Settling in...

I know you have been wondering about us, well we finally have a new computer so you will be getting regular updates. If you are wondering where Johnsonville is, it's under Florence and about 45 minutes above Myrtle Beach. We have been here for almost two months and I thought we would be more settled in by now, but it must take longer than I imagined. Johnsonville is already starting to feel like home and I am getting used to the differences between the Low Country and the Upstate. I still miss Ingles and having almost any store I want 15 minutes away. Shambra just left for Walmart, CVS didn't have the medicine he needed; and he very casually said, "I'm going to run to Walmart." Walmart is 30 minutes away in Lake City. Unless it is Fred's, the Dollar General or Hemingway, we don't run anywhere. We carefully plan our trips around naps and lunch. We do get to see Shambra's family more often, I'm sure they are getting tired of seeing us, because we have seen them more in the last two months than we normally do in six months. I enjoy small town life for the most part, no traffic and we can walk to church, Shambra and Phoebe do almost every Sunday. We are close to the park and walking track. There is a small pretty library close by and I already have a library "donation". I just have to get used to my new job as a stay at home mom. It is not coming as naturally as I first thought it would, but neither did breastfeeding and I bested that. We are getting Esme' used to sleeping in the crib and Phoebe took right to her big girl bed. I need to get a schedule going for us, but that will be next week because the Edney's are visiting this weekend! Super excited about that! Other big news is that Esme' turns 1! Phoebe turned 3 last Sunday!

School Days Kinda Womp

The day did not start out well, Esme is teething and ONLY wants me and she wanted me to hold her all night long. She didn’t want to wake up this morning either. Phoebe was wonderful until she realized she had to go to school today and then her stomach hurt. It hurt so much that she did not eat breakfast or even drink chocolate milk. Phoebe always wants chocolate milk. She was fine until the stoplight before her school came into view. She just said “I don’t want to go to school” and had big tears welling up in her eyes. I think it was because they were sincere tears and not tantrum driven, but I couldn’t hold back my own tears. So I told her we should pray and she agreed. We prayed for courage and strength, for Phoebe to be a good listener and to have fun playing with her friends, an all-around good day. Praying helped, because she had stopped crying and tried to be brave as we walked into her school, she gave her favorite teacher, Miss Beth a small wave and Miss Beth told her she was so glad to see her and that she was such a big girl and then that they were going to get all of her classmates together and have a birthday party for one of the little boys! There are few things in life that delight Phoebe as much as a birthday party. I knew that God had heard our prayer and knew of our need even before we did and I am thankful for little boys and cupcakes. I left a screaming Esme with Michelle with instructions about Tylenol and Orajel. I called my hubby to tell him about the morning drop off, so he would not be surprised about anything when he picked them up in the afternoon. God’s providence did not stop with a birthday party, but continued with a happenchance meeting with my Pastor’s wife and words of wisdom she spoke into me that I really needed. It didn’t even end with that meeting, a few hours later the wonderful aforementioned Michelle stopped by to tell me that Esme had stopped crying when I left and that a little Orajel and she had been a super happy baby. Thank you, God for knowing my limits and meeting me there.