One at a time...

 This sweet little smile...

 

 And those luscious lips...

 

And even these grumpy moments are the sweet spots amidst the crazy busy days right now:):)

 

One day at a time... is how we are taking it... and truly my prayer for the last few weeks has been that the Lord would multiply the minutes of my days to somehow allow me to get everything done that needs to get done...

 

At this point... I feel like we are in decent shape as far as the packing goes... but I am not naive enough to not recall that with every move near the end, the panic sets in and it usually always comes down to some "throw it in whatever box you can find" moments:):)  We aren't there yet:):) 

 

By the grace of God I had 3 precious friends come and help me get the majority of the kitchen packed the other day...It was a huge blessing...

 

Tomorrow the house gets listed with a realtor... we were trying it for a couple of weeks by owner... and we had a lot of action... but no offers... now it is go time... we will most likely be out in about a month...  I know God has the exact people for our home... and He will bring them at the perfect time... but our prayer is that it happens sooner rather than later:):)  Isn't that every one's prayer when they are selling a house?? 

 

Last night Anna, Jojo and I were sitting in Samuel's garden... Here are some random thoughts from a mommy with a child in Heaven...

 

There is a weird difficulty with leaving this house and place.  I am so thankful that we didn't bury Samuel here and that we can take his ashes with us.  I clearly know exactly where he is... but for some reason there is comfort in knowing his remains can come with us...  I also have this heaviness of heart leaving behind the place where he was with us... I remember so many moments of when we first lived here when he was still alive inside of me... the long nightly walks... relaxing baths in my tub... the kids painting my belly in the kitchen... a seminary wives reunion here just a few weeks before he died...so many more and all such precious memories...  I have shed lots of tears over remembering Samuel here in this place as of late...

 

 

But with that too comes the hard memories of my absolute heartbreak when I knew for sure he was gone as I was trying to get him to move while resting in my bed... the panic... the deep, devastating grieving I did right here in this house... The loneliness... Oh, that was so hard... I can hardly believe I survived it at times... There is a part of me that is happy to leave that place behind...yet it reminds me of him... and at the same time and in a weird way ... I love that about this house...

 

So we plug ahead... home school conference tomorrow and ordering our books so we are ready for the new school year... Louis has at least 6 more photo shoots he is trying to squeeze in before we leave (which means he needs transportation:) and loads of packing packing packing... We can't forget the awesome finalization of Isaiah's adoption next week... we are so thankful for that opportunity and CAN.NOT.WAIT!:) 

 

A last bit of news... our family was blessed with a new nephew this past week... Isaac Nathaniel... born to my sister and her husband... we are so thankful for his safe arrival!