*lyssa beth*: May 2013

In the rough...

Amidst the chaos of boxes and moving, we have this going on...

A rolling fool, this one is. {finally!} And I thought he was adorbs on his back.

Well I guess it's about time to let the cat outta the bag.

We are moving!

As you can see from my snazzy image that we are heading to Elvis's home town, Memphis TN.

You may be wondering why? Ya me too...

Here's the lowdown:
-Joe is heading back to school. He'll be attending University of TN Health Science Center for Endodonics or, in other words, Root Canals. It's a 2 year program.
-We've known since Sept. that we'd be moving to TN.
-We've had to keep it a secret due to his current work situation. We didn't want all his patients in the office leaving to find a new dentist!
-We've known for about a year and a half that we needed a change. So the application process began.
-So while I was growing large with Jake, he was busy sending in applications, then heading out to 8 interviews all over the country.
-Sept. 20th, Emma's Birthday, we found out we got into the TN program. What. a. relief. This was his 2nd to last interview so we were starting to get a little nervous. I was driving back to Cashmere from being away for a few days in the Tri-Cities to avoid the smoke from the millions of fires.
-At this point in the game, we are excited for a new adventure, new people, and new prospects at what our future could hold for us.
-Granted, i've had this whole time to get used to the idea. At first, I was not a fan.
-I love Cashmere. Seriously. Heaven on Earth. I am very sad to leave. I have stability. The school here is incredible. I have friends. The kids have friends. We are safe. The community is unbelievable. I honestly wanted to live here forever. I was hoping, just hoping, things would work out. But it didn't. And that's okay.
-This decision didn't come lightly. It was years in the making. I know it is best for our family. Definitely will be better in the long run.
-I just hope we can find another place like Cashmere to call home one day.

SOOOOOOO the moving date is approaching very quickly. If you saw my home right now, you would slowly walk away backwards then quickly turn around and run like the dickens. We're gearing for a garage sale. Packing up with 4 kids is very very hard.
I'll be leaving with the kids June 13th to the Seattle airport to pick up my Dad, who will then help me drive to UT. I'll stay a week there and then my parents & siblings will then proceed to do a momentous Family roadtrip to TN. It should be really fun.
And Joe will leave on the 15th and head straight to TN and get things started over there with unpacking and such. Poor guy gets the hard HARD part of it.
So our Summer will be very busy and full of new adventures.

So stayed tuned...
(I will probably do a few lamenting posts for the loss of Cashmere and Life that I once had...just wait for that ;) )

Kate's Mother's Tea Party

Miss Kate's class had a Mother's Tea Party Friday evening. It was the best party ever, as Kate likes to say. Only mom's were invited. We all sat down and relaxed. The kids then did some entertaining for us. They did "The Little Red Hen", as you can see above. Kate was the Hen. She did a great job reading her lines. She's such a super reader. I've amazed at her growth this year!
After the program, we got to eat some strawberries, cookies & chocolate muffins. Then Kate was able to play with some friends on the playground. Then we walked home together. It was a great way to end the day!

Emma's big program

Emma had been looking forward to May 10th for a while now. Her class has been practicing for the big Mother's Day program for a while. Every day, I would hear her singing the songs and she'd tell me about it. There was so much anticipation!
So yesterday finally came. I let her wear her church outfit. I even curled her hair! I was surprised I had time for that but seeing how Emma was up and ready for school by 6:30 AM.....

2:00 pm came and I went to school. I was able to get a few shots of her before the program started :)

All the kids did great and the songs were really sweet.

Here is some of her singing...She even did a solo part :)
My favorite part is her "cute pose" she chose. She is too funny.

After, we went to her class and they gave us some gifts then we had some cookies.

Emma then excitedly sat me down and read my a book :)

Her teacher pulled me aside and told me she wanted to show me something. A boy in their class with down syndrome was sick and was in the hospital. Each of the kids wrote or drew him something. It was a wonderful book for him. Her teacher showed me what she wrote him. It was a full page long. It was the sweetest, heartfelt letter to him. I am getting a copy of it and will post it on here. I was amazed at what she wrote and the maturity/understanding that she has for this world. I started bawling, which made the teacher start crying and my friends too. I am so blessed to have this girl as my daughter. I do not deserve her. I wish I were a perfect mom for her. But I am doing the best that I can to rear her the way that God would be pleased with. This was a great day. I loved being with just Emma. I am so proud of her and the girl she is becoming!

Jake at 6 months

Another month has passed!

It seems with his weight, that he might be starting to taper off finally. He's definitely been more mobile this month than last.

Here's what he's been up to this month:

-lifting his legs up and can grab his feet.

-rocking his legs back and forth.

-TODAY he rolled from his back to tummy during nap time!

-teething like crazy but still no teeth.

-grabs toys and chews on them.

-eats solids food and starting to eat table food.

-learning to drink from a cup.

-lifts his chest and partial tummy off ground when on his stomach.

-wiggles & moves around in all directions when on his back.

-knows his family and familiar friends.

-has done many hearty laughs!

-sleeps from 6:30 pm to about 6:15 am.

-naps 2 times a day.

-gets separation anxiety when I leave the room.

-loves to grab your face with both hands and give big smooches!

He just keeps growing and being such a joy!

my little princes

I am smitten by my boys. I can't get enough of them. I know you probably figured with Jake, since I obsessively post about him. But I have a huge crush on Luke too.

He's just getting so big and "boy"ish these days. He has the cutest little voice that talks so well now. I love hearing him talk to me and ask questions.

And he loves his little baby Jake. He's much better with him these days. At 2 months, things were a bit rough. But now, he's gentle and tries to play with him or make him smile when he's crying.

And look what we have here? Is that a sitter?! Yep, Jake is becoming quite the big almost 6 month old now! He's a supported sitter these days. We have daily workout times to get him stronger :)

Aren't his eyes amazing? I always get drawn in.

Which one?!

So i'm preparing to get some canvas prints made and need your help. All of these are very similar but the kids faces are different. Which one should I pick?! Which one do you like the most? Please, give me some feedback :)

Also I will be posting my other great pictures from my family pictures very soon. There is just too much going on right now (that's for a whole other post...coming soon)