Rollie Pollie

going back a little b/c i havent shared joris big news yet. at 13 weeks she decided she was ready to roll over and has not stopped since. the second you lay her on the floor she flips herself right over. she gets so proud. of course it helps when everyone in the house stops doing what they are doing and cheers for her. the big kids get so excited. even though she has done it a hundred times they cheer like it was her first time. once she is flipped over she spins herself in circles to see what everyone else is up to. garret calls her a tick tock clock and that is exactly what she is like.

the blur of her rolling over...
those sweet little cheeks. i cant believe how fast she is moving now. i am guessing it wont be to long until she can get right where she wants to.

addition week 3

monday= rain!.... not good for a house that has a gigantic hole in its roof. dave worked sunday trying to tarp the roof so the rain wouldnt come in.... but it did. monday morning dave and i were out in the rain re-tarping things and sweeping water off the decking. we got it to stop coming in the house. it wasnt a ton but there was rain coming down the walls from behind the crown molding in the kitchen. the good part is that the walls that got wet will be coming down anyways.

tuesday the guys worked like CRAZY!!! i have to say was i am so proud of my man. him and his guys worked from 7 am until 6pm putting up all the roof trusses, the plywood and the tar paper on the roof to get it all dried in for the storm that was going to come again that night. dave had planned on renting a crane to lift the trusses on wednesday morning but the weather was calling for strong winds and he didnt want to go another day with just the tarps. so they worked HARD and LONG and everything by hand, without the crane. my heros!

hard to tell but the trusses are on and the playwood

inside view of the second story-
this is a picture of jori and i in HER new room. she is still sleeping in the cradle in our room. she is about busting out of it.

wednesday they worked on getting the metal roofing up on the roof

thursday they framed the interior walls upstairs

friday they cut new windows in the already framed downstairs walls b/c i had changed my mind... oops.

they are moving so fast. dave says he is on track to have the entire thing done in three more weeks.

family friends

when we first moved here to greeneville, it was a pretty lonely time for me. we had moved from anything and everything i had ever known. we moved away from my family and friends. i am thankful we moved close to daves family but i had such a longing for new friends. it took us years really but we finally got involved in a sunday school class where we have met some really amazing families. couples with kids our kids ages. there are two families in particular that the Lord has placed in our lives and i love them so dearly. i remember growing up with friends that were the children of my parents friends and how it almost became a family. we did holidays and birthdays together and seemed to always be together. i prayed that we would find friends like this as well and i know we have. the friendships have started as i have gotten to know carrie and marcie through things like play groups, mops and sunday school. now our entire families are friends and our kids as well. i am so thankful for these wonderful christian friendships we have formed.

Brett and Carrie Koppin and their two beautiful daughters Mary Elizabeth (5) and Ada(1)
Chad and Marcie Baughman and their three wonderful kids Noah (4) Kendal (22mo) and Ella (6mo)

to see more of their family photos click here

Brenna's Third Birthday

sweet little brenna is now THREE! cant believe this. actually it has felt like she has been three for awhile now. she is just so independent and grown up it was hard for me to think of her as a two year old for awhile now. she decided she wanted to have a zebra party and that she wanted it to be a pink zebra party, so that is what we tried to do. we just had a few friends and family here and enjoyed a wonderful fall day in the backyard.
and yes, we even painted pink stripes on lily to make her look like a pink zebra! crazy i know. lily was SO good and just stood there the whole time i did it. i used washable paint and it all came right off. the camp was given this little miniature horse named reno and brenna just loves him. she takes him for walks. aunt debbie helped us out by trailering the horses out to the house and back.
i made a pink zebra fondant cake. the first one in awhile. i think it might be my last one for awhile too. just to much work with all the other little things and little people going on right now.
she opened her gifts and loved each one. after the party, we watched her new sweet pea beauty movie and had pizza for dinner. i love this picture of her holding on to one of her new gifts as she watched her new movie.
then on her actual birthday we had a little celebration lunch her at home. she was one proud little three year old. her big thing she wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. she totally came up with this on her own. so on friday we went and she picked them out and got them pierced. more to come on that soon.

we LOVE you so much brenna. you are always making us laugh. you give the best hugs around the neck and you are just so precious to us. we love watching you grow up into the young lady you are becoming.

addition week 2

a lot has happened in a week.... monday they poured concrete. can you tell the sun isnt even really up yet, the cement truck still has all its lights on! my husband is crazy. he is good but he is crazy :)

tuesday they started framing...
they got the first floor entirely framed, second floor trusses up and stairs built

this is the second story floor plan

wednesday they decked the trusses and built two second story walls

this photo is of the deck that will be outside our new master bedroom.
this photo is of the new downstairs addition, this will become the new family room. the wall that is blue will be coming out and will be looking right into the kitchen.
and this is where they had to cut into the existing roof ... dave worked on sunday trying to dry it in b/c we had a lot of rain coming today. we did have some leaks but nothing to damaging.
so here's to another weeks worth of big changes.

ww- fall is here

jori 12 weeks oct 12

sweet baby is 12 weeks old already. hard to believe. i think the time goes by even faster with each child. i just love the baby stage and i feel like it is slipping right through my fingers. jori is such a pleasant and happy baby. i thank the lord for her content personality. the other kids seem so be much less content right now :)

we still have not been to the pediatrician for her exact weight and length but my guess with our own scale is about 15 lbs. she is full of beautiful rolls. i just love chubby babies.

she is holding her head up well and even has enjoyed sitting in the bumbo seat for a little while. she still doesnt love to be on her belly, none of the kids have. she is trying her hardest to roll over from her back to her tummy, it wont be long. she loves to have her hands in her mouth. she still loves her paci as well. she started sucking her thumb a little and i try to take it out right away and replace it with the paci. one thumb sucker is enough in our family :) she squeals when she is happy and is starting to talk more and more. the kids all love her so much it is hard to keep them out of her face. since they are all attending school right now, they come home with germs and i try not to be to paranoid but i am. i am really working on letting go and trusting god to protect her from the fall and winter illnesses while she is still so little. her eyes are blue like the rest of the kids, i think she looks a lot like garret but i also see some of raelyn in her too. cloth diapers are getting easier. she is still sleeping in the cradle that grandpa made for me in our room. she will get her own room when the addition is done. she is about to big for the cradle so i hope she doesnt grow to much before her room is done :) ok those are all the little random things i think of right now. we are so blessed to have little jori in our lives. we love you little girl!

i love how her top lip has that perfect little point in the middle when her lips are relaxed.

i have the hardest time capturing a smile from her. she turns it off as soon as i get the camera out. the above is one of the few i have gotten.