I'm Still Alive!

I'm still here! I'm still alive! Life has been crazy lately but I'll try to update you.... and I'll try to get back to blogging more often as we continue to get more settled!

Two weeks ago today Drew and his dad arrived in Michigan and we were finally reunited as a family after six weeks apart! The kids readjusted to life with daddy much quicker than I thought. I thought there would be a period of time where they wouldn't want much to do with him and might even be mad at him. Isaiah especially took the separation very hard and I was most worried about him readjusting. However, all three kids did wonderfully! They acted like daddy had never been gone and we went right back into life as normal. It was an unexpected blessing!

On Monday, the 18th, we rented two u-hauls and tried to cram all of our stuff from two storage units into them! Needless to say, we couldn't fit everything in and ended up leaving much of it behind. It's ok, God will provide more! On Tuesday we headed out and began our l.o.n.g. and s.l.o.w. drive down to Florida! Between pulling two {heavy} u-hauls and having three kids who needed several breaks, we moved slowly! But it was ok because that was our plan. We wanted to take it slow and easy and planned to do the normally 18 hour trip in three days and arrive on Thursday. The kids traveled extremely well. Olive was probably the hardest as she had a hard time being entertained when not sleeping. She wanted to be held (who can blame her!?!?!). But Isaiah and Eloise were excellent little travelers. Give them snacks, paper and pens, a movie, and their blankets and they are good to go for hours!

Let's do this!

Traveling made Olive hungry! She ordered a double cheeseburger!! 

This is when we pulled into our hotel the first night. The kids were all sleeping when we arrived. Apparently Isaiah did not want to be disturbed! 

Hanging out in the hotel the next morning.

Love these three babies!!

We arrived in Jacksonville just after noon on Thursday, the 21st and then began the hard work (in almost 100 degree weather!) of moving everything up to our second floor (no elevator) apartment. Thankfully we had Drew's aunt and uncle here helping us, as well as Drew's dad! Then came the tedious work of washing all of our linens and dishes as everything had been in storage for over two years. Also the task of trying to figure out what to unpack and what to keep packed, and figuring out where to put things. Whew! It was quite a day and no, not everything got done that day!

We are staying in a nice apartment building just a few miles from Drew's work. We're staying in a one bedroom apartment. Yes, all FIVE of us in ONE bedroom!!!! But don't worry, it's not permanent. ;) We have a three month lease on the apartment and are currently house hunting. We hope to buy a house by the time our lease is up and finally move somewhere permanently! We have done {SO} much moving recently (I moved 3 times while Drew was in Florida) and the kids are itching for stability. We had originally thought that the kids and I would stay in Michigan until we were able to buy a house and then move straight in. However, it is looking like it will be a while until we close on a house so we decided just to get us all together in something temporary until that time.

First night in our new apartment!

Does anyone feel like they're watching an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive ? 

Not even unpacked and we've already run out of room!

We don't have much space but I really love this tiny little apartment! It's obviously not a permanent solution as more than half our stuff is still packed up for lack of space. And it's not ideal to have us all in one bedroom. But, honestly, I really don't need much space to be happy. I love that I'm so close to the kids all day and can always see what they are doing. It feels quiet and cozy in here and I love it! =) And I think the best part is that, after 2 1/2 years, I'm {FINALLY} using all of my own things again and that really helps the place to feel like home to me. The apartment also has four different pools so the kids are having a blast going to the pool every day. We have all we need for now and we are satisfied!

Enjoying the pool! We've only been here a week and Isaiah has already learned how to swim, all on his own!

I'm just going to think the best and assume that all this dirt that I vacuumed up off the apartment floor came from us when we moved everything in.... not that the apartment was terribly dirty when we got the keys!

Getting a little more settled.

It's starting to look livable in here!

Isaiah likes his new bunk bed!

We've been in the apartment for about a week and a half now and it's starting to feel like home around here. I'm obviously not going to decorate or unpack everything but it still feels good just to be all together as a family, using our own familiar things.

Our dining room is being used as a storage unit right now, housing all the stuff we can't unpack.

Not looking too bad!

Feels like home!

Olive sleeps in the walk-in closet. ;)

Just enough space for us all! =)

We're currently house hunting (crazy stressful!) and believe that the Lord has a house just for us. We're looking and praying and hope to find the right house for us soon and finally have a permanent place to call home! In the meantime, we are enjoying our tiny little apartment. =)

Miss Olive: 4 Months Old

Can't believe how much my little girl is growing up! Yesterday she turned 4 months old! Her looks are really starting to change these days and she is beginning to do more and more. She is such a joy and delight!

This past month has been a stressful one for our family with Drew currently living in Florida and the kids and I living in one bedroom in my Aunt and Uncle's house. Olive has done well with all the change but it's taken a toll on her schedule (or should I say lack of schedule)! Right now we're just going with the flow and doing what we need to in order to make it through this time of transition and later we'll work on getting her back into more of a routine! =) Good thing this girl is flexible!

Face time with Daddy!!

Olive's new second cousin, Decker, was born on her 4 month birthday, August 2nd! He's such a cutie and already smiling for the camera!

Height & Weight: Olive is about 14 1/2 pounds. Not quite sure of her height but she's tall (97th percentile for height)!

Eating: Olive is still nursing great! She eats on average every 3 hours during the day and still twice at night (we're working on that!)

Goofy girl.

Sleep: She is taking 4 naps a day still, three of them are about 1 - 1 1/2 hours long and the third is a little cat nap before dinner. She goes down for the night at 8 and sleeps until about 7. Right now she's waking up 2 -3 times a night and I need to do whatever I can to keep her quiet so she doesn't wake up Isaiah and Eloise who are also in the room with us. Once we move into more permanent housing Olive is going to be doing a little bit more crying it out and will hopefully be sleeping through the night a little better soon. ;)

Olive's first visit to the zoo was last week!

Happy girl. =)

Taking three kids grocery shopping? Piece of cake! ;)

Personality: Olive is such a sweet baby. Very content most of the time and very very smiley! She has proven herself very flexible in these last few weeks also! She still loves her paci but has also been finding her thumb lately too so we're still not sure if she's going to be a paci baby or a thumb sucker!

Paci baby or thumb sucker? Time will tell!

Milestones: Olive is already almost sitting up on her own! She's still a little wobbly and can only sit up for a few seconds but I see sitting all on her own in the very near future! She is constantly rolling over, front to back and back to front. She is pushing up when on her belly and I wouldn't be surprised if she turns out to be an early crawler too! I think she is also about to get two teeth on the bottom. I can see them starting to pop through! Seriously, girl, slow down! If I didn't know any better I'd swear she is older than she's letting on! =)

About to take off!

Almost sitting on her own.

Isaiah and Eloise: Eloise is still Olive's biggest fan and Olive is starting to think that Eloise is pretty great too! I don't think the novelty of Baby Olive has worn off for Eloise yet. She is still just as interested in her as she was the day we brought her home! I hope they continue on like this and have a great friendship some day!

Best friends (for now)! =)