtor (my mom tagged along for most of the them too). I was getting really frustrated by the end of that day. We saw some great houses, but each of them seem to require a major compromise: not enough bedrooms, no dining area, not our preferred school district, tiny kitchen, too far from Matt's work... on and on. At the second to last home we looked at, I had come to terms that we would have to make some sacrifices because the "perfect" house we were looking for just didn't exist. I knew there would be some give and take, but it was hard to swallow what we'd have to give up when we were planning to live in this house forever.

Then we went to our very last showing.  We walked in and did a quick walk through to check it out, and I just knew it was "the one." It had EVERYTHING on our main list. I was shocked because it seemed so perfect after seeing nothing even close to it previously (at least that was in our price range). Even the house we made an offer on paled in comparison to this one. We brought Matt (and Barry) back that very night to see it, and Matt agreed it was the one. While technically in our price range, it was at the top end, and he was a bit leery about the price, but he agreed that we would never find anything more perfect for what we were looking for, so we made an offer. The house had been on the market for close to six months and was already vacant, so we had some leverage and put in a pretty low offer. After countering back and forth for a bit, we settled on what we thought was a really good deal and a price we were happy with. Ahh, the relief of finding it, and the excitement of dreaming about all the fun we would have in that house. We were thrilled.

A couple of weeks after we signed the contract, our lender called and told us the appraisal had come in below the purchase price. Stress snuck back in, but once again we trusted God that if this was His plan for us, it would work out. We never believed that we were overpaying for this home after all the houses I had seen in a similar price range. The problem with the appraisal seemed to lie in the comps. Since it's a slow time in the market, and our house is one of the bigger ones in the neighborhood, the appraiser couldn't find comps to bring up the value. It just seemed to be bad luck for the sellers. The next morning, our realtor called and informed us that the sellers agreed to lower the purchase price to the appraised value saving us another several thousand dollars off the purchase price. We had been a little worried that they would back out of the contract and not sell until the value increased, but instead we saved a significant amount of money. God was looking out for us.

After our initial negotiations and then lowering the price as a result of the appraisal, the house suddenly was no where near the top of our price range. That combined with a great interest rate and a down payment from the equity in our home means only a minor increase in our monthly mortgage payment. Since then, we have seen God bless us financially in other areas too including paying 1% less than the agreed amount of our buyer's closing costs because of a rule from their lender, and a tax credit/loan from the government (we bought a few months too early for the free home buyer tax credit) we expected to have to pay back in a lump sum on our 2013 taxes that we researched and discovered we won't have to repay. He continues to pour blessing upon blessing on our family. Those blessings should offset the costs of a few minor house projects and moving in expenses which should mean we can complete this entire process without dipping into much if any of our savings.

We are in awe of God's faithfulness throughout this entire process as we look forward to the blessing of this new "forever" home that will officially be ours in a few days. He deserves the glory, and we are praying that we will use this home to minister to and serve others and that it will be a blessing to many others outside our immediate family.

A Look Back on 2013

2013 was certainly a monumental year for our family full of big milestones and wonderful memories. Here are a few highlights.

January
- We painted and decorated Samuel's nursery in anticipation of his arrival.
- My mom and Erica hosted the sweetest Baby Shower for little Samuel. It was a special night celebrating him.

February
- Matt traveled to Louisiana for work and was gone over Valentine's Day.
- We celebrated my 28th birthday with a fun night with friends.
- We had a fun Big Brother day for Nathan full of all his favorite things.

March
- Our precious Samuel arrived on March 14. Best day of the whole year!!
- We celebrated Easter as a family of four and Samuel's first trip to church.

April
- Jeremy, Anna, and Amelia came for a weekend visit to meet Baby Samuel.
- Matt had to take a final trip to Louisiana for work when Samuel was just three weeks old.
- The day he left, my mom was admitted to the hospital  and spent a week there.
- My grandparents came to help me with the kids for several days while Matt was gone and my mom was sick. They were lifesavers.

May
  Our sweet Nathan turned TWO, and we had the best time celebrating with a train themed birthday party. Great Day!
- Samuel was dedicated to the Lord on Mother's Day. Our families came to celebrate with us.
- Matt and I celebrated seven years of marriage with a fun date night.
- Matt turned 30. We had several friends over and treated everyone to a steak dinner and cheesecake. It was a really fun night.

June
- The boys and I traveled to Weatherford and spent the week with Granny and Grandaddy so Nathan could attend Vacation Bible School.
- We learned the news about Baby Miller! I've claimed her as my niece!

July
- Nathan had swimming lessons for the first two weeks of July.
- We celebrated the 4th of July (day) with the Millers and my parents and then with the Nadigs (and Millers) that evening.
- Matt and I left Samuel overnight for the first time to attend Adam and Shana's wedding in Kansas.

August
- We soaked up the end of summer with trips to the pool and park.
- Nathan  and Samuel started WEE ministry on Thursdays.

September
- We took a family vacation to the Florida Gulf Coast. It was an incredible week full of so many precious memories.
- We put our house on the market.
- We spent an afternoon at the Tulsa State Fair.

October
- Matt and I ran the 5K at the Tulsa Zoo Run.
- We spent one Saturday morning at a fun pumpkin patch.
- The boys and I took a quick trip to Weatherford over Fall Break and spent a few days with Granny and Grandaddy.
- Nathan and Samuel dressed up as Sully and Mike for Halloween and we had the best time celebrating.

November
- We sold our house!
- We celebrated with Bryan and Becca at their wedding.
- We went to Branson with my parents to ride the Polar Express and have a mini vacation.
- We signed a contract on a new home.
- We hosted Thanksgiving for all our family for the last time in our house.

December
- We had our first snow day of the season. Nathan and Matt built a snowman.
- We found out we were expecting Baby Baugher #3!
- Matt and I had a fun dinner and a movie Christmas date.
- We closed on the house we sold on December 20.
- We had a wonderful Christmas with extended family as well as just the four of us on Christmas morning.
- Nathan spent the night in the hospital for a concussion.

I can't get over all the blessings that were poured upon our family in 2013. God is good!