new beginnings.

It's 5 a.m. and I can't sleep. Possibly due to the fact that there are two little munchkins in my bed, leaving me with about two inches of space and a major back ache. They won't be little long, and I must say, most nights I enjoy LilliAnn's little hand wrapped around my arm or Reid's feet on top of my legs. There are lots of new and exciting things going on with the Ruckus, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to write a bit.

First of all, we finally bit the bullet and have dove head first into building our new house. We've had our lot in the country club for about two years, and after looking for land - you know, the PERFECT land...not too far out, no dirt roads, not too much land, but not too little...we decided that the country club was the best location for us. We LOVE our lot. It's only about an acre, but it's in the very back cul-de-sac of a gated neighborhood and we'll a beautiful view of one of the golf course ponds from our front door. There are trees and a creek behind us and we'll only have a neighbor on our right, as the left side of our house is an area of trees and then part of the golf course. We decided that since our kids will be involved in so many activities, and since we like to "go and do"/travel frequently, it would be best to have a place in town with a smaller yard that is easy maintenance. We go to our lake house frequently, so it's not like our kids don't ever get that "country" or "outdoorsy" experience. I told Jeb that he could always buy hunting and fishing land that we wouldn't have to maintain. So...we sealed the deal. We visited the architect last week for the second time and made a huge amount of progress. I wanted a custom plan drawn, but ended up finding a plan that I really liked. After all of my changes, we only ended up using about 35% of the plan (the rest being custom), but I think I finally have what  I want. The exterior/elevation is a french style that is very traditional and symmetrical. We have a port de cochere, a three car garage, a swimming pool, plus a couple of future rooms upstairs in case we ever want to "add on." I'm nervous about all of the decisions, but I have came to the realization that there is no perfect house. I simply cannot anticipate every little thing, and there are always going to be things that I want to change or wish I would've done differently. I'm praying for patience during this process and for help in making easy decisions without fretting or regretting! We pick up our preliminary plans on Thursday and then we'll submit our final changes. We're hoping to break ground next month! Wish us luck!!

Reid and LilliAnn start school in a couple of days and they are BOTH extremely excited! I wish I could say the same for myself. Reid will begin Pre-K at Grove and he found out this weekend that his teacher will be Mrs. Schooler. Several of his buddies had Mrs. Schooler last year, and he was really hoping to have her for his teacher. I was so relieved when I got the call that he would be in her class. Also, the only two boys that Reid knows that will be starting Pre-K with him are also in Mrs. Schooler's class. He has really matured this summer and I finally feel good about sending him to school. I know that waiting until this year to start him was the absolute best decision. He wants to eat in the cafeteria and told me this morning that I didn't need to walk in and pick him up, he would just walk out all by himself to the car. He has his blue Under Armour backpack and orange and blue shark nap mat are ready to go!

LilliAnn will begin Mother's Day Out this year at Immanuel Baptist Church. She'll only be going two days a week, as we have dance and gymnastics on the other days. Lil will be in the 3 year-old class with several other kids that we know. She's little miss independent and keeps telling everyone that she's going to ride her bike to school. She picked out a purple backpack and lunchbox from Potterbarn that has a horse and her name monogrammed on them. I'm not worried as much about her first day because she seems so confident about school. She said that she is going to be kind to all of the other children and that she is going to have "lots and lots and lots of friends" in her class. LilliAnn starts school the day before Reid, so I'm going to use that day for a special "Reid and Mommy" day.

This will be the first time ever that our family will have to have a routine or schedule. It's definitely going to be a big change for us! I found out today that Reid has to be at school by 7:55 a.m. every morning. That's sooooooo early! We typically sleep until 10 a.m.! I am going to be honest. I think this is going to be hard for us...but, I think it is going to be good for us. We need a little more structure to our family. The will make us stay home more and stick to a normal bedtime routine. I'm hoping that I can go to the YMCA and work-out on the mornings that I drop the kids off at school. I'm not going to know what to do with all of this free time! Oh wait...I'll be building a house!

In other news: BOTH of our beta fish died this week, as I forgot to put the bowl buddy tablets in the fresh water when I cleaned the bowls. I felt terrible and LilliAnn started crying, but Reid was super sweet and said, "It's ok, mom. Sometimes things like that just happen." He told LilliAnn that they were going to be ok because they were in fishy heaven now. I was so thankful for his kind words and compassion. He was adamant, however, that we didn't flush them down the toilet. He was worried that they would get lost because he wasn't sure if our toilet went to the ocean, and would rather us throw them in the "big trash can outside." So...that's where they went. We went to Walmart that afternoon and now our fish bowls are occupied by two new betas.
The lizard tank is sitting on the back porch because I was getting the feeling that my house was starting to smell like a pet store. The thought (and smell) was seriously making me sick. Jeb said that is wasn't bad at all and that I was overreacting, but I really just wanted an excuse to get rid of the lizards. The kids don't play with the much anymore (thanks to the little incident where one jumped up and bit Reid on the nose and then was posted up on our couch with his beard puffed out looking really mean). I have to give them water, lettuce, sprinkle vitamin powder on their lettuce, clean their cage, AND feed them crickets. I'm tired of the lizards. Soooooo, if anyone is interested in two bearded dragons. PLEASE let me know! :)

As you can see, we have a lot of big changes coming our way. Stay tuned for updates!