Random July

Here are some random pictures from our 1st month here in Birmingham.

I suffer from taking pictures with my phone, not with my big camera, and haven't uploaded those onto my computer... so these are mostly hanging around the house pictures. 

This was my worst pregnancy month.... and unfortunately, it was very long and very slow.

God did bless us with some amazing cool summer weather... although very rainy.

My Papaw gave H this horse hat... it's pretty awesome... too bad I cut it off in the picture.

Kids have loved our staircase to the basement.

It's pretty steep... with concrete flooring at the bottom.

So far, we haven't had any major accidents.

MG was SOOOO excited to unpack her gloves. She had been worried that they hadn't made it from Texas.

Enjoying our backyard.

I'm glad our neighbors have a pretty picket fence... looks good in pictures. :)

We have a pretty incredible hydrangea bush on the side of our house.

Just nursing Big Baby.

When we 1st moved in, all 3 kids slept in "Simon's Room" (which really is Simon and Henry's room, but Henry sleeps in "Margaret's Room"... that will be the Baby's Room, when all the others move back into this room once Baby comes. ha) 

We didn't get beds in there for quite some time, so Henry and Margaret just slept on their mattresses on the floor.... they loved this. 

Our street signs are pretty wonderful. 

I would say that I feel like this city (Homewood) has several missing signs and bad parking... kinda annoying... then I look at the beautiful trees and get over it.

Playing in the street... we do this often since our street is a dead end (only 8 houses) and pretty quiet.... and by quiet, I mean not a lot of cars. We bring the crazy to our street.

There is an ally-like drive that runs between our house and our neighbor.

Our "driveway" is off it, as well as 2 houses that are behind us (even though they face another street).

It kinda makes me nervous... don't feel like I can throw the kids outside as easily as I did on Briarwood.

July was also a hard month for this little guy.

He was sick.

Didn't sleep that well.

And fits were at an all time high. I feel like he screamed every time we got in or out of the car... another thing I'm sure our neighbors welcomed. 

Things are much better :)

Boxes proved to be very entertaining.

We had our first friends, the Watsons, over for dinner.

Blake is a fellow fellow (ha) with Tom.

Renna and little sis, Bryce, are so sweet and we are so thankful for them!

FaceTiming- so appropriate to do with a kid in the bath.

I think with the Walter Louises.

Margaret Gray gets hooked on "uniforms"... this dress became one in the month of July.

Fourth of July

That morning we went to a giant rummage sale/ festival at a local church... in the rain.

Then that evening, we drove to the top of Tom's parking garage for a good view of "Thunder on the Mountain".

Simon did not like the fireworks.

We got a special visit from the Burkharts, who were moving back to San Antonio from Indianapolis.

So thrilled they came our way!!

Bride Bekah really was happy to be here!
Our kids just loved playing with these wonderful friends and it was so good to be with Zack and Jenny.

Margaret's bed. Wanted to make a slip cover for the headboard, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Finally got in to see a doctor at 11 weeks.

So thankful to see a healthy little baby! 

Made the sickness a little better.

I think that's all for July.

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.....