Renovations

We’ve been talking about renovating our house for a while now, really ever since we moved into the house 4 years ago.  Lately, however, the talk got more serious and we figured in the next 6 months we’d have enough money saved up to start phase one.  We’ll to my surprise, we were a lot closer than 6 months and Vaughn surprised me for Christmas with the contract to get us started in the new year!  This phase includes removing the wall that separates the kitchen from the den, new paint, hardwood floors in both rooms, and new couch.  We started the Tuesday after New Years, but with a bumpy start.  Callie had gotten a nasty stomach bug Monday (almost had to take her to the hospital it was so bad) so I couldn’t get the rooms cleaned out like I needed to. Thanks to Vaughn, JJ and my mom for coming in that night to save the day!  The rooms got cleared out so they could begin the next morning.

The first piece of wood was removed, and so it began!

A dust wall went up, thank goodness, while they finished up the removal of the wall.  It was kinda freaky, reminded me of those killer movies…. anyway….

Bye Bye wall! (From the den looking into the kitchen)

So far, very happy!  Hard to believe this is really happening, but so glad it is!

Sweet Baby G!

The Granger family is growing by 1 again, and it’s not us this time!! DR and Kelsey are pregnant!  We are so excited to be adding another baby to the family!  DR and Kelsey decided to find out what Sweet Baby G is going to be, so we all went to dinner one night for them to share the big news.  We went around the table and shared what we thought Baby G would be.  Callie has been saying Girl the entire time, so I went with that.  Everyone else went with Boy.  Sparkling grape juice was served and we were sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to hear the news…

It’s a….

BOY!  I’m so excited for a little boy in the family and everything that comes with it!  I’ve already bought him several outfits, how can you resist?!  At this dinner they hadn’t come up with a name, but right before Christmas they did, and I love it. 

Levi Miles Granger

Little Levi is due in May so were just waiting and praying for a healthy happy baby boy and a healthy pregnancy for his mommy!

Follow Kelsey and DR’s journey to parenthood and beyond on their blog!

Zoo with Cousins

While my cousin and her two little ones were still in town for Christmas, we took the opportunity to see them one more time and headed to the Zoo!  It happen to be really cold that day, rare for around here right now, so we bundled the kiddos up and headed out for some zoo fun.

William and Callie didn’t stop running then entire time we were there, which equaled to great naps that afternoon!

She sat for a quick second, but was back at it in no time!

Our favorite spot was of course the giraffes, we LOVE feeding them!

This one particular giraffe was being very friendly so we took the opportunity to get our picture with it.  I love the progression on the photos, so fun!

We weren’t quite ready to leave so climbing on the lions at the exit extended our visit/play time!

When we get the chance to play like this with them it makes me sad that we don’t live in the same city.  Were hoping they’ll move here soon, but until then it gives me a great excuse to head to Clemson!

For Stevie

Sunday night we lit a candle in memory of Stevie. My cousin Andrea emailed all of us (The Rowlands) earlier in the week and shared with us a group called The Compasionate Friends. It's a national self-help support organization for families grieving the death of a child. In response to the need for grieving families to have one special day during the difficult holidays to remember, honor and reflect on the lives of children who have passed away at any age from any cause, 15 years ago they created the Worldwide Candle Lighting. It is usually held the second Sunday of each December, but since we just learned of this after the fact, she chose the third Sunday. At 7pm we all lit a candle to honor Stevie. We all still think of him daily, still ake for his parents, still know that he's better where he is now even though it's hard. So, for Stevie we remember and well never forget.

Our Tree

I love that our tree is filling up with all the girls' handmade decorations!

Santa

Last Friday we headed out to the Lights At the Zoo. I love going with the girls, seeing their faces with all the decorations is priceless. While we were there we came across Santa! I didn't know he would be there and since we didn't get to see him at PJ's this was perfect. Callie was so excited to finally get a meeting with St. Nick. We discussed what she would say- "Two Teddy bears, one for me and one for my sister." This is what she has wanted now for a while from him and I really have no idea why. So, it was our turn to see him, Chloe starts screaming (which I knew she would) and Callie walks up, gets in his lap, and puts her hands up to her face because she is so shy! I could see where they talked for a bit but no idea what was actually said. After her time was up she ran to us all excited and said she did tell Santa about the Teddy bears. Santa has it easy this year with our crowd, not sure about in the future, but I think he'll take it for now. :)

Happy Birthday Jesus

The last day of school before Christmas break, Callie’s class through Jesus a birthday party!  Everyone was in the birthday spirit and happily wore their hats (even Callie!). 

We then sang Happy Birthday to Jesus…

and dug right into cake and goldfish! 

The sugar rush didn’t take long to hit everyone and before you know it giggles and icing were on everyone's faces!

I love being able to come in and see their faces everyday and especially during these fun times!  Can’t wait until our next party