Catching Up!

Since my last post, there has been a ton of things going on in our lives, so it's going to take me a few posts to get it all in.  We spent almost the entire month of June in Alabama with my parents, mostly just hanging out and being lazy for the summer.  We got the kids going with the library's reading program and they devoured lots of books;  we even went on a bear hunt or two! ;-)  I was able to get a few books crossed off my reading list as well during my break from school. 

One of the few books I read

We took a few days to explore the area and visit a couple of museums and local tourist attractions.  The kids loved standing next to the waterfall at the dam because it covered us in a cool mist on a blazing hot summer day.

The overlook at Wilson Dam

One of the waterfalls by the dam

 

The bigger waterfall that gave us a good misting

The water temp was still pretty cool for June

The kids had to squint because of all the mist! It sure felt good though!

 

We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying the company.  The kids sure loved hanging out with Mimi and Poppie.

 

Especially when Poppie gave them tractor rides!

 

Taking a nap with Mimi 

A lazy afternoon of Farkle and cheese puffs

Teaching Tay how to play War (that's Daddy's war face, lol)

The kids spent a week at VBS and had a blast!  They're still singing the songs they learned!

 

When Marcus and I were still dating, one of the first restaurants we went to in Alabama was Casa Mexicana.  We have a framed picture of the two of us at the table.  This trip, Casa was one of our last restaurants to go to, so we thought it was only fitting to get a new picture showing the difference of 10 years.  We've both aged a little bit and we've certainly added to our family a lot! It makes me wonder where we'll be in another 10 years...

 





29 Weeks and Our Last Full Week!

(I originally wrote this before we left South Carolina, but in the midst of the chaos, I forgot to publish! So it's better late than never, I suppose!) 

 

29 Weeks today!  Miss Paisley is growing like crazy and getting heavier by the day!  I've noticed a definite difference when I walk around and especially when I (attempt to!) bend over.  My belly is getting in the way more, which makes it harder to do things around the house.  It's a good thing we've taught the big kids how to do most of the chores around here-I'm definitely having to delegate more lately!

Tonight is our last Bible study before we move.  I am really going to miss this group of friends!  We are starting to get to those "lasts" that are making the move real for us!  Tomorrow night is our last Wednesday night service and Thursday will probably be our last trip to the beach.  Our last week here is going to be super busy, which will make time go by much faster, I'm sure. 

I am not looking forward to when it actually hits me that we are leaving for good.  We really feel like we have found a home here in Beaufort, if only it were closer to family!  There is something to be said for having very good friends, but the desire to raise our kids near their cousins and aunts and uncles is tangible.  It is such a hard thing to have to choose between many good options, but in the end, we feel like this is what is best for them.  So next week, we'll load everything up and say goodbye, possibly for this lifetime.  I'm trying not to get too emotional yet but I know it is going to hit me sooner or later.  Maybe I can blame it on the pregnancy hormones??  ;)

Sweet Home Alabama! (At least temporarily)

Last week, we finished packing everything that we own into a U-Haul truck and got on the road.  We left South Carolina, our home for the past five years, to be temporarily homeless until we make our final move in July all the way across the country to Idaho. 

In the meantime, we are visiting my parents in Alabama and enjoying our summer break and our last few weeks of not having a mile-long "To Do" list.  Once we leave here, we will be:  driving cross country, moving into a new home, unpacking and getting settled, birthing and bringing home a new baby, beginning school again for the kids and graduate school for me, and job hunting for Marcus.  I'd say that it's going to be a busy fall!!

So for these last few weeks of peace, we are going to get some summer reading in, spend some time at the pool, catch some fish on the river, and just enjoy hanging out with family.  It's going to be over before we know it.

It is finished!

My degree, that is!  Sunday ended my last three classes that I needed for my Bachelor's degree.  It feels so good not to have to worry about homework and fitting that into my already busy schedule, especially with the move and new baby coming soon.  So now all I'm waiting on are my grades to post and graduation!  Conferral will not be until August 15, but with Miss Paisley due August 18, somehow I doubt we will make it back to Nashville for graduation!

Of course, I'm not done with school because I still have a decent chunk of money left in my GI Bill, so I will most likely be starting my Master's in either July or September, working towards an MBA.  I don't want to take too much of a break or else I might get used to it and not want to go back!  I might be able to finish my graduate degree before the money runs out, but I will probably end up having to pay for my last few classes out of pocket, which is fine with me. 

 

This has been such a long road, it felt like I would never make it to this point.  I've been continually doing school through the past two pregnancies and nursing babies, when I was working full time, through moving houses here in town, while on vacation, and pretty much every other situation we've encountered over the past four years.  But it's finally here and I'm finally done and all the late nights and fun I missed out on has been worth it in the long run!

Being Two is So Hard!

Monday, Marcus took the two big kids fishing on the pier all day, so it was just me and the Mase-man home by ourselves.  He plays pretty well by himself for the most part, but when he doesn't get what he wants, look out! 

 

He asked for cereal for breakfast and wanted to be independent and get his own.  We see how well that went, haha!  At least he tried to clean it up himself.  I think three Cheerios ended up in the trash and the rest ended up getting spread around the floor until I got the big broom out and swept them up.

After breakfast, we played for a while and I had to go out and get a few things out of the shed, so I let him play outside.  He didn't want to come in and threw a fit when we went inside for lunch.  As I was getting lunch ready, he put on Mickey Mouse on the TV, which I had told him not to, so when I turned it off and brought him to the lunch table, this is what I got:

That lasted about 5 minutes, after which he calmed down and looked sleepy, so I asked him if he wanted to eat his lunch and then go lay down for a nap.  Emphatically, I got "NO!" So I let him sit there while I ate my lunch.

I look over a minute later and he's decided that his banana maybe isn't so bad after all.  He ate the whole banana and part of a sandwich, all while clinging to my arm like this.

 

It got quiet a minute later and I started hearing deep breathing, so I look over and he had fallen sound asleep on my arm, haha!  



 

 

I'm telling you, being two years old must be super exhausting!

28 Weeks! Third Trimester, Finally!

We finally hit 28 weeks yesterday! Miss Paisley and I made it to the third trimester, yay!  I had my 28 week appointment yesterday and had to sit for the fun glucose testing.  We're still waiting on the results, but I haven't had gestational diabetes with any of the other pregnancies, so I don't expect anything out of the ordinary for this one either. 

I still feel good, although sleeping is becoming more and more troublesome because I can't seem to get comfortable.  Besides my belly getting in the way, I've been having restless legs like crazy!  It makes it hard to get settled and I usually end up tossing and turning until I finally fall asleep.  Other than that, I've been having lots of heartburn in the afternoons and evenings, but I figured out that if I take a Zantac around lunchtime, it seems to prevent me from having heartburn all evening.

 

As far as the moving progress, today is T minus 2 weeks until we hit the road! It feels like we still have a ton of stuff to do, but really we won't be able to make much more progress until we get the U-Haul and can start loading it up.  Our shed has been filling up quickly!  I expect Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th to be very busy days and then Wednesday we will officially be moving! 

 

 

The timing has actually worked out really well because I have had to take some time off from all the moving stuff to focus on finals this week!  I just submitted my Governmental and Non-Profit Accounting paper today, and now I have two papers left, Federal Taxation and my capstone course, the Senior Seminar!  My Senior Seminar paper has to be a minimum of 10 pages, and I'd like to have everything done by Friday, so I see a couple of late nights in my near future.  But it will all be worth it because then I will be completely DONE!  I won't officially graduate until August 15, but all of my courses will be finished and I can spend this summer relaxing and getting ready for our move and baby's arrival!

 

Speaking of summer, the kids have been playing outside almost every day this week and today, while waiting on lunchtime, they made "stained glass windows" from the colored magnets for a fun, quick project.

 

 

And sometimes, despite our objections to the contrary, even big kids need naps.  We both sat down with books while the boys were napping and I looked over to see her sound asleep.  Nope, she wasn't tired at all... ;-)



Our Summer Bucket List

I'm so excited that summer is finally here!  We have been using this opportunity while Marcus isn't working to complete our "Beaufort bucket list" before we leave town.  We spent a full day last week at the beach and stopped on the way back and got a yummy watermelon and a cantaloupe from Barefoot Farms.  We spent Saturday morning running errands and going to the farmer's market, where we scored two bags of fresh peaches and a bag of green beans.  Nothing says summer to me like watermelon with salt or a big juicy fresh peach!

We've been to the library and played at the waterfront park downtown and Saturday, we had family pictures taken.  They turned out fantastic!  I am so excited to get a few large prints made to go up in our new house!

This one is my favorite!  I am so thankful to have met Ariel and been able to take advantage of her awesome photography skills, as well as her friendship!  It is finally beginning to hit me that we will only be here two more weeks.  I think as a former military family that you get used to being moved around and moving away from people, but this move is going to hit us the hardest because of the amazing friends, mentors, and support system that we've found here.  I am consciously blocking all of the emotions out of the equation for right now because otherwise I'd be a blubbering, hormonal mess! 

So instead of thinking about how soon we're leaving, we've been taking time to take advantage of Beaufort's natural beauty and get outside and enjoy!  We have even been getting the outside of the house spruced up and ready for closing in a few weeks.  Marcus wanted to pressure wash the driveway and it made a huge difference!  I have been clearing out weeds, mowing the grass, and edging the sidewalks.  It's been so nice outside that it has been very relaxing to get to work in the fresh air.

 

Yesterday afternoon, while the boys were napping, Marcus took Taylor to the pier to try and catch bait for their early morning fishing trip this morning.  They caught a few greenies, so Marcus threw his big pole into the water and a few minutes later, reeled in this guy:

 

His first cobia of the year! So he brought it home, fileted it and I shelved our regularly scheduled dinner plans and we had a fish fry!  It is still amazing to me that we can have fish for dinner that was just swimming around the Broad River a few hours ago!

 

 



We've still got quite a few things that we want to do before we leave, but as we wrap up our Beaufort bucket list, we're looking forward to adding quite a few fun things to add to our Alabama summer bucket list with Mimi and Poppie!