Wyatt Cohen Young was born in the wee hours last night! 12:13am to be exact, June 30, 9lbs, 7oz, and 22 1/4 inches long! Everyone is doing fine... here are a few pics...
Well, looks like our move will happen a bit sooner than we originally thought. Kevin still has to go up tomorrow (Sunday) so he can start work on Monday, but the plan was for me to be here a bit longer to wrap up things, mostly at my work. However, due to details I won't bore people with, looks like my last Sunday will be July 6 and I'll head up to NC on the 7th. So, lots to do between now and next weekend. Thankfully, packing will be to a minimum as the majority of it is in storage. I just need to organize clothes and toys for the next month, pack up my office and put anything and everything we can in storage until we move everything into our new place come the first of August. So, if I'm not on here much, I'm busy getting ready to move!! Will try to keep everyone posted....
"That was easy." Love the commercial for Staples that has the "Easy" button you push and things just fall into place just as you want them. Well, things have been just that easy this week... First, VBS was a breeze. Don't get me wrong, I'm exhausted and glad it's over, but it went very well... smooth... like a dream. Too easy... I guess after doing VBS at a church for 6 summers in a row and having to help run it with 1500-1800 people involved, 80 preschoolers and 40 workers is not that hard! We had a lot of fun, the kids and teachers had lots of fun, and I know seeds were planted in their hearts that have eternal value... so it definitely was worth it.
Second, we have been searching for an apartment/home or something to rent in the Greensboro/HP area on the Internet ever since Friday when we found out Kevin got the job. Thanks to a friend who lives in the area, we found some places to avoid in our searching. Then, we found a "too good to be true" NICE condo for rent literally 5 minutes or less from Kevin's new work place. I don't have the pictures to share right now (will work on that) but this place looked gorgeous from the pics and wasn't outrageous in price. WHAT?!?! So, K emailed the landlord, inquired more, and we got very interested. Then, the guy said that someone was going to be looking at it Thursday night (that is tonight). K emailed the guy back and asked if we were to come up there and look at it, wanted it and could give the deposit, would it be ours? He said yes. So, K left this morning, drove up to Greensboro, looked at 2 places before this one and he loved it. He also liked the landlord guy, and as we talked on the phone, we decided on it. Now, this is the FIRST time I've ever agreed to live in a place without seeing it in person first! But, I trust Kevin's judgement, plus, like I said, from the pics, it couldn't be that bad... I made sure Kevin checked out everything (even if it smelled like pets, smoke, or had any bug problems) and so, he signed the lease today! This means we have a place come August 1!! I will also say that finding a good place to live (both in my single days and in married life) has never been this easy!! Must be the direction God wants us to go in...
I just pray that finding a job for me proves to be "easier" than "harder" as we can't go long on the one salary. Phew... still lots to do, but glad at least that's settled!!
Oh, don't know if I mentioned this before, but I went to college in High Point (High Point and Greensboro are neighboring cities, along with Winston-Salem, all otherwise known as The Triad). So, I'm fairly familiar with the area.. but it has been a LONG time since I graduated college!! It will be interesting to see what I remember....
Well, we're almost there... to the end of VBS! Here's a pic of K and Stone... notice Stone's lack of hair?! His Gigi got a hold of him and we think he looks adorable. I tried to get him to sit in the little chair (to the left of K, cut out of the picture) and hold the ukulele, but to no avail. :) Oh well, I was happy to get at least this one!
Tonight started our VBS, and I'm exhausted! I was at the church literally all day (save for a short lunch trip with my hubs and Stone). However, things went smoothly and I'm thankful for that! Only 4 more nights to go! So, why am I still up? I think it's because I'm overly tired and by the time I tried to lay down, I couldn't fall asleep! I didn't sleep well last night, so on top of working all day (I don't think I sat down much at all), lack of sleep and stress, no sleep again tonight! The drugs should kick in soon though!
Other news: no baby nephew--yet.
I found a job to apply for... a Director of a weekday preschool in Greensboro, so please pray this is a good possibility. I'm ready for a "ministry" break for the time being, meaning that I wouldn't mind having my weekends back and I want to explore other areas God has given me interest in, namely administration and education/teaching. So, we shall see... God is forever shaping me and molding me and for that, I am thankful.
Stone got a "buzz" from his Gigi this week. He looks so cute! Will post pics soon...
Last Tuesday started "summer camp" for Stone and Mercy at our church. They both have loved it. It goes from Tuesday through Thursday from 9am to 1pm. So far, Mercy has made it to our place and I take both them on to the church. I drop them off and then work and then bring them both back. Works out well. Unfortunately, we won't be able to finish camp with Cousin M, as we'll most likely be moved by then. :(
I think that's it for now.. going to try and get some much needed sleep!
Our prayer has been answered... Kevin found out this afternoon that he got the job in Greensboro, NC! Looks like we'll have another move on our hands soon. They want him to start soon (June 30) which I guess is better than later, but honestly, I wasn't expecting things to go this quickly. So, thank you for all who prayed... we appreciate you!
As for feeling blah... I'm glad about the job, but now I'm "blah" about having to move again! Ha!! Never ending cycle! Oh well, can't complain. I now covet your prayers as we transition, find a new place to live, as I leave my job, and have to start life all over again. In addition, I'll still have to find some kind of employment to supplement his salary, so please pray God opens the doors for me as well. Thanks! :)
Last night and today have just been kind of blah for me... don't know why particularly, but it is what it is. Part of it is having a bad attitude about some things, to which I'll leave out specifics here, but I really have no reason to have a bad attitude, it's just there. I've been working on that, but it's still just blah.
Part of it's stress, as we have VBS starting Sunday night and I have way too much to do before then.
Part of it was missing K, even though he wasn't gone that long. His interview went well, from what he could tell, so we just wait and see. It was good to see him tonight and Stone has been beside himself with glee that his daddy is home.
And the last part is probably lack of sleep.. mostly from staying up late to get VBS projects/work finished on time. I will be glad it's over, even though it's a good thing.
So, blah, blah, blah. :(
Ha ha.. I say that tongue-in-cheek. Tonight, I took Stone to the mall and we ate dinner while we waited to meet Gini and Gigi. They wanted to walk in the mall, since it was cool, in effort to "get the baby out." So, since Kevin went on up to Greensboro tonight (his interview is tomorrow at 1pm so pray!), I thought it would be fun to get out and hang with the girls for a little bit.
Well, as soon as they arrived, Gini and I go to the restroom and Gigi takes Stone (he's in his stroller) and keeps him occupied. We walk out to find them and they are already out in the "mall zone." He had wanted out of the stroller so he could walk, so he spots me and comes running. Half way to me, he stops, and THEN, he is approached by this little Indian girl. (From India). She is with her family and friends, which literally is about 15 all together and is the only "small person" among the group. (The rest are teenagers and older.) I guess she spotted Stone and thought, "Hey, he's my size, so I'll be his friend." She takes a hold of his hand and doesn't let go! Now, this is a big scene, with all of us standing here in the middle of the mall... one cute little Indian girl holding this little White boy's hand... all of them get out their cell phones to take pictures and they "ooooh" and "ahhh" all over the place. We find out her name is "Kushi" (spelling??) and she's 2 years old.
Meanwhile, she hasn't let go of Stone's hand, and he's not really quite sure what to think of this little girl with the death grip on his hand and all these people gushing over them, smiling, and laughing. I try to comfort him, and then she kisses him on the cheek. Well, the family LOVES that, which embarrasses him (I think) and he tries to escape, to no avail. Then, she tries to pull him over to her stroller and then he really starts to get upset! I guess she wanted to take him home!! I had to comfort him some more and I told him that she just thought he was handsome! I did get him to tell her "bye-bye" and we rescued him by putting him in his own stroller.
Now, me the picture-taking queen, didn't think to get a picture, even though all her family members were doing that very thing. I guess I was more concerned with comforting him and letting him know it was okay. But, it sure was a cute moment! What a heart throb!! Ha!
It's so sweet to hear your child call you "mommy" and hear him say "daddy" all the time. But even better than that, is to hear them say "I love you." Just the other night, I went in to check on Stone before going to bed (usually, this is to straighten him out or dig him out of the nook and cranny between the mattress and the mesh bed rail, which thankfully keeps him from falling out) and as I moved him, he cried out in his sleep, "Daddy..." kind of whiny, like he was looking for him and he wasn't there. Super sweet. And what a super sweet dad he has! I tell you, I am very blessed in the husband department, for not only is he a great husband, he's a fantastic dad as well.
As I look back on our short married life, most of it has been spent with a child in the picture, since I got pregnant just 4 months after we got married. During the last 2 and a half years of Stone's life, Kevin has really been fortunate to be able to spend so much quality time with him. We realize most dads don't get this.. not necessarily because they don't want to spend that time, but work makes it very difficult to do so.
Just 2 months after Stone was born, we moved to Alabama for our 2nd "adventure" in married life (the first would be to have a baby, of course!). During this time, Kevin went to seminary for a semester and worked mostly part-time until summer hit. Thus, he was able to spend lots of time with him while I worked part-time as well (at a church). Then, for our "3rd adventure," we moved here, where it took several months for him to find a job... he had several temp jobs, but this also allowed a lot of time spent with Stone.
And now, of course, in our "4th adventure" as Kevin's been laid off, he's had lots of extra time with Stone again. Again, I realize most dads don't get this; it's a blessing, even in the midst of losing a job and not knowing what's next. Stone, of course, has been loving the extra time he gets with Kevin and I know whenever Kevin does get a job and goes back to work full-time, Stone will have to readjust to just getting to spend time with his daddy in the evenings and on the weekends.
So, to my wonderful husband and friend, and best daddy in the world to our son, Happy Father's Day! I love you and am thankful for you and for all that you do for both of us, but especially I'm thankful for the godly example you are to Stone. I pray that he grows up to be like his earthly daddy and also very close to his spiritual father through your example. *hugs*
And of course, not to leave out my own dad or my father-in-law, we wish you the best day ever too! As I said on Mother's Day, I'll repeat for my dad and Kevin's dad... we also have the best dads in the world (don't even try to compete, cause you're wrong!) Both our dads are great in their own right; but they even go beyond that to love and support us and I know they pray for us often. Thank you and we love you muchly!!
Free Movie, Car Problems, Speed Cleaning, Car Wash, Our First Swim, Downtown and a new nephew? Plus a visit from Aunt Minnah and Gigi!
A lot has happened over the last few days! I'll try to give the "short version," but you know I'm wordy. So....
Thursday started off with our grand plan: Gini discovered that the movie theater was showing the Veggie Tales movie, Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and wanted to know if we were up for taking the kids. Of course.. I decided to drive separately in my car to first run by the church to get the credit card to do some shopping for crafts for VBS. Gini and M were coming to our house so they could all ride together. We would meet at the theater. I get the card, stop in at the Dollar Tree (on Woodruff), come out and my car won't start!
I call K.. he drops Gini and the kids off at the theater and comes gets me. When he gets to me, my car still won't start. We decide to let it sit and go to the movie cause we don't want to leave Gini too long, given that she's ready to deliver at any time.
About 15 minutes into the movie, K gets a call.. he looks and it's from his dad. He missed it though, and then my phone rings. We look at each other... we both know that if his dad calls us both like that, trying to get a hold of us, that usually means someone wants to come to the house to look at it. I go out to call my FIL back and sure enough, the realtor said he had someone to come look at the house in an HOUR! I go back in, tell K, grab my purse and take the only car for all 5 of us to rush to the house to tidy up. Really, tidy and clean, as we hadn't kept it in tip-top shape as of recent days.
I rush home and literally have about 45 minutes to: make 3 beds, straighten and wipe down 2 bathrooms, unload dishwasher and THROW dirty ones in to hide them, wipe down kitchen counters, clear 2 dining tables of "odds and ends," pick up all the billion of trains and toys scattered in Stone's room and take down the darkening shade, open blinds all over the house, pick up clean and dirty clothes and "hide" them, and spot-dust and vacuum!! I was more than exhausted and sweaty, but got a good workout! (Oh yeah, I also got an important phone call regarding Stone and his speech stuff, as I was trying to clean!) K then called me and said they were out of the movie; I told him I was on my way. Thankfully, the realtor was a few minutes late, which gave me a few extra minutes.
I pick up everyone and we head to lunch. We then go back to check on my car, still in the parking lot of the Dollar Tree. Thankfully, it starts. We then drive it straight to the garage to get it checked out, and then back home. We put Stone down for a nap and I get some work done at home, but didn't get any more shopping down for crafts for VBS.
Then, after dinner, K decided to wash his car and invited Stone to help him. Stone got into it, but got a little tired during the end. Then, we decide to check out the neighborhood pool. I still don't have my bathing suit, cause it was packed up in storage. But, I am happy to go and take pictures and help with Stone once they were done swimming. See pics below... Stone LOVED being THROWN into the pool... literally, I was throwing him high, with K catching him of course and he loved every second of it. Last September when my family went to the beach, we had Stone at the pool every day, but he would hardly get in, much less jump in. That is, until the last night! Then he didn't want to get out. Same with Thursday night.. he didn't want to get out and he had been at this "jumping in and then getting out to do it again" activity for at least an hour. But, glad he enjoyed swimming.
Friday was uneventful, meaning that it wasn't as full as Thursday. We picked up my car and then I took the next several hours to shop for VBS. K kept Stone at home after running a couple 0f errands, including going to the library to get some more books for Stone and some Thomas the train DVD's.
That night after dinner, we decided to go downtown just to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. We got down there and walked up and down Main, then stopped in for a bite of ice cream. We continued to walk and walked all the way down to the river and back again. On our way down, we ran into some friends who just had their first child, a boy, about 2 weeks ago. It was good to see them, as we hadn't seen them in quite a while. They are friends from our first church.
By the time we finished our long walk and got back into the car, we were all pretty tired... especially Stone who refused to take a nap that day!
So then, the excitement begins...on the way home, I noticed that I had gotten a text message from Gini. She wanted us to keep our phones on at night in case she needed to call us to keep M if she goes into labor. I don't think much of that at first, but as we communicate, it turns out she's been having contractions since around 7:30. Turns out that she gets some sleep and today (Saturday) she's fine, but we were all kind of getting prepared in case little boy decided to debut. Which leads us to our "surprise" visit from Gigi and Aunt Minnah (K and Gini's little sister). It really wasn't a surprise, as they told us they were coming, but Gigi was down visiting Minnah and they decided to come late last night, after hearing that Gini may have been going into labor. They got here about 3am, but we didn't hear them... :) It was fun to visit with them this morning and throughout the day. Here's a picture of Stone and Aunt Minnah.... notice Stone's new Thomas shirt, from his Gigi! And this completes my post for now!
Kevin got word tonight that he has another interview on Wednesday around 1pm. The position is for a Logistics Analyst. Don't even ask me what that means, or what he'd be doing, but he seems to know and that's the important thing here! He had an interview with this company on the phone just a few days ago, so this will be a 2nd interview. While this is not exactly what he wants, it's also not something that would hinder him from going in the direction of finance and all that either. So, if they offer him the job, and he likes the people he interviews with, and it pays enough to live on, we'll take it. We just pray that this might be the right job.
Now, I didn't mention the name of the company (cause I honestly can't remember), but the location is in Greensboro/High Point area. Interesting, as I went to college in High Point, so that would be a little weird moving back in that area. But, again, if this is the right job, we'll know it one way or the other.
How do I feel about leaving this area? Well, I'm totally okay, actually. (And so is K). I would miss some folks with whom I made friends with, and would REALLY miss being so close to my SIL and her family, but we realize at the same time that we got to do and go where God leads. So we just wait and see....
Recently, Stone has taken up cooking with us. I love it and hopefully, it will inspire him to eat some new foods (one tip I got from some article as I've tried to read up on how to get your picky toddler to eat more foods is to have them help you cook, so they feel a part of it.) So, this first picture is of him helping us make a sauce for chicken enchiladas. (btw, this recipe is k's grandmother's and it's GOOD!!) Unfortunately, Stone didn't try them, but he sure did have fun stirring the sauce with Kevin!
The next time he helped, we made buckwheat pancakes. He really got into this, and since he likes pancakes, it was no problem to get him to eat them too! However, buckwheat doesn't make for that good of a pancake... it was okay, but definitely not my favorite. I have been "experimenting" with new recipes, so it was fun anyway.
Watching the cookies bake.
We have no idea why Stone likes to do this, but Kevin's best guess is that he likes the sound the dominoes make..... I think it's hysterical, and therefore had to post..
Well, we got back from our road trip to WV Saturday evening. Reentry back into "normal" life has been less than fun. This is mainly due to the day I had yesterday at church. I will save all that for another post but am seriously thinking about finding another job and soon. Of course, this all depends on what happens to Kevin's obtaining a job. So far, the one possibility I just posted about did not work out. Still waiting to hear about 2 others and we continue to apply. We know it's in God's timing and all that; I'm just at the max point of frustration with my job, wish it didn't take so long for K to get hired (not mad at him, just frustrated with the whole situation) and wanting something new for both of us.
As for the trip itself, we enjoyed it thoroughly and had fun playing with some friends, cousin Nate and my parents and siblings. Stone did much, much better on the driving part (both going and coming) than I thought he would. He hung in there and only complained on the trip up AFTER getting stuck in traffic after several times. I thought we'd never get to WV on Monday... first a big wreck just north of Charlotte slowed us down quite a bit. Then, a huge traffic slow-down as we were trying to get from VA into WV through a tunnel. I called my friend Jennifer (who we stayed with Monday night) and asked her if she had a detailed atlas/map. She did and she navigated me up and over the mountain instead of waiting even longer to go through it. This was the worst traffic ever...seriously, only went a few miles in an hour and both Stone and I were more than ready to get out of the car for a break. What was supposed to be about a 6 hour trip (with stops) turned into 9.5 hours instead!! However, we had a great time with my friend Jennifer and her 2 girls (Sara, almost 6 and Morgan, 3.5) even though it was much shorter than we had originally planned to spend since we got there much later than I had anticipated.
That evening, had a surprise visit from my sister. She lives about 10 minutes from my friend Jennifer (who lives now in the town where we all grew up). I wasn't expecting to see her until Tuesday morning, as she was flying back from a short weekend trip to Boston with a friend. Jennifer had gone upstairs to put her girls to bed and I was putting Stone to bed. When I came out, my sister was standing in their kitchen, talking to Jennifer and her husband Bart. I hugged her and said, "What are you doing here?" She replied, "Shelby! I had the WORST flight in from DC! Bart was my pilot!!" Ha ha! Bart is a pilot, he was on her flight, but she was just kidding about it being a bad flight. However, I was a bit jealous, as I have been wanting to fly with Bart since he got his license and we just have never had the chance yet. We all thought it was pretty cool and Bart told her to stop by the house once she got back into town and dropped off her friend. So, that's what she was doing at Jennifer's house! We all stayed up late talking and made s'mores and finally decided that we all better get some rest.
Next day, Tuesday, was another full day. Had breakfast with Jennifer and said our goodbyes. She had a big day planned with her girls and their last day of school. Drove over to my sister's apartment to visit, see her new place, and wait for my parents and brother and his son, Nate to arrive. We then decided to take a little tour on a coal mine expedition... Kerri was the only one who had done it before, so we all thought it would be neat, plus, it gave the boys the experience of riding on a "train" and going through a tunnel. Both boys thought it was pretty darn cool, however, Stone didn't like it when we stopped so our tour guide could give us details about how these guys used to dig out coal. Before we went on the tour, we got to look around a cool kid's museum and then wander through a frontier land. The kids seemed to have a good time, even though they were a little bit young to really enjoy all of it.
After this adventure, went back to my sister's apartment where my mom kept the boys so my dad, sister, brother and I could go see the Indian Jones movie. My mom really doesn't enjoy movies, so this is not something she felt she was missing out on. Plus, it was nap time for Stone, so it worked out great. After movie, we went out to dinner, came back to Kerri's to help her move furniture and get ready to drive to my parent's house, which is about 1.5 hours from Kerri.
That drive was uneventful until the end... we hit horrible, hard rain not far from the exit to my parent's house. I couldn't see and to be honest, was a bit scared, as it was dark, the rain was hard, I was tired, and big trucks as well as other cars were zooming past me.. not sure how they could see the road either, which made me even more nervous. We got there safe and sound, thankfully, and then the boys just played with trains until late in the evening. Finally got Stone down around midnight! Way later than his normal bedtime, but hey, we were on vacation and at grandma and grandpa's house!
Wednesday... we just crashed! Seriously, spent most of the day just resting and not doing anything in particular. That evening after dinner, mom and I took the boys to a nearby park and they had a blast. They got pretty dirty too, as the park was a bit muddy, but that didn't bother any of us! (Dad was 'spiritual' and went to church!)
Thursday... again, took it easy. The boys got out and played some "golf" with my dad. That evening, we met up with another good friend who I grew up with, Stacey and her husband John and daughter Chloe. Chloe is now 5 (where did the time go??) and she seemed to play with Nate and Stone just fine, even though she didn't know them. In fact, they all played together so well, that a man who was in the restaurant came over to our table, tapped John on the shoulder like he knew him, and complained about the noise level and said that, "You know, there are other people in here trying to enjoy dinner." At first, we all thought John knew this guy, but after he left, he said he didn't know who he was. My mom was like, "How can he even hear the kids over the loud music playing?" Who knows, but we "quieted" down our kids anyway, payed our bills and left. That was the first time I've ever had anyone complain about my child being loud and noisy!! Another funny thing that happened during all this is that a family came in who had a little boy and he immediately came over to our kids and started talking to them and playing with them. We didn't know him from Adam, but he felt like he was part of the crew! Ha!
Friday, dad and I went to another movie (Prince Caspian) and then that evening, my sister and brother came in after work. We grilled out and just hung until bedtime. Saturday, it was time to get back into the car for the long trip back. This time, no traffic accidents or jams or back-ups, and I was plenty thankful for an easy trip back. Stone did GREAT again and we were home in time to have dinner with Kevin, whom we both missed a lot!
Sunday came and disaster happened that morning (again, may post later about that) and had to go back for evening service. When I got back from church, we ate dinner and gave Stone a bath. Afterwards, I called my mom to see how my dad's first official day went working part-time at their church. I asked Stone if he wanted to talk to Ma-Ma and he took the phone and jabbered on and on... something to do with french fries, cars, trains, and who knows what else. Seriously, he was chatting with her like he knew exactly what he was saying (which had K and I in stitches) and then promptly said "bye bye" and closed up the phone (it's a flip cell phone.) Ha!! I grabbed the phone back and my mom was still there (not sure how since it's a cell phone) but she was laughing and asked what he was telling her. I told her I had no idea, but sounded like our day on Saturday traveling. We stopped for lunch and had french fries and nuggets, we were in the car a long time and he watched Thomas the Train most of the way home. Who knows? That's the most he's talked since he started talking... no lie!! He cracks us up.. maybe it was from being around Nate all week... he inspired Stone to start talking.
So, here's the slide show with captions to explain... glad we got to see family and friends... just wish Kevin could have come with me.
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