Fun in the Sun

Last week we went on our annual beach trip. Ben was done with work and it was the first time we have gone when he didn't have school. Ellie loved every minute of the sand and the ocean! Quinn had to warm up to sand on her feet and hands as she doesn't love having dirty hands and feet and it took her a little bit to enjoy the water, but overall she had a great time. Mia mainly slept the whole time since she was only a month old. We did lots of playing, eating and enjoying each other. We enjoyed riding in the golf cart and eating ice cream. We had a blast as usual and are hoping we can get back there at some point in the next few years. We are so grateful for the opportunity we have had to go there over the years and have amazing memories with our girls. It was a perfect weather week and a great week of relaxing and enjoying family! (Here are a few pictures from my camera, with more to follow from my phone later on!)

 My view of Sweet Mia in the Bjourn

 As soon as we got there and unpacked we headed to the beach to go for a walk and gather some shells!

 Quinny needed a little comfort and coaxing from Daddy to venture out into the ocean!

 First Day on the Beach

 Another Day out on the Beach for Mia!

 The second day earned a little peek from Mia's eyeballs!

 Ellie can be so sweet to Quinny! She made sure to hold her hand when she went to the water.

Sad Goodbyes

We had to say goodbye to our Miss Kammy a week ago. She watched the big girls for the last time for us while we attended a wedding. We LOVE Miss Kammy. She has watched our girls at MAXlife and has been our babysitter for quite a while. The girls love when she is coming over and talk about it for days. They love playing with her and it was great to have someone we completely trusted and knew all their routines and would just step in and keep things going around here while we were out. She is one person we are soooo sad to leave! We are so grateful for the time our family had her in our lives! She is one person that it will be hard to find a match for in Minnesota.

One Month

Our little "Mees Bees" as we call her or as Daddy has started calling her "Measles" has passed the one month point. Our lives are crazy right now and she has had pretty much no normal life thus far with no normal routines, which I desire for her. She has been very adaptable and has rolled with the punches, but we are ready to move and get settled in our new normal to give her and the other girls some normalcy. In her first month she has flown to Minnesota and back and she has been surrounded by boxes and upheaval. She has no room at this point (since we are moving we did not reorganize the girls' rooms) and will sleep in her swing until we move. She is eating like a pro about every three hours during the day, as I am trying to keep her weight gain steady since we have tiny babies. She has been giving me a 5-7 hour stretch at one point during the night and then follows it up with one to two 3 hour stretches in the night. She has great head control and hates tummy time, but can spin herself in a circle (mainly out of frustration). She loves her sisters and is starting to watch them intently. She has been smiling at us as of late and the girls love when she smiles. She loves to grunt too. She is pretty laid back and cries when she is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper pretty much. All our babies have been great and we have been blessed with babies that have slept well and eaten well too and Mia is no different. Her one month stats were: 7 lbs. 6 oz.(the 6th percentile) (which I was thrilled with as she was 6 lbs. 3 oz. four days after her birth, so we gained over a pound in a little less than a month!) and she was 20.75 inches tall (the 33rd percentile). She is progressing on her own track and the doctor was pleased with her growth at this point and knows our little ones chart their own course.

 Sister Love

 Sweet Sleeping Baby

 Mia's Monthly Picture with the Sock Monkey

 1 Month, 1 Day! All dressed up to go to her first wedding rehearsal! The big girls stayed home with Miss Kammy while Mia went with us to the rehearsal and then wedding the next day of our friends Lindsay and Brenden. Ben officiated their wedding and Miss Lindsay has been a part of our family for quite some time. We are so excited that she and Brenden are married as we are so happy to call him a friend too!

Truly Bittersweet

I have been absent from the blog for a little while as we have had some big changes in our home. We are on the move to Minnesota! (or Minnesotas as Quinn says!) Ben has accepted a job as Family Ministry Pastor at a church just outside Minneapolis. We are SO excited for this next adventure for our family and for the call God has for our family! At the same time we are sad to say good-bye to the many people we have met in our time here. Charlotte is the place Ben and I met, got married and had our family, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts. So you may be wondering, why Minnesota? It is a place that is far from family, cold many months of the year and neither of us have a connection to. The answer is God has called us there. Ben felt God call him to ministry in his high school years and as I fell in love with a pastor God's call on his life became a part of mine. We have always said we will go wherever God calls us, no matter the location (even if it was Alaska), and He has called us to Minnesota. It is a process that has taken some time as we went through the steps praying the whole way. At every step God has encouraged us and given us a peace that only He can provide. As Ben got to the final stages we hit a point in which they wanted to meet our whole family and get to know me, so two weeks after Mia was born all 5 of us boarded a flight for Minnesota. We met amazing people and Ben had many meetings. At the conclusion of the trip and after being thoroughly vetted, they gave Ben an offer. We prayed about it and knew it was where God wanted us in the next season of our lives. I could list detail after detail of the ways God has shown us this is His will and coincidence after coincidence of all we have in common with those at this church. God has given us a continual peace and clarity throughout this process. The church is truly taking care of our family during this big transition and giving Ben time to breath before jumping into this next phase of ministry. This place and church we are heading to is more than we could have ever dreamed of praying for. The church has already wrapped it's arms around us with love and support during this time. The city is continually ranked as one of the top places to raise a family and the schools are some of the best in the nation. The girls had a great time visiting and already met some new friends. Ben and I met many new people and we were both encouraged by the beginnings of new friendships. We know there will be challenges and sacrifices, but feel that they will be well worth it as we follow God's will for our lives. We are eager to begin this new season of family life! Please keep us in your prayers and I will try to be diligent in posting on a regular basis as we transition.

 The family we stayed with gave the girls these shirts on our last morning there as they were aware Ben was going to get an offer as the pastor had called them the night before! Our family loved staying with them and are looking forward to seeing them all again soon!

 Our first ride, the Ferris Wheel, at the Mall of America!

 The girls and I love Peeps! They have a whole store dedicated to them at the Mall of America! We are looking forward to exploring this place, especially in the winter, and many others in Minnesota!