Could it Get Any Worse? Yep.

So, I haven't blogged in quite a while because we have been without a computer. Our lap top has decided that windows doesn't have to reboot so, sorry no pics just yet. Right now BC is letting me use his work lap top. My knight in shinning armor. So, the house that we were supposed to move into on September 4th is still sitting there empty. We are still trying to work things out so that we can close soon but I think our hopes have been dashed and we are planning for the worst. The worst being that we have to find a place to rent for a while. I know I sound all gloom and doom but we are past the "silver lining" stage of our grief...now we're just in the grief stage of grief. However we do want to thank everyone for all of your prayers. We know that we aren't going through this alone and that does lighten our load a bit. Our new projected closing date is October 7th. Hopefully that date, or a sooner date, will be the real deal. Keep your fingers crossed and our family in your prayers.

Love,

Hope

Pic-I-Nic

We went to our favorite park in Louisville this week and had a picnic. We took sandwiches, chips, and drinks and I stopped by Kroger on the way to get some cookies but all they had was those cookie cakes that said "Happy Birthday". It didn't matter at all to two teenagers and a 2 year old. They ate that thing with their hands and loved every bite. As we sat there eating by the lake I noticed that all the ducks were starting to make their way toward our picnic blanket. So Jake grabbed a stick and frightened them away. I think he enjoyed it so later he just did it for fun and that is what I got on video.

Man Versus Fowl from Hope Childress on Vimeo.

Anabelle really liked the cookie cake and I got the video to prove it!

Untitled from Hope Childress on Vimeo.

After we finished with our picnic we stopped by the playground and the kids got out and played while I stayed in the cool van with a sleeping Sammy. It wasn't long until Charlie carried Anabelle back to the car and said that Anabelle just laid her head on the side of the swing and said, "I so hot Charlie.". Two minutes later she was asleep in her carseat. I think it was a good day.

DAX

Well, as of June 22nd BC and I are Uncles again!! Josh and Chelsea had a baby boy on Rylee's birthday and they named him Dax Winfield. BC has yet to meet his first nephew as they day that he was born BC was taking his boards. But he agrees with me that little Dax looked so much like his oldest sister Farrah when he was born. Chelsea, who is much better at blogging than I am, is posting pics like crazy and he is already changing! Hopefully we'll get to take a trip up to Ohio soon to see him again. Anabelle and Sammy still haven't met Dax either because they were way too little to go back to the hospital room but they did have fun playing with their cousins during the couple of days that we were there...well, Anabelle did, Sammy enjoyed all the kisses that he got from his two cousins!!


The Childress Family: L to R Farrah Lynn, Dax Winfield, Chelsea Lynn, Joshua Winfield and Adra Mae.


Anabelle and her cousin Farrah just playing and playing!! I think they have their own secret language...


What a HUG!




Sammy will find a way to drink that baba for sure! Even if it means using all four limbs!!

A REAL House!!!

So, things have been pretty crazy lately. Living outta a suitcase doesn't leave one with too much time to blog about random life events. However there are a few things every one's been asking about and one of them just happens to be our new house. We went to the neighborhood where our house is being built and V-O-LA there is a house there!! Pretty sweet. I can't believe it's actually coming together. BC and I looked like we did on the day we found out I was pregnant with Anabelle, shocked, excited and like we didn't have a clue!! Immediately BC was like, "I'm goin' in to take a look around." I was, on the other hand, a bit trepidatious about going in there because as a child I stepped on my fair share of nails, right Mom?! But, BC walked through first and made sure that everything was safe for his wife to walk through too. I'm glad I did too because it was so neat to see everything that we had seen blueprints of actually come to life. I swear, if they told me that we could move in tomorrow I'd be there in a heartbeat. But hey, we're doin' good here...and we're scheduled to close at the end of August. Life is going pretty good and HP6 is comin' out next week so what more can a girl ask for?!!

Green Beans and Glasses

Sam is just about six months old and he wants to eat. Every time we sit down for dinner he just watches us eat and tries to reach our food. Sam's been eating cereal for two months now and he's done fantastic, so I decided to go ahead and start some veggies and I have to say that the boy just can't get enough, he'd eat three jars if I let him! We started on green beans and he's done great. Today he had squash and it was a big hit too!! I'm really enjoying all of these milestones with him. It's been great to have this all again with another child, but it is all going by too fast. I guess I just have to soak in every minute so that I won't miss anything.

Anabelle found her daddy's glasses today and put them on. She wore them while she was playing and I didn't even notice...until she walked by me and looked up with them just barely hanging on her nose. I laughed and took her picture and then we had to put them away "because they belong to daddy and we shouldn't be playing with them." Oh man, let's hope that she'll have his vision and not mine...they we're just reading glasses, I'm pratically blind!

Anabelle Does Yoga

Dr. Billy-Clyde

The day has finally come when BC never has to go back to school again...as a student!! I have to say that it was pretty amazing to see him walk through that line with all his friends and classmates and get that hood and diploma. After that they all stood together and took their oath, it was so cool. I got a little teary-eyed and I have to admit that it's all so surreal to me still. Anabelle was so proud of her daddy and she just hugged his neck and held on to his diploma. She was so cute. I think that BC is still on a high from it all and now the pressure of the state boards is upon him. This past Saturday we had an open house for him and family came to congratulate him as well as eat and visit with one another. BC's mother, who is a pack rat, cleaned and sanitized many of the pill bottles that she has refused to throw away in the past 30 years and filled them with various candies and labeled them. They were really cute and fun. Everyone took one home as a party favor. All of the nieces were here...Anabelle had such a good time playing with all of them, and BC's mamaw came along with his Uncle Ron which was a wonderful surprise! So now all of the fun is over and it's back to work. We have to be moved out of our condo by the end of the month and I have already started packing. We're so sad to leave, especially now that Anabelle is calling this place home, but we are very excited to own our home.

Off to Atlanta!!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that we are off to the big ATL tomorrow! We are all packed and ready for a great week and BC's big graduation! Yeah for BC!!! So, hopefully I'll take lots of pictures and be able to post them next week. The week after we are headed down to Destin, FL for an early summer vacation! It should be a good time...

We're building a house!!

So, if you've been reading this blog then you know that BC and I have been looking for a house. Well, we looked and didn't find anything that we really thought suited our needs. Then we started looking outside of Louisville and into Shelby county. And that, my friends, is where we are building our first house. We're so excited. 2 weeks ago we went and picked out carpet, cabinets and all thie fixin's and we should be moved in anywhere from August to October. In the mean time we only have a month left in our current home. After that we are loading all of our stuff up into storage and moving in with BC's Nene and her two teenagers Jake and Charlie. The summer should be interesting. Anawho, here's our house, let us know what you think!

Here it is! Our house doesn't have a brick front, it's stone. Our siding color is called "cactus" and our shutters and front door are chocolate brown.

We don't have the extension in the back...we added on the forth bedroom. Plus we don't have the fireplace.

The upstairs is all about the bedrooms and the laundry room. Bedroom 2, I think will be Anabelle's room, BR 3 is the guest room and BR 4 is Sammy's room. As the other children come they will move in with the other children of the same sex. The rooms are big and so there will be space for all!

Birthdays

OK, so I haven't posted any birthday news. I'm a horrible wife and mother for that, but at least there were pictures taken of the events and I am now going to to a birthday montage of Anabelle, who turned 2 in January, Danny, who turned ? in March, BC, who turned 28 in April, and Farrah, who turned 3 in April. Now, my brother, Grant, turned 39 (I think?!) in March but we weren't there to see it. Plus, my sister-in-law just had a big birthday this past weekend, and my father-in-law's birthday was yesterday...hapyy b-day Catie and Papi!

I think this is the one picture of her smiling!

Lighting the candles! I know she only turned 2 but the cake has a big "2" written on top. It was an ice cream "sandwich" cake. Two layers of cake, and in the middle ice cream, YUM! I did strawberry and chocolate.

Anabelle didn't really like the candles or blowing out the cake...but Rylee and Avery did!

I think everyone was tired in this picture...

Uncle Darrell's birthday...another ice cream cake so Anabelle had to wear a bib!

BC's big 28th birthday...I'm not a cougar for another 6 months.

Anabelle couldn't wait to eat Daddy's cake...notice the little finger tracks?

Lighting the candles...I didn't put them all on, as you can see.

She found a way, didn't she.

Daddy and little brother.

Farrah's 3rd birthday. Look at that pretty cake.

Anabelle and Farrah...pig tail cousins.

The anticipation is killing her!!

Garage Sale!!

We are having a moving sale! There are many large items that won't be making it to our new house. I've taken pictures of some things, here they are:

This bookcase is handmade. Solid wood and extremely sturdy!! $30 obo.


Solid bookcase $20 OBO


This bookshelf is leaning in the picture, but only because it's on top of the
entertainment center. $10.


Entertainment center minus all the DVD's, $20 OBO


There are 2 tall chairs that come along with this breakfast table.
We'll take $20 OBO.


This is the glider I redid. It is really pretty and would look great in a girl's
nursery!! $20 OBO.


Here are just some random floating shelves that we are selling, $10 OBO.

We are also selling a jumping chair, crib and matching changing table, lots of baby girl clothes (Newborn-24months) and a few baby boy clothes(0-3 months), and shoes! BC and I both have clothes and shoes that we are selling as well as a few smaller items. So yeah, Saturday morning, 7 am-12pm April 25th, we've got to sell it all so don't be afraid to contact me and let me know if you want me to hold something for you. Just pick it up on Saturday before noon or I'll be forced to sell!

Mommy's walking....

And Sammy and Belle-Belle go along for the ride. I've been working out lately, trying to lose some weight and get ready for my big 10 year high school reunion and the kids are suffering right along with me. Well, I really wouldn't call it suffering, I think they love riding in that stroller, but...I sure am suffering! Here's some pics and a little story by Belle-Belle. Hope you all enjoy it!!

Pink Sammy

Being a little brother is tough. Having a big sister can be even tougher. Especially when all her hand-me-downs are pink. Here are some pictures of Sammy in Belle-Belle's old pink bumbo (we're too cheap to buy a blue one), and some of him laying on one of her pink blankets. She's right next to him in some of the pictures and she's wearing a pink jacket, so, basically he's just a little pink boy.

Belle Belle stories

The mornings are especially wonderful for me. I'm not a morning person by any means but my children are. Anabelle usually finds her way into our bed around 5-ish and Sammy ALWAYS wakes us both up around 8:00 am. BC leaves for work every morning around 5:30 and so he unfortunately misses out on all the fun. Well, one morning this week Sammy woke Anabelle and I up and I asked Anabelle to go and get a diaper for him...she loves helping me, sometimes. She brought it back and I started to change Sam's diaper. Usually by now cartoons are on and Belle-Belle is totally submissive to the TV, but not today. This particular day Anabelle noticed Sammy's winkie. She looked at it with her brow furrowed and said "Sammy, yuck!" I told her that that was Sam's pee-pee and he used it to go potty. Then she said sweetly and almost consolingly, "Oh, no Sammy!". It was funny, alarming and sweet all at the same time.

Anabelle loves her baby dolls. She has three that she is particularly stuck on. They are Abby, Sophie (soapy), and baby. One of these babies goes with us where ever we go no matter how long we're going to be gone. Anabelle is constantly playing "Mommy" with them and this is how I learn how my parenting skills are taken. When she plays with the dolls she's always saying things like, "I get it for you", and "just a second". I think two of my favorites are, "MY GOSH!!!, and "wook at me, OKAY!" I love being a mom, I just hate being evaluated by naked dolls all the time (they're naked because Anabelle refuses to keep their clothes on them...even at church!).

House Hunting

We've started our search for the perfect starter home. Yesterday I went with the realtor to look at three houses. Tuesday we're going to look at two more. We're excited, and scared, and nervous. I think BC gets nauseated every time he thinks about the commitment. Men... I've been assigned the task of weeding all the bad prospects out so that he only has to see the houses that I really like. *sigh* I'm exausted just thinking about it all.

Samster

Sammy is getting so big. Since he's been eating so much better we can really tell a difference in his demeanor too. Sam's so happy. He just laughs and smiles all the time. He's even making lots of noise. He looks so much like Anabelle that when we show her pictures of when she was little like him she always thinks it's Sammy! He is very different from her too though. We're finding that Sam's not so much of a drama queen like Belle-Belle was...he's more of a spaz. When he's really hungry he starts shoving his fists in his mouth and the boy's so stiff that it takes almost two hands to pry them out. He doesn't cry that much or make a big deal out of things like Belle-Belle did...and still does, but he's so anxious to get the job done that he'll try and do it himself if he has too. I don't know who he's like yet. If you have any suggestions let me know! Hope everyone has a great day and enjoys the beautiful weather before it is gone!

Belle-Belle and Sammy

Brother and Sister

It's so strange to me, the bond between siblings. I've never really had that being that my brother and sister are so much older than me. Growing up it was like I was an only child. But now I am witnessing it first hand. Samuel is only almost three months old and he is already so loved and protected by his big sister. She awakes in the morning and comes to wake him. If he cries she is the first respond and she will let me know if I am not already aware. She checks on him when others are holding him and she is always leery of new people around him. Anabelle is so proud of him too. When she meets someone new she always says "this Sammy, he's coot!" while pointing him out. She loves to hug him and kiss him, so much so that when she was sick with a cold she did not understand why she couldn't even touch him. Needless to say we would catch her stealing kisses or hugs and Sam ended up with the cold as well. I love that she already loves him so much. When I see them together, smiling and hugging (mostly Belle-belle) I think that they've found their life long friend.

Train Tracks