The Truth.

Dearest Anderson,

The truth is, at first I was scared. You were not "planned" by us.  Of course we wanted you, but to be honest, not quite as soon as you happened! It was the week of your brother's first birthday. It was the day we found out we had roughly 2 months to figure out "what was next"! Job? Housing? Where in the country we may live? Lots of things were changing & little did I know you were changing & growing inside of me! 

After an afternoon chat with your Auntie Whitney... she pointed out that I had complained of heartburn. (Something I only have while pregnant, thank God!!!). She asked if I could be pregnant! I said, "nahhhh! I really don't think so...." & then she convinced me to make sure. To my shock & immediate terror, I learned of your exsistance. I wasn't scared of YOU, I was scared of all the big changes headed our way. I'll admit, I was scared of how you'd change our sweet little family of 3. I was scared about how 1 more would change our financial situation. I was scared how our families would react to a "surprise" pregnancy. I was just scared. 

Well, we took the opportunity to share this exciting news with all of your family after your big brother's 1st birthday party! Everyone was SO thrilled!!! Shocked, but thrilled. 

As the days passed the stresses of our changing circumstances grew. Your Daddy went to work & Mommy applied for jobs all over the country for him. We heard nothing back. We apartment shopped, hoping we could stay where we were... but there was no way we could stay unless Daddy got a new job... which we tried too. No doors seemed to open & you grew & Mommy got sick (a lot, but it's ok!). We decided to step out in faith & move to Tallahassee for a potential job. We'd be close to Gramma & Papa, we could find affordable housing & hopefully he'd get the job. You grew perfectly which was such a blessing since so much was going on here on the outside!

We moved & big brother loves it here... we sure hope you do too! It's great living near Gramma & Papa... plus, we're 7 hours closer to Grandee Carol!! Daddy got a job & we love the church that we get to be a part of, everyone is really excited to meet you there! We bought a house, it's where you'll grow up! 

Our hearts are so full & our eyes tear up thinking about the last 9 months. You were not expected by us, but God was not surprised. He made you perfectly. He has knitted you together in my womb. Your presence pushed us to make some big decisions, ones we're forever grateful for. You are so loved, dear son. Please come out so we can all meet you! We're ready to be a family of 4. 

Love, Mommy

Our 1960 Fixer Upper!

What? A blog post 2 days in a row? Shocking. I know. 

I figured I'd give the grand "before" tour because *hopefully* come June 1st this will all look totally different. Basically, every single room will be altered, so it's a whole big project! Let's begin! (That's not my car... I stole this picture from the listing agent!! Lol)

First you walk into the living room. Let me just start off by saying every single wall and ceiling of this house will be painted, no fear! These colors are going bye bye!! 

To the right is an archway, it will be squared off and returned to the way God intended it and prefer it! ;) Straight ahead is the hallway that leads to the 3 bedrooms and bathrooms. Not pictures and to the left is a long lovely window that looks out over our front yard! There's also a random useless closet that will be dry walled up and blown out to the other side where we'll extend bedroom 1's (Anderson's room) closet. There will be new floors throughout as well!

Next we go to the right and see a bizarre use of space. The kitchen... which they tried to open up? I'm not sure why it is this way... but it won't be for much longer! 

It's the tightest space ever. The layout itself we'll work with because it's most cost effective, but the walls must come down!! The cabinets will get a facelift, the countertops and backsplash will be replaced, hopefully we'll get new appliances (definitely a new oven), new recessed lighting, a pantry to the right (where that broom is) and my favorite... a large kitchen island! We'll get new floors and paint and flip flop the layout for our dinning room table & create a play area for the boys to the right of the pantry! 

We'll replace these French doors with ones that aren't rotting (and the ugly curtains that don't reach the floor!!). We'll also remove the gaudy molding & simplify to a cleaner more craftsmen style. The dining room table will be to the right of the doors and will have a fun statement lighting fixture over it! 

I don't have pictures of the "laundry room" currently... but believe me... that will take up a post of its own! Yikes!!!

Bedroom 1- (Anderson's Room)

There's a lot of work to be done in this small room! First we must repair the ceiling. It's rotten, but thankfully the roof is new and the ceiling had just not been repaired. Next to go is that ceiling fan! It's spray painted purple and has purple duct tape all over it... Why?! This room will be carpeted and all of the electrical will be brought up to code. Like I mentioned before, the closet will be expanded and all of the walls will get a fresh coat of paint!

Bedroom 2- (Raleigh's Room)

This room is in good shape! It just needs updated electrical, a ceiling fan, new closet doors, new paint and carpet. It's definitely the larger of the 2 bedrooms... it may eventually become "the boy's" room! 

Hallway Bathroom- (the original 1960's bathroom)

Oh yes. There will be more pictures of this to come!!! Blue tiles? Pink tub? Oh yeah- it's all going. We'll get a new toilet and tub! The ceiling needs to be repaired and we'll add a vent and light. New floors (ones that won't always look dirty!) & the lovely floral wallpaper is going away! It's basically getting gutted! Woohoo!

The Master- (Our Room!)

This room is huge! See where that wall comes out a little bit on the left there? That's where the original room ended. The previous owner knocked out the wall and expanded and made this a large master with a big walk in closet! Thank you!! This room will be carpeted (the floors aren't in the best shape and we're not sure how well they were installed!)

That's the view from the bathroom looking into the hallway. Now for our bathroom! It isn't the colors or materials I'd prefer or choose... however... it isn't the highest to change on my priority list. 

The glass shower door is coming down! I'm not sure if the previous owner was super short or was just really great a ducking.... 

All the grout will be professionally cleaned and repaired... & then we can host a party?! This thing is massive!!

We'll find mirrors I like and replace the lights... & call it a day! (For now!)

There's one more room... it needs A Lot of work... and paint... 

It's off of the "laundry room" and it looks like they let wild animals loose in it. It used to be the carport but they enclosed it and created a room of sorts. We aren't sure what we'll do with it... but once we've lived in the main area of the house I'm sure we'll have a better idea of what we "need". 

There's so much to be done, but it's exciting and I trust our contractor! We hope to start renovations on April 27th so I'll make sure to follow this journey and document it! I cannot wait to start!! 

Worst "blogger" Ever!

I basically blog for me. To keep a diary of sorts about this chapter in our lives! I also do it to update friends and family... and sometimes to share fun things with strangers! Clearly, I've slacked off in a serious way. It's been about ohhhhh 10 months since I've written and I mean what could we have possibly crammed into 10 months?! HA! Well, let me fill in the blank space.

July 2014- We had an amazing vacation with my family and Nathan's mom in NC. It was such a blessing. We hung out, read, played cards, hiked, zip lined, junked and antiqued, saw elk, played in streams and ate! And... apparently we made a baby.

August 2014- We were preparing and planning a big celebration for our little man's first birthday on August 22! The week that Raleigh turned one (Tuesday 8/19) we found out two very important pieces of information. 1.) we had to move out of our apartment by Nov. 1st 2.) I was pregnant with a BIG surprise baby #2! Oh man. As we processed all of that we celebrated with all of our friends and family Raleigh's first birthday, it was perfect! We went ahead and took the opportunity to tell our families together that we were expecting. God's timing is perfect... even though my head was still spinning!!!

September 2014- This was a blur of resume sending, praying and trying to not stress about the future. Raleigh and I managed to visit Whitney! We took the opportunity to have pictures made with our boys! (Thanks Brett Seay!!)

October 2014- This was also a blur of resume sending, deciding to step out in faith and move to Tallahassee, FL to *hopefully* get a particular job, be near my parents and live in a place that was more affordable. (WPB is pretttty expensive!) We moved the last week of October and our wonderful friends Krystal & Leo (Tia and Tio) helped us along with my parents. I was exhausted and thankful I was in the second trimester of my pregnancy! We celebrated Halloween with our little elephant in Tallahassee.

November 2014- It was a great month... minus the whole not having a real income! We had so much family time. We got to know our new city (I introduced the boys since this is my hometown!). It was football season... we spent lots of time with Gramma & Papa... and Raleigh quickly adjusted to life here. Oh! My parent's gifted us a trip to Savannah, GA for our anniversary and watched Raleigh for us. It was our first time away from him and although hard, it was so needed and enjoyed! We still FaceTimed him every night!  

December 2014- We had a break through with the job search! Nathan had interviews and met with church committees. We were told that he had the job just as soon as the entire church voted him in! We also found out that we were expecting another baby BOY! Anderson Thomas Price. Anderson after Nathan's grandpa "Samuel Anderson Hambright" and Thomas after my grandpa "Thomas Clyde Owens". We were so excited that Raleigh would be getting a little brother!! After all, they'll be so close in age... hopefully they'll be best buds! We spent Christmas in South Carolina with Grandee Carol and Nathan's family, but had to come home a little sooner than intended due to more melanoma. Yes, I was diagnosed with a very early (Praise GOD) stage of melanoma. Yes, my second one... each time while pregnant. Hormones can do crazy things! It's also one of the few cancers that can actually cross the placenta! Scary stuff.

January 2015- Nathan started his new job! His first day on the job I had my melanoma cut out... so thankfully the church and staff are extremely understanding and he was able to help me at home a majority of his first week there! I found out they had gotten all of the cancer and that was a huge relief. Raleigh's personality really started to shine and he won the hearts of basically our entire new church congregation. He is such a joy!

February 2015- We celebrated Valentine's Day and my 28th (eek) birthday. Auntie Katherine came for a visit (she got a week off for Mardi Gras?! Only in NOLA!!) We started to consider looking at homes here... and at the end of the month we put in an offer!!

March 2015- UGH. That month was filled with house stuff! Our offer was excepted!! YAY! That meant we had to get everything together and send it to our lender. However, we opted for a specific loan which incorporates renovation cost into your monthly mortgage. This meant I had limited time (like 15 days) to meet with a ton of contractors and make a plan of everything I wanted done to the house specifically. I mean real specifications. Then I had to pick a contractor, have my list of renovations, get all of the house stuff done (appraisal, inspections, loan junk and what felt like a million other things) all while being very pregnant and chasing a toddler. I am not sad that March is over! We did manage to squeeze in a maternity shoot with Sarah Gray Photography. Best part of March!! I love every single picture!!!

April 2015- We made it. We celebrated Easter with our new church family and Nathan's mom came down for a visit! We closed on our house on April 9th and we plan to start renovations April 27th! Basically every room in the house is getting something done! I'm now 37 weeks pregnant with Anderson... and hoping he'll come before his brother did! (Induced at 40 weeks due to lack of movement!) It has been a whirlwind journey... but God has guided our every step and I love looking back and seeing Him walking with us even in the times of uncertainty.

We could not have planned any of this any better than He as orchestrated it. We feel blessed!!! Now we await more exciting things! Coming up? New baby! Renovations on our new house! Nathan graduates from seminary with his masters degree! Nathan leaves me (AH! Pray for me!! lol) and heads to Honduras for a mission trip! Life is exciting my friends. I'll try to keep y'all updated... especially since life moves fast and I want to remember all of the details of this chapter.

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