A few pictures of the house...

Since so many have asked I wanted to share a few pictures of our new home.  Please know that we are still a work in progress, and yes I know there are piles of clothes on the coffee table, but we're getting there.  I took these while Eli was napping, so his room is not included nor are any others, for some reasons rooms are always the last thing I get to.

Our family room

from the opposite direction

looking through to the dining room

breakfast nook

kitchen, you know I did not see those toys when I took
the picture :)

Eli's fun room (chandelier leaving soon)

hallway to the bedrooms

stairs to the basement!!  (a nice perk of living in
Louisville, all houses have basements).

Fall Fun

Well, we've been in the house a week yesterday and it is starting to take shape.  Keith's parents graciously came and helped us unpack and de-clutter all the boxes.  (They also had a ball with Eli).  This year Eli is really fun with Halloween, he LOVES pumpkins, carrying around his plastic pumpkin and really anything orange.  I am sure it will just get better in the coming years.

Last weekend our neighborhood had a Halloween party, so we decided to go.  Of course, Eli had a meltdown right before we were getting ready to leave (he didn't want to wear his cowboy hat) but once we got there he managed to get right in the middle of things.

a little coaxing is always needed to get the hat on

Still not sure about it...

humm...what's that on my head?

and off again

having some fun with Mommy

The key is to distract him & he doesn't remember it's on

Cheeeeese!!

Now off to the party...

He walked right in...

...and promptly turned around to leave.

checking things out.

and then he saw a lion (he loves lions :))

At this point all the kids were supposed to stand and get judged
on their costume, Eli got right in the middle.

waiting for the results...

...sorry cowboy, you are cute, but the lion won!

Tonight the local grocery store is having trick or treating so I think we'll go, especially since there is 100% chance of rain on Thursday, inside a warm, dry grocery store will be more fun!

Quick update

We are moved in! 

The day we moved in was sunny and in the high 50s since then it has been cold and rainy and we are so thankful God provided a nice day to move. Keith only had 1 day off so it's been Eli and I going through boxes and trying to find things. Of course there are still things I can't find but over all it is going well. We are blessed by this house, neighborhood and town more than we probably know at the moment. 

Keith's parents are coming today to help out and love on Eli which will be a big help!

Thanks again for your prayers, they were felt!

                      Where's Eli?

Caution...We're still in Transition

Transition can be a tricky thing.  On one hand isn't it great to meet a bunch of new people, with everyone wanting to come up to you and ask where you're from, how many kids you have, etc.  It kind of gives me a warm feeling inside that people care and want to invest in my life (don't worry I know this ends).  The other side of transition is learning a new place.  For example this morning Eli and I headed off to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meeting.  Sight unseen, we knew no one.

BEAUTIFUL fall leaves...exactly what I was looking
forward to!

We got in the COLD car, I let it heat up, we pulled out into traffic and the first left turn I took my phone (which was my gps) went flying off the cold leather seat and underneath the passenger side seat.  Fortunately it kept talking to me, but I couldn't see the map.  Now one would think just get it when you stop at a red light (very logical) except we hit no red lights (you know this never happens when you know where you're going).  Again, very fortunate the gps continued to talk to me and Eli kept quiet and we made it to MOPS.  It was at some point along the way that I thought we should have a bumper sticker that says "we're new and we don't know our way around" but maybe my Texas license plate says that for me.

 

mini-photo shoot with Eli yesterday.  These were taken
just before he face planted on the concrete
and came up with a fat lip (no pics, sorry).

This is at a church right up from where we are staying.

 Don't get me wrong I know this is part of the journey and we will only be "new" for a short season and then everyone will expect we know everything about Louisville.  We've been new before and will probably be new again.

I wanted to show all the leaves on the ground, hopefully
I'll get a better shot of Eli another time.

We closed on our house yesterday morning (praise the Lord) and now we have fun-filled plans to paint this weekend and move in next week.  I must admit, the stress is building, especially for Keith, but he is handling it well.  It's just a lot all at the same time.

We are so thankful to be together as a family, Eli is doing much better now that he has both parents to himself again.  We are looking forward to a week from now when we are hopefully moved in and boxes are starting to get unpacked.  Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers for our family, they mean more than you know!

Louisville...day 3

Eli and I arrived in Louisville this past Friday afternoon, we are SO glad to be here and back together as a family.  Keith has been working here for the past 2 weeks and living in an extended stay so (if I can speak for him) I think he's happy we're here too!  Since we don't close on our house until Thursday and don't move until next Monday Keith found us a short term rental house and what a blessing it is!  It is close to downtown, close to parks and has a nursery--what more could we ask for?  The family who owns the house have relatives in the area so when they rent it out they just move in with them.  It is SO nice to have our own space and not live in an extended stay with a 1 year old!

I'm going to include some pictures from Eli and my time in NC as I tell you how we are doing...

While in NC we made a special trip to Virginia so Eli could meet his great-grandmother (and spend some extra special time with his cousin Caleb) It was fun to see the two meet and spend a little time together.  We'll be back at Christmas for some more togetherness! 

Overall we are doing good.  I am amazed at how many things have fallen into place and just how the Lord has blessed us through this process.  We are still grieving the loss of Austin and the community we had there but know in time the Lord will provide that for us in Louisville.  

making each other laugh! 

enjoying some time with Poppy at the Museum of Life and Science, this is a place I spent a lot of time at as a Child and it was fun to take Eli there.  The cousins came along the next week. 

We visited many sights this past weekend in Louisville (which I'll post about later) and visited a church that we think could be a potential church home.  At this point it is hard to imagine really "fitting" there but again know those things come with time.  

More than anything we are ready to be in our home and I am ready to stop moving Eli around everywhere.  For the most part he has done remarkably well with sleeping, meeting new people, etc but he is still a little apprehensive at all the changes.  

All 3 cousins enjoying time together.  It was such a special time and I think Eli loves to have "big" kids to play with.  

It was a blessing to spend the last 2+ weeks in North Carolina with family and it is good to be here now.  I've got a lot of blogging to catch up on, so more about our time in NC and others in coming posts.  Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us during this time.  We really do appreciate it!