New Room Arrangement

Ever since January of 2013, we've been trying to figure out a way to get Alli sleeping back in her room. She had developed a fear of being alone and there was nothing we could say to convince her that her room was safe without us in it. We used to be able to read a few books, sing a few songs, say prayers, kiss her goodnight and leave the room. After her fear developed, we had to stay in her room with her until she fell asleep or she would panic. This could take up to an hour or more. Then Kara turned us on to the Magic Tree House book series that we used to help relax her into falling asleep sooner. This helped reduce our time getting her in bed to about 30 minutes. This has gone on for months.

Even with reading her to sleep, she continued to wake up in the middle of the night somewhere after midnight and there was no coaxing her back to bed without reading or sitting with her. So for some time she has been falling back to sleep in our room on an old crib mattress. No fun right?!? I had finally had enough of losing my entire free time at night to a bedtime routine. So against what I WANTED to do, we began letting her fall asleep in our room because at least in our room she felt safe enough to fall asleep without us having to be in there.

The problem got worse when Alli began waking early to make sure she didn't miss seeing Ben before he left for work. So even on Saturday's Alli has been waking us before 7.....Saturday I had finally had enough. We had discussed potentially moving the kids in the same room together so that she wouldn't be alone but she panicked over the idea of the door being shut, even though Ethan would be with her. But I said forget it and said we're doing this regardless.

We pumped it up all day. She got to pick where the beds went and have "control" over the situation. We have also previously promised her that if she gets back into her room that we will let her pick out a bed frame for her room (right now all she has are a mattress and box springs). So with the excitement of being with Ethan and getting to get a new bed if she makes this a new habit, she was pumped and ready to go... FINALLY!

 The bedroom makes me happy. Alli and Ethan both have their own side and everything is neat and clean.

 The playroom is Ethan's old room. It was the smaller of the two rooms but perfect for all their toys. I like the idea of all the mess staying in one room....or at least that's wishful thinking for my OCD.

The first night was too precious not to share. Last night once we had the kids ready to be tucked in, Alli began to show signs of panicking. She wanted the lamp to be left on. I was worried this would keep Ethan awake so I told her that we were going to turn the lamp off and just sit in the room until our eyes adjusted to the light and so she could see just how much light her two night lights were going to give her. So we sat on the floor with her in my lap and I tried to control her breathing. Ethan got jealous and wanted to sit with me. So he jumped on my lap behind Alli. I took the opportunity to use Ethan to help Alli. I told him to tell her it was ok. He put his arms around her like I was, leaned down beside her face and said, "It ok Alli." Shortly after that, Alli was ready to give it a try.

With everyone tucked in and told good night, we left and hoped for the best. I could hear Alli on the monitor telling herself, "I can do it, I can do it." She then began to speak with Ethan telling him that she was going to be with him tonight and that they were going to be ok.

We are so proud of her. It took them a while to fall asleep because Ethan had to adjust to having someone to "Talk to" in his room. He kept bothering Alli and telling her to wake up. Once asleep, Alli did wake once scared at 4 in the morning but Ben was able to calm her and get both her and Ethan to go back to sleep. Overall, the new arrangement is a success, for all involved!

Under Contract

After a lot of frustration, our house is officially under contract and we will be closing July 19th pending a good inspection and appraisal. We would have moved on at this point to start looking into building our home but with the interest rates on the rise we're not sure we want to wait to get our land surveyed, perked, appraised and then wait for 60-120 of the actual build process. Winchester also doesn't have much in the way of rental properties as there are no apartment complexes. So rental homes go very quickly. So instead we are going to try to go look for a home to buy. We needed this all to work out in this time frame because we have set a projected start date for the business on September 1st and we need to be in town to get everything ready at the office.

T-Ball Time

 Alli was so excited for her first T-Ball game. She kept asking us, "Is it time for my team?"

 

 A little silliness before the game.

 I think Alli enjoyed fielding. She stopped one of the balls that was hit to her but she had to fight for a few of the others. A lot of the other girls were more aggressive in running after the ball so Alli expressed some frustration in the girls "getting her balls". I'm sure we can work on that.

 She loved hitting

 but her first time up she ran towards first and never tagged it before she turned around for home! We had a lot of laughs.

 On her next at bat, she made it to 1st

  And then finally all the way around!

 

Alli loved seeing so much of the family there. Thanks for those who were able to make it. I was a little worried about how well she would do with us on the bleachers while she was left in the dugout. I tried to prep her before hand. She didn't sound excited about it but she's really been looking forward to us being able to cheer for us so I explained we couldn't be in the stands cheering for her if we were with her in the dugout or on the field. So she knew up front she needed to stay with her team. Ben stood behind her in the dugout early in the game to make sure she was ok. She then pushed Ben's hand off the fence and says "dad I'm ok. I'm not scared. You can leave." She's growing up. It's fun to watch! Love her.

March Madness - unrelated to basketball

March has been busy but it was the month that we finally received the answer to months and months of prayers. For some time now our plans have consisted of what Ben called two plan A's. Plan A one was the fire job that Ben was working hard to try to get. Plan A two was our business. We have been praying for sometime that the Lord would direct us. We truly felt a peace and comfort in our prayers that either plan was going to be a good one for us. We always prayed for the Lord's will to be done. While we had so much positive feedback to lead us to think Ben was going to get the fire job he had worked so hard for, we found out a few weeks ago that Ben was not selected for the position.

Once this decision had been made, we knew our direction was clear. We needed to go and throw ourselves 100% into working our business alongside our manager. This would not be adequately done from Smyrna. Some of you may know that the location we were going to start our service has hopped around a bit. We kept trying to locate in Wilson county but obstacles kept coming into play to keep us from moving forward. We finally stepped back and thought it made more sense to start back in the county where our manager, CFO and Medical director are. Here we have a stronger potential for a client base because of how well Ben and our manager are known in this county. As soon as this decision had been made, things began to progress and progress quickly.

While many of you already know from a comment Ben posted on his old Fire Department's facebook page, I will officially post it here. (Ben was not aware this post would post on EVERYONE's facebook page and it robbed us the opportunity of telling family personally.) We are moving back to Ben's hometown. We are excited for the opportunities ahead of us.

Unrelated to this: Ethan had his 1 year check up and continues to grow at a rate unexpected to us. He gained two lbs and two inches. He is now 23 lbs 5 oz and is 32 inches tall. What astounds me is that he is in the 99% for his height.

Ethan's One

This past weekend we celebrated Ethan's first birthday. I decided to base his party around the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It was a favorite of mine as a child and I thought it would be really cute. I didn't realize until the party that not Everyone was as familiar with this book as I was. Oh well, good thing I had the book there for reference.

Ethan's Caterpillar  - Each circle had a picture representing one of his first 12 months.

I always regret at parties how few pictures I get of the kids with their aunts and uncles. Kara is the lucky one to get a picture with Ethan. Sorry guys...I was rushing around and didn't get pictures.

Happy Birthday sign and guests

The kids loved playing outside and we were thankful for the nice weather to enjoy.

The food was my favorite part. Each food item referenced back to food that the caterpillar ate in the book.

Ethan wasn't very sure what to do with his smash cake.

Ben had to show him how to do it.

He was much happier once we gave him a spoon.

Happy chocolate covered baby!

 

Ethan may not have been energized about opening up his gifts but...

he loved each and every one of them. Thank you everyone who was able to make it to celebrate his special day. We are thankful to have you as a part of our lives.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

BS in Fire Science

Ben finished his BS! Hallelujah! I'm so proud of him. Great job babe! Not only that, but he finished with a GPA of 3.83.

Life Size Bear

Shannon's family got Ethan this adorable huge bear when he was born. The initial purpose was to take monthly pictures of Ethan beside or on the bear...but seeing as how Ethan never cooperated and I usually forgot or lacked the time around his monthly birthdays, this is how we play with the bear. What can I say, we like to rough house! (We discovered that Ethan liked to attack the bear a few days back when Alli was beating the bear up with some nerf swords. She kept dive bombing the bear while I held it and attacked her. Then Ethan joined the fun.)

A second video