2 years....

It is hard to believe that we have officially been in South Carolina for 2 years now.... A lot has happened in those 2 years! Emily has gone from an itty-bitty baby to a walking, talking, full of life little girl. Alex has gone from being a happy 3 year old toddler to a full fledged 5 year old boy who loves light sabers, playing soccer, and is getting ready to be enrolled in Kindergarten. Ryan has gone from wondering what in the world is he supposed to do in his role as Small Groups pastor at North Rock Hill to wondering how in the world will he ever get everything done! And I have gone from a stay-at-home mom (can you believe I survived those first 7 months we lived here....) to back where I am most comfortable.....an elementary school library.

Although things are still different and we wish we could see Texas friends more often, we have embraced life back in SC. We have great friends here and I hope those relationships continue to grow and mature over the years to come. Our church has seen tremendous growth in the last 8 months and it is awesome to see God work in so many ways around us. And it is humbling to think that He brought us here to be apart of all this change, transition, and growth! Our children are growing and moving into new stages of life. That is always a challenge for us as parents, but also lots of fun because we never know what to expect from them next. And I too am growing in so many ways.....change has never been one of my most favorite parts of life, but knowing God has been and is and will be in control of all changes makes me excited to see what our future holds as we head very quickly into year 3 of this part of our life!

These are some pictures from when we left Texas to life in 2009!

Potty Training

Emily is potty training! And she is doing great! Everyone always says girls are faster at this than boys and if my kiddos figure into that count then it is so true! I really had planned on waiting until summertime to take on the potty training task, but at the encouragement of Emily's teachers we took the plunge about a month ago. The first day was a disaster.....we changed clothes 11 times, but that was all it took. We have only had 4 or 5 accidents since then and not one at school. Emily is still wearing diapers at naptime and bedtime, but hopefully by summer we will be $20 a week richer and won't have to buy diapers or pull ups ever again! I don't want to wish her life away, but the prospect of me not being a "pack-mule" and having to travel with diaper bag in tow is a very exciting idea! I could be diaper bag free by the time we go to the beach this summer! YEAH!!!!!!!!!