Moving

Pictures of packing and moving....

We were so thankful for all the boxes that were given to us- didn't have to buy anything except an extra package of packing tape.

Tom's last time to mow our wonderful yard.... REALLY miss it!

Loading the truck day

We got the biggest truck and thought there was going to be plenty of room...

Margaret Gray was so worried we were going to forget her stroller.

Lunch in the garage.... don't miss that place... ewww! the bugs!

Alice played with us that day.

These 3 were pretending to be trash men.... Alice was driving and Henry and MG were the collectors. ha.

There was still a lot to pack.
It got FULL! There wasn't an inch of space available... ok, maybe I'm exaggerating... 

Henry playing on someone's phone.

Their last night :(

Moving day

Tom drove the truck over with his car hitched to the back.

His parents followed him to help with the unpacking.

It had gotten to the point where there was NO MORE ROOM in the truck, the cab of the truck, Tom's car, my car, or his parents car... and stuff just had to be put out on the curb.

Killed me that we couldn't take perfectly good items off to Mission Arlington, but we had just run out of time.

Mary Pat- don't look at the basketball goal you gave Henry... it will be replaced.

TV console... Oh, there is the wrapping paper I was looking for today!.

A matted and framed Monet print that Tom gave me for our 1st Christmas as a couple in college went into Arlington's landfill, too.

Oh, kills me!!!

That ghetto slide that brought my kids so much joy. 

:(

Ok, that was sad to post....

So, yes, Tom and his parents took of to Birmingham.

Got to our house around 11 PM. 

(The UHaul broke down in the middle of the highway 5 mins from our house...that added to the adventure)

Had to find the closest WalMart to buy sheets for the mattresses. Oh, and towels so they could shower. Poor packing on my part. It was well after midnight when they got some sleep.

Being that our rental sits on a steep street, and is up on a hill, made for an unpleasant unloading of the truck.

We will be hiring movers for our move back.... for sure!

I stayed back in Arlington with the kids. Tom flew back (his parents drove onto Charlotte), and then we all drove onto Shreveport, where we stayed for a couple of days (I had lost all devices that allowed me to document our trip over)... then onto Birmingham!

We sure do miss our sweet, sweet home in Arlington. 

So many good memories there-

brought 3 of our babies home there...

Baby Showers... Birthday Parties... Bible Studies... Family walks.... living so close to family...Family Dinners... Match Day Slumber Party complete with a Dance Off... Toonces buried in the back yard... all of Tom's handyman projects (rebuilt a wall, installed recessed lighting, rewired our very hazardous electrical box to where I had to reach over wires to get clothes in and out the washer, working in the yard (our love garden), painted and repainted rooms... fixed leaks in the crawl space...).

So thankful for God's provision the last 9 years we spent on Briarwood.
Such a sweet, sweet time in our lives.


Oh yeah, and is now posed as a house belonging to a girl on a very classy show on MTV.
I know the original owners are rolling in their graves...

We're Pregnant and "It's a Race!"

So yes, Baby Quatro is on it's way! 

 On June 13th, I took a pregnancy after Tom went to work.

AHHHH! It was positive! 

Excited, and little bit nervous.

Since we were in the middle of packing, I decided to incorporate the madness in telling Tom.

I placed the positive pregnancy test in a box....

... and when Tom got home from work, I told him to check out the box I had packed.

Love that I got his reaction on film!

(Fun to go back and look at the "reveal" of Margaret Gray's pregnancy.

 I don't have Simon's on film because I took a pregnancy test in the middle of the night then woke up Tom to tell him... he was kinda confused about what was going on. I'm not sure what I was thinking. ha.)

So on Father's Day, we decided to tell Tom's family.

Since we had the photobooth rockin', we decided to use it to reveal to Tom's family that Bebe #4 was on it's way.

At the end of our family photo session, we held up signs that read "Feb 2014" and "#19" . 

This was to be Louis grandchild #19.

So glad Mary Pat had picked up my camera and documented these. 

Love Kate's reaction!

I distinctly remember telling Mary Pat "please have another child so I don't feel so crazy!"

Well....

The Whitesides took a family picture, and held up these signs...

"Feb 2014"

"#19... It's a Race!"

Love it!

Was soooooo excited for them!

Mary Pat is due exactly a week before me and it's been fun sharing this experience with her! (again! - Henry and Evie are 4 months apart. Simon and Gwyneth are 1 month apart.... somehow I threw a Margaret Gray in the mix)

Her babies have come late... mine have come early....

We'll see!!!

Actually, we both kind of want to "finish last".... #20 is kinda cooler than #19. ha.

Mary Pat telling Evie.

Such a sweet moment.....

... my kids were clueless and never caught on to the excitement that day. ha.

You know what is horrible... I can't remember how I told my mom that I was pregnant.....

Some of June

Some random pictures from June... I'm really working hard on catching up!

And I'm trying not to get sad while looking at all these dear faces we miss so much! 

Miss Alice so much!

Swim lessons!

MG had a rough start- would scream her head off at the instructor. 

Told me she was cold.... which really, it was. 

After about the 3rd lesson she "warmed up" and has become a good little swimmer.

Cute

The weekend Tom went up to Kentucky for his board examination, I took the kids over to Abilene for Brinley's Princess Party.

We needed to say "goodbye" to our dear friends and had a great time, so it worked out well.

Birthday girl Brinley and brother, Cason.

This picture gets me every time! ha.

Ava and Kristen made trip too, so Margaret had fun playing with 2 sweet friends.

Henry was happy to be along for the ride.

MG was in heaven with Princess Aurora

Miss these sweet friends of mine!!!!!!!

Simon so proud of himself for picking up a dead roach.

(This was back at our house.... not at Amy's. ha)

Celebrated cousin Thomas' birthday at a Ranger game.

Our 1st and last game of the season :(

Buds

The Whitesides were in town.

MG lovin' on Gwen.

Henry rocked a headlamp as a sweatband.

The whole crew of kids!

Visited the Delaneys before we left :(

Good thing Liz and I talk almost every day... miss this special family! 

Can't wait to return to Dallas with another kid and she and I can take our 8 kids someplace and get lots of stares. 

On our way out of town, we stopped by my grandparents...

 Kids love playing my Papaw's slot machine!

 And Mamaw brought out some old records.

Margaret Gray loves this music box as much as I did as a little girl.

Always a special time visiting my grandparents.

And that's where my June ends... cause I lost my camera charger and my ipod touch and couldn't document our time in Shreveport and our move to Birmingham....

Wait- I just remembered I have packing/ loading up the truck pictures to post. Whew- I knew you were worried.

Finishing up 5 years

June was filled with Tom wrapping up 5 years of residency.

One evening, we went to a dinner at the Dallas Aquarium for his graduation ceremony that the hospital put on. Good times.... no pictures.

Then another graduation dinner that the Radiology group hosted at Matitos. 

We made this evening into a get away and spent the night out in Dallas. 

It was super nice to spend some one on one time with my guy... since our lives were spinning back at home... with packing craziness.

Casey, Billy's (one of Tom's co residents) wife.

Really enjoyed getting to know her the past 5 years.

So they roast each other.

The graduating class roasts the attendings. 

And the program director, Dr. Oza, roasts the graduates.

There were lots of laughs.

Dr. Oza pulled line from their residency applications.

Somewhere in Tom's, he mentioned that he worked various jobs in high school and college.

What kind of jobs were they? Dr. Oza wondered..... 

Baker?

Sweat shop worker?

Rodeo clown?

Mall Santa?

Or Nail Salon owner????

Pretty clever. Pretty funny. Great photoshopping.

Graduates with their Program Director

Jason, Billy, Lauren, Thomas, Tom, Sara, David, and Dr. Oza

Great group of people.

Great doctors.

It was a fun evening!

Earlier that month, Tom flew to Kentucky for his oral boards....

Where he defended his competency in various hotel rooms... so weird.

Anyway, he rocked the exam. So proud of him!

Before he returned the kids made him a congratulations sign...

And baked him some brownies.

5 years seems like a long time, but it really went by fast!

We are thankful for the training he received and are excited Tom will be returning to the group as an attending next July!