a month FULL

We have been so busy with so many fun things I'm having a hard time remembering all the way back to the beginning of the month. I'll do my best to try and catch you up...
We started the month going to a fun conference for work in North Carolina. We enjoyed looking at the mountains, a little bit of snow, LOTS of laughs, and of course some work :) (but no pictures! bummer.) Next, Josh's parents came to visit and we had great time exploring the area, shopping, catching up, and having fun. It was nice having them here and them getting a chance to see what we do. Sydney loved it and had lots of fun with them. BUT, somehow I managed to not get photos of that either!! I'm slacking, I know. Right after they left we had our 6 month evaluation and it feels SO good to have that over and done with, can't even tell you.
We left the next day for a WONDERFUL reunion of great friends in Arkansas (see photos below...most of them I didn't take. Don't worry, I got better toward the end of the month). It was so awesome to see friends that are like family to us. Between Josh's parents visiting and the AR trip, it was the emotinal/spiritual/mental boost that all three of us desperately needed. It was so good seeing everyone in Siloam...but honestly a little hard to remember what great community we left behind. They are amazing people and amazing friends to us, we felt SO blessed and SO taken care of...thank you Siloam friends!
Our next shift on with the boys we found out that it is official, we will be moving to a different cottage and will be working with high school girls. This is a good thing and it's come after A LOT of prayer, discussion, and thought. We told the boys and got sort of a mixed reaction from them. It was hard and will be hard to leave them, but we're filling an open position that needs to be filled and we believe that it will be a better fit for us in the long run...especially for Sydney. After all this stress and fun activity we filled our time off with MORE :) We had a fun time at the zoo with friends and then when to the beach for the first time since we moved here. It was a brief stay but SO much fun and needed relaxation. Sydney LOVED the zoo and oohed and awed at all the animals, especially the big ones. And loved the beach even more. She cried when we left because she enjoyed playing in the sand so much. (pictures below, see...told you I started doing better).

So that's the very brief version of our month...we also had some sickness in the midst of all of that which made for very tired Boozell's to start off May. This is our last shift with the boys and we're trying to make the most of that. We're a bit nervous to start over in a sense with the girls but excited for what is to come....pray for our transition if you think of it (and for the boys and girls transition as well).

A Sydney update...she's doing great. She's is all over the place and hates beeing cooped up for too long. She's starting to get more and more vocal and now says shoe, drink, juice, cheese, no (her favorite), and various animal noises that all sound like quack or moo :)

Enjoy the pictures, I wish there were more.....what can I say, I did my best :) And just a warning, the blogs will probably continue to be sparse for a while as our computer is still very dead with little hopes of reviving. :( Until next time....

Siloam trip...

park and zoo...

beach...

fun at home...

Sydney is such a littler explorer lately. She's had fun climbing in and out and on top of things. This week's favorite was her diaper box that I accidently left in there. She's also enjoyed going outside a lot, when the weather has permitted. Today we went down to see the animals they have here on Thornwell's campus (for 4-H). She LOVES animals and always enjoys going to see the goats, sheep, cows, pigs, and donkey. We're just finishing up our shift here and on Sunday we'll leave for a conference in NC and then Josh's parents are visiting. We're excited for the next couple weeks, lots of fun to be had :)

Until next time...enjoy pictures from this week!

our monthly update...

I hate that it's come to be a monthly update, but it has. Our computer is still very dead...more for lack of time to pay attention to it than lack of options to fix it. Work has kept us busy and worn out and I feel like we've spent most of our off times recently just recuperating from one shift until another. If you think of it, please pray for our boys they seem to each be going through their own sort of tough time at the moment. Last shift was a little more spiritually and emotionally draining and we're just hoping this next shift will be a smooth one. We all could use that!

Sydney is doing fantastic though. She could not be any busier. She is into everything and such a little explorer and climber. She just started to communicate more in ways that we can understand. She's doing the baby sign for "more" whenever she's hungry (which is super helpful!) and saying mama, dada, uh-oh, tickle, doggy, and baby...most of which no one but us can understand, but she's getting there :) Her personality seems to come out more each day and she is just hilarious and sweet as can be. She's recently started to get separation anxiety...we knew that had to come sometime but hopefully it won't last long ;) She's been interacting with people and things a lot more lately. It's been fun watching her enjoy playing, whether it's outside or in her room or just listening to music and dancing. She's a lot of fun right now :)

Below our some recent pictures. First are some with Sydney's new friend Josiah. He's the son of another couple of Family Teachers here, Don and Karen. Josiah is just a couple months older than Syd. It's been fun to have someone around that's her age!! Then there are some fun pictures of when Tim, Amber, and the kids visited last time we were off. It was a short visit but SO nice to see and spend time with family!!

finally...some pictures!

Ok, well our computer is still dead and we're still busy but I finally had time to upload some pics using our work computer. Enjoy some pics of Sydney. And I'm sorry for the repetitive squinty eye/open mouth face but that's what she's been doing lately when I say "cheese" so I guess that's her new pose :) So sorry for the delay...here is our little 14 month old....

i'm bad at blogging...

I'm not intentionally avoiding you, blog. I'm just so very busy. And my computer died and is still dead. So this is what you've missed in the last month...

• All three of us spent the rest of the month battling some kind of cold. I think we still have it. It hasn't been that fun.
• Sydney has cut a ridiculous amount of teeth. She now has one molar and three more on the way. This will bring her to a total of 12 teeth when they are all through!!
• Sydney is officially a walker. She prefers to walk over crawling and is too fast for her own good. In fact I almost lost her a couple times in our giant cottage.
• Sydney has been such a good little eater. She can eat just about anything and is enjoying doing it! She still is kind of picky but we're trying to introduce her to new stuff whenever we can. Cheese and bread are by far her favorites.
• I've been absolutely awful at taking pictures or videos lately. I'm so sorry.
• Our job has been exhausting lately. We just got two new teammates that replaced the single girls we were working with. One is a single man in his 50's with a 7 year old daughter and the other is a single guy Josh and I's age. They seem to be doing a fine job, however the transition in and of itself has taken a toll on our boys and we've been getting the brunt of that big time this week. It's been a tough week.
• Josh and I are exhausted...between chasing Sydney around and the heightened level of drama in our cottage, I think Josh and I both desperately need a vacation. So we're just waiting for it to warm up so we can head to the beach or somewhere else fun near by. Spring is close though...it's 72 here right now!! Yay :)
• Due to the ridiculously nice weather we're having I'm going to end this blog now so I can head outside and enjoy it!! Below is the only picture from my camera that turned out. I can't edit red eye on this computer. I miss our computer :(

where have we been...

It blows my mind that it has been over a month since I have last blogged....where has the time gone?!?! Well, we've been so busy that it's just slipped away...but lots has happened between then and now. So many things I've wanted to document and haven't made the time to do that, well blog that anyway. So, here is my attempt to catch you up...

• We had one long shift in December that was jam packed with lots of Cottage Christmas fun, watching the boys unwrap their presents, decorating the tree, enjoying South Carolina's "winter".


• We went to Indiana and celebrated Christmas and Sydney's birthday with my family. It was so good to see everyone, catch up, and enjoy Syd's first birthday cake...covered in throw up :) Yes that's right...she got sick which turned into a big long strand of sickness for all of us. First a cold, then a stomach virus made it's way through our family, then cutting a couple more teeth, then another cold. I'm still feeling under the weather and will be SO thankful when the three of us can all be healthy again.


• Then back to South Carolina...where we enjoyed Sydney's first Christmas morning, watched the boys unwrap and play with their presents, enjoyed a Christmas day movie, lots of down time since there was no school, and a small birthday celebration for Sydney on the 27th. It blows my mind that she is 1 year old now. Josh and I spent some time reminiscing, looking at young baby pics of her, and just basking in all the joy this year has brought us.


• Now we're finishing up our last trip in PA. It's been such a good time with Josh's parents, siblings, and our nieces and nephews. We've played lots of Wii bowling, Rock Band, chased a lot of little ones around and just had some good 'ol fashion family fun. We leave on Tuesday and although we're ready to get back into the swing of things...vacation has sure been nice :)


• And last but certainly not least, tonight Sydney has been walking across the room for the first time. She's been taking steps here and there since Thanksgiving day but this is the first time she's gone that far. Since she did it once she's been walking all over the room, still taking the occasional fall but doing SO good.

It has been so great seeing so many people we love, sharing lots of laughs and catching up. It has been a reminder of the sacrifice of living far away...we like our new home and our new job, but we do miss our loved ones while we're away :(

Christmas/Birthday at Georgia-Beatie (our cottage)

Christmas/Birthday in Indiana

Christmas/Birthday in Pennsylvania