Our move to IL

Well, this is not the south, but it is home now. We are officially in Illinois. We are in a small town just 1 1/2 hours south of Chicago. We are renting a giant 100 year old farmhouse that is really beautiful. Stained glass windows and tons of storage. Aside from a few electrical limitations and some old, floral wallpaper, we love it. I'm so proud of my sweetheart, Mike. He did a great job picking it out. I saw the house for the first time when the trucks, yes trucks, (2 large ones) pulled up. Needless to say, my days have been super busy unpacking, taking care of my little ones, and getting ready for Caroline's 1st birthday!

The good news is that we now have super high-speed internet. We have rejoined the rest of the world. So, for everyone who says, "when are you going to update the blog!?!" I hope to update once or twice a week.

We were so lucky and blessed to have a ton of help during the move. Jim, one of Mike's dearest and oldest friends, flew into GA all the way from Colorado to help for a whole week. I don't know what we would have done without him. We will always be grateful for his time and sacrifice. A sweet angel from NC, Elizabeth, came from out of the blue, sort of, and helped me with the kids for the last 4 days so that I could finish up the final packing. She was a true Godsend. Many other folks came, Ashley, people from the church, and Mike's best man, Michael all came to help. Jim drove one truck, Mike drove the other and I drove the 2 babies in the car between them. It took us 2 days to get here. But, with God, great friends and a little luck, we made it in one (or two) pieces.

In other big news, Michelle, had her beautiful baby girl a few weeks early at end of March. Her name is Brooklyn Lee. She is gorgeous and healthy and I got to see her before we left. I was thrilled and sad about it, all at the same time because we were moving. Thank goodness for phones and email. We are also planning to be on Skype very, very soon.

Will and Caroline are adjusting to the house just fine. At first, Will loved opening the fifty or so cabinets and doors. Then, after a couple of days, he seemed ready to leave and go back "home." After a couple of cranky days, he was back to being himself. The babies have a huge playroom in the front of the house with 4 very large windows all around. They like having their own place to play and watching the cars go by. Mike and I love not tripping over toys all the time.

A quick, funny story. The first day we were here, around lunchtime, a loud siren went off in town. I panicked and ran into the living room yelling, "What's that!." I didn't know what it was, but I knew it wasn't good. I almost grabbed the kids and ran to the basement. Jim calmly looked at his watch and said, "well, it must be noon." He explained that they test the tornado siren every couple of days at noon. Being a southerner, I don't know these things. I only know hurricanes and we usually get a couple days warning for those. Now, whenever it goes off, it gets my attention, but no panicking.

Here are some pictures of Brooklyn and the last couple of weeks.

Michelle, Chris and their precious baby girl, Brooklyn.


Brooklyn, wide eyed and ready to go. Just beautiful!

Our final visit before the move.

On the road, Mike is driving the truck ahead of me, with the Mini Cooper in-tow.

A pitstop, to stretch our legs. Jim had fun walking around with Will. Will had fun testing Jim.

This is the front of the house. 100 years old, this year.

The view of the back. There is an attached garage and another extra large 2-car garage. Mike is in heaven.

If you walk 2 blocks down the street, you run straight into these corn fields. They surround this tiny town.

Our first look at the house. Jim is in part of the playroom. Will is in the living room.

Oh, how badly Will wants to help. He loved watching Daddy and Jim unload the truck.

Caroline thought the baseboard heaters were great for learning to stand.

We decided to put both babies in the same room. They love it! Naptime is interesting, though. They like throwing toys back and forth and seeing who can fall down on the mattress the fastest.

I always hear lots of giggles and chattering coming from their room.

Jim and the kids. Time to say goodbye.

Caroline and Jim. They were quite smitten with each other!

More to come, I promise!