For My Dad...

Normally when my mom comes to visit my dad is out of town too on a business trip, but he is home in Texas. Mom came when she did because we were going to close on the house and we needed her here for the move (still no loan or closing date.... keep praying!). So dad has been working but misses mom. He sends us pictures from his cell phone multiple times a day so I thought I would post some pictures for him... Dad, we are taking real good care of mom. Only making her do hard labor a few hours a day :) We wish you were here though the only place for you to sleep would be the floor but if you get too hot or bored hop on a plane!

We had a pretty good weekend. Anderson has been very sick but seems to be getting better... He has learned a new skill, clapping! It's so cute. Karoline has had a good weekend and is very into the Olympics. She LOVES swimming and diving. I think she might be a swimmer or a diver. She LOVES the water (see below). We still have no closing date like mentioned before... they say Wednesday... but they said today too! I need lots of prayer because I don't understand God's purpose in this. I know His will is best but right now I don't understand. I WANT to understand!

Getting ready to walk... Anderson is standing up ALL day long. He just needs to learn the art of putting one foot in front of the other. So he really enjoys the wagon and we have started to take it outside for him to walk around with while Karoline runs around.

"I wonder what this swing tastes like?"




Karoline playing in the pool... even though it was quite cool outside. She doesn't care if it is so cold and she turns purple when she wants to get in the pool she wants to get in the pool...
Playing with Gammy...

Taking turns pushing each other up and down the hall (a MILLION times!)



Let me explain this picture... TJ and I were watching TV while mom was reading to Karoline and I looked into the video monitor and they were reading books with stuffed animals on their head! So I got my camera and captured this silly moment!

Isabel Ryan Wilson Arrives

My sweet friend Emily gave birth to Isabel Ryan Wilson Saturday, Aug. 9th at 6:23PM. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and OH so cute! I got to ride into the city with Emily's mom to visit them on Sunday. Avery is a very proud big sister! Here are a few of the almost 60 pictures I took at the hospital!

Photo Shoot

Here are the pictures from our photo shoot the other day! These are the un-edited images...

7 Things I Learned This Week

Here are things I have learned this week...

1) I am MUCH more equipped to work at Home Depot than the employees I dealt with this week. A chandelier that was "out of stock, never coming back again, gone, gone, gone..." was AMAZINGLY on the shelf when I arrived at Home Depot. It's a miracle! And I had to help a lady in the carpet section because the employee could not answer her questions! Seriously, I asked a lady for help because I was trying to buy a lighting collection and she gave me a look like "you really want help?... am I supposed to do that?" Got the same look, and attitudes, from several other people!

2) "Closing" is a word that means nothing to me. We have had a million different closing dates and they all come and go... FRUSTRATING! They now say Tuesday...who knows. If I don't work at Home Depot in the future I want to be an underwriter and get people's mortgages done quickly! :) To clarify, we do not have a loan yet... we won't know about the loan until the day before we close. Isn't that just great!? They say things are looking good though.

3) I am 99.9% sure I do NOT want another baby. Our poor little man was/is sick and was up all night long last night. I don't think TJ and I have it in us to do the whole no sleep thing again. Say a prayer for our little man. He is SO stuffed up.

4) Sometimes doctors call and make appointments for you for no good reason. Anderson's foot doctor called yesterday saying he wanted to see him today and when we arrived he sent us home!!! He said he didn't need to really see him! What? He did give us our $30 co-pay back. Does he NOT know how hard it is getting two kids up and going in the morning and out the door for a morning doctors appointment!???

5) Don't schedule photo sessions during nap time. I don't think there is ever a good time to get professional photo's taken so I thought I would do it today!... AFTER the doctors appointment!... Oh it was horrible but we actually got some GREAT pictures of the kids. I can't wait to post them. They should be up tomorrow. Mom said it was like wrestling two alligators. It was madness!

6) I am VERY thankful to have my mom here... It's fantastic having a helping hand AND the ability to do some things with just TJ. TJ and I went and got ice cream tonight and that was a treat!

7) I am excited about the Olympics. I LOVE gymnastics, swimming, and diving the best and I hope TJ doesn't make me watch the stupid stuff like basketball! I didn't "learn" this but I thought I would add it in.

It's been a great week, but still have some frustrations about the house so pray that things keep rolling. Karoline got a haircut this week and Anderson got his rat-tale cut off. I don't count it as his first haircut because it was two cuts and I didn't have my camera with me. Here are some cute picture of the kids.

This picture describes the mood Karoline has been in all week :) The princes' crown is upside down.

Anderson is standing a lot now and Karoline likes to help...

Such a big boy standing up...



Anderson having fun with a basket of books...

Helping mommy with laundry...

Reading with Gammy in Anderson's room...

The new haircuts...

In The Middle Of Waiting...

Well, I'll start off by saying that having my mom here is nothing short of wonderful! It's so nice having this little angle that follows me around cleaning up after me and my kids :) Hehe... she is a HUGE help and I am so thankful she is here. Finally! She got in on Saturday morning at 2:30AM!!!

We are still in the middle of waiting! We are still working on the house loan stuff... we should know from Bank of America tomorrow about our new loan. They don't think it will be a problem at all so I hope they are correct. I really like the new people we are dealing with. I don't know that it's a done deal by any means but things are looking better than they did last Thursday. Here is our current prayer request: 1)That we get a loan... 2)FAST CLOSING! I know that fast and closing don't belong in the same sentence but we need a FAST CLOSING! Our contract runs out on Friday, Aug. 8th, so we will have to pay $100 a day until we close! I REALLY REALLY don't want to do this but since we have already extended our contract once before I am not sure if we can do that again. Anyway... KEEP praying.

Funny thing... yesterday I forgot to call AT&T to tell them we ended up not closing on Friday and they switched our phone to the new house. We were without phone and internet all day yesterday. It was strange! But it's back on now. It could have been worse. It could have been DirecTV or the power! :)

Also, on a side note please keep my friend, Emily, in your prayers. She is in the middle of waiting too! She is due tomorrow with her second baby girl and we are SO excited! She is READY to have this baby! Please pray for her comfort (is there really comfort during labor?), Avery, Ryan, and her mom as she is flying in tomorrow.

Here are some pictures...

This little man LOVES bath time. We do bathes every-other night. It does not matter where he is in the house or what he is doing, when he hears the water start to run he crawls as fast as he can to the bath and stands up while the water fills up. It's just too cute!


Precious girl before church... we went to the late service and mom stayed home with Anderson while he took a nap. I took her to the service with me so she could watch TJ play. She enjoyed it but once the message started she wanted to go to her class. She was so happy when TJ took her. She LOVES going to church!


The boy LOVES his puffs as you can tell... they never get old.


Sorry the pictures of Gammy are of her in her PJ's... Karoline's favorite time with my mom is during breakfast when they have an "oatmeal party"...

Having A Garage Sale While On The Phone With Lenders

Today was the first day of our garage sale... I did pretty well. We made about $175. Not too bad for a Friday. Maybe we will get more people tomorrow but I am honestly happy with the $175! I still have a TON of stuff to sell...

TJ stayed home from work today to help me with the kids and because he already took the day off because we were supposed to close on the house today. So it was great he was home... AND my sweet friend, Emily, came over so the girls could play. Emily is 9 months pregnant... could go into labor at any moment, and was so sweet to come keep Karoline entertained!

As far as the house goes, we have options... TJ and I have been on the phone ALL DAY! Bank of America is trying to get a loan approval through another lender and we are also meeting with a mortgage broker tomorrow to have a back up. We also have an amazing offer though Quicken Loans... so we have options. Everyone CANNOT believe we didn't get the first loan. SO KEEP PRAYING!!!! We are trusting God and KNOW HE has a bigger plan for our family!

Also, my mom is stuck in Denver, CO trying to get here. So she is supposed to arrive at 2:30AM! NO FUN for her! Anyway... here are some pictures from today! Between my yard sale and being on the phone ALL day with loan people, I am beyond tired!! I might even go to bed before midnight tonight!

Karoline and Avery having fun together...


TJ got yogurt on Anderson's head during dinner tonight... it was pretty funny!