Monday, July 29, 2013

NEWS!

Great news!!!

Chris was accepted into the train dispatch program!!!  Praise God!  He will be headed to Ft. Worth, TX for a 4 month program in 2 weeks.  (Not really looking forward to that part, but I'll get over it. :-)  Once he is done with the program, he will have a job in TX...the exact location will be known about 2 months into the program.  WHEW.

So...Chris is going to rent a place in TX and we will stay here in MS.  Hopefully, we will join him around January, once he has a job and can get us settled in somewhere.

More news...

Griffin was diagnosed with severe autism.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this diagnosis yet...

All I know is that I love him more than ever...

I'll blog about this once I can figure out how to express my feelings in words.

Lots of ups and downs this month... Lots more ups than downs, that's for sure.  Most of the downs have just been colds, migraines, a little fender-bender, etc. but we have our family, we are still chugging along... we are still stronger than ever!

Here are a few pictures for you!

Leaving church on Sunday

Bouncy House!

Griffin Lovin'

S'mores with friends

Picnic time!






Picking Blueberries







Great job, Big G!


Working while the girls play. LOL






Trying to love on Little G.  LOL

Love and Hugs!!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

What Have We Been Up To?

I have missed y'all so much!

Sorry the posts have tapered off... we have very little internet now.  I'm currently at my BFF's house in TN and using her Internet to give y'all an update.  I don't even know where to begin!

We are still in MS with my mother and I love being able to spend time with her every day!  I'm spending every moment that I can with her because I know that this won't last forever.  I'm making the most of it.  Yes, it's crowded under one roof, but it's family, and well, it doesn't get much better than that!  After being away for 4 years, you truly realize what's important, that's for sure.  So yeah, we are packed in like a can of sardines, but what's wrong with being a little cozy, right?  <wink>

We kicked the summer off to fun start with a short trip to TN to see my BFF's family.  While there, Shana and I treated Big G and her daughter, J, to a birthday weekend to see the Lion King in Nashville, to include an overnight stay in the Gaylord Opryland hotel.  LOVED it.  It was so much fun having a girls' weekend while our husbands took care of our littles.  We truly have the best husbands ever!

The next weekend, our friends from Germany, the Copous family, made their journey across America and met us in Gulfport, MS, for a weekend stay in a beach house.  We lounged around, chatted about our times together in Germany, watched movies, had great gumbo and crawfish, went bowling, and let the kids catch up on all of their missed playtime... The rain didn't slow us down a lick.  It was especially hard to say goodbye this time around... They are now settled in Colorado and hopefully we can see them soon.

We are currently spending another two weeks in TN with my BFF and family.  We decided to make the trip to TN again to spend the 4th of July.  They have a furnished basement and a totally childproofed home.  It's awesome!  They also have a 2 year old adopted son who has Down syndrome and I love to watch him interact with Griffin.  They make such a sweet duo.

We have been spending a lot of time with the Lowes, our matchmakers.  We actually did a quick double date night after the kids went to bed, to New Orleans, for dinner at Bubba Gumps, and dessert at Cafe du Monde!  What an awesome evening!  We've also been having play dates at McD's on rainy days.  Loving it!

Griffin had a 1 month summer camp with ARC and had a blast.  He loved every minute of it.  He got to go swimming and took field trips to the zoo, movies, swimming pools, and bouncy slides.  The end of the month program was so awesome and my heart just overflowed as so many people stopped us in our tracks to say how much they loved him.   There is so much love there!!

Little G is such a stinker!  She is absolutely loving church now and can't wait to go every Sunday.  Every day she asks, "Sunday school, 'morrow?" and when I can finally say yes, she is overjoyed!!

I have learned that my 2 littles must be outside for the majority of the day.  They are not meant to be inside children.  So for most of the day, we are sitting outside in the smoldering MS humidity, swinging, mostly.  My arms get a really good work out!  Ha.  Little G has decided that she loves to crash her tricycle into things so that has become somewhat interesting.  She thinks it's hysterical, though.

Big G has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  Amazing what having land can do for you, huh?  Took her about a week to get the hang of it.  So proud of her.

Big G and I also started taking violin lessons together!  We love it!  We can play Row Row Row your Boat like rock stars!  We are planning to continue taking lessons through the fall.

What's going on in the medical world?
Griffin has been enrolled in physical, occupational, and speech therapies and has had about 3 sessions each.
We are also waiting for Griffin's autism assessment results.  The results are in, just have to wait until we are back home.

What's going on in the job search?
Well, Chris has over 200 resumes sent out.  Times are tough, y'all.  There's not much out there for his line of work.  He's an Air Traffic Controller... he has recently applied for an open position in Louisiana and he has applied for a train dispatch program in Texas.  Both of these look to be the two most promising leads.  Pray y'all!  We will take what we can get at this point!

We will definitely continue to blog.  Blogging will happen more frequently once we have our own home and Internet.  Hang in there with us!  We appreciate having your love and support!   For the next blog, I hope to have our family portraits up!  They will surely make you laugh.  <wink>

God bless y'all!  <<<HUG>>>