With Christmas quickly approaching, we are busy as ever. I (Brannon) have been to a cookie exchange that was a lot of fun and have done 2 performances of the choir musical at church. I’ve also been helping the youth choir learn some Christmas music to sing in church next Sunday. We have all of our Christmas shopping done (I think). We actually got a lot done on Black Friday when mom was here to watch Luke for us. We had a fun Thanksgiving with her here. We spent the day at the beach, which Luke absolutely loved. I think we’re going to try to do a beach day once a month or so since he had so much fun.

Unfortunately, due to a strange sequence of events, the house that we were under contract on previously fell through. Since that house fell through we signed a contract on another house that the owner took off he market right after we signed. So, we are once again on the house hunt. This might be kind of fun if we didn’t feel we are under a bit of a deadline since we would really like to be moved in a house of our own before baby arrives. She and I are doing really well. She was measuring perfectly at our big ultrasound and everything looked healthy and beautiful. She is such a squirmer. The u/s tech couldn’t believe how much she was moving. It is pretty constant, even more than Luke did and he was a mover.

Kevin is staying busy with work, preparing for the Christmas party, New Year’s party, launching small groups in January, etc. Luke and I tend to stay busy just getting day-to-day stuff done, although I never get half the stuff done that I need to! Luke is saying many phrases now, mostly the ones that I say the most, so it’s really funny to hear him copy me!

I doubt that I will post again before Christmas as we’ll be preparing for my side of the family to be here. We are really looking forward to that! Merry Christmas! I’m sure I’ll have some fun stuff to post after the holidays.

Thanksgiving at the beach

Sweet boy

I thought I’d add a quick update while Luke is resting (not sleeping, but rolling around in his bed counting, making animal noises, etc). Now that I am finally back on line and able to re-connect I’m trying to think of interesting stuff to include in this update. We are still in a waiting cycle for stuff to go through with the house. We got some good news this week that things are finally progressing but when it will all actually be sorted out, I’m not sure. We’re basically waiting on the bank to approve bids for companies to do the rennovations that the inspection said the house needs.  We also are trying to figure out what to do about getting a bigger vehicle. We need to decide what to do with one of our cars (sell it and how to go about it, or trade it) so that we can pay cash for something else. Our goal is to be a no car payment family. 

I am still “sick” as in I will vomit incessantly if not on my meds (and sometimes even if I am). Most foods still don’t appeal to me at all. I wanted steak so last night we used the gift card that the church gave Kevin for pastor appreciation and went to Outback. All 3 of us really enjoyed that. Luke can eat his weight in that delicious bread.  Steak and sushi (cooked, of course) are about all that are appealing to me lately. Not that I get either very often!

This past weekend we went to Vero Beach and saw Kevin’s extended family. We had a wonderful time and Luke got his first look at the ocean since he was 3 months old. He kept saying, “Ocean, Ocean!” He loved looking at it from a distance but got a little nervous up close. We recently took Luke for his 18 month appointment. Keeping him contained in that little room was an experience. I made the appointment for a Friday so Kevin could go with us and help.  Luke was talkative as always and the doctor was shocked when Luke said, “Bye Bye! Thank you!”  “Doctor” is one of his new favorite words, though, so it must not have been too bad of an experience for him.

The countdown is on now for Nov. 16, which is when we will hopefully find out if Luke is having a little brother or sister! We will be heading up to NC for Thanksgiving and will have family coming down for Christmas so it will be a busy few months and we are looking forward to them!

Here are some pics at the beach. I’ll post one highlighting my growing belly…although if I grow at the rate I did with Luke no one will be seeing anymore pictures in 2 months because there won’t be any!

I stayed home from church last Wednesday night as I hadn’t been feeling well all day (more on that later…). I heard Simon going CRAZY at the window and figured someone must be out there. No, not someONE but some birds…lots of them…everywhere!! I can’t believe he didn’t warn me during the “intrusion”…some guard dog! The culprits assumed we’d all be at church. It would’ve been funny if I’d caught them in the act. I think my mouth about dropped to the floor when I saw this! Anyway, we feel thoroughly welcomed now

We are official Floridians with our licenses, EZ Pass for tolls, and, yes, Annual Passes to Disney World. We decided before we moved that IF our house sold and we could fit it in the budget we’d do it. We actually ended up getting a pretty good deal. We got mine on my b-day so since Disney gives everyone a free ticket on their b-day mine went toward the cost of the AP. Then we have friends who gave us 10% off AP discount cards. We used gift cards for the rest of the cost! So, we’ve been to the parks about every weekend. Luke absolutely loves it.

On Aladdin's magic carpet (Mama doesn't ride the round and round stuff).

On the "borse" (as Luke says).

Playing at Mary's wedding in June

Head to the left, sweet tiny arm and leg buds.

I apologize for the 2 month gap in postings…if that gives you any idea what life has been like! We originally headed down to Orlando on June 6, I think. We had our stuff sent on to Orlando in PODS  b/c our rental house wasn’t ready yet so we wouldn’t have anywhere to put our stuff. Mom and dad drove a car and Kevin and I drove a car. We drove through the night and it was a loooong night. We made it to our temporary living space, which was an unfurnished condo that someone let us use for 2 weeks. While there, we slept on an air  mattress and sat on lawn chairs. Basically, a camp out. Kevin and I also got an outrageous case of food poisining. That was really not fun, especially without a bed or couch to lie on. After the 2 weeks in the condo, Kevin took the SOBC students to World Changers while I went to NC for my cousin Mary’s wedding. I had a great time. Grandma and Papa drove back down with Luke and I so that we would arrive when Kevin did and they could help us get settled in our rental house. We are now kind of settled but still have loads of boxes to unpack. Luke and I have been enjoying hanging out and exploring Orlando during the day. Our church gave us a fantastic welcome and reception. Everyone has been so warm and inviting. We have really enjoyed getting to know the students and families. Luke and I are involved in a playgroup and I am going to my first Mom’s Night Out tomorrow night! We are a little exhausted from all the changes but really enjoying life in Orlando. I’ll try to do better about updating in the next week  or so…and I’ll put up some photos!

He is a busy little boy! I am ready for him to walk so we can go outside and play! I know it will open a whole new world for both of us but I think it will be a lot of fun. He is already into everything and exploring constantly. He is understanding “no” (and saying it!) and listens pretty well. He enjoyed making lots of friends in Orlando- I think he’s going to love it!

We had a great quick visit to our new city over the weekend and we found a house! We will be renting from a church member who is moving out of state. The house is perfect for us with a big room for a playroom and a fenced-in yard for Oscar and Simon! It is such an answer to prayer and we are excited. The only kink is that we can’t move in until July so we are getting that worked out right now. We’re not exactly sure what that will entail but we know we’ll get it figured out.

Thanks for those of you who have been praying for us over the last couple weeks. It has been difficult but we are doing okay. Though it is hard to understand and heart-breaking to have a child that I will never hold in my arms on earth, I rejoice knowing that I have a Hope and will hold him or her in Heaven. I am blessed to have encouraging friends who will bring a meal, call, or email to see how we are doing. Thank you!!

I will try to get some pictures up soon of Luke’s first swim lesson !

Luke’s fascination with Elmo is growing. He now asks for Elmo (either Elmo live or a video). Here is a video the grandparents will enjoy. He usually actually “screams” when Elmo does but he’s just acting it out here. Really tired and sucking those fingers! Still cute, if I do say so myself

It’s official! Kevin will be the Associate Pastor of Youth and Education at South Orlando Baptist Church. We will be moving to Florida in early June as soon as the school year is finished. We received an offer on our house yesterday but it was low so we’ll see what happens. We are trusting God that everything will happen in the right timing. We have walked through the door where he led us and know that He will see us through. We are excited to be joining this church family and making the move to Sunny Florida!

We have been very busy the past few weeks. For months, we had been planning to head to NC over spring break for Grandma Prissy and Papa Rudy’s 50th anniversary party. It was a great party with about 250 of their closest friends and family   Dad and I sang and it was just a special evening.

The happy couple

So, since we were going to be in NC the week of Luke’s 1st Birthday it only made sense to have a huge birthday bash for him at mom and dad’s! It was so fun to have all of our family there.

Enjoying the swingset that his Papa made.

A perfect Elmo cake by Aunt Sarah!

Yum!

He had a wonderful time thanks to Grandma and Papa opening their home to all his guests!

We had planned on staying in NC the entire rest of the week but it had to be cut short a little- so that we could get back home to fly out to Orlando! The church that we have been talking to and praying about over the past months asked us to come down for a weekend-long visit. Kevin met with many committees and preached both morning services. He also taught the youth Sunday School class and we did a Q&A session with students and parents. We had some great meals with students, the search committee, and Youth Leadership Team. We stayed with some very gracious hosts and enjoyed meeting so many nice people. We felt very comfortable and are moving ahead with this church. They will be doing the final vote on April 19. Please continue to pray for this process. We are very, very excited about this church and community!

Since we got to Orlando Thursday afternoon and the meetings didn’t begin until Saturday…what were we to do all day Friday?? What about those Disney passes with “no expiration” sitting in Kevin’s closet?? Yes, now might be a good time to use those! It was so nice to take a day to spend not thinking about all the decisions to be made and just have some fun with our boy! We weren’t sure what to expect from him on the rides. He would get very serious and intense and point to things that he liked. We were there all day long and he did great!

Waiting in "Mexico."

"It's a Small World."

Our last adventure of the day- meeting Pinnochio!

So, you can see that we’ve been pretty busy with some wonderful things lately! We look forward to all that will be happening in the next few months!