Remembering Meme

We returned home yesterday after an emotion-filled few days in Virginia, saying goodbye to Randall's mother - our children's Meme. Her passing came all too soon. We just knew we had several more years with her, and we were thrilled to have even more time now that we were within driving distance. Easy weekend visits. Holidays. Birthdays. But, after the kids spent our moving week at her home, she was taken from us, and we were forced to find peace in the memories rather than focusing on the fun times still in store.

Here are some of my favorite shots of her with our children, and my favorite picture of Randall with his mom.

Betty was a lot of things to many people, and I always admired her strength and faith. Attending her funeral and spending a lot of time thinking about healing has caused us to give more thought to our own faith and the way we hope to raise our kids. She would be very proud of that.

She LOVED her family. It was #1. Her boys, their wives, and all the grandchildren. It was her favorite role in life --- providing for and loving her family. She worked very hard to raise her boys with no spouse around, and she did a pretty kick ass job. Mike and Randall made her proud. They are good people, and it's no surprise coming from a mom like her. I feel like Mike's wife, Muzette, and I got the best work she ever did, and I'm grateful for her every day.

As Randall told his mama before her casket was closed, "We will take care of those babies for you." We will make sure they know who she was, and we hope they turn out to be people she would be proud of. She loved them so, so much.

We miss her already. Rest in peace, Meme.

Baking

Sydney enjoys helping in the kitchen, and I love these photos of her helping with some pumpkin muffins. These are actually the last photos we took inside our old house, a couple of days before the movers showed up to pack. :)  A nice, yummy note to go out on!

One Fall Day

Yesterday, we spent several hours at a nearby pumpkin farm! We had a great time. I think this will be our annual spot for pumpkin picking, pony rides and hay rides. The weather was perfect, and we have two lovely pumpkins on our porch now.

Sydney most enjoyed her pony ride! I loved seeing her in the helmet - she seemed so big!

It was a really nice family day. We decided the remaining of the work that needs to be done at the house can wait; we were finally together again under one roof and we wanted to spend some time doing something fun. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention the bouncy house and farm animals. This place really did have everything. A good find for sure. Thanks, Google! :)

Carolina on my mind...

This is the big weekend. We are loading up and making the big move back East. When I say these past several weeks have been full of mixed emotions (and a major lack of sleep!), that could very well be the understatement of the year!

We are so sad to leave our dear friends and our wonderful life, but we are also very excited to be closer to our families and our friends in that neck of the woods. We will both be starting new jobs that will bring new challenges, new lessons and a new life for our family. A very wise mentor of mine said recently "Transition is hard. Transition is necessary." I hope I always remember that, because there will undoubtedly be bumps along this road.

I am thankful for technology during times like this. Thanks to Facebook and blogs and email, it's much easier to keep up with old friends as life takes you to new places.

The day I moved "out west" I was so sad, even though deep down, I was sure it was for the best. I was leaving the life I was comfortable living. That day seems like 100 years ago. This has become our home, and it's where we have roots. It's where our babies were born. So, one thing I know for sure. As tough as this transition may be, I know it will seem like no time before we feel at home once again with new roots starting to grow.

I hope to be back to blogging as soon as we are set up in the new house, and I plan to do a little blog home tour once we are somewhat settled. :) For now, here's a peek at the place we will call home in just a few days!

Pony tails & Papaw

Saturday was a busy day for all the Stricklands. Randall took Collin out to visit our friend Juston and his family. Juston's grandfather, Papaw, has always loved Randall, and since he had never met Collin, Randall wanted to take him for a visit before we move next week. I love these photos of them together. From all the reports I got, Collin was perfect the whole time and let everyone hold him and love on him.

While the boys were off getting in their kisses and hugs, Sydney and I went to a birthday party for one of her classmates, Henley. She was so excited to bring the present we bought.

Henley lives in a neighborhood but there was a great space between houses to do pony rides. The kids were in heaven. Sydney was the first to ride and she even helped the birthday girl warm up to the idea. Things have definitely changed! Sydney used to be our super shy little girl, and we have recently seen her come completely out of her shell. We are thrilled because we don't want her to miss out on things. :)

Here's our sweet girl enjoying the horses. She only stopped riding if someone was waiting in line or if it started to rain. She had a long-sleeve shirt on under that yellow sweater, and eventually had to put her coat on, too. It was COLD.

Henley also has a trampoline, and it confirmed our thoughts that this would be a perfect Christmas present for Sydney! These girls had a ball. (Side note: All the moms at the party were ooh-ing and aah-ing over Sydney's curls. I know they probably won't be there forever, but it's just so cute right now!)

In the middle of the party, we got a call that a realtor wanted to show our house (of course, right?!). We hurried home to get everything perfect and then had to be gone for a bit, so Sydney and I went to lunch and then for our final trip to the library! I love this picture because Sydney always talks to this bronze sculpture when we are leaving the library. She shows them our books, etc. This was the first time we only returned books and didn't check any out, but I assured her we would find a great library near our new home as soon as we get settled. 

It was a great day, which ended with date night! Our friends Erin & Aaron hung out with the kids so we could celebrate our five-year anniversary a week early at our favorite restaurant. That was another example of Sydney moving out of her shyness. She happily waved to us as we drove away, and she went about her business. Six months ago, she would have been a mess. Yay for progress!

Biker babies

This past weekend, our town welcomed one of the biggest bike rallies in the nation: Bikes, Blues & BBQ. It isn't my favorite weekend for a few reasons. Primarily, I don't love it because driving around town makes me nervous when bikes are everywhere. We had such a busy weekend, we didn't get down to visit all the excitement, and I hate that because the kids would have loved it.

Collin caught a glimpse of the excitement when the friend of one of his school's teachers brought a pretty cool Harley to his building for all the little ones to see and sit on. As adorable as this is, I really hope this isn't a picture I see throughout his life! Motorcycles make me nervous. Period.

Sydney also had some biking experience of her own, but not in the motorcycle sense. In the past, she has only been interested in pedaling if she didn't really have to work at it. The route had to be very flat, and she was even happier if it was slightly downhill. Can you say lazy? Well, some time had passed since we last tried (mainly because I had to cool down because I was so irritated by this!), and what do you know?! It has clicked! She will actually use her leg muscles to pedal! And she was so excited --- perhaps because I was screaming from joy. She will pedal up and down our sidewalk, even in the parts where it is slightly uphill. I am so proud! Clearly, she is, too.(And clearly, our next door neighbors need to edge their lawn. Geez, make it hard on people tryin' to sell their house!)

In other news, Collin decided to get his first two teeth - bottom, center - during our Charlotte house hunting trip a few weeks ago. They are coming in slowly but surely, and I think you can kind of see them in this picture. I also took this video over the weekend where you can see his favorite "word" Dada. So stinkin' sweet!

8 months (and a day)

Collin is eight months old, and this has been the month of greatest change for him! Here's our cheerful little guy this morning.

 

He is now a full-blown crawler and puller-upper!! His favorite place to pull up is under the dining table, and then he freaks out because he feels stuck :)

 

Here's a short crawling video. There's no turning back now.

I mentioned in the last post that Sydney has a best friend. Well, Collin does too. Meet Drew! They are the best of buds. It's funny at only eight months, they already prefer some kids over others.Here they are this morning at school.

(And if you see the little zebra in front of Collin, that is the toy he goes for the second he arrives every single day without fail.)

At eight months, Collin is:

• a crawling and pulling up maniac
• still a decent eater but would live on yogurt if we allowed it
• wearing some 9-month and some 12-month clothes
• saying "da-da" and "ba-ba" and "blah-blah" :)
• still convinced Sydney hung the moon
• the sweetest thing you ever want to see in the morning. He wakes us with a huge smile and makes us all laugh
• wearing size 4 diapers
• still in love with his teachers and (so far) hasn't shown any signs of separation anxiety. I know it's coming...
• showing signs of an early walker. He's cruising the furniture some and seems very steady on his feet. Slow down, buddy!
  

We love our sweet and cuddly baby boy so much, and we can't believe how quickly he's moving out of baby zone. Happy 8-month-iversary! xoxo

BFFs

Sydney has a best friend - Elizabeth. These two girls play together all day every day at their Montessori school. Elizabeth's parents both work on campus, too, though we didn't know each other, so we finally put it all together and linked up for a play date at their house Friday after school. These girls had a ball, and we didn't get home until 10:30! When we arrived, the two little blondies shrieked like teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert. Sydney's shy personality was nowhere to be found. They played and played and played, watched TV, ate snacks and played some more. They always went to the bathroom at the same time, and they put their dolls in time out and disciplined them. It was funny to hear how similarly they speak, much of the language they've picked up from their teachers. And it was extra cute that they kept getting mixed up because Elizabeth's dad's name is Sidney! Anytime her mom addressed him, my Sydney came running. :)

Since we are moving to Charlotte in a few short weeks, Sydney has been asking if Elizabeth will be at her new school. It's heartbreaking. I actually cried Friday night because I know they won't grow up to be friends. I know she will make another best friend quickly, but we will always remember Elizabeth as her first sweet and adorable BFF! We will have more play dates before moving time arrives, I'm sure.

Wet & Wild

Last Sunday, we promised Sydney a trip to the wildlife safari in the area. It was a very wet day, but we couldn't disappoint her, so we went. This was Collin's first time there and we had a great time! I was exhausted by the end of the drive-thru part because he was moving constantly.After that, we could only go to the indoor section of the walking/petting area, but that was fine. And we finished up with a picnic lunch, as usual, under the pavilion... the driest part of the day!