Life, for our family, is about to change...

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve put a post up on my blog. I’ve been busy with this little thing called being a mother, to THREE beautiful babies. Yes, I know, I’m way behind. The last time I wrote on here we were welcoming Annie Thatcher into the world. Since then, we’ve welcomed a handsome, stud muffin named Henry. Henry was born on June 4, 2013 in our new hometown of Tampa, FL. So, how did we get to Tampa? Yeah, that’s another thing I’ve failed to update my blog on. Eliot is currently serving as a JAG in the United States Air Force. I, Jennifer Peace, have become a military spouse. Sometimes I don’t believe it myself then my husband’s alarm goes off at a not-so-lovely 6am for his not-so-lovely 7am office PT and I am reminded of this military lifestyle we are currently living in.

If you know me well, you know I don’t put a blog post up for just anything. I wait for those big moments. The ones where I don’t want to forget the feelings I had at that moment, kind of moments. Something BIG is happening to our little family of five. Really big. Really big and not so cute. Not a baby. Not a puppy. Not a new house, however that is hopefully close. Our big news brings me to tears and drops me to my knees.

Eliot is being deployed. Deployed. Deployed? A lawyer? Yes, apparently even lawyers have to deploy. Come mid April our family will have to endure a true test of faith and strength and learn to lean a little closer to our heavenly Father. 

I will not forget the night Eliot told me the news. He had asked me in the past what would I do if he ever had to deploy. My answer was, “I’ll cry.” He said, “No, really, what would you do?” I replied, “I don’t think I’ll be able to stop crying long enough to figure out what to do.” I honestly never thought he could or would be deployed. I guess I was just being naïve. The night he told me, I had just finished getting our (then) five month old baby to bed and was so extremely and utterly exhausted. I was thinking, life cannot get any harder than it is right now. It just can’t. Then, Eliot walks in and tells me not to go to bed before he can talk with me. So, I forced myself to keep my eyelids open a little longer to wait while he put the other two children to bed. He then comes in the room and lies down next to me and tells me he will be deployed. My response, “Is this a joke? You’re kidding.” To which he replies, “Why would I joke about this?” My heart immediately sank; I thought I was going to get sick.  I sobbed. The ugly tears everywhere, nose running, making loud noises kind of sob. What would I do? Where will I go? Will I stay here in Florida? What will the children think? Bradford. How on earth would we tell Bradford? My heart sank a little bit more and the sobbing continued.

Well, the sobbing phase is not quite over and I have had some pretty tough decisions on my plate as we face this chapter in our lives. We ask for your prayers. Prayers for Eliot and his safety as he seeks to serve his country, using his talents and wisdom to protect our country from the terrorists that seek to destroy us. Prayers for the children, that they would never doubt their daddy’s love for them, despite the mileage that will separate us. And prayers for me, that I will be full of faith and filled with energy to hold me over until his return.

Our new addition

Life has been a little crazy since our precious Annie Thatcher arrived. I've found myself napping (trying to recover from the sleepless nights) if I ever have any free time during the day...which is not often. That is why it has taken me so long to blog about Annie Thatcher.

Annie Thatcher was born August 16, 2011 at 8:27am. She was 7lbs 5oz and 20.5 inches long. I was scheduled to be induced that morning, but Annie decided to come on her own, with the contractions starting during my date with Eliot at Dianne's on Devine (a really nice restaurant in Columbia). I remember feeling the contractions and timing them throughout our dinner. When I realized that they were probably the "real thing" I texted my mom (who was already at my house watching Bradford) that it had begun...but told her I was staying through dessert. If you have ever tasted Dianne's Toffee Crunch Cookie Sundae, then you would have stayed too.

Below is a picture of Annie the day she was born. Such a precious gift from God. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

Cherry Grove 2011

Shannon's (my new sister-in-law) family has a house at Cherry Grove Beach, just north of Myrtle Beach and they offered to let our family use it for a week this summer. We all marked our calendars for June 9-15 and were looking forward to a fun and relaxing week.

          Bradford was excited to ride the waves....

...build sand castles with daddy...

 ...and with Grandpa...



..steal Aunt Shannon's chair...

 ...and her hat...

 ...watch the big boys play horseshoes...

...interrupt their game of corn hole....

...hang out with his Grandma and Grandpa...

...and his mommy and baby sister.

     It was a wonderful last vacation as our family of three. Baby Girl, we look forward to many vacations in the future as a family of four! It was also the last vacation of traveling as a family in our Camry. From now on, we will take the minivan!

Isle of Palms

Ever since I have been "in the picture" with Eliot, the Peace family has only gone to the beach for long weekends. This year, we all got a nice treat in honor of Mr. Peace's 60th birthday. We all checked our schedules and found a week where we all (yes, even Madison who lives in NYC) could go to the beach for an entire week together. We went to the Isle of Palms and stayed in a house complete with everything we could possibly need for an enjoyable beach trip, even a room full of toys for the boys.

It was so much fun watching Bradford really enjoy the beach. Last year, he mostly just took naps in the sun tent. This year, he was all over the place.

Malcolm and Bradford loved taking rides in the golf cart.

Playing in the sand...

                                                                        

The water...

The cool sunglasses...

Lounging in the beach chairs while sipping on some ice cold apple juice....

Jumping the waves with daddy and granddaddy...

And even being hit by the waves.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching every moment and I look forward to seeing him at the beach with my family in a couple weeks.

Baby Girl's Nursery

Baby Girl Peace only has six weeks until her anticipated arrival. She is kicking and punching like crazy, which must mean she can't wait to get out and come meet us. I am excited beyond words of having a daughter. I love all the little pink things, the hair bows, the jewelry, the baby dolls, and all the cute clothes.

Eliot and I had many long discussions as to whether she would get her own room or share with Bradford. We finally decided that, for now, they will have separate rooms. At least until she is sleeping through the night, like Bradford. So, for now, her room is a combination of a nursery and the guest room. If anyone needs a place to stay, she will just transition to our room and sleep in the pac-n-play. And, I imagine, that for the first 4-6 weeks she will be in our room all night...if she eats anything like her big brother did.

Here is the view from the hallway. Notice the antique pink arm chair that was given to me by my parents. It was given to my mom by my grandfather. I'm so excited to use it in her room.

This is her crib (Wal-Mart $99), bedding (Pottery Barn Outlet $50), and wall decal (Kohl's $12).  I'm not quite sure about the wall decal, but thankfully it will just peel off if I choose to remove it. The wonderful Aunt Madi is quite the artist and one of her paintings might end up replacing the decal.

I am so excited about her hair bows. I just hope she has enough hair so she can wear them. If not, I'll be pulling out the head bands.

Here is some wall art I made to fill in some empty space on the wall.

Now, all we need is Baby Girl Peace to complete the nursery. Six more weeks...

Mother's Day 2011

Well, this was a special yet sad Mother’s Day for me. It was special because I have a handsome son of 15 months and a little girl kicking within the womb. "Double the love” as my cousin says. Yet, sad because we just buried my grandmother, the last surviving grandparent that I had. My grandmother, Carolyn Young, lived to be 89 years old and passed away four days before Mother’s Day. It was weird not going to visit her on Sunday and taking her flowers. Instead, I was going home with beautiful pink peonies that the women at her church gave to me after her funeral.

These flowers remind me of my grandmother. She always loved the color pink and she especially loved flowers. Most of my memories at her house included beautiful flowers on her dining room table. She took great pride in keeping her house clean and having beautiful flowers to brighten the room. Maybe that’s why I love having flowers on my kitchen table.

We spent Mother’s Day morning with my mom. All of the family had been home for the funeral and were able to stay to celebrate Mother’s Day together. We had yummy waffles, which have become a staple on Sunday mornings for my family as well as Eliot’s. Then, we went to church, where it was Youth Sunday at Westminster. Ryan participated in the service; however, I got there too late to hear him say the Assurance of Pardon. Sorry Ryan. After church, we had an enormous and delicious lunch at the Country Club. Even Bradford ate a lot. After lunch we packed up and headed back to Columbia to have Mother’s Day with just our family. Bradford gave me a gift certificate to have a Prenatal Massage at Urban Nirvana and his other gift to me got lost in the mail. Apparently, he ordered me the new Laura Story cd (which I have been dying to get) but he accidentally had it shipped to our old address. We went to our old duplex and left a note. The current tenant called back to say she wrote “no longer lives here” on the package and sent it off in the mail. I sure hope it turns up soon. This was followed by a short trip to Sandhills and then dinner at Chipotle. I then convinced Eliot to run in to Fresh Market to get us some cookies. With our yummy cookie and a glass of milk we turned on a movie. What a wonderful Mother’s Day! I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful son and husband who spoil me rotten!

I love being a mother and I am so blessed to have such wonderful mothers in my life to show me the way. I could not ask for a better mom, mother-in-law, nor grandmothers. Every one of them have made a huge influence on my life and have shown me by their examples how to be a good mother. Motherhood is a blessing. It is a blessing I will always cherish.

25 Weeks and Counting...

      This past weekend marked the 25 week mark in the pregnancy with Baby Girl. I wish Baby Girl had her real name already, but her daddy and I just cannot decide on the perfect name for our perfect daughter.
     
      However, we do have a nice list of potentials. Hopefully, we will know which one it will be before she enters this world--which means we only have 15 weeks. And those 15 weeks will fly by, as the summer always seems to do.

      Here is a picture of me at 24 weeks pregnant. It was taken over Easter weekend, and we were in Greenwood celebrating with the Peace family. Mrs. Peace arranged for a photographer, the wonderful Caroline Jackson, to come take some pictures of the entire family. All of the pictures on this blog post are Caroline's photographs. Thanks Caroline!

      I have just recently transitioned to my lovely maternity wardrobe and have only gained 6 lbs. At this point in the pregnancy with Bradford, I had already been in maternity clothes for at least two months and had gained a total of 15 pounds.  Eliot says it is because she is a girl and is dainty. However, being that I am almost 5’11’’ I highly doubt any child of mine will be “dainty.”

     This pregnancy has been relatively easy thus far, and some days I even have to remind myself that I'm pregnant. The morning sickness is thankfully in the past--but the nighttime leg cramps and heart burn have made their debut into my normal routine. One night the leg cramps were so bad I wanted to take myself to the ER, but I knew I would just be laughed at . . . so I stayed put, ate a banana, and whined to Eliot.

      Bradford is busy getting ready to be a big brother. He is walking and talking. Well, talking his limited vocabulary of only four words. He is super excited about having a sister, can’t you tell…

    We love Bradford and cannot wait for our family of three to become a family of four when Baby Girl joins us in August!