UEA Break in Georgia

I know UEA was a while ago, but we don't really have internet right now. (I can't wait to live in a normal house.) Anyways, with a long break from school we decided to take one last trip with the kids, because who knows when we'll be in the mood to fly with four kids, not to mention we'll have to start paying for Kate soon. Somehow Tami committed Jared into going out to Georgia at least once while they lived there. Luckily we had lots of sky miles saved up so Jared could follow through with that promise. I love that I have a husband that appreciates and respects the close relationship Tami and I have.

We all had a blast. The kids were so happy to see each other and not only was the trip relaxing we got to do a lot. In addition to visiting their home in Augusta, we visited Savannah and Tybee Island (Savannah's beach). Tami found us an amazing beach house that has been featured in a few magazines and a book.

Here are a some pics from our trip.

SAVANNAH

We had dinner at the famous Pirate House. It's been open since 1753 where they served seafarers and real pirates. Parts of the famous "Treasure Island" story are thought to have happened in the Pirate House. The kids LOVED this, especially hearing about it's history and the ghosts that haunt it today. 

TYBEE ISLAND:

 

This is the cute fish camp cottage we got to stay in. 

FORT PULASKI:

I told the kids to look sad because they were locked up, this is what I got. 

THE BEACH

We had perfect beach weather, it was so nice. Grayson LOVED the waves.

THE CRAB SHACK

After dinner, we fed alligators. I my have killed one. I dropped a plastic bag full of gator food into the pond. One got the bag before we could get it out. Some of the workers spent a while trying to get it away from him without any luck. I felt so bad I had to stop watching. 

TYBEE LIGHT HOUSE

AT THE KAMERATHS

We loved just hanging out at the Kamerath's, especially roasting hot dogs, making smores and carmel apples. 

Thanks Kamerath's, we miss you so much. 

"Do you want to Hear the BAD news"

This is Grayson's way of announcing that we are having another GIRL. To be honest we were all hoping we would be having a boy. Grayson desperately needs and wants a brother. All he's been talking about for the last few months is how soon he would have two brothers, our dog Max and the new baby. I didn't want him to get his hopes up, so I was always quick to tell him it might be a girl.
Jared was sure it would be a boy. He told me on several occasions, that he felt like it was a boy. I told him, I wasn't going to play that game again. We were so convinced Grayson was a girl, I bought clothes and started making plans for decorating the nursery. We were even calling the baby Kate. After that ultrasound I morned the loss of my Kate for over a month. It wasn't fun. I tried my best not to set my heart on having a boy this time, and thought I was doing good. I wasn't happy going home yesterday.
Jared dropped me off at home and went to pick Grayson up from a friends. When Grayson got in the car, he saw the pictures from the ultrasound and got all excited asking if it was pictures of the baby. When he asked if it was a boy, Jared said read this pointing to the picture labeled GIRL. Grayson started screaming "No" and crying hysterically. When he came home and walked in with tears rolling down his face it broke my heart.
I don't want you all to think this new baby girl wont be loved. She will. Lydia was happy to get another sister. I am looking forward to having lots of lunches, shopping trips and girls weekends with my three girls. I hope Lydia, Kate and new baby girl have as much fun as Tami, Shelly and I have had over the years. Grayson can continue to enjoy his dad and Max on many, many trip to Schuster Creek and such.

Moving, Construction, and Strep Throat

We finally moved and are living at our new home. I wish we could say our home is done, but we still have a long way to go.  With our friends waiting to move into our old place we decided we needed to move as soon as possible. Of course we made sure we had a few things before moving in.  Some of the things we had when we moved in were:

-a toilet

- a shower

-a kitchen sink 

- a bedroom

The first few nights were interesting. We used the kitchen sink for brushing our teeth, washing hands, and shaving. Most of the rooms didn't have lights yet so we had to walk around with a lamp to plug in each room. It was a step up from camping.

Some things we are now enjoying:

- doors on our bedrooms

- a toilet and sink in the same room

- a working oven

- a washing machine and dryer

- a dining room with a table we can sit at

Things we look forward to having:

-lights in our bathrooms and kitchen

- a finished kitchen

- a family room

- a toy room

- no more construction worker in our home from 8am to 5pm.

I was trying to talk Jared into taking sick days from work for a couple of days before moving so he could help me pack up. He was so nice to do that. Unfortunately he actually got sick and was no help at all. After 2 days of a fever and sore throat he finally went to the doctor and found out he had strep (probably from Disney World). Luckily he got his meds. and was able to help on the actual move day. My family was nice enough to come and help, I just wish I could figure out what boxes they put what in. 

I thought I was safe from strep, but the next week, on Grayson's birthday, I woke up with a soar throat.  I was going to go into his school to take a birthday treat to his class. I thought I better get it checked before I went in. Unfortunately I was positive for strep and had to spend the day hiding from people while I was still contagious.  Luckily I caught it early and didn't have the horrible experience Jared did.

Even with all the craziness, we feel really blessed. We love our house so far and have been really comfortable. My only complaint is having more stairs to climb up and down. We can't wait to have everyone over when everything is done. 

Celebrating Six!

Grayson was so excited to turn six this last week. He keeps saying he can now do all kinds of new things now that he is older. He wanted a pirate birthday and kept inviting all his friends from school to "his party", forgetting that he wasn't going to have a friend party this year. I tried to make our little party with family as fun as possible. I had plans for making his pirate ship cake on his birthday, luckily the doctor said I could still make it as long as I was careful. I seriously wanted to cry at the thought of not making his cake. Making my kids a specially cake for their birthday is one of my favorite traditions. I am loving Grayson at this age. He is starting to be more responsible, and is a huge help. He's also a great friend, we have a lot of fun together.  

The Cake

Grayson and Lydia loved making everyone dress up and play pirates.