Well, after about a 4 month hiatus, Okie Sunshine is back online! I promise the silence was not planned, although it did come at a good time in my personal life (more about that later).
Since December, just about everything in my family’s life has changed. I joke that the only thing that didn’t change was my hairstyle. I didn’t feel like I could talk or write about most of the changes until the dust had settled and I had handled all of the adulting to wrap it up with a nice pretty bow.
So I guess I’ll just briefly lay all of the Grimes family updates out…
~ We had a baby! (you probably already knew that one š ). Riley Katherine (aka Riley Kate) was born December 4th. This may sound weird, but I had the *best* time in labor with her. Our nurse was amazing, our doctor felt like a friend, and without being too personal, Riley made a very quick and easy entrance into the world. I told CJ that I felt like we were there having a party and cracking jokes all day, and that the grand finale was a new baby!
She is just amazing. For the first month, she did A LOT of sleeping and giving judgmental looks, but that has transitioned to sweet gummy smiles (and less sleeping lol). She has the squishiest little cheeks that I literally cannot stop kissing. Her big sister, Avery, is by far her favorite human (unless she’s hungry). One of the best things about having two little girls is seeing the love that they have for each other.
~ We traded in my car! Ok, definitely not as significant, but still quite exciting (to me, anyways). “Trusty Rusty” was my navy (with a rusty roof) 2007 Corolla. He was a good old car…carrying his share of tubas, countless roadtrips, and loudly singing friends. Many of our “firsts” as a family happened in that car. But, as attractive as it makes me feel to say it, I am too tall to drive it with a carseat behind me. And, seeing as how we were about to have two carseats, it was time for him to go. It was kinda like the circle of life though, because my dad was in town when we bought the Pathfinder, and he was also with me when we bought the Corolla.
~ CJ graduated from his two-year program at the Florida School of Preaching (FSOP). I remember when he started thinking about how weird it was that Avery would be almost 3 by the time he graduated…how quickly those 2 years flew by! Because of Riley’s birth, his parents got to be at graduation and spend time with their newest granddaughter, which made the time extra special. He accepted a position as the Youth and Family Minister at the Sebring Parkway church of Christ, and guys, about SIXTY of them showed up to his graduation. SIXTY! We felt incredibly loved by both our old congregation and our new. More on that in a minute.
~ We sold our house! Yup…showings + a newborn was about as fun as you’re imaging it was (not very much). Truthfully, I had a really hard time leaving our home. We had lived there for just over 3 years when we sold it. It had so much of CJ and I all over the place…little DIY projects (and big ones too), memories of both of our girls (and before them), a sweet neighbor, and something that was truly “our home.” All of the sentimental value of our house combined with postpartum hormones turned me into a puddle more than once or twice.
~ We moved to Sebring, FL. Never heard of it? It’s about an hour or so South of Disney and slightly West. This area is known for their citrus, and one of my favorite things about living here is smelling the blossoms in the evening. It’s the kind of place we had always talked about raising our family in – one high school, big enough to have a Wal-Mart (and Aldi!) but not so big that you feel lost in the hustle and bustle, lots of local places to eat, and a tight-knit church family. It felt like home very quickly! I cannot say enough good things about our church family here. They have made us feel very loved and welcomed, and have gone out of their way to give us a nice home here. There is a large snowbird community in Sebring, but let me tell you, these retirees are workers! Between the renovations they have done on our house, their community outreach, and their church involvement, they never seem to run out of energy!
~ I quit my job! Because of the move (and other reasons), I was able to resign from job and not go back after Riley was born. This one really excites me. Before CJ started at FSOP, being home with our kids was something that I didn’t think I would get the chance to do. But, God provided! Being a stay-at-home mom has been a journey of self-discovery. There is a part of me that enjoys the business world – climbing the ladder and growing professionally – but there is this whole other side of me that gets jazzed about storytime at the library and taking on the day with my little sidekicks. It’s taken some adjustment, obviously, but I am so very grateful that I have been given this time with our girls. In those inevitable hard moments, I try to remember how hard I prayed for this and that I have been given a gift.
I think that about sums up our changes…I think that was plenty! I tell people that all of those changes were great and wonderful changes, but boy howdy that was A LOT to adjust to all at once, and most of that happened in a span of 6 weeks!
The reason it’s been nearly 4 months of quiet is because we haven’t had internet access. Since before we officially moved to Sebring, we have been trying to get our new house connected. It’s taken several calls to the local provider, me stalking one of their trucks in the paring lot, and a plate of cookies, but still, no internet. However, some people from our church (those amazing, wonderful people) were able to figure out how to not only get the house connected, but make sure we had super sonic lightspeed access! No more putting in discs to watch movies like cavemen, haha!
So while it would have been wonderful to be able to write about this journey along the way, not having internet at the house took the pressure off to write as we adjusted as a family to all of the changes above.
But now, we’re back and I’m excited to continue this adventure!