Yummy Ice-Cream & Saying Good-Bye

What a wonderful day! It all started with Addie & I being snuggle bunnies this morning. She gave me lots of cheek kisses (my favorite)! Then, Addie & I listened to K-Love as I did laundry and got ready for the going-away party my thoughtful co-workers had planned. This afternoon I walked into the school for the last time with a mixture of emotions...so thankful to have been part of the CDC, so excited to be starting a new adventure with Kenny, so sad to be saying good-bye. The festivities included strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice-cream with a fabulous selection of yummy toppings. Not only that, but my co-workers gave me flowers, two very sweet cards, and an extremely generous gift to Addie's new big sister or brother. I had such great conversation with these women and am going to miss them tremendously. God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to work at the CDC.

After the fun-filled ice-cream party, Addie and I went over to Panera to have my last coffee trip with "the girls." It was such a good time! I will miss meeting these precious ladies every Thursday to discuss anything & everything on our minds. Addison also enjoyed being around her little friends (the same age as her) Lyla & Alex.

Finally, Kenny met me at Panera & we gallavanted for a little over an hour...just spending time together and soaking in the last few moments we have here in the DC area.

God has truly blessed us with AMAZING friends here in Virginia. They have all impacted our lives in some way or another, & I am very grateful for each experience I have had with them. It will always be treasured.

Worn Flat Out!...But Thankful

Worn Out! I decided to make an ultimate goal today: have everything packed in the guest house, so when next Wednesday comes, we are ready to move! This is the teacher in me coming out...my "everything needs to be organized side." hehe. It turns out that this "ultimate goal" was a little lofty, being that I am 16 weeks pregnant & entertaining a toddler. So my undertaking was exhausting in itself, but then my precious little darling, Addie Beth, decided naptime was not needed today. She usually does really great during her naptime, & I rarely have an issue, but today she is being stubborn (she unfortunately gets that stubborn-streak from me (right, mom & doug? haha), not her precious daddy). As I prepared for a sobfest, Little Miss Addie only boo-hooed for 10 minutes & is now playing with a book (in her crib). Okay, as I am typing this, my child has officially given in to sleep. Thank heavens!
Anyhoo...I have a friend who sent me a great, much-needed message this morning (funny how that works) & I thought I needed to reread it right now as well as share it with family & friends....
"The birth of a child is not taken lightly by the Lord. Each one is significant. Each one is viewed by God as a transfer of love from His heart to the couple receiving the gift. God never wastes parents. He doesn't inadvertently "dump" kids haphazardly into homes. Nor does He deliver "accidents" into our lives. It is exceedingly important that families place the same significance on children that God does...."
Our children are a TRUE GIFT straight from the hand of God. We are blessed no matter how the day goes.

Little Moments to Cherish

As we stay in our pastor's guest house ready for our big move, I am starting to get quite ansy. I feel as though we are slightly "stuck" at this point, but then God reminded me of all the small, sweet blessings that fill my days. I thought I would share some with you.
The other day, Addie woke up at her usual 7:30 a.m. time, but was quite content to just play & read to her doll in her crib. We had given her a small bag of raisins the night before (Addie is in a massive growth spurt). As we listened, we heard the bag rustle & knew with our parental wisdom that raisins were probably everywhere. Kenny covertly snuck up to her crib and when she saw him Addie said, "Daddy, I dop it." hahaha. Translation: Daddy, I dropped it. haha. This is now one of Addie's favorite phrases as she "accidently" drops other things.
And again: Addie loves to stomp dance & sing! hehe. She has now adopted "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" as her favorite jam. I love to hear her try to sing the words & do the motions. It blesses every ounce of my heart. It's adorable!
Another sweet moment: Addie brought her comb to me today & said, "Mommy, buush." hehe. I sat down and she somewhat sweetly combed my hair. We took turns for a few minutes playing "beauty shop."
Also today, Addie brought her favorite book to me, snuggled in my lap, and said "read." We read the book, "Happy Baby," several times. Then, my inquisitive child proceded to ask me, "And this? And this? And this?" She wanted to know what each item was on each page of the book. hehe. My mom said this is payback. haha. I asked "What's that?" constantly.
My favorite moment: Kenny just got home, and Addie ran to his legs, wrapped her arms around him, and said "daadddy!" That is truly the best!

Our New Little One

Everything is hitting me all at once today. We are moving next week (Feb 9th)...off to start our new adventure...for Kenny to try to reach his ultimate dream. I have been having dreams of San Diego for the last week. I feel as though God is truly preparing me for this brand new phase of our lives. I am excited to see where He takes us on this journey. I know it will be full of challenges, joys, and growth. I believe God is going to stretch me past what I knew I could handle and make me more like Him.

Not only that, but it just hit me that I am having a new precious baby in July! I know it sounds silly, but with keeping up with our active little Addie, I have not really given much thought to the sweet baby (I think boy...haha) growing inside me. But today, I stopped for just a minute, and in that minute realized that Addison will have a big brother or sister in the coming months. Kenny & I are both only children, and to be able to give our sweet Addison Elizabeth this gift, touches my heart. It brings tears to my eyes. I am very thankful!

Site for our Album

Hey family & friends!
I have much to blog about, but am going to make this one sort of fast. Kenny is coming home in just a few, & I think we are going walking by the lake with Addie.
We had professional pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, and I just wanted to share the final product with you all. We are SO excited!

Go to modernjoyphoto.com and click View Blog.
We are the first slide show on the page.

Love ya'll!

Valentines Day! AKA: Date Night!

Splitting a very yummy vanilla milkshake. One glass, two straws =)

All snuggled up in our booth at Chili's.

Time to pose with our infamous goofy faces.

Hallelujah!!! My precious hubby & I were able to go on a date to Chili's for Valentines Day. Kenny & I got all doodied-up and fancified, & our fabulous friends Kati & Trevor watched baby Addison for a few hours while we went gallavanting. We had such a blast just laughing, talking, and enjoying each other's company. We kept cracking up at practically everything. Such fun! I'm sure the waiter thought we were quite the loony, gooberish couple. haha.

We also took a "nutrition" break from the extremely hardcore workout program we are currently doing (similar to P90X, but ours is called "Insanity.") We did the workout before we left, but just ate pretty terrible that night. It was a special occasion, so in the words of Kenny, "nothing sticks tonight." haha. Just a side-note: our workout program is SOOO tough. Kenny & I workout 6 days a week for 45 minutes each day. The program we are doing takes 60 days to produce a tone exterior! It is by far the hardest workout I have ever done. In fact, as I am typing this blog, I am extremely sore in my calves, back, quads, etc. etc. etc. Back to V-Day... in honor of this "love day," Kenny ordered steak & ribs, and I had the yummy Monterey chicken! Then, we finalized our date night with a vanilla milkshake. Of course, we did it Valentines Day style---meaning one glass, two straws! haha. We are very thankful we were able to have this time.

The Big Snow

Our car! Covered in inches & more inches of snow!

Playing with Addie in the massive amount of glorious whiteness!

A row of cars in our parking lot. I promise they really are under there!
My little polar bear is getting ready to go play in the snow =)

Here in the D.C. area, massive amounts of snow is rarity, however, from February 4th to February 7th, we received approximately 28 inches of fluffy, gorgeous, tree-covering snow! It looked like a winter wonderland! Then, since we obviously did not get enough (haha), the sky opened up once again, and we received 10 more inches on February 8th-9th. It was absolutely crazy (and that is an understatement). We are just not equipped for that much white prepicipation. Snow-plows worked 24/7 trying to get the roads ready for us.

Thankfully, Kenny & I were both off for almost a week & a half. In fact, as Director of Enrichment at the Child Dev. Center, I did not even go back to teaching until this Tuesday (the 16th)! We Whites were able to have a "vacation" without having to travel anywhere. (YAAAAY!) We were just able to focus on spending quality hubby-wife-baby time without having a million things planned. It was most definitely a BIG blessing!

Little Miss Addison has experienced quite a bit of snow for her first winter, and we have taken every opportunity to dress her up as a polar bear and take multiple pictures! We just can't help ourselves. Being stuck in our humble abode was exactly what the doctor ordered!