Disheartening, but Necesary

It wasn't our time. We really thought it was. But, we had to let it go.
Our house.
Oh, sad times. We had to make the decision to let our house go. The one we had been planning to buy. Our condo wasn't selling, so we made the decision to put it up for rent because we didn't want to lose that house. The owner had been holding on to it for us and we had all our plans worked out. We had a ton of interest in the condo, both for sale and rent, and we had a a couple come real close to getting it, but it never worked out. Time was running short and we started weighing the choices. A lot of work (and money!!) was to go into that house, and we knew that and we were excited to get to work and make it ours. We mentally prepared ourselves. But, we knew that we really only had until June to get a buyer/renter because the owner didn't want to hold onto it anymore, and we understood that. Around the middle of May we let the owner know (who is a friend of ours) that we still love the house and want it, but we just don't see our condo going. By this time, we had slowed down the traffic of people wanting to see our house because it was getting to hard to deal with (I mean, we had multiple people seeing it in one day). Sadly, we gave the go ahead to let him do what he wanted with the house, which, of course, was put it on the market. It sold in 2 days. Goodbye!!
Now that I think about it, I know it would have been so much to deal with! (Not saying I still wouldn't do it, cause that house is worth it.) It would have been a lot of money, and the shape that that house was in, there's a good chance we would have found an underlying issue that we didn't have the funds for. We would have also had to find somewhere to stay until it was good enough (for my standards) to live in. Another huge reason is that our babysitter for when I am in school lives in our current neighborhood. I am going to student teach in the Fall and I need her. She doesn't drive and so I would have had to find a new sitter. We love her and her rates are great. Thinking about all of this, maybe God knew this wasn't such a great idea.
So, sticking it out here in our condo is what we will be doing for the next 6 months or so.
We withdrew our house listing from the market and are turning down all callers. We had a pretty inefficient real estate agent and I know this condo would have sold with someone else. I was getting more interest posting it on Craigs List after a few dead months of no viewers. So, when we re-list it, a new one we will have. We will re-list it in October probably, but if someone wanted to buy it, we wouldn't turn them down!
We will look forward to when it is our time to find that house!

Photo Story Friday

With such a great past week, my first Photo Story Friday is going to be picture heavy :)

This is a picture of Braxton in action on his slip-n-slide. He refuses to go face first so this is as good as it gets.

This picture illustrates the story behind taking pictures of my boys. They rarely look at the camera at the same time. I took another but Maddox was looking away in that one.

I took this picture moments later. We were getting ready to take my mom back to the airport. That Mammy loves those boys!

I took this one yesterday evening. Maddox was cracking us up because he just kept pointing to the water and screaming with a big smile on his face.

We're loving summer!



Hosted by Cecily and ???

Birthday and more Birthday

Saturday, we had Braxton's 4th birthday party at our neighborhood clubhouse. It was a great place to have a party. We had snacks and had Toy Story playing on the TV.

We had about 15 kids there. We all went outside and swung at the pinata.




and I mean all of us.... this was after ALL the kiddos had a try.

Finally, I got the job done.

We went inside to have cake and cupcakes. Braxton blew the candles out before we were done singing. I think he hoped that would hurry us up. He didn't like being the focus.

Then, we got to the good part. PRESENTS! He racked up! He did like this attention!

After he opened his presents, we had a few more surprises for him outside.

The Power Wheels was a hit.

It was a great party!

Yesterday was his actual birthday, though all week he has been rackin' up. Monday, he got to go to Chuck E. Cheese and Tuesday Mammy got him the Toy Story Mania Wii game and a fancy Toy Story bathing suit.

Wednesday we celebrated all day. He picked CiCi's pizza for lunch, aunt JoJo took him to ToysRUs to pick out a toy, and then we went bowling that night.

I made "dirt cake" cups since we had plenty of cake at the party and we sang to him again and had those when we got home.

With all this fun having , I hadn't thought much about it, but goodness, I have a 4 year old!!

Happy Birthday precious boy! You light my life and I love you so much!!!!

My Boo

As I did for Maddox, I am going to take a stroll down memory lane and also let you get to know Braxton a little better. His 4th birthday is coming up!
Braxton Matthew weighed in at 9lbs 2oz and was 21 3/4 in long. He was such a pleasant baby. He rarely cried, hardly fussed, just along for the ride. He was the perfect baby for his daddy and I. We were SO blessed.

Here he is a few days after he learned to walk (11 months).

He was the funnest, cutest, and all around best 1 year old ever. That was the funnest year. Still, at 2, he was great. The "terrible twos" were rare in our house. We started potty training in August and he was completely trained (day and night) by November. He learned quickly and behaved properly. I was SO blessed.
He got a baby brother a month before he turned 3. From day one, he has been accepting, loving, and has never had a jealousy issue. I am SO lucky, SO blessed.

This past year has been the hardest. The attitude, and the "testing," and not listening, and the whining has really shown up in our home. It is not fun to deal with. But, once again, I am lucky. He behaves at school and church beautifully and he really isn't as bad as I have seen.

Here he is throughout the years.
1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

And now he is turning 4. WOW. That's one year from a kindergartner. He amazes us everyday. He is so smart....and FUNNY! This kid loves to make us laugh! He is active and loves to play any sport. He is great at Tball!

He loves his family and his best friend is his brother.I am so glad to have a big brother like that for Maddox to look up to.

He loves God and tells me all the time that Jesus is in his heart. His sweet little heart. He has the sweetest smile and the cutest laugh.

See?

We are looking forward to his Toy Story 4th birthday party next Saturday and his actual birthday next Wednesday.
Thank you, God, for sending us a most precious gift. WE ARE BLESSED.

A great week!

My week has been super! It started on Sunday, with Mother's Day. As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom that morning, Braxton said, "Happy Mother's Day!!" and led me to flowers, a card, and a gift on the table. My card was THE CUTEST, and no doubt, Braxton's pick. It was a Toy Story Mother's Day card that sand You Got a Friend in Me. Even though I told Matt that I didn't need a gift on Mother's Day because I had said my purse was my Mother's Day present, he still got me a little something. My gift was precious and I just love it! It is the Brothers Willow Tree figurine. I have 3 other Willow Tree figurines and I love getting more. This was just a perfect Mother's Day gift and I plan on putting it among some of their pictures together. After church (and an awesome sermon), I came home to a sweet surprise. My birthday was on Tuesday (May 11th), but Matt put a little lunch together for Sunday. I walked in, smelled some yummy food, and saw a balloon bouquet, a cake and a table full of presents! My dad had stayed home and got the food together and everything set up. Matt's brother and niece were there, as well. One minute after walking in the house, I turn around and my friend Sarah is knocking in the door! So she, and her husband, and her son Garyn, had lunch with us. It was a nice surprise and a very yummy lunch, and I got some great gifts! Monday, the boys and I did some shopping at Target with some gift cards and birthday money. I truly love spending money on my boys more than I do myself. Moms understand. Tuesday was my birthday! It was super! I felt the love on facebook with all the birthday wishes. When Braxton got home from school, we made an Oreo Cream Cheese Cake. Even though we had a cake on Sunday, Braxton insists that it is not a birthday without a cake. I agree. SO, we did something a little different. Then that night, my dad came over to watch the boys. Matt and I went to eat at Texas Roadhouse (which I haven't been to in so long, but it is one of my favorites). After we ate a superb meal, we went and to the movies. It was so great having a date night. Yesterday, I got the house clean...which always feels good. The boys and I went to the park and even though it was scorching HOT, they had a good time. Today is just a chill day. I am going to make some twice baked potatoes tonight with dinner. Excited about seeing how they turn out. Tomorrow evening we have a birthday party to go to at Chester Frost. It is a little boy's birthday from Braxton's class. It should be fun. We need to go pick out a gift! Also, this week, My Maddox Man has become quite the pro at walking! Last week sometime he finally built the courage to just GO! We knew he could walk but only TO someone. He started going farther and farther, and now he walks everywhere and gets better every day! Here is a little video I caught a few nights ago.


Braxton's 4th birthday is in 2 short weeks. I can't believe it! We will be having his party on the 22nd. Toy Story! Go figure!
My mom will be here next Friday and will stay for a week. So happy about that!

First haircut and T-ball practice

Maddox got his first haircut the other day! I called the hair in the back "fluff." You can't really see it here. I had to constantly smooth it down or it would just stick up. I LOVE the longer hair on the top of his head so I just wanted her to trim that but buzz the sides short! Here is after:

and this is precious...






I also wanted to share some pictures of Braxton at T-ball practice. I should say "baseball practice" because he doesn't even use the "T" anymore. I'm so proud of him!