Our Home in Ashburn, Virginia

Seven years ago, Don and I went to visit our friends Dave and Nelly Connolly in Ashburn, Virginia in search of a new home as Don was taking a new job in Washington D.C.  We spent one day looking at a ton of homes in the area and found the perfect home for us on Kings Crossing Terrace. 

Over the past seven years, we have called our townhouse home and settled in as our family grew... now, as we get ready to start on our adventure in Germany, we leave our townhouse with 2 dogs and 3 kids. We have made some great memories at this house and it will be the first home since my childhood home that I will be somewhat sad to part with. It has been more than just a house. We have welcomed 3 new babies home from the hospital in that home, we have planted and enjoyed lots of flowers and added our personal touch to many areas in our home, and we have made some incredible friends who we have been fortunate enough to call our neighbors as well. Those neighbors were great support during Don's deployment in Iraq and I always knew I could call on several of them whenever I needed to. 

We knew for a long time we'd have to put our beloved home on the market but didn't actually put in on the market until one Friday in July shortly after Grace was born. We left the house 

early that Friday morning for doctors appointments as well as a trip to Baltimore to drop our vehicle off at the port for shipment to Germany. It was a long day but the kids were great. When we returned home around 5 p.m. we were surprised to find a realtor with a client leaving our home. But as we actually got into the house we were even more shocked to see how many people had come in to see the house that first day on the market. We had 14 messages on the answering machine and the phone continued to ring. We had two more showings that evening. Overall, we had about 12 showings that day with more showings lined up for the next day. 

Our realtor called that very night that we put the house on the market. He was pleasantly surprised at all the traffic our home had received that first day as well. That night when I was up feeding Grace, I checked my e-mail. We had received an e-mail from our realtor around 10:15 p.m. We had already received an offer! Don, of course, was half asleep as I told him the news. It appeared to be a full price offer but I thought for sure I was reading something wrong. Too good to be true. A full price offer on the first day our home was on the market? The guy was pre-approved for a loan and asking for nothing... no contingencies. Nothing. hmmm. Was I dreaming? After all, I was running on little sleep.

Our realtor called in the morning and by noon we had accepted and signed the contract. We were thrilled to say the least. And our life could return to a little more normalcy as we didn't have to rush out the door for more showings. Phew!

We feel so blessed how well everything went with the process of selling this house. Our realtor said he hasn't sold a house in the same day it went on the market since 2005. When we initially met him, he had said if we priced it right we shouldn't have any problem since the market is really picking up for first time buyers and our home was a "starter home." Apparently, he knew what he was talking about!

Now, on August 28, we are officially homeless! We closed on our beloved home today and although we will miss our home and our neighbors we are looking forward to starting our adventure in Germany. And as we left the house one final time this morning,  Benjamin said it best when he said, "Goodbye house. I will miss you. I love you house."

Overall, it's been great living where we lived.

Happy 40th Anniversary!

This week my in-laws, Chester and Marilyn celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.  

To mark this occasion, we wanted to do something special... so while we were visiting in Illinois, we got the entire family together for pictures. This proved to be rather challenging mostly due to the age and lack of cooperation from our young children. If it wasn't one kid making faces than it was another one crying or fussing! But somehow we did manage to get a few nice shots of our entire clan.

Our nieces and nephew range in ages 11 to almost 

18 years old and their pictures were great! 

All smiles... while we had a range of Benjamin's silly faces, Samuel wanting to jump around during the picture session and baby Grace crying out and squirming or sleeping. Really, it's amazing that we got the few pictures that we did. Hmmm... maybe we'll try this again for Chester and Marilyn's 45th wedding anniversary!

1 Month with Sweet Baby Grace

Today, our sweet baby Grace turned 1 month old. It's amazing to think how much she has grown and changed already! Don stepped on the scale with her today and figured out that she is weighing in around 12 pounds. Needless to say, her cheeks are getting chubby as is the rest of her! 

Since I had taken each of the boys for their first studio portraits at 1 month I wanted to make sure Grace didn't miss this important photo shoot as well. They are just so sweet, innocent, tiny and precious that I treasure these young photos of them. They're starting to outgrow some of that very newborn awkwardness and become such beautiful little people. 

I wish I had the photos of the boys on hand to show the comparison of the boys and Grace at this young age. It seems that a lot of friends and family seem to think that Grace looks a lot like Samuel. I agree in someways but she also has some of Benjamin's features as well. We're still not sure what color eyes she's going to have but I tend to think they will be brown. They are dark but sometimes still have a blueish tint to them. Time will tell. Benjamin has blue eyes like his mama and Samuel has brown eyes like his daddy. We'll keep you all posted on Grace as she changes and grows.

Overall, Grace is an awesome baby. She is a great sleeper and usually very mellow. However, tonight she was very content in her cousins, aunt and grandmother's arms so she went to sleep early which leads me to believe that while those cousins, aunt and grandmother are resting up over the night... I will be spending some awake time with Grace. I'm getting very spoiled by all the attention Grace is getting with all the extra helping hands willing to hold and help take care of her while we're here in Illinois! It's soooo nice.

Happy 1 month birthday sweet baby Grace! You are so very loved.

WHOOPEE!!!!!!

I was getting ready to make a post about something... but I was distracted as I can hear our niece, Rachel who is 11 years old, and Benjamin having a conversation in the other room at my in-laws house. Rachel had a whoopee cushion in hand and was trying to convince her cousin, Benjamin, to sit on it. He has never seen one before and is totally naive about it.

So, Rachel says "Benjamin, sit on this." 

Benjamin: "No, Rachel."

Rachel: "Just sit on it, Benjamin. It will say 'Benjamin, you're the best!"

Benjamin sits on it: "pffffffttttt"

Rachel: "tee hee hee hee"

Benjamin: "You're wrong, Rachel. It didn't say 'Benjamin, you're the best!"

As the only witness to this incident, I'm sitting in the kitchen laughing to myself so hard that I snorted. Gotta love cousins!

(The photo of Benjamin and Rachel was taken yesterday during our visit to a park with a zoo in Decatur, Illinois).

Photo Updates of Grace

We are in Illinois and, after a couple of stressful weeks of getting things together to get our housing goods shipped off to Germany, we are enjoying time with family and friends.

Our 13 hour car ride to Illinois went remarkably well. We only stopped 4 times and one of those stops Don only got out to gas up the tank. The kids and dogs were incredibly well behaved... although Samuel got a little impatient and tired of riding in the car towards the end of the trip... but I did too! He was just more vocal about it. Grace slept the majority of the ride which was a huge blessing!

I'm sure I will have many photos to share from our visit here but I thought I would just post a few of Grace for now since it's been a couple of weeks now since I've made a blog post... and Grace is growing and changing every day! She is still a great baby and is getting very spoiled with all the attention from Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents and family friends. 

 

Big Brothers with Grace

Trying to get a good picture of our three children together has proven to be challenging... but here was our first attempt last Sunday after church. They were all a little squirmy but mostly all smiles! (Sorry to bore you with all of these photos that are so similar but I couldn't pick a favorite and I think they're all pretty cute in their own way).

The boys continue to be good and gentle with their little sister. And Grace continues to be an amazing baby! She had her two week check up appointment on Friday (she will be two weeks old already on Sunday) and she weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces. She is gaining weight and doing great. She is such a blessing and we are enjoying every minute with her. (Every minute? Well, okay, I have to admit those 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. feedings are not that enjoyable some nights but we can see past that!).

She loves her swing and despises bath time. Although tonight she sat in her tub for a few seconds without actually crying! This is progress.
Samuel tried to help bathe her once but I think the fact that she was crying out during the entire 5 minute process scared him away from helping out with that task for awhile.

Overall, the boys are extremely helpful. They will grab a pacifier, diaper, bottle, etc. whenever asked. And on the rare occasion that she's fussing, they want to help calm her too. I've noticed that Samuel will repeat whatever I say to Grace. As in, "It's okay, Grace." then in a little voice "It's okay, Grace." Some days it's like there's a little echo in our house.