Getting Settled and More!

It's been a long while since I have posted last. As you all know, we have had a lot going on so I have a good excuse! Here is a recap of what's been going on with our family in the last month:


We said good bye to Darcy Hopkins in Charlotte :( I must admit, it was very difficult saying good-bye to our first house. We loved Charlotte and we loved that house. As Russ and I walked through each room for the last time, many memories came to mind. I'm so thankful that they were all happy memories. I remember the day that we moved into that house. We were newlyweds and we were so excited to own our first home. It was more than I even imagined I could ever have for my first house and I was thrilled. I painted each room and made it our own. Three years later on April 24 we brought Caleb home from the hospital to that house. Two years later on July 26 we brought Kathryn home and then two and a half years later, on March 6 we brought Clayton home. We have such fond memories of our 8 years in that house. Family times spent in the house, holidays, guests that have visited, babies that have been rocked, children that have played, lessons that were taught, and the love that was shared! I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true! It will always hold a special place in our hearts.

We moved in with my parents for about a month. We enjoyed living with them and we are so thankful that they opened up their home to us. I didn't have to clean house, cook or hardly even do our laundry the whole time. It sure was nice! Thanks mom and dad for everything!

Caleb started Kindergarten and has loved it. It was a little adjustment for him because he has not been in school everyday until now. Plus, it is a long day! He goes from 8:00 - 2:30 and he is exhausted when he gets home! He absolutely loves it and he has a wonderful teacher. He has learned so much in the past month that it amazes me. He loves to come home and do his homework everyday and tell me all that he has learned. He is writing now and starting to read and he has matured so much! I can't believe he is getting so big!



We had to wait longer than expected to move into our new house. The hardwood floors on the entire first floor of our house ended up being in worse shape then we thought. We had to have them completely stripped and refinished. That took about a week, but we are so glad that we did it before we moved all the furniture in. They look beautiful now! My mom and I came in and took wallpaper down, painted 4 rooms and got it ready for us to move in. We moved in 2 weeks ago on September 10. We wouldn't have been able to do it without Russ' dad, his brother and my dad. They moved eveything into the house and they were awesome! We are so thankful for all of their help! We love our new house and we are glad that we are finally all moved in! We love having more space and the kids love having a play room for all of the toys! Here are a couple of pictures of it since I have had friends who asked to see pictures. We have a lot of work to do in the yard including some trees that need removed. That will come in the near future!

Clayton has changed a lot over the past couple of weeks. He is the sweetest baby and we all are so in love with him! He is almost 7 months now and he is very active! He started sitting up a few weeks ago and now he is a champ. He loves to sit on the floor and play for long periods of time. He has really good balance too! He has also started to rock on all 4's when he is on the floor. I know that any day he is just going to take off! He hasn't started crawling yet, but he sure is trying. He can get wherever he wants to go by rolling or scooting. He started eating baby food a few weeks ago and so far, he is very picky! He loves the fruit and he can't get enough of it, but boy does he hate the vegetables! He will hold his mouth shut and refuses to eat much of them. I hope he develops more of a taste for vegetables or I am going to have my work cut out for me! He also loves to talk and jabber. If you talk to him, then he will talk back because he loves the attention. He loves to click he tongue and squeel. He even started to say "dada" about a week ago. I swear, it is the cutest thing! I also can't forget that his first tooth popped through 2 days ago. Another one will any day now! He is getting so big so fast! Caleb and Kathryn still love him to pieces and his face lights up when they come near him. He is a blessed baby with a big brother and sister who love him so much!

For the 2nd year in a row, Russ competed with a group of 3 other guys in the "Mud Run." The Marine Corp puts on a huge event in Columbia, SC where hundreds of people compete in groups of 4 in an obstacle course. The course is over 4 miles long and consists of many obstacles all in the mud! It is a challanging race, but the guys always have so much fun. The night before the race, Russ decided that he would buzz his hair to make it easier to wash all the mud out after the race. Because Caleb was going to run the Polywog course (a mud run for young children), he decided that he wanted his head buzzed too. After much consideration, Russ and I decided that we should give it a try.



TADA!
It took us a while to get used to, but it is growing on us. Caleb loves that he doesn't even have to comb his hair!

We got up REALLY early on Saturday morning to drive to Columbia for the run. Thankfully, the run was in the morning so it wasn't very hot. The guys did a great job and completed the run in 1 hour and 15 minutes. They were covered in mud when they were done!

Here is Russ' friends who were on his team.

Here they are at the end of the race in one of the last obstacles.

Caleb loved being able to run his course when Russ was running his. He ran this over and over again. At first he was very cautious about getting dirty, but after a few times, he got down and dirty! Kathryn and I liked watching and not getting dirty :)

I think this picture is hilarious! He looks like a little man with a mustache and go-tee from the mud!

Here are my men at the end of the race before the showers! Yuck!

Thanks for sitting through all of our pictures :)