Early March Updates!

Our Life Group from church literally makes up our closest friends in Cumming.  We added on two new families this year and they automatically have turned into more best buds for us.  We are completely blessed with this group of people... to have a group of Christian friends who you KNOW you can count on to pray for you and be there for you NO matter what is the most amazing thing.  We are all in similar stages of life and we have become SO close to them over the past 3 years.  Anyway, that being said, we try to celebrate each of our birthdays together... if not going out to eat together... at least just having cake and treats at Life Group the week the birthday being celebrated!  Well - Kristin's birthday was in early March and 2 years ago, we surprised her at group with a cake and party hats and a big loud SURPRISE when she walked into group like an hour late!  Ha!  Then last year, we all went out to Cinco where she revealed that she was actually a MOMMY TO BE to all of us!  Very exciting!  So this year, I was planning to make her a cake then found out from her sweet husband that she has given up all sugar for lent this year.  SO - I actually googled for nearly an hour one night on sugar-less cakes but that also wasn't easy... and honestly everything looked like it tasted like cardboard... probably did.  So, I came up with the idea of making her a "fruit" cake... but it was really just fruit with a candle in it... but she loved it!  :)  Here she is with her "cake".  Tanner wasn't too impressed...

Miss Caroline started rolling over in early March!  I mean ROLLING ALL OVER THE PLACE!  She didn't just roll over once... the first day she rolled over, she literally rolled from one side of the room to the other.  This was me catching her in the act. 

Our best friend, Robin's sister, Jae, has a photography business and she has been our family photographer since Parker was about 6 months old.  Love her work!  And she just keeps getting better and better!  Anyway, she had a friend making these nests as photography props and she needed a model pose in them for pictures... well... Caroline came to the rescue.  It was a tough job, but someone had to do it!  I nearly fell over when I saw these pictures.  Jae was only here for 10 minutes and managed to get the most amazing pictures of our little girl. 

 SO - another fun adventure for early March was re-purposing 3 of our rooms downstairs.  For the first two years we lived here, our "dining room" was empty, then it obtained a grand piano (my piano my parents bought me when I was 13) then about a year ago, Chris' sister needed a place to store their really nice office desk so we gladly took it off their hands - so the past year our "dining room" was our piano/office room.  Our "formal living room" was empty the first year or so of living here - then about the past year and a half has been a play room for Parker and our back corner room - was originally an office then became the "this and that" room with the elliptical, a bunch of boxes, a bunch of junk that needed to be sorted through, etc.  WELL - Chris' parents have a never-ending growing family and really needed to get a larger dining room table that the whole family could eat at when in town.  (There are currently 10 adults, 3 kids and 3 babies - a crowd.)  So anyway, they fixed up their old dining room set and decided it was too beautiful to sell or give to Goodwill... and none of the kids really needed the set yet... or had room for it... until I came up with the genius idea of moving around all our stuff in our house to make room for it.  SO - after 3 years in our house, we finally have an actual formal dining room (with a pack n play in it for now, too!).  

This was our back room before... a this and that room/office (before we trashed this cheap desk and got Chris' sister's desk)...

And now - Parker's play room.  It's great because it's not the first thing you see when you walk in our house... and somewhat hidden.  His room is ALWAYS a disaster until I pick it up - then about 2 seconds after he gets into it, it's a disaster again.  It was really annoying when we were expecting guests because I didn't even want Parker in his playroom in fear of him making it a disaster zone!

Our formal living room when we first moved in - before it was Park's play room...

And now... my office where I get all my work done, and occasionally play piano for Caroline (she LOVES it!)

And the formal dining room before it was the piano/office room...

And now... I love having a dining room now!  We have only used it once, but I still love it!

NOW My goal is to pick out paint colors and PAINT this weekend!  (Chris doesn't know this yet!)  Can't wait!