Our New Home

We closed on our current house and on our new home all on the same day which was September 25th. Because we had to be out of our current house about a week before we closed due to the final walk through we ended up moving all of our belongings into Preston's parents basement. Yes, our entire house was moved into one basement. Preston and I worked every weekend for about four weeks and did a little bit each weekend and so the move really wasn't bad at all. On our big moving day we did have lots of family who came to help with the really big furniture and the final things that were lingering in our house. For one week, Preston's parents were very gracious and allowed us to live with them while also storing all of our belongings. The twins were in school so it was a pretty easy week as they were occupied with school each day. We closed on our homes on Thursday and on Friday we hired movers to move all of our big furniture into our new home. We still took lots of loads ourselves but somehow we along with the help of family were able to to get everything into our new home. I was overwhelmed by the number of boxes that were going to need unpacking but we were happy that we were finally in our new home.

 

New School

Before putting the house on the market I decided to move the twins to a new school for the following year. I liked the teachers and curriculum at their previous school but I was not happy with their class size and I had heard wonderful things about First Baptist Cumming Weekday. I registered them super early as I had also been told that is hard to get into the school and that if you do not register early that their is a huge waiting list on the first day of registration day. The school was about 15 minutes from our home so it was a little but further but I was willing to drive the distance to get the twins into an excellent preK. Right before school started we got the contract on our new home and I was so excited that it was only 3.9 miles from their new school. On open house day we met the family of a little boy in the twins class who only lives a couple doors down in our new neighborhood. The distance to the school from our new home and the little friends/neighbors confirmed that everything is falling in place beautifully. On Gracie and Bailey's first day of school we were in the middle of packing up our old house and things were once again hectic. Gracie fought to bring her baby in the car and I decided to "pick my battles" and so that is why her baby is in our first day of school picture.

Soccer!

Gracie and Bailey were so excited to begin playing soccer. I signed them up to play at a christian sports league which is at Creekside United Methodist in Cumming. I wanted so much to volunteer as their coach but I knew that I would be way over my head with the move and all so I decided to give myself permission to sit this season out. There are 10 kids on their team and they were given black and white uniforms and so the team voted on calling themselves "The Sharks." Soccer is Gracie and Bailey's very first team sport and they seem to be doing good. Bailey seems to be a little more aggressive and into the game then Gracie as he usually never misses an opportunity to play in the game. Some games Gracie is more or less interested depending on the day. She does love to give mom and dad a big thumbs up on the field any time she does something good. It has been a fun season watching Gracie and Bailey improve and unite with their friends on the field.

Officially Under Contract

We came home from the beach and Preston placed the "Under Contract" sign on our real estate sign in the front yard. We were blessed by only having the house on the market for two weeks but those two weeks seemed like forever. Keeping a house clean with two little ones is not the easiest task. We all worked together and things luckily fell into place!

Blurry Beach Trip

Our Beach Trip in August was pretty much a blur. We had great weather and fabulous company but our trip was hectic. We were very glad to make it through the car ride with two very anxious four year olds. Gracie and Bailey must have asked "are we at the beach yet" about a million times. The second day we were at the beach is when things got hectic...as we received an offer on our home. Thank goodness Preston's dad has a computer, printer and scanner at the beach house because they definitely were important. We had an offer to review and we decided to make a counter offer. The counter offer led to us having another day of waiting anxiously to see if they would accept the terms. We then had a signed contract on our home and we decided to put an offer on a home that we had luckily seen once the day before leaving to go out of town. Our drafted offer then led to several other days of anxiously waiting and checking emails. By the last day of the trip we had a signed contract for the purchase of our house and we had a signed contract for the purchase of our new home. In the midst of all of the reviewing, negotiating and signing we attempted to enjoy our vacation. The ocean and views have never provided as much peace as they did on this trip. I hardly took any pictures of the kiddos which they probably enjoyed because they can not stand when I am making them pause for a photo. The twins probably didn't have a clue about what was going on with our house but they had fun. They stayed on the beach ALL DAY LONG and played in the ocean and the sun until their little bodies were slap worn out. They had a wonderful time with their Gineris cousins; James, Justin and Jackson who we do not get to see enough. The boys were so sweet to the twins and they made them feel extra special by doing thoughtful things like making treasure hunts for them and taking them crabbing for their first time. At the end of our vacation we knew we were going home to lots of work but we had been somewhat replenished by the waves and the sun.

 Taking a break from the long car ride



 

Cousin reunion at the beach house

4 Year Old Stats

I did not look forward to taking my babies to their 4 year checkup. I had heard terror stories from other mom's that it was the "worst check up ever" due to all of the immunizations that they have to get. All of my friends told me "just send dad." Luckily Preston was able to meet us and he was good moral support. I decided to be truthful with the twins and I told them that they were going to have to get shots and that they would hurt but only for a minute. Well...my babies surprised me and they did AWESOME. They did not even shed a tear and they were so brave. The nurses commented on how well they did and stated that they did "exceptionally." I was so proud of my babies for making it through the shot part and I was also thankful for a great report from their pediatrician who stated that it was hard to believe that these were preemie babies because their stats were not reflective at all of their birth weights. They both passed their vision and hearing and they will not need another immunization until they are 7! I was very glad to have this appointment behind us! Their stats from the appointment are below:
Gracie: 37pds(67.2%) 41 3/8inches(83.77%); Bailey 37pd(60%) 40 7/8 inches (65%). True lil miracles!

4th Birthday Celebration

4th BIRTHDAY BASH CELEBRATION!

We celebrated Gracie and Bailey's 4th Birthday with a party at the Splash Pad at Old Atlanta Park. It is a pretty new park that has an awesome splash pad, a playground and a ropes course. We had a water/fish theme and it was alot of fun. We played in the sprinklers, enjoyed lunch and cupcakes and then moved to the playground and ropes course. The twins loved having all of their cousins and friends together in one place. My sister Laura, made an adorable shark that held the fruit. The party favors were super easy as I filled up sand buckets with summer toys and goodies. We were very blessed with a beautiful day to celebrate our two four year olds!