the house that would not die....

About three years ago, Josh and our friend Troy started a Real Estate project. It was a charming house on Lela St. in Fort Smith, Arkansas that had so much character and so much potential. Little did we know it would be the demise of our Real Estate fervor and Sydney's college fund. We had no idea it would turn into the biggest challenge mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that we've faced in our life together thus far. BUT it's finally over, as of the closing yesterday evening. After many months of waiting, hoping, and praying...it's done. We are so thankful to all of you who have prayed with and for us throughout this process. That support has been so appreciated. Celebrate with us that the "monster" is dead!!

Before:


After:

4 months....

Sydney turned 4 months old yesterday. It is so hard for me to believe that it has been that long already. It seems like yesterday we were sitting in our living room, I was pregnant and as big as our house (maybe a tad bigger), and we were talking about what on earth it would be like to have a baby....we had no idea how our lives would change and be enriched by her :) Anyway, enough of mommy's sappy nostalgia :) Here's what you all really want to see, how cute she is at 4 months...

rolls and giggles...

Sydney has been so much fun lately. She's started to giggle and squeal a little. She enjoys being tickled and we have had good laughs with her. I'm sure that every parent would say that their child is special ....but, I do have to say, Sydney is something else! She just has such a sweet, joyful presence. When she smiles at me from across the room, my heart just melts. Josh and I are both convinced she will grow to be someone very special....she already is :)

She's gotten quite good at rolling over....



And here are some giggles and squeals....

finally...a trip update :)

Well, we're officially home and unpacked. We had such a great time with family and it was hard to see it come to an end. Sydney got to meet so many people that are important to us. We started off the trip in Muncie, IN at my dad's. We had lots of fun with Syd's grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and a few hilarious rounds of catchphrase. Then we headed off to the other side of Muncie to my grandma's where we all (us, grandma, mom, brother, sister and bro-in-law) had a sleep over of sorts for a couple days. It was so fun being packed into grandma's house. We played many hours of Rock Band, made some vinyl record art, and just had a good time. Then our last stop was Ohio where the Boozell clan met up for a weekend of fun (we missed you Rich, wish you could have joined us!). Sydney got to meet more aunts and uncles and lots more cousins. The house was full of crazy kids, fun with picture taking, a few games of pool, and just a good time of catching up with everyone.

It was two weeks of good conversation, laughter, and lots-o-love. We had a good time and are looking forward to seeing you all again in August. Hopefully we'll get to see all of you who we missed this time around!

Below are pictures of our mid-western adventure....

First half of Muncie trip:

Second half of Muncie trip:

Ohio trip:

And (I hope you guys won't kill me for posting this...) finally, a shot of the Boozell family having fun. Someone found these old glasses in the basement, so we had a good time with them. Are we a fun group or what??

rolling over!!!

Tonight, Sydney rolled over for the first time. She rolled from back to front twice and I caught the end of the second time on video (see below). It was so fun to watch her learn something new and do something for the very first time. We celebrated and she had a smile on her face...I think she knew she did something pretty amazing :)

p.s. We made it home safely this afternoon. I'll post pictures and an update on our trip in the next day or so :)

on the road again...

We've been traveling since March 26th. We've seen a lot of people we love (and to those we weren't able to see...hopefully next time!). Right now we're sitting in a hotel room in Missouri, we took a break half way through the trip to make it more tolerable for all three of us. Sydney has done FANTASTIC the whole time we've been gone. We're looking forward to being home tomorrow...but it has been SO great seeing everyone and SO fun watching them enjoy Sydney. Photos are coming shortly, I promise :)