Looking Forward To Welcoming Our Newest Babe...

...and looking back fondly on our first two arrivals.

Sparkle

Sunny

My Grandma Always Said...

...that it takes a little pain to be beautiful.

For years we told Sparkle that she was free to get her ears pierced just as soon as she wanted... so long as she realized that it would hurt. The warnings of pain were enough to dissuade her for a long time, but about a month after we moved she decided that she could handle the pain. "I know it's going to hurt, but I'll just cry for a few seconds and it will be okay." We called around to find a store that had two people on hand to do the piercing so that both lobes would be done at the same time.

Here's her final photo without earrings...
Marking the spot. And getting a little nervous!

I've never seen anything so sad as the look in Sparkle's eyes right before the triggers were pulled. She was absolutely terrified, but sat super still just like we had talked about.

I unwrapped her lollipop as fast as I could and popped it into her mouth... it worked like a charm!Here she is getting her first look:
Unable to resist more peeks as we waited in line to pay...

In the end, she decided that the pain had definitely been worth it. Isn't she beautiful?

The Big Move

Just a few short days after Buzz graduated, we loaded up the moving truck and got set to head out across the country to our new home. We have very few photos of our last days in Utah... just too much going on to think about picking up the camera!
One of the best moments of our move: the first piece of furniture to come out of the house shattered into a hundred pieces before it was half way to the truck. You should have seen the look on the guys faces! I'm just glad it didn't break and fall on top of our kids while loaded with TV equipment. No biggie, you get what you pay for!
Sparkle and I were the last to leave the house on the way to turn over our keys. I turned to tell her to get into the car and found her like this... hugging our house goodbye. Poor girl. She really had a hard time leaving the house where her earliest memories were made. I don't know if I've ever felt more sad for her!
We spent our last night in town with our small group. We miss these guys more than words can say. Aren't they a good looking bunch?

After a LONG two days in the car, we were able to sign for our house and get our keys prior to the start of the weekend (thanks to Buzz for spending HOURS on the phone pushing things through so that we didn't have to wait until Monday!). The house was in need of some deep cleaning, check out the floor in my kitchen. I spent days on my hands and knees with several boxes of Magic Erasers after discovering that my floor wasn't the color that I had thought that it was.
The girls had a grand time playing in the new back yard with their cousins while we unpacked. It felt good to see them stretching their legs and settling in after so many days and weeks of chaos. I've never seen Sunny look so relieved as when she saw her crib mattress coming through the door. "Hey, that's MY bed!" I'm not sure she thought that she'd ever see it again.
I'm happy to report that we were completely unpacked within our first month in the house. We still need to hang photos on the walls, but we're waiting to get things painted first. We have a couple of rooms done, I'll get around to posting pictures eventually. :) The Midwest is quickly becoming home and we're grateful that our move went relatively smoothly.

Soccer!

Sparkle started Upward Soccer this morning. Her cute little team has three boys and three girls and the coach is great. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of her front half... it would seem that wrangling a very cranky Sunny and meeting the other moms was all that I could handle for today. Rest assured she had a smile plastered on her face the entire time. Stay tuned for more pictures in the coming weeks!

Graduation!

Okay, so I've been quite overwhelmed by all of the changes taking place in our lives and I've neglected my blog because of it. I'm not sure whether things have settled down or I've just decided that life isn't going to get any easier for some time and I'd better just get down to it. :)

May 22nd was the day that we've been looking forward to for many, many years now. It seems crazy to think that when we made the decision for Buzz to go back to school, Sparkle was, well... just a sparkle in her daddy's eye. It was a happy day for all of us as we celebrated Buzz' accomplishments. I am particularly proud of the amazing job Buzz has done of balancing school with family. He has been busy and has had a lot on his plate, but he never forgets that we three ladies at home are his first priority.

We were blessed to have Buzz' parents, his brother and wife, my parents, and my brother join us from out of town for the big day. Buzz' sister and her husband were also in attendance and it was a pleasure to share Buzz' big day with each and every one of them.

Later on at home, we were joined by our small group friends for a back yard BBQ. Not only did they help us to celebrate Buzz' graduation, but they also put together a birthday party (complete with cupcakes, elmo decorations, and gifts!) for Sunny, who would turn two a few days later. Thanks again girls, you guys are lifesavers!

*By the way, if you wait to buy a graduation cake until an hour before the party, there is no guarantee that the store will have a gender appropriate cake ready for you to pick up and walk out the door with. Oh well, the girls really liked all of the pink flowers!

This post really is too short to give justice to all of the emotion of the day... I love you Buzz, and words cannot describe how proud of you I am or how thankful I am that I get to share my life with you!

Kindergarten

Our little lady is growing up! Such a sad feeling to watch her go, and yet so exciting at the same time...

We picked out her new outfit weeks in advance. She wants to be sure that you notice her shoes.

Daddy had the day off and made her a special breakfast. Yes, scrambled eggs and toast are special around here... at breakfast time anyway. Did I mention that school starts way too early in the day for my taste?

It was pouring rain outside, so we took Sparkle right to the school instead of to the bus stop (yes, we're putting our 5 year old on the bus this year... yikes!). She was happy to go and walked right in. I had to steal my kiss when she wasn't looking.

After we dropped her off we met some new friends from Buzz' residency program at the zoo. First stop, the carousel!

Sunny was just as excited about showing off the dandilion that she found as she was about seeing the animals.

This monkey was just as impressed... they sat and looked at each other and the flower for over five minutes!

In an effort to make the experience authentic, our local zoo sells Fosters in the area of the zoo called "Australia"... not mine, I swear. :) What is mine, however, is the ever expanding belly just below the can. I'm 34 weeks today... getting close!

We left just in time to come home and meet Sparkle's bus. It was so good to see her, and to see that she was still smiling at the end of what she called "a very long day."

Well, it's off to bed for me. I've got a bus to meet in the morning, you know.

(I've got a huge backlog of stuff to post. Beware, it's coming!)

Quickie...

No internet at home for just about three weeks now.  Beyond frustrating!  I have so much to tell about Buzz' graduation, our move, our new house, my pregnancy, the fence that we're having to tear down and rebuild with the last of our spare time...  Any chance that I do have to jump online has to go to checking email and paying bills.

Buzz started orientation Wednesday, on our ninth wedding anniversary.  We were having fun setting up house up until then.  Now I'm having to readjust to having him gone all day... it's been months since he had anything to do other than help out around the house and spend time with us ladies.

I felt a twinge of sadness the other day when I was handed my very own Missouri drivers license.  We love it here and we feel like we absolutely are in the place that God wants us to be, but it's starting to sink in that I'm far from home.

Hoping and praying that it doesn't take three years this time around to feel settled.  We have GOT to stop moving every few years!