Karoline's First Day of Preschool

Karoline woke up ready for her first day at Preschool. We took her at 8:45am and walked her in and she was fine. We left and she just started playing.

At 11:45am we went to pick her up. The director told me she had a great day. Her teacher brought her to the car and said she did great... BUT she went potty in her pants... TWICE! Her teacher said she told her she wanted to potty with mommy at home. She said they were totally fine with Karoline adjusting to their potty and it was no big deal.

So this is what she said when she got in the car:

Me: Did you meet new friends in your class?
KBG: Yes, their just creatures mommy.
And mom and I could not hold back out laughs...

Me: Did you eat a snack at school?
KBG: I won't eat punch, I just eat the cookies.

Me: What is your teachers name?
KBG: My creatures name is Lilly? (I think her name is Elizabeth but maybe they call her Lilly? I'll have to ask)

TJ says she told him about playing with a little girl named Claire and she said to me she played with Anna Belle, so she is already learning her new friends names.

Anyway, it was fun for her and when I put her down for her nap she said "I'll go back to school after my nap mommy." She is ready for Thursday already!




Update on Buster: He did great last night. He came up to my side of the bed a few times and if I just pet him he would lay down. Also, he went in his "house" when we went to get Karoline and did SO well. He even stayed in there and slept for a while after we got home & during dinner. I am SO glad he likes his house. Karoline is warming up to him quickly, and of course Anderson just loves playing with him.

Can You Believe...

... that this sweet boy was on a schedule to be euthanized two days before Thanksgiving??

Yes, we have a new member of the Goff family! This is Buster, formally Butters but we felt like that needed to change and my niece, Pressley, picked out his new name. We were not expecting to get a dog so soon but Buster found his way into our home. Here is the story...

Christmas day we all played with our neighbors dog and the reality that we REALLY missed having a dog in our lives set in. By that night TJ was filling out an application to rescue a dog through the Grateful Golden's Rescue Organization. We rescued Whisper from the DFW Rescue and knew we wanted to do it again. They website says it takes around 4-6 months because the dogs are all over South Carolina. We thought 4-6 months would be good for us too.

They called and did a phone interview and a few days later came in did a house interview and approved our family for adoption. We also told them what we were looking for... SMALL (for a golden at least), house trained, young, well behaved, loves kids, does not bark much, does not have thunderstorm anxiety. That's not a lot to ask for, right!?

Then they told us to wait. They said we would just have to check the website often and we would probably have to drive a long distance to meet a dog.

WELL, they called Saturday night. They said there was a dog that was two years old and small and they wanted us to call the foster mom and possibly meet him AND he was 4 miles from our house!!

From my talk with the foster mom I knew he would be great for us. We met him on Sunday and FELL IN LOVE with this sweet boy! His foster mom told us his story...

- He was owner surrendered to a shelter because "they could not do anything with him"
- The shelter was crowded and he was scheduled to be put to sleep two days before Thanksgiving
- THANKFULLY an employee at the shelter called Grateful Golden's
- He was in such bad shape- dirty, bleeding on his nose probably from neglect in a cage- they cleaned him up and he was in foster care for 6 weeks.

He is WONDERFUL! A lot like Whisper except 45 pounds lighter! They don't think he has thunderstorm anxiety but there where no storm while in their care. He does not mind rain or fireworks so that's a good sign. We LOVE having Buster as a part of our family! His foster mom cried all morning before bring him to us. She is so sweet and said she would come visit often and if we ever go out of town she wants to keep him! She was a blessing for Buster and for us!

I cannot tell you how happy my children are to have a golden back in the house. Anderson LOVES bring him his toys and Karoline just LOVES her "puppy".

Welcome home Buster!





Buster's foster mom, Lorraine


** On a side note, Anderson went potty in the potty today for the first time!!! AND Karoline starts school tomorrow!!

Gandaddy Leaves

My dad had to leave Saturday night and we miss him so much. The kids had a BLAST with him. They took MANY long walks in the wagon and the stroller, sometimes twice a day, and played in the back yard most of the day. Any time dad went outside on the patio and didn't take Anderson with him Anderson would to go the door and cry and bang on it until we let him out with dad. It was so cute! Also, Dad is already trying to get Karoline interested in playing golf but I still think she is going to stick with soccer. We were spoiled with such a long visit from Gandaddy.

The New Year and Mommy Wise

Happy New Year! 2009!


I was thinking about my "resolutions" for this New Year and my list was WAY too long. There are so many things I WANT to do but having two young children makes things really hard. I struggle to find balance in my life. How do I juggle being a good supportive wife, an involved loving yet good at discipline mom, keep up my house duties, do the family finances, possibly be a working mother, trying to find time to take care of myself (working out!), and finding time to rest and listen to what my Heavenly Father is telling/ teaching me!

I was telling TJ that I need to put myself on a strict schedule. Why didn't someone come out with Mommy Wise? Baby Wise is a wonderful program that helps you get your babies on a great schedule/ routine. It works out great. My children are and have always been on a great schedule! I cannot say the same for me! I make sure their on schedule but that leaves me living my life around their schedule. This leads to some days without a shower, no quiet time, no time for working out, not enough quality time with TJ...

So my new years resolution is to figure out a schedule that works for ME and TJ and then also try and keep my childrens schedule (as best as possible). Everyone is probably saying "Good luck with that!".

So, if anyone could write a book called Mommy Wise and help me out with this that would be great! Happy New Year!

Happy New Years Eve!

Our last family picture of 2008!


I cannot believe in just a few minutes it will be 2009! This past year has been a crazy year. Here is who I break down the past year:
January- Anderson starts sleeping through the night and our family is finally getting rest
February- Newborn with a cast on his leg
March- Karoline turns two and best friends Natalie, Wayne, and Emma Raines visits, started house hunting in CA
April- Brent, Leigh, Jackson, and Pressley come visit and we went on our first family of four vacation to Monterey, CA
May- My first mothers day with both our children, still house hunting in CA
June- Vacation to the South to go to the beach and visit in Texas, put contract on house in CA
July- Spent the whole month getting ready to move to house in CA
August- Still spent my days trying to get ready to move to house in CA, mom visits waiting to help with the move
September- NO house in CA! Totally felt God calling us to move to Myrtle Beach and we decided we were crazy enough to go!
October- Visit to Myrtle Beach, found a house, found movers, packed a million boxes, and MOVED! Had a hard time saying goodbye to friends in CA and especially our sweet dog, Whisper! Anderson turns ONE!
November- Across the country drive! Move into 522 Carolina Farms Blvd. Our new president is elected.
December- Started Wellspring meetings, got settled in, enjoyed visiting family in GA and AL, had our first Christmas in Myrtle Beach!

My one word to sum up 2008 is EMOTIONAL! It was a really hard year emotionally but a wonderful year at the same time! We feel so blessed! I pray that 2009 will be a wonderful year for your family and ours! I really pray for Wellspring especially and that the Lord will use our family to reach people for Christ in Myrtle Beach!

I know 2009 will bring many different things for our family, Karoline will start preschool, I might start working full or part time, TJ will probably find a second part time job, I have lots of new babies I am looking forward to the birth of, vacations, visits from people, road trips, Wellspring, hopefully adding a new dog to our family (more on this later), TJ and I might start working out :) etc... I am excited!

So HAPPY NEW YEAR and I pray that 2009 is a wonderful year for us all!

Our Talker, Our Little Man

I wanted to do a 14 month post but forgot since Christmas was just days away! Anderson is growing up SO fast! Here some info about our little man at 14 months old!
- Talking- Anderson is starting to "talk" a LOT! He can say mama, dada, duck, yogurt, juice, milk, bath, "I need that" (I swear it sounds like he is saying I need that!), "Get it", "uh oh", baby, this, and that. He also LOVES to sing. His favorite song is "Halleluia, Your love makes me sing" and "How Great Is Our God". It's SO cute to here him try and sing these songs! He will try and say anything you ask him to say. It's SO cute! He is going to be a talker for sure. When he gets going he won't stop! He also signs milk, more, and all done.

- Running- he is basically running all over the house. He tries so hard to keep up with Karoline especially when we are playing soccer.

- Eating- He is finally eating more! He is still so small but was sick a few weeks and I think he lost weight then. He LOVES tofu, cheese, yogurt, peas, honey baked ham, bread, and oatmeal. He still hides his food when he is done with his meal... silly man!

- Sleeping- He is still on two naps but we are trying to move to one. He finally stopped sleeping in his sleep sack and now sleeps with his blanket. He loves it. He does not stayed covered up but he loves it. He is just too long for his sleep sack now. Before bed at night he likes to read a few books, rock, and sing. He loves to cuddle and lay on our check and tuck his little arms under his body. It's SO precious!

- Playing- He LOVES to play. He is so focused when he plays with his toys! It's so fun to watch him play. He still likes to get into the baskets with the toys and play or in the basket of books to look at them. He's so silly!




Anderson is the sweetest little boy! He has the best personality and I just LOVE him so much. He loves to be adventurous but also understands his boundaries (most of the time!). He is ALWAYS happy... well 99.9% of the time! I cannot believe Anderson is 14 months old!

Our Christmas

TJ and I didn't have much under the tree. BUT we got our Christmas from mom and dad after... at Lowes! We got a trip to Lowes to buy some flowers and landscaping stuff for our house. The house looks SO much better. I also finally hung my hummingbird feeder Natalie gave me years ago! She was so proud of me. Dad also got me a blue bird house. He put it up at the end of our lot and some blue birds were checking it out today.






We also got a small entry table. I LOVE it and need to decorate it more but I don't have time right now. Dad got a lot of shells from the beach this week and I want to clean them off and put them on the table so I have a few small things I plan on doing.

I also got my curtains for our kitchen back from mom. I bought these two panels from Pottery Barn for the house in CA. And like all that I bought I could not return them. I was so sad b/c I didn't think I could use them in this house but mom has a wonderful lady in Texas who cut them in half for me! Now I have 4 panels and they are the perfect size for our kitchen and it much better than having to buy two more!

Sunrise

My dad woke up this morning and went to the beach before sunrise for a long walk. He took these pictures with his cell phone but I still think they are beautiful! I just had to share.






This is the hotel my dad thinks was where my parents went for their honeymoon 38 years ago.

The Beach

My parents wanted to go to the beach for a little while the day after Christmas. It was foggy but we went and had a good time. Anderson enjoyed walking in the sand much better this time around. So did Karoline come to think of it. I guess they are getting used to the sand. Mom and Dad went back to the beach again today and today it is much nicer... beautiful skies, 80 degrees, humid... oh, December in Myrtle Beach!
I took my small camera with me so the pics are not as good... but still cute.

Our Christmas Celebration!

Merry Christmas!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas... We did! The kids enjoyed opening all their gifts and playing with all their new toys! Both sets of grandparents got the kids so much and they loved it all! We had a wonderful dinner and have been enjoying the leftovers.
On Christmas Eve TJ and I watched The Nativity Story. If you have not seen this movie you really need to. It really made me think about how AMAZING the birth of Christ is and how I am SO thankful for all that God has done in our lives! I think watching that movie is going to be a new family tradition. It definitley helps reflect on the real meaning of Christmas!
Here are some pictures from our fun filled Christmas day!

Karoline was scared of all the stuff Santa brought but Anderson was ready to dig in and play!

I passed down my American Girl Doll that I got in 4th grade to Karoline. My mom got her an Auburn cheerleader outfit and it is PRECIOUS!

My parents got the kids a wagon for going to the pool and the beach. We love it!

Anderson got some new wheels... Karoline thinks they are her new wheels!


Karoline got a scooter from GiGi and PopPop... she loves it!




Karoline got an ironing board and when she opened it she had NO IDEA what in the world it was. TJ explained that Karoline has never seen me iron in her WHOLE life so why should she have known what it was... He's right. I am a horrible mom :)

I am making our Christmas dinner and wearing Karoline's apron and princess crown she got in her stocking.

Testing out the new wagon with gandaddy... it's a BIG hit!

Dancing with Gammy and Gandaddy

Mom's getting a PUPPY!! We were so glad we could give her such a big surprise. She will be able to get her puppy when she gets back to Texas. The lady who dad is buying the puppy from took a picture of her and we wrapped it in a box. Mom cried, I cried! We cannot wait for them to get their puppy and bring it to Myrtle Beach!