SLO in Arkansas: June 2008

Saturday, June 28, 2008

11 months

My baby is only three weeks away from being a year old!!! He has changed so much these past few months and is so much fun. He fills my days with laughter and we have such a good time hanging out together. I am really thankful for him now especially, since I am still getting to know the ropes around town, and he is a good little buddy to hang out with:) Here are some pictures from this past week.

I was invited to go to a water park with the wife of Silas' co-worker, Chris. I have met Susan several times when we have been in town while building the house, and so it was nice to get to spend some more time getting to know her. They don't have children yet, but she also invited her best friend Kristy to go with us, and her little boy Cade who is only a month younger than Tyson. We had a blast together!! It was a perfectly hot and sunny day, and the water park was the best place to be. It is located in Paragould, which is about 20 minutes outside of Jonesboro. It was so nice! It's not a huge park, but there are things for kids of all ages there. They have big water slides and a diving board in the deep pool for the older kids, a 4 foot deep pool for the middle age kids(that's where we spent a lot of time with the babies in the floats), and then this awesome one foot play area with a huge playground in the middle and water guns, those mushroom umbrella fountains to play under, and squirting waterfalls. There is also a splash area that just shoots water fountains up from the ground. Then you can lay out all around the pool areas, and there is a concession stand too. It was such a perfect place to take the kids and I have a feeling we will be heading back several more times over the summer. Tyson loved walking around in the one foot deep area and getting sprayed with the water. He just kept squealing and splashing around. I am so glad he loves the water, since that is something Silas and I really enjoy ourselves. I will get some more pictures of the actual park next time we are there.

Here is Ty showing off his new swim suit. I had been looking for him a cute outfit for the 4th of July and found these shorts at the Children's Place this week at the mall, and they were perfect! Even better was that they were on sale, and turned out to be swimming trunks too, so he is now wearing them to swim in. I am glad he will get more use out of them over the rest of the summer:) I caught him in one of his favorite acts for this picture....pulling all our clothes out of the dresser drawers!

My little boy is standing up on his own so well now, and practices standing around not holding onto anything when he can. This is the view of him I see most often throughout my day.....standing right under my feet or pulling up on my legs. He still wants to be held all the time, which is getting harder, as you can see in the picture above that he is a little chunk!

I am getting ready for his 1st birthday coming up, but am not quite sure what we are going to do. Since we live out here, and pretty much every body that knows us is back in Searcy, we may go back there for a little party. I plan to have a turtle party for him, and already have the cake mold. I am going to practice it before hand though to make sure it turns out ok!

Other than that, everything else is going well. I went to work for the first time this week and now have a case load of 7 clients. I will work my first full day this coming week since my babysitter will be back in town. It was good to get out of the house and do a little work. I have missed it. Things are very different here in this office than they were in Searcy, so it will take a little getting used to, but it should be good. I am even looking forward to picking up a few more clients once school starts back and Tyson heads off to Mother's Day Out on Tuesday and Thursdays:)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Pictures

Here are some random pictures of Tyson over the past few weeks. I have been so behind at getting any posted in all the craziness! The first one was swimming with Shelby in their little pool a few weeks before we moved. He loves the water and had a great time playing and splashing:)

This was from hanging out with my friend Michelle and her little boy Bryson. We ate lunch at her grandmother's house and then she put the little boys on the swing outside. Tyson loved it, but she had to hold onto him so he wouldn't crawl off the edge!

Little man in his big boy life jacket. This was Ty's first time out on our boat, and he had a ball. We went to the lake for Memorial weekend and had so much fun riding around and being outside. I missed going to the lake so much last summer and was glad to get back out on the water. Tyson even took a nap in my lap while we were driving around since the motion of the waves was so relaxing. The boat was actually a great place for him, since it is carpeted and has padding all over the seats and sides. He crawled around and had fun looking over the edge at the water. Of course he had to take a turn at driving, so Silas gave him his first lesson behind the wheel. He did great, and loved every minute of it:) I am looking forward to going back to the lake and getting him out on the tube soon. I can ride it with him and sit down in the middle, which should be fun. Now that it's hot enough, the water should be a lot warmer too, so we can swim.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Back in Business

Have you ever tried to go a day without checking your email or looking around at blogs??? I have been out of the loop for almost 2 full weeks now and was starting to have some Internet withdrawals!!! But we are back and kicking and things are good.

I'm not really sure where to even start. The most exciting part of my day today was that I became an Aunt again!!! Silas' older sister Stephanie had her little girl today...Kennedy Paige Baker. I can't wait to see pictures of her. We don't know much except that mom and baby are doing well. The worst part of my day was waking up with the baby a little past 5:00am. Since we have moved, we are all very out of sorts and off schedule and he is not sleeping well either. We have had a lot of big changes this past week and I guess it will just take us a while to get back on track again. I have felt extremely overwhelmed with the move and all, plus I was sick all during last week, and am just starting to feel like things are calming down a bit. I am trying to take things one day at a time. Or as my new neighbor said..."You still eat an elephant one bite at a time." So we are busy trying to eat the elephant that is unpacking, sorting and trying to find a place for 6 years worth of stuff!!! I am hoping to not pack any boxes for a very long time if I can help it:)

The house is great so far. It's also really big. I guess a lot of that comes from being cooped up in a little apartment for several months. I am very thankful for all the space, and feel that we have plenty to grow into. My parents were life-savers and came for the move, and helped with the unloading of the truck and entertaining little man so we could get things done. I really don't think we could have managed without them here. It was also nice to get to spend father's day with my dad:) There are still lots of little things that need doing for the house, so I try to get to one a day if possible. The biggest one is probably needing blinds for the windows, but it never seems to get done. We have curtains on the bedrooms, but really need something for the other windows, both for privacy and for helping with the costs of cooling the house. The sun on the west windows really heats the place up in the afternoons! Of course I have been in laundry heaven too. Silas was wonderful and hooked up my washer and dryer first thing and I don't think they have stopped running since! I love them so much:) I am very thankful they are energy efficient since I have to use them so much. I am almost caught up in that area I think.

Tyson seems to enjoy his new room and loves looking out the window at the street. All of our windows go down to the floor, and he spends a lot of time looking out of them. He is changing so much and so fast it's wearing me out daily. He cruises around the furniture and walks well holding onto your hands. It won't be long before he takes off on his own. I am looking forward to that! He has been extra clingy since the move and needs lots of one-on-one time and holding, which makes the unpacking all the more difficult. He is doing better now though, and I think we may have turned the corner. He also talks incessantly, and has so much to say about everything. Too bad we don't understand a word of it! His favorite word is daddy right now, and I am still waiting for him to say mama. When you try to get him to say it, he just looks at me and smiles and yells, dada! The kid still eats like a horse and has not met one food he hasn't loved. He eats black olives, tuna fish, hummus, lettuce, rice cakes, pickles, lemons, pork chops, and the list goes on and on. Every new taste is good to him and he just eats it up. I am glad he likes healthy things and we have worked hard not to give him too much sugar or junk food yet. He likes real food so much, so thankfully I don't have to worry about what to give him. If it's on my plate, he wants it:)

Let's see, what else is going on. The move really has consumed most of our time lately, and I am ready to be somewhat settled so we can start to fall into a normal routine again. I was supposed to start work this week, but my babysitter went out of town, so I will have my first full day next week when she returns. I am squeezing in a few hours this week in the afternoons once Silas gets home from work. Can I even begin to describe how divine it is to live in the town where your husband works?!? Silas has spent 3 hours a day on the road for almost the last 4 years, and his 10 minute commute is just fabulous!!! He has made it home for lunch one day, and Ty and I took him lunch and ate with him at his office another day. We are loving every minute of that. Plus, I can get up in the mornings with him now and eat breakfast and visit a bit before he heads out. The extra time together has truly been a blessing, and exactly the reason why it was time to make this move in the first place. I am sure he will get sick of me following him around all the time, but for now we are enjoying it!

Well, this has been quite an update. Sorry to not have pictures right now. I am waiting to take some of the house once I get a few more things unpacked and it looks more lived in. It will be a work in progress for a long time I am sure. I would truly appreciate prayers for our family these next few weeks, and especially for me as I adjust to my new life here. Now that some of the dust has settled from the whirlwind of the move, I am starting to feel the loneliness of living in a town where you don't know anyone. I know the relationships and friendships will come in time, but it has been hard for me to not be able to pick up the phone and call someone to go take a walk or go to lunch. Pray that we find a church home as well. We visited one on Sunday that was so big and very different from our small congregation in Judsonia, and it made me feel even more out of place. Our life is great, but I am longing for some familiarity and the comforts of feeling truly "at home" right now. I know all of that will come in time, and for now I am trying to find some joy in the journey:) Thankfully Tyson is a full time job and constant entertainment, so I don't get too lonely:)

Monday, June 09, 2008

Tyson and G-Daddy

Silas and I had to stay in Jonesboro the first half of last week to work on the house, so we got to see my dad when he came up for work. Tyson was excited to see his G-Daddy, even for a just a little bit before he had to go to bed. We are all very excited to be able to spend more time with my family when they come to town, since it will be a little more convenient than coming all the way out to Searcy. My parents should be coming out this weekend to help us move, if everything goes according to plan! Actually, they are coming to play with the baby so Silas and I can do all the heavy lifting.....do you blame them?!?!? Either way it will be a huge help, and we are excited to see them in just a few days!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Hey Jude

My oh my, my baby sister has had herself a little boy!!! Tyson is so excited to have a boy cousin just 10 months younger:) I can only imagine what trouble these two will get into growing up! I am still a little in shock that the baby is here, since she wasn't due for 2 more weeks. As far as I know, everyone is healthy and doing well.

So here are his stats.

Jude Hamilton Mosey
5 lbs. 14 oz
20 inches long
born June 4, 2008

I have not seen a picture of the little guy yet, but I am sure my sister will start posting some soon once they get home from the hospital tomorrow. You can check out her blog for pictures if you want from the link on the side of mine. Just wanted to share our exciting news!

SLO in Arkansas