B in real life!

Alright blogosphere if you don't read or know about B in Real Life you must go there, read everything, laugh til you cry, and enter her current giveaway. B is a close friend to the end and her blog is really just like her: honest, funny, and uplifting. She is a brave woman who has babies 4 months apart (amazing adoption/fertility story). I love that her voice is coming out via writing about her world. Oh and she'll never mention it on her blog but she has an AMAZING singing voice, writes songs that will touch your heart, and is famous among certain folks:) Please post songs you are writing, B! Love ya!

It's Official

It is true, our house is on the market. We are selling our sweet house that my husband bought before we were married, the place our family began. I love this house. Brent has put some much into it and I am SO sad to leave it behind. We are headed to another job, one that we are excited about. Praying that the house sells in 3 months or less, so we can buy another home and get settled into a new community. Honestly, the changes are hard for me. I adapt well to change, but dread it. I have lots of worries and really don't know how to move with a 1 year old. LOTS to give to the Lord, I find myself frustrated WAY too often. I want to be filled with gratitude and hope. In the mean time I am trying to enjoy things I love about this great town (mostly all the people I love here). It is truly one of a kind. Here is a link to pictures of our home, I love it and hope someone else will too:). If you happen to know of anyone that is looking for a 3 bed 1 bath home with a huge backyard send them in my direction.

Cousins

I loved having all of Chloe's cousins (minus one) in one place. It was chaotic and fun. I can't wait for these kids to grow up together. Some of them are a generation apart, but I hope and pray that they can still be friends and have fun together throughout the years. Aren't they all cute/beautiful? Love 'em, with sugar on top.The VB crew

The W's minus one-best pic of the 3 of them:(

Oldest and youngest on my side of the family, 12 years apart. W was a trooper to be at a 1 year old party all day and travel. She was so sweet... probably texted all day:)

First year of life in pictures

I decided after following another blogger, Making it Lovely, to document Chloe's first year through pictures and having a constant item/place she sat each time. I actually did it and for the first Birthday party I had a print out of all the pictures made, hard to believe she's grown up so much.

Chloe's First Birthday Party!

Though Chloe's Birthday wasn't until Monday we celebrated Saturday in a BIG way. Family and friends joined us braving severe weather with flying trash cans and all. It was a full day of trying to get everything ready for an 11 am party, and the Birthday girl wasn't especially happy until people started to arrive. I have had a vision in my mind of the party table for many months and it came to be for the most part. Her party theme was Bubbles and Balloons and we had both. The invitations were designed by my amazing artist/web-designers/executive brother-in-law Steve. He took a picture of her and created an illustration of her which was on the invite as well as the smash cake. We provided a light lunch (though ended up being pretty hardy), and cake. I REALLY love what I did for party favors. Each child left with a balloon and on the end was tied a small container of bubbles. I drilled holes in some foam (covered in fabric) and stuck each bubble container in the hole. Turned out super cute. Love how the table came together! Chloe had a great time and we did too. She was cautious about her smash cake at first, but soon enough that is exactly what it became. She obliterated the thing. Icing was flying everywhere and she loved entertaining the crowd. She didn't really like the taste at all, just enjoyed playing. We just put her in the bath tub and hosed her off after. She was such a sweetie and was so excited (overstimulated) that she couldn't even take an afternoon nap. Whew! We were all tired, but so blessed to celebrate with everyone this first year of life for our Chloe Lynne. She is such a joy to have! Her smile and friendly nature just make a room light up when she enters it. I hope that remains true throughout the years.

Happenings

Well there is A LOT happening in our world lately. The most noteworthy is that we are preparing to sell our house so we can move to Nebraska to start a job at a church there. We are excited, we are scared, we are overwhelmed by all there is to do. We hope to have it on the market by the 21st, right after Chloe's 1st birthday bash and father's day. It is nuts. I am in detail overload mentally. I am getting excited about the move, the possibilities of how God might use us, being closer to family and all there is to do in a bigger community. Lots of sadness in leaving this sweet place, it is a very unique close-knit community. I will miss that, but mostly my heart friends here. It's to early for me to go there emotionally, so I am focusing on colors of balloons and selling things on craigslist instead. In this midst of all of this transition there have been some great moments in the last few weeks: A life-long friend came for a visit and our girls played together, I turned 34 and got to go on a date with my husband and our life group got me Starbucks ice cream, and today we took Chloe to the splash park. Our girl is fearless...just goes for it. I love it and it scares me. I am headed to Wichita for a few days to Brent can get some things done. Pray, pray, pray for me. This will be my first road trip alone with Chloe and she has thrown the biggest tantrums in the car. I will need patience and the ability to focus on the road more than her. I can't wait to see my dearest friends though.

Chloe and Sunshine"Should I try it?"
"I'm going in"

Okay this series of pictures crack me up! Brent is being so protective, it looks like he is going into battle or something. What a great Dad he is!