Moving Yet Again

Come mid-June, we are moving yet again. But have no fear..we're not going far, just 15 miles down the highway a little further south in Charlotte.

When we moved to Charlotte, we quickly had to find a place to live as our house in Nashville rented very quickly and we needed to be out. After a whirlwind trip to look at places, I finally found a place that met our needs on paper. Once we got here, we realized that our neighborhood wasn't quite the best and the townhouse lacked a lot of storage. Luckily we only signed a year lease and surprisingly that year is almost coming to end.

As only God could do, He has orchestrated such a cool story. We attend the Church at Charlotte, where I have joined the HOME club, a mom's group on Friday mornings. One of my friends in the group is named Brigetta; she and her husband just bought a new house. The house they are currently renting belongs to her inlaws. Her inlaws are now looking for new renters...and guess who they are!!

I'm so excited about this house! It's bigger than what we are in now, has a 2 car garage, screened in back porch, huge fenced in backyard, etc. Also it's in a GREAT area and within walking distance to many great stores, including Target. (Jeremy says this could be dangerous!) A huge bonus too is that it is closer to all our church friends..no more long drives to hang out! And the best part of this......the rent is cheaper than what we are paying now!

We are so very grateful in how the Lord has arranged all of this. We are soooo looking forward to moving...is it June 15th yet?

Seminary Reunion

For three fun (yet challenging) years, Jeremy attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. We LOVED our time there and made some incredible, life-long friends. This past weekend 5 of the families that lived together in the same townhouse community got together for a little reunion. While in seminary, there were 4 kids among the five of us (2 to the Stinsons and 2 to the Browns) and now there were a whopping 13 kids in attendance. Every family now has added a kid (or two) to their family since we left a few years ago.

Steven and April were our lovely hosts for the weekend. Steven grilled us an awesome dinner while April rocked the side dishes. :)

With 13 kids, the house was a zoo!

We moved the party outside and the kids loved jumping on the trampoline and playing on the fort.
Owen was a little overwhelmed with that many kids. It took him a while to detach from me.
The boys played Home Run Derby, like they used to do in the parking lot.
12 out of the 13 kids actually posing for a picture (Ben had already gone to bed).
Oliver made many new friends...he especially loved the Brown girls. Jaime, they need a little brother. :)
The girls were lucky enough to get away for an hour or so for dessert. While everyone else stayed and spent the night, we took our boys back home in hopes for a good night sleep. Sadly I think they thought they were missing out and didn't sleep well that night.

We had a great time catching up and it really makes me miss our time in seminary. The girls commented that night that while we were there we were so ready to be done and out of there but now we can figure out why. It was such a unique and special time which we will always treasure. Browns, Phillips, Sheltons, and Stinsons, we love you guys!

**Thanks Jaime for being the official photographer. **

Oliver @ 4 Months

Oliver reached the 4 month mark on Saturday, April 2. We went to the doctor this morning and here are his stats.

Weight: 15 lbs (54th %tile)
Height: 26 1/4 in (90th %tile) He grew 4 inches!!
Head:16 3/4 in (59th %tile)

At 4 months, he:

• Wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month bottoms and 6-9 month tops
• Is still exclusively breast-fed. He eats about every 3 hours for about 20 mins.
• Enjoys chewing on anything that gets close to his mouth.
• Laughs and coos/squeals all the time; he is quite the talker and flirt.
• Loves watching his big brother, I'm beginning to think he likes him better than me.
• Loves his playmat and has started to swat and pull on the toys above.
• Can roll from his stomach to back and super close to being able to roll from his back to front.
• Hates red lights (seriously the kid screams every time you stop at a red light. It's super frustrating here in Charlotte where there is a light every 30 ft.)
• is still a great night time sleeper. He goes to bed easily around 7 and wakes up around 3 to eat and then will sleep for 4 more hours. However, he is a short napper. He sleeps about 45 mins to an hour and then is up. We have him swaddled, in his bed, and in a dark room..doesn't seem to matter.
• Has gotten better about sitting/playing by himself while I'm cooking dinner.

How 4-month-old Oliver is like his...

• mommy - he likes to be with people and in the middle of the action
• daddy - everyone says he looks just like Jeremy now, same eye color, takes short naps
• brother- has a smile that can melt your heart

Just Like My Daddy..

Jeremy was preparing to teach for small group on Sunday and Owen wanted in on the action. You know at our house we like to start them early..theology books aren't too hard for our boys! :)

I Heart Them!

My 3 favorite guys

Owen @ 2 and half

Monday, the 28th, our biggest little guy turned 2 1/2! I know I say this with every milestone, but I can't believe how fast the time has gone. **I have tried to post this since last week, but Owen wouldn't cooperate to take a decent picture, so here's what we we have.**

His stats (measured by me, since there is no doctor's checkup)
Weight: 32.5 pounds
Height: can't keep him still long enough

He is:
-wearing 2T/3T tops and 2T bottoms for the most part
-no where close to potty training, so he's now up to size 5 diapers

My friend Courtney uses this form and I really like it so here is Owen in a nutshell.

Enjoys: reading books, anything Curious George, watching Daddy play t

he Wii, digging in the sand at the park
Turn Offs: being told no, having to wait his turn, having to clean up his toys
Strengths: good problem solver, can entertain himself, shares well with others
Vices: temper tantrums, bites anything around when he gets really angry, doesn't listen very well

Favorites:

Foods: honestly the kid eats everything we put in front of him... so thankful for a kid who eats so well and so healthy. His favorites though are cottage cheese, Papa cheese (old fashioned hoop cheese from Smith's Red and White in Dortches), bananas, and peanut butter/honey sandwiches.

Songs: Mommy's silly songs she makes up to get him to do things, like brush his teeth
Shows: Curious George, Cat and the Hat knows Alot about ThatBooks: Again Curious George (we have to read one at every bed time/nap time), Cat and the Hat
Toys: tool box, guitar, his play kitchen and food
Activities: transferring these from one thing to another, coloring, playing play dough, digging in the sand at the park, Mr. Potato Head
Person: He is definitely a daddy's boy. He does the cutest dance and song when Jeremy gets home from work everyday. He wants his daddy more than anybody. Honorable mentions: Papa, Katie, and Samuel.

Language:
His speech is improving daily. He is saying more two word phrases. He has mastered the word please. :) He tries to imitate whatever you say but he is missing some key letter sounds, like w, s, and r. His therapists says he has low muscle tone in his tongue and he can't see

m to move his tongue to the proper places to make the sounds. He also is working on making his lips into an o shape.

Gross Motor:
He is making huge progress. He seems less timid changing surfaces, yet still doesn't want to walk the stairs or swing at the park.

Sleeping:
He still takes a 2 hour nap. :) He seems to be taking forever to go to sleep at night these days. Some nights he'll be up talking to himself for over an hour and half.

Sunday night was his first night in his toddler bed. Really it's just taking the front side off his crib but still it's a big difference not to be trapped in.

He has done great with it! We turned his bookshelf around and locked the closets to keep some of the distractions away. He has only really gotten up twice to play in his dresser and both times he got his pajamas out and was trying to put them on. I guess he thought you had to wear your pjs anytime you are in bed. :) He thinks he's hot stuff in his new bed too. I am glad that transition went so well.

How he is like his...
mommy - he is very social and loves having play dates with friends, he's a morning person, he gets obsessed with a certain food and wants it every day, gets excited when daddy walks in the door from work
daddy - his laid back personality, constantly likes to have a drink with him, his obsession for football

We love our little man and feel so blessed to have him as part of our family.

God is Good!

**If you are my friend on Facebook, you have already seen this but I wanted to document it here as a reminder of God's goodness.**

Lately going to the mailbox has become dread. I'm always fearful that there will be yet another person wanting our money. But this Monday was a different story! I opened up the mailbox to find a green envelope addressed to us but had no return address on it. Anxious to see who it was from, I ripped it open and out fell 4 $50 gift cards to Harris Teeter. I opened the card and only the verse "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19. I sat there in my car at the mailbox sobbing. I can't believe that someone/s would do this for us. These gift cards equal almost our monthly grocery budget.

I am overwhelmed by the generosity of this donor. As a family, we have been praying that God would provide the means to pay for all our medical/IRS bills. We knew that the Lord was going to take care of us as He always has, but we never imagined that this would be one of the ways that the Lord would provide. The card was so true.....God does provide for all of our needs. Now we can use the grocery money to pay another bill.

So thank you...whoever you are....you have blessed us and we pray that the Lord will bless you in return.