pumpkin patch: trip 1

So it's November and I'm still blogging about October. Typical.

Last month, was such a blast. Even though we are in a new town, we've made it a point to get out and check things out and to find lots of activities that BG would enjoy. And we found tons of things to do. Like I said, last month was a blast.

Right after moving here, I got pretty dang lucky and got to meet up with Whitney and her little one. Needless to say, BG and I adored them and couldn't wait til we could hang out again. They're just awesome sauce.

We became fast friends and luckily the girls get along well too, so we've managed to get together quite a bit. When Whitney invited us out to the pumpkin patch with the two of them and their play group, we jumped at the chance.

Hang out with them? Cool. Meet other Moms in a town where I know no one? Ummm... yes please.

So we went. And we had a total blast.

We went on a "hay ride" out to the pumpkin patch, which was way picked over, but the kids loved it and that's all that matters.

There were still a few pumpkins left though and they were just the right size for the kiddos.
BG thoroughly enjoyed running around like a crazy person but wasn't quite as fond of picking up the pumpkins. For a child as active as she is, she sure hates to get her hands dirty.
After the kiddos had picked out a pumpkin for each of them, it was back on the wagon and back to the front of the farm where the kids were allowed to hit up the games. BG quickly found the cow train and was less than impressed that it wasn't running.
So she took off to join everyone else on the bounce thing and the crazy fast slides.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon just trying to keep up with my crazy kid.
She was less than impressed that I kept making her stop for five seconds to take a picture. Hard life.
Of course after all that play we had to refuel with ice-cream.
We had an absolute blast.

Need proof?
This was my view not even five minutes down the road. And that? never happens.

We are so thankful for new friends in this town. So thanks Whitney and L for inviting us!!

words. and tidbits.

I cannot even believe how seamless this move has been so far. How right it feels. How easy it feels.

Beside the fact that I still have boxes laying around that BG falls over no less than five times a day. That part isn't easy.

Moving sucks, but I truly feel like God has us here for a reason. That's got to be why it's just flowing right along.

We found a new park today. BG is a smitten kitten. Sunshine is good for both of our souls and it was gorgeous out today so we ventured out and found a park. And then BG found a port-a-potty which she insisted on using.

Disgusting. She later decided she had to use the restroom at a Shell station because she absolutely, positively could not hold it the two minutes it would have taken us to get home.

My child did not get my fear of the public restroom.

She also didn't get my distaste for Crocs. Child needs a Croc-ervention. She found those in the car and quickly discarded her (very cute and very matched) other shoes for them. Sigh...

We have family coming tomorrow. I should do something about those boxes or BG won't be the only one tripping over them. Instead, I'm doing this and watching Big Brother. Priorities.

About Big Brother, y'all, I would kill Dan. I cannot stand him. Or Ian. I wanted Frank to win. Or Britney. But Britney only because I totally thought she was adorable and tiny and cute. Frank because he's the underdog and I do like a good underdog. Oh well. I've lost interest as I can't stand any of the final 3.

I'll watch anyway.

I get to see my niece this weekend! Perk number whatever to this move, being closer to the brother and his family (at times). Other times, he's making me crazy and it's a con to this move but whatever.

BG is loving having her grandparents so close. We're working on her not running over there every time I open the door though. No lie though, the perks of all the food and a sweet father in law that runs my trash to the dump for me are not lost on this girl.

That might be my love language. Do nice things for me, I might love you. Hmmm...

Kidding. Sort of ;)

But seriously, I think she's really good for them as well as them being good for her. They light up around her. She'll either keep them young or push them over the edge. Jury's still out on that one.

BG is finally learning how to play by herself some. Multiple times a day she will disappear and I'll find her in her room playing. Today she had set up a tea party and was serving tea to "Miss Bitme" and Zo. I almost cried it broke my heart so much. But she seems to be good... A little lonely though. We spend lots and lots of time together right now. I've done really well at putting my phone away while she's around and making sure she's my focus. Her heart right now has to be a bit bruised. I'm determined to fix this.

Other than the obvious times where she asks to see pictures of her friends and asks if we "go to school today?", she is happy as a clam. She's just such a joy and this time is such a blessing until we figure out our next step.

Apparently I had a lot to say. I'm cutting myself off now.

we're in the country now.

So we made it to the "new house" as BG so affectionately likes to call it. And y'all?

It is in the country.

As in, we were here no more than a couple of hours before Mr. P almost stepped on a rattlesnake.

It was a baby, but I don't care. Baby's have Mamas. And Daddies. And those guys are mean.

I almost put everything right back on that U-Haul and headed back to 'ol Anderson, South Carolina. Not even kidding.

The last day was as tough as I thought it would be in some ways and easier than I thought in others. BG was a trooper as I made her take "these are my last days at..." pictures. We said good-bye to her school and her teachers and her friends. BG's teacher gave us a book they had made in school that had pictures of the three best friends in it. I sobbed in my car as I came to that page.

There was the goodbyes to our best friends which were as heart wrenching as I knew they would be and will have to be talked about later as it's a bit too soon.

I said "adios" to my workplace and my coworkers who were awesome enough to also celebrate my birthday a few days early so that we could celebrate together.

And then we drove off. BG and I in the truck pulling one U-haul while Mr. P drove the other. ::sidenote: we have too much stuff:: It took a good four and a half hours to get here with all that mess, but we made it.

After a (way too short) night of sleep, Mr. P's best friend and his wife showed up and we hit the ground running unpacking.

Where we live now is, wait for it, right next to my in-laws. Like next door. Which is actually turning out to a-ok so far in that they've been amazing with watching BG and letting us get unpacked. BG is elated to have grandparents so close and literally takes off yelling "I go to Granny's!!!!" every time I open the back door.

We'll have to work on that.

Downside? Pretty sure my pants are already tighter thanks to my mother-in-laws country cooking. Must find a running trail stat.

BG is clearly a fan of the country life as she cannot get enough of running around barefoot, chasing spiders (who's kid is this?!), and running around like a crazy person with the dogs. The plethora of distractions has actually been a godsend as the questions of "I go to school today?" and "We go see Mrs. Stacy and Zozo??" have been minimal.

Thank God because I literally tear up every time she asks. She's going to start thinking I need to be committed.

Sunday morning we drove to the local campus of our home church back in Anderson. Yet one more godsend is that our church (that we love) already has a campus here. No more spending months searching for a church home, we already have one. We loved it and I truly think God has a plan for us at this new campus. I'm excited to see what's in store.

BG also seemed to like it as she was all smiles after we left. She wasn't too excited about going that morning (no clue why), so it was great to see a complete attitude 180 by that afternoon.

We're getting settled in. Boxes are slowly but surely getting unpacked. Cable and internet will be hooked up today (after a major complication due to some old cable lines and being told it might be gasp, 20 days!!). Mr. P seems to like the new job and BG and I are figuring out our next steps. I guess all is going as it should be. For right now anyway.

I'm excited to see what comes next. I truly am. I'm nervous and a tad bit sad (okay a lot sad) because I do miss home and I do miss our old life, but I do feel a peace that this is where we are supposed to be. Even if I don't understand why it needed to be the country.

Clearly I'm the only one feeling like this. This girl was made for this life.

the last night.

I've been in an odd sort of limbo here lately. Once we knew that moving was our next step, I was ready to just go. I don't like the middle part. The packing sucks, the goodbyes hurt my heart; I just wanted to go. Just fast forward through the next few weeks.

Of course that doesn't happen and you have to deal with the packing and the goodbyes are every bit as hard as you thought they would be. And somehow, when it comes time to go, even though I thought I was ready, it hurts. And I'm not ready. And I wonder, how on Earth did it get here so fast?

How am I spending the last night in my home? Although truth be told, it's 11:30 pm and we're still loading the truck so sleep may not happen. How did I take my kid to her favorite park for the last time today? To which she cried "bye bye park" as we left and I freaking lost it. How did I make my last run (well non race run) with Stacy today? Which turned into a walk with a lot of chatter. How am I dropping my kid off at the school she loves for the last time tomorrow?

Okay. I have to stop. I'm bawling and I have to go pack.

It's our last night in the town we've grown to love and it hurts big time. But Mr. P once told me that he didn't think I had it in me to enjoy living anywhere but in Savannah and I've clearly proved him wrong there. So if I could fall in love with the sleepy little town of Anderson, then maybe I can fall in love with the next place...

We shall see.

I'm shutting down the computer and packing the rest of everything we own in a box to hit the road tomorrow. This chapter is done. It's been an amazing one and one I'll still wax poetic about for years, but it's done.

The next one begins tomorrow. Gulp.

to be continued...

home sweet home.

Expect many posts like this over the next few days as I work out what is going through my head and in my heart...

Almost exactly two years ago, we packed up our little home and moved away from Savannah to the Upstate of South Carolina.

A job change sent us scrambling, but we serve a mighty God who blessed us quickly and we were without a job for under two weeks before a new one was handed to us. A new one that was four and a half hours away from all of our friends, most of our family, the church we loved, and the first house that was home to our family of three.

It was the house we brought our very longed for baby home too, the house we gave our lives to Christ in, the house where our marriage grew as our individual faiths grew.

It was home.

I can still remember coming to this town two years ago and thinking "this will never feel like home". I distinctly remember pulling up to a busy intersection and thinking how weird it looked and how this town just didn't look like one I could feel truly comfortable in. It felt so foreign to me.

Now? that intersection is the last intersection before I am home. I know it like the back of my hand. Our neighborhood pharmacy sits on one corner. It's where we've made many late night (and for Mr. P) early morning runs for diapers and milk and chocolate.

On the other corner is my cut through to work when the traffic is out of control. On the other corner is the QT they've been building forever that I was beyond excited for it to open and bring me daily $.49 drinks.

That intersection is now as familiar to me as breathing. I know it's a guarantee that someone will run the light. That someone else will make a funny left and back up traffic. That if I get through that intersection, I'm home. I'm back with my people.

And just like that intersection, this town has become familiar to me. I've fallen in love with the area. The hills, the lake, the weather. I've fallen in love with the small town traditions; the Christmas parade, the Farmer's Market, the tree lighting, and even the Block Party (although I think I just love the idea of the Block Party since we've yet to go to one. This week it's happening).

Moving to this town gave me a shot at my dream of SAHM'dom and then gave me the chance to realize that wasn't for me. It gave me an awesome part time job that still left me plenty of time with my sweet girl but also introduced me to some amazing coworkers who quickly became friends.

This town holds my daughter's school in which inside holds her sweet "friends" (her words not mine). Where a sweet teacher sent me daily text pictures of my girl and taught her her "model face". Where three little girls went from schoolmates to the best of friends. Where my child soared in learning and in her social life.

This town lead us to a church where we've seen God do some amazing things. Not only in the lives of people in our community, but in our own life. We've been through a lot these last couple of years and through it all, we've seen our faith grow by leaps and bounds. Having a church we both love and look forward to attending each week has helped that growth so, so much.

I found amazing friends here. One of my closest friends in the world lives here and it breaks my heart to leave her. In such a short time, we became like sisters with that kind of comfortable friendship that takes no effort and is able to just be. I've made a good friend that I'm able to laugh with and cry with and just spend time with in yoga pants and flip flops because neither of us care to put on airs (Tiff you know I'm talking about you!). I've made a friend that I can sit and talk with for hours upon hours without a single lull in the conversation because we both have that much to say and truly enjoy what the other is saying.

This town went from being a spot on the map that I didn't even know existed to home. Our home. I've grown in ways I couldn't have even imagined here as has my family. And while it absolutely breaks my heart to leave here, I know we'll be back and there will be numerous visits. I've got people here now. People I'm invested in. People I love.

I know we're following God's will in this move and that's why I know it will work out. I'll lick my wounds for a little while and I'll cry a lot, but at the end of the day, I know where we head next will eventually become home. We'll eventually form new relationships and put down new roots. Plus? I'm heading off with my people. And if there's one thing I've learned in my (almost, sob) thirty years, it's that home isn't a building. It's where your heart is. And my heart is with my people; Mr. P and BG (and even the pets). So let's do this.

tidbits.

We're currently in the packing up and moving on stage of life again.

Back when we first moved up here, we rented a two bedroom (tiny) apartment to stay in temporarily while we figured out the area and where we wanted to settle down.

Well, our lease is up there and we still have no clue where we want to "settle" down.

I will say this though; this area is quickly growing on me. I don't know what it is, but I'm good to stay here for a while. At this moment, hubs is right there with me.

Holy cow. An agreement. Wow.

So we rented a two bedroom (not so tiny) house in a very desirable neighborhood close to the downtown area. I. Am. In. Love.

It's an older home with hardwood floors, a huge backyard, on a tree lined street, with quiet neighbors. It's perfect.

There's also already a swingset/playset in the backyard.

So BG is a fan.

Currently half of our stuff is here and half is at the apartment. Without fail, whatever item you need at the moment will for sure be in the other living space.

Ask hubs. Or don't. Because I don't want him to remember his failed quest for underwear the other day.

Oops.

Tonight I left Mr. P and BG alone to go grab some stuff from the apartment. I got a text on the way back from him with this picture...


Apparently he left her for five minutes to get the door for the pizza guy and came back to caramel everywhere.

Clearly he doesn't realize you can't leave food anywhere near her. I don't even want to know where she got it from. She's like a food aggressive dog. You could lose a limb.

Except for when she's being picky and not eating. But that picture doesn't show that side, so.. next.

Our king bed won't fit in the bedroom here at the house. So we're pulling out the guest bedroom queen. This could be tough. We haven't slept on a queen (willingly) since the third month of our marriage. Fingers crossed this goes well....

giggles & tidbits.

Because of the issues with Blogger, this post got deleted on Wednesday. Since it puts a big 'ol smile in my face (rare today in the midst of a packing nightmare), I'm putting it back up. My girl thinks it's hilarious that she has stinky feet.. Silly.


So what else is going on here??

We're moving. Again.

Bah humbug.

I loathe packing. Loathe it. I get all gung ho about it at first, then it loses appeal and my house sits half packed/half unpacked. Because half of my stuff is in boxes laying all around, I can't really clean so it's a disaster of epic proportions here.

Good times.

Fortunately we're getting out of our too tiny two bedroom apartment with our animal hoarding, pot smoking neighbors (cranky much?) into a real house. With a real yard and everything!

Angels are singing.

In other not so funny but this is real life news, my child is on a nap strike. It's my own fault really. I got all cocky Mama on Twitter the other day with the "is it possible my child sleeps too much?" question, and then either my child read my tweets or one of my Twitter friends emailed her about what I said. Because currently? she doesn't sleep too much. In fact she's all "I'll show you" and isn't sleeping enough. And when someone doesn't sleep enough, someone gets whiny. Big time.

She is her mother's daughter.

Nothing makes packing even more joyous than a cranky baby. Le sigh.

But in YAY news; my kiddo is walking!!!

She's been taking steps for a few weeks now but would promptly sit down when she realized she wasn't holding on to anything. Well not anymore.

The other day while we were meeting at the new house with our new landlord, she simply let go of my fingers and walked to the lady. A good 10 + steps!! Then to the delight of all three of us, she just put on quite the show walking all over the place. She was so cute!!

Perhaps her new found mobility (which since returning to the apartment she only busts out when SHE wants to) is also screwing around with her sleep. Who knows.

I just want to be out of boxes. Good thing I kind of dig unpacking.

How do I just skip forward a few days and get to that part?!

release the thoughts.

As in "release the hounds". Get it? Yea, pretty much got nothing over here but a hodge podge of thoughts. Here goes.

It is ridiculous cold outside. Ridiculous. There is ice everywhere. The South doesn't know how to handle ice, therefore we've been iced in for days. I gots the cabin fever mad bad. Which is odd because it's not like we usually go anywhere anyway. But I like to have the option.

Seeing as how it's all icy and junk, the local apartment meatheads apparently can't work out at Gold's or Jack's Jumbo Men or wherever it is they usually work out, because they are currently sweating it out working out in my trusty apartment fitness room sweating all over my treadmill.

Gross. Tuesday night, I turned around and went back home when I saw a guy on my treadmill watching Seinfield. First of all, who works out to Seinfield? Second of all, the room smelled like smelly sausage. No thanks. Wednesday night a guy was in there on the weights when I got there. Whatever I just minded my own business and hoped on the treadmill. He left after about ten minutes and I switched the tv to a Sex and The City rerun.

After awhile another guy came in and got on the bike right. next. to. me.

Picture this: me and rando guy working out side by side to SATC. And not just any episode. No. A very special fig eating episode (you'll remember if you've seen it).

I died. Literally I turned off the treadmill, handed him the remote, and bolted.

Thursday night I got there, and that guy was in there. No thanks. I did my run outside.

Yes, outside. In the 29 degree weather.

I want to meet up with Amy and get all "tested out" and stuff, but I don't want to be out of shape when I do it. So basically Amy, I ran outside tonight for you!

Change of subject.

We moved BG out of the old faithful duck tub. I kind of have a small case of the sads doing it because she loves that hunk of plastic, but it's time. She needs more room to splash and crawl around.

Mr. Perfect has been fighting me on this transition for days. He says that with the way she flops and thrashes around that she's going to bust her head open.

Very real possibility, but I was willing to give it a try.

Not sure she knew exactly what to think at first, as evidenced by her bolting out.

Once she got some of her super fun letters in there, she was alright with things.




I really can't believe she's in the big tub. Big kids bathe in the big tub. Not little tiny newborn babies.. :(

BG's first birthday is quickly approaching and I am in full on planner mode. Yes, it might be early. But I am a grade A procrastinator and I refuse to let myself wait to the last minute on this one. Fortunately, after a few brainstorming g-chats with Erin, I have a theme and I am on the prowl for some goodies. Can't wait to bounce some ideas off of y'all.

We're trying out a new church in the a.m. I'm really hoping we like it because I miss having a home church big time.

I should go to bed so I'm not an ogre when we get there.

Good idea. Night y'all..