28 Days

We are moving in 28 days. That's all we have left of our time in Memphis. I'm both excited but incredibly sad too. I love it out here. I've loved it when we first showed up. I still remember when we had been here only four shorts months but for me I felt like we had always been here simply because I felt like we had come home. I think I am southern at heart. I wouldn't mind one bit if we moved back here for Ben's career but I just don't see that happening. This feels like one of those things where you were meant to be here for this time and for a specific purpose but it was not where you were meant to end up. I always think about the early saints that were told to move to Kirtland, Ohio. They were to move there, build up the church there, but they were only going to be there for 5 years. They knew it wouldn't be forever but it was still necessary for them to make that their home even though it would only be a short time. I'll forever love our time out here. But still we are moving. For Easter the girls all got their moving/church bags. They were full of coloring books and word searches for the four day trip across the country. (I got them at the dollar store and actually really like how they turned out!)

So here is the count down of our last 28 days:

28-Visit teach Sheri (one of my top five favorite people out here)

27-Goodbye lunch with Marissa (another of my top five favorite people)

26-Yard Sale

25-Fast Sunday

24-20-Ben's last full week of work

19-Charlotte's Bridal Shower (Her mom has been like a mother to me...another top five person that it will hurt to leave)

18-Mother's Day (Yes!!)

17-Prepare for my book club that I'm hosting

16-BOOK CLUB!! (One of my top five things I will miss...I will seriously miss it)

15-Ben's and Mine's 9 year anniversary!

14 & 13-Ben off of work

12-Ben's last day of actually working as free labor!

11-Sunday again

10-8-Ben begins his capston stuff for graduation

7-Ben's family flies in for graduation and the banquet that night

6-Ben graduates and will have his doctorate (that's right! Dr. Taylor!!)

5-One last yard sale & Ben gets to shoot a 50 caliber sniper rifle

4-Ben's family flies back to California

3-We pack up and hang out with any body still left in town

2-We clean the house, check out and then hang out with Micaela (another top fiver)

1-We leave. We just get up in the morning, drive across that Mississippi River Bridge into Arkansas and we are done. My heart feels heavy now. It's going to be awful. All those people that I love and we will just drive away. Now that I'm sitting here I feel like I can't do it. I just need to remember the perks of moving...the cousins. If I can just picture them playing with the cousins, getting ice cream from Great-Grandma's freezer (something they are SUPER excited about), or just remembering how excited they are to move I can get through this a little easier. But I can honestly say that I will have left my heart right here in Memphis.

Cool Things That Happened on Our Walk Today

1. Kaylee found a paintball and smashed it all over her hand.

2. I rolled the stroller over a blue bird egg and it smashed. The yolk came out all over.

3. Kaylee tried to get a bird to sit on her finger.

4. Daisy brought her prince but got mad when I took him away because she was walking so slow.

5. It took us an hour and a half to walk to and from school.

6. Kaylee brought a basket that she filled with flowers, stick, rocks and other plant things to make a butterfly with.

7. Daisy's prince changed from Eric to Nugene (as she calls him) because Daisy put a flower in her hair and became Rapunzel

It was a fun walk. I hope my kids remember doing things like that when they are older.

6 weeks

We move in 6 weeks. There are so many things I'm going to miss even though I can't wait to move on. It's beautiful outside today. Absolutely beautiful and I love it! I love getting up in the mornings, opening the blinds and letting in the sunshine. I went running and it was perfect weather. I've kept the door open so we can hear the birds chirping. I love this weather and I love to take my kids out in it. I will miss this. I know it is nice weather other places too but we are so perfectly situated between school, parks, the library, the grocery store and friend's houses that I can walk, run or bike my kids about everywhere we go! Love it.

These are just a few pictures of youngest kids. Blake is an accomplished walker these days. He loves to go outside (another fun part about this weather!) And we have also pushed him right up to the table with his high chair. The cutest thing about it is that he likes to prop his one foot up on the table while he chills. It's so cute. Once again I think that last picture looks like Than. It must be his smile.

Here is the latest on Daisy. These are pictures of her with toy Bullseye that she got for pooping in the toilet!!! Amazing right?? Well she then pooped all over the chair ten mins later and Bullseye was taken away. This potty training has been the worst, BY FAR, and it has also pushed me to my limit as a parent. I've cried and cried. I've yelled and yelled. Then finally I just sat in a stupor on the couch after she peed all over my bathroom rug. I felt hopeless but knew I just had to continue. She couldn't go back to diapers again. The very next day she told me she had to go to the bathroom and ended up going in the toilet!! I'm really hoping that was the turning point.

But this is my favorite new Daisy thing. See how she is holding hands with a prince? She has an imaginary prince friend that she dances with, kisses, and wants me to talk to about baseball. She is super cute. She forgot him this morning when we went to drop Heidi off and even asked me to turn around and go get him. So his existence has some weird rules about what he can and can't do. But I love it and am excited to see how long this lasts. Look how happy she is to have him.

I just like our Mac

This was a fun way to kill an hour.

Blake walking

He walks now. He's been walking for a while now and I'm just now getting to this video. He went from just a couple of steps to walking all day long in a pretty short time. He just likes doing it and spends all day going from room to room. And the other thing I love about him is that he loves his blanket. He takes it with him everywhere. He's adorable walking around pulling his blanket. And his other new thing is trying to fit into cabinets. Since I've started packing and selling things he tries to squeeze in wherever there is space. (and, just to keep you updated, we have already acquired in CA a ton of things! We have a love seat, vacuum, crockpot, dishes, bunk beds, and a kitchen table all for free!! We should be able to make this experiment of selling everything work out!)