The rental, footings, and five

We have been in our rental house almost a week now.  As far as rentals go we hit the jack pot.  Some friends of ours from church moved out of their house to live with a sick parent, and we happened to need a place to live when they were moving out.  They agreed to let us rent their house until ours is built.  And who knows when that will be with all this rain we have been getting.

I can’t seem to find my rhythm here.  I had my daily routine down flat at our old house.  This is tricky.   For the first time in our almost 9 years of marriage we are sharing a closet and a bathroom.  Prayers are appreciated!!!  Fortunately, the bathroom is large and we have separate vanities, but over the next few months it could get ugly.  

The boys both have bigger rooms and a bathroom in between.  They boys and I shared a bathroom at the old house so I am adjusting to this change too.  Delta LOVES the new house.  There is no fence in the backyard and she is able to roam as she pleases.  Sonic isn't close by anymore, so she always comes home!!!

I miss my house.  Trey and I both are sad.  This one isn't home.  It’s not ours.  I miss the way the doors opened and closed at the old house.  I miss the smell and the layout.  I miss hearing cars drive by and seeing neighbors.  It’s quiet where we live now.  To sum it all up, I HATE CHANGE!!!!!

We sold our dining room set and haven’t gotten a new table.  Puddin brought over a little table she had at her house for the boys to eat on.  Cozy huh???

 I have expressed my love for the Dollar Tree numerous times.  Well, I love it and you can find treasures there.  Ford has a football helmet piggy bank.  I thought John Brantley needed one as well.  I found him one at “The Dollar Tree”!!!  Trey has a large jar of loose change and Bitty has been ripping him off to load his bank up!

 They needed to try out my new tub.  The fun was OVER when John Brantley started watering my fake flowers.

 On Sunday the lady in charge of the nursery came and pulled me out of Sunday school.  She said Bitty had been standing at the door crying for 30 minutes.  When I got to his class the teachers said he just stood there and cried and wouldn’t let them touch him!!!  I took him to my class and he laid so still in my lap.  He ran a low grade fever on Sunday and Monday.  Monday afternoon brought on crying, neediness, coughing, fever, runny noses, etc.  I called the doctor and made an appointment for Tuesday.  He has a double ear infection and is pitiful!!!!

Ford is a good nurse.

 The people who own the house we are renting hadn't gotten everything out when we started moving in.  They left a Barbie jeep outside.  I sent the wife a text and said she better come and get it before John Brantley claimed it.  She told me her daughter never liked it, they lost the charger, and we could have it.  Heck yeah!!!!  Wouldn't you know that our 4 wheeler charger fits it perfectly, and a little camo spray paint turns a Barbie jeep into an ARMY JEEP!!!!

 Nightly routine

 As I said, we are building a house.  In my day, my family has moved LOTS and LOTS of times.  Several of those moves, my parents built houses.  However, I don’t recall the process too well.  I just remember my room in Southaven being Pepto pink and they had to repaint it a lighter shade.  Well, I am getting to be a huge part of this process.  They have dug “the footings” at our new house.

 Ford loved running in them... JB, not so much!!!

 And what kid doesn't love a huge mound of sand???!!!???

 Family shot

 Last Saturday we went to an engagement party for one of my oldest friends, Casey.  We met when my family moved to Southaven in 5^th grade.  Three years later we moved to Hattiesburg, but we still kept in contact and both ended up at Ole Miss together.  Casey now lives in Portland and I never get to see her, but we reunited last weekend.  It was so good to see her and her family!

He’s on the mend.

Jefferson Hannaford “Ford” Lamar will be FIVE years old tomorrow.  I can’t even believe those words were just typed by my fingers.  The first few weeks of his life I was certain we wouldn't make it much further due to sleepless night and constant crying because of colic, but we did and we are here now at five years old!!!!!!

 Ford is one of the most caring and kind hearted people I know.  He worries about others and deeply cares about their feelings.  He cries if someone else cries.  He worries if something bad might happen.  He is a rule follower.  You can’t litter, speed, run a red light, break any laws, or get sent to the principals office.

 He loves life.  He loves being a big brother.  He loves to go to the beach and Jackson.  He would love to go skiing again and back to the space center.  He enjoys watching TV even though his momma limits what he can watch.  Some of his favorite shows are Wild Kratts, Octonaunts, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, The Cat in the Hate Knows a lot About That, Peg + Cat, and Handy Manny.  Usually he just watches the first two, but the others are some he enjoys too.

 He loves meat.  He won’t eat fruit unless it’s in the mushed up apple sauce form.  He won’t consume many vegetables unless forced.  He’s not tempted with sweets like his mother.  He would pick salty over sweet.  His favorite colors are blue and green.  He still loves Crocodile Rock by Elton John.  He likes to be read to and has certain books that are his favorites.

 Ford is a homebody.  He hates running errands or being made to go anywhere.  Riding in the car for more than 30 minutes about does him in.  He loves to ride his bike which he has been riding without training wheels for almost a year.  He still loves riding his 4 wheeler.  He spends a lot of time playing in the sandbox.  I also enjoy hearing him talk to his toys like they are having a conversation…I did that with Barbies.

 He always needs a friend to come over and play with him.  He loves nature and claims he always wants to go hunting with his Daddy.  He has an awesome memory and rarely forgets anything.  He is obsessed with space, planets, rockets, and anything outer space.  He has a quirky/smart-alecky sense of humor like I do.

He loves the Lord and inquires about going to Heaven ALL the time.  He has a deeper understanding than most adults I know.  I honestly think he is ready to ask God to come into his heart.  I have spoken with our preacher about this and we are going to meet with him soon and he is going to see if he thinks Ford is really ready at such a young age.

 We love our precious baby boy and can’t wait to see what the future holds for him!!!!!!  Happy 5^th birthday Ford!

Gran update

Y'all have heard me talk about my mom, Gran, a lot on here.  I love that woman and you'll continue to hear more and more.  Well, last week she went in to have an MRI to see how she was doing and get an update on her cancer status.  I HATE the waiting game.  We waited and waited and waited for them to call her back with the results.  Finally, the next day they called and she had a GOOD REPORT!!!!  She went to see her oncologist today.  Below I have copied and pasted what my dad wrote on Facebook.

Praise God. He does still perform miracles. Today Suzanne met with her Oncologist. He said that her report was fantastic. He concurred that the cancer was not present in her liver and said that a mass could NOT be identified in her pancreas as cancer but that it was cancer related. He "flirted" with the word remission but did not say that she was actually in remission. She will continue her chemo treatments as she has been doing. He said that he did not want to stop the treatment because he feared that the cancer would return and that she might not be able to tolerate the chemo or that it might not be as effective. He said that only 20% of pancreatic cancer patients get a report like this. By any means we are elated with this news. Prayer does work and thank you thank you thank you for continuing to pray for her. God is listening. Keep the Faith.

There you go, people.  God is good and faithful all the time.  Prayer works.  He's the ultimate physician and my mom is in his hands!!!  PLEASE keep the prayers coming because they are WORKING!

A lump in my throat

You know that thick lump you get in your throat when you need to cry?  Well, I have that.  I’m honestly not too much of an emotional person, but I can be very sentimental. 

For the past 7 years Trey and I have lived in the same house in Senatobia.  It’s the second house we've lived in and owed together.  This is the longest I have lived in a house in my entire life.  And yesterday we sold and closed on our house.

Trey and I have invested a lot of time, love, and money into this old house.  It’s a fabulous house that someone bought, completely gutted, and updated.  We have made several changes and added a few things here and there.  This is our house and I am so sad to leave.

I remember waking Trey up telling him I was pregnant with both boys.  I rocked my babies for hours upon hours in this house.  I have watched them roll over, crawl, and walk in this house.  I have put together birthday parties, play dates, and family gatherings here.  We have seen the sheer joy of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny coming to our house on our boys’ faces. 

Our house has quirks.  I know these quirks.  I know how the doors sound when you close them.  I know that certain parts of the floor squeak if you step on them just right.  And I usually step on the wrong parts at nap time.  I love living by the train tracks and watching my boys get excited to watch it ride by.  I love the church bells and hearing the mailman come bright and early in the morning.  I'll miss the sweet that people always wave when we are out in the yard.  It’s so nice to live right in the middle of town and literally be second away from your destination.

 I’ll miss riding bikes with the boys around town.  I’ll miss walking to Trey’s office or the library during the day.  We will miss playing at the park and at the church playground.  I’ll miss looking out at my neighbors’ houses.

 We are moving.  It’s time to move on.  We bought some land 3.5 years ago and have now begun building our forever home out there.  It’ll be great and we are so excited, but are sad to close this chapter at the same time.  Goodbye 225 Tate Street and thanks for 7 great years and a lifetime of memories!!!!

Hopping down the Bunny trail

What a beautiful day we had for Easter this year!!!  It was warm.  The sun was shining.  The Bunny came.  And our Lord and Savior lives!!!

Despite all the commercialization our society puts on holidays, I made sure that Ford understood that we don’t celebrate Easter because of eggs, candy, rabbits, toys, and such.  We went over Jesus dying on the cross and rising again three days later.  He gets it.  And I want to make sure he always does.  

Ford's stash

 John Brantley's stash

 This was honestly way too much.   What was that Bunny thinking????
 Ford woke up before John Brantley, but we wouldn't let him come out.  We wanted them to both be awake and video them coming out together.  Since Bitty was still a bit groggy he wasn't as quick moving as Ford. 

 There is a show Ford is obsessed with on the On Demand channels called “Octonauts” .  There is a specific toy at Wal-Mart that we HAD TO look at every time we went.  Ford REALLY REALLY wanted this for his birthday on May 1.  Fortunately, the Bunny came through and delivered it for Easter.   My child has been on cloud 9 all day!

 Who needs toys when you can have candy????

 Praise God for NERDS!!!!!!!

 Daddy reading Bitty his new animal book.

 Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 Pure cuteness

 After they played, ate, and bathed, we took some pictures outside.  Or let me rephrase… I attempted to take some pictures outside.

 CRASH

 HAPPY EASTER FROM THE LAMAR'S