Moving Day!

It is moving day tomorrow! Take a deep breath for we are out of our first house in Plano and into Flower Mound, of Flower Town as we like to call it, started by Kaitlyn.

As usual, we have piled it on with a hefty schedule tomorrow and hopefully, Internet won't be out too long! I was going to list everything, but the list is just darn long.

Have a wonderful night and weekend! We will see you on the other side! Look for moving cards and house warming party details soon for those of you in town or want to come to celebrate with us. :)

It is coming

The move-in-day is Friday! Can't believe it is almost here. I have cooked our last meal at 1412 Heidi Drive. It is Lasagna. We have three more days to take a shower. One or two more boxes to pack. The computer stuff to pack. Unload the attic. Confirm a couple of deliveries and we are good to go.

We did a lot of living in our first house. The first house we came home to after we got married. This is where we brought Kaitlyn and Jackson home from the hospital. This is where we had parties with new friends, old friends and family. And lastly this is where I think of as starting my "grown-up" life. But whatever we called it, we are going to have even more memories in our new house as the kids grow, have graduations and make friends.

With every move I have made, there was a little sadness, a little bit of the unknown, like moving from home to college and to an apartment. But I tell ya what, it is exciting and a chance to do new things. Even if we moved up a couple of streets, life would be totally different. Isn't that amazing?

Well, enough pondering and thinking - here are some updated photos of the kids. I got Jackson's outfit for his 18 month photos and Kaitlyn is just being goofy, hehheee.

Dancing Queen

Our little Dancing Queen and King have fun with daddy playing his guitar and just singing away. We have been doing this a lot since the toys have been packed up - improvising with fun "toys".

Latest Move Info!

I do apologize for missing more than a few blogs. I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. Next week is the big move - ready or not. We have half the house packed, maybe more. We are lining things up for the move, ordered a few things and still have a lot to do.

We are pretty excited about one thing. (I didn't think I really cared, but I do.) We got the seller's piano this week. It is perfect - It was already in the house! I can hear the piano being played by Jackson or Kaitlyn very soon! Maybe Brandon and I will get inspired and learn ourselves. I took piano lessons in elementary, but I can't remember.

Jackson has become more and more boy lately. He is driving his little trucks and cars around. And oh, don't put any kind of pile in front of him. He will destroy, destroy and destroy. He has been a great little errand and shopping buddy. He gets all the looks and cute waves from strangers. It is great to get in and out with him since everyone is busy talking to him. Even at the doctor's office today, everyone was trying to play with him. I forgot how little ones are such great conversation starters!

I am so sad for Kaitlyn. She has really gotten into her school and class. She talks about her classmates and her teacher all the time. She is excited to go and I hate to pull her out of that. I hope she likes her new school just as much. She has one more week. I have looked at more than 5 schools in the new area and need to decide what to do. But this next month while she is not in school, we will be busy with her and reading and taking a trip to Florida! It actually turns out to be perfect timing - just when we need a break after we move. Yeah! Roberts family - Here we come! And maybe a day trip to Disney World as Brandon has made efforts for us to stop over.

Dallas Arboretum - Beautiful Day

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Today has been beautiful. So this morning at the last minute, I decided to take the kiddos to the Dallas Arboretum. I figured it would be fun and let's call a friend last minute. It worked out well. We got there before the big, huge crowd and got a few pictures.

We then played on everything. Jackson went one way and Kaitlyn went the other way. It was enough to wear me out totally. But generally, they did pretty well playing on the different play structures.

We also ran into a long line of motor carts. One of them had Laura Bush. They were driving by, but Kaitlyn and Jackson decided to cross the sidewalk to the other play area. Luckily, they stopped and let us go by. It was a packed place! I ended up putting the little monkey backpack with leash on Jackson so he wouldn't go too far.

Here are some photos.

The New House - 1600 Bar Harbor

So things are pretty much just insane right now. It has been insanity for the last month. We put our house on the market March 6. It sold on March 7. We found a house on March 8 that was only on the market 4 days and already was in negotiations with another buyer. Somehow we got the deal. Then the inspection went well last week. So far we think our inspection went well, still waiting on the full report to come back. And Sunday night, Brandon put some of our furniture that we are not going to take with us on Craigslist. We have pretty much sold almost everything in just a day or so.

We close on both houses on April 24 and then have that weekend to move. Let the packing begin which I am still in denial. How in the world are we going to move all of our stuff???

Here are photos of the new house from when we went during the inspection. The kids were with us so we didn't get to take a ton of photos.

News Travels Fast

Well, after weeks of stress and hard work, we put our house on the market on Friday. We received five showings on Saturday and two offers. We accepted one. We then on Sunday went to sign the papers and look for another house. We found one in a convenient location in Flower Mound. It has four bedrooms and three baths and a game room as well as a room to make into study or whatever we want. All of it has been updated too so we can move in easily.

We liked it because we didn't have to do anything and has the same great backyard as well as workbench in garage. It is close to a park and the elementary and junior high are around the corner.

Here are some photos.


We are very excited and it happened so fast that I am having lots of anxiety. It is hard to leave the community that Jackson, Kaitlyn and I are in everyday. We are checking the house out again tomorrow for the inspection and I plan to check out the area to get more comfortable. This is a good change as we will be more central to family and work and in a good area as well. We can hop on 121 and see friends easily too.

House Update

So we went through all of the rig-a-ma-role to get the house ready to sell. We had the maids, photographer and real estate agent. What a crazy time. We should be up and running in the next day or two. The sign is going to be in the yard today! I still have so much to do. I spent all this time just getting cleaned out, but we have a huge mess in the garage and I have stuffed things in every nook and cranny just to get the pictures done. Now it is time to go through that and use more boxes.

We couldn't believe anyone not wanting this house, but of course we are little biased. Our first house holds so many memories and so much sweat put into it. We can't wait to find our new home. We had a long list of what we wanted - cul-de-sac, trees, big yard, media room, three car garage, but all of this has been sucked away. There are two main things we want now - play/area game room and big yard. If we get that, we will be happy.

My problem now is that I keep finding some real dream homes in Allen and well within our budget, but we want to move more west. Darn the luck. Tomorrow Jackson and I will go with the real estate agent to look around in Flower Mound in the morning so we can try and get more looking done.

Falling Down

I just get a kick out of this age with Jackson. He is loving everything and learning everything. We were playing with towers on Friday and when I said fall down, he would fall down. He also likes to roll over, although, in this video, he didn't roll too much.

Elmo and Cousins

We ordered tickets for the Sesame Street Elmo's Garden show in December. The show was Friday night at 7 pm. We were able to get the kids down for a late nap and then go to Grand Prairie, an hour from north Plano. We were so excited.

We walked in and Brandon and the kids went straight to the souvenir section. Jackson loved Elmo and says memo for Elmo. Kaitlyn was a little under the weather and took a little bit to warm up. Jackson loved his little Elmo doll and Kaitlyn got a little light.

We had perfect seats before an aisle so they could see perfectly. Jackson danced to the music and Kaitlyn didn't move a bit as she watched all the characters. She wanted to go up on stage and dance with them and give them all hugs. At intermission, two men came out with a huge bundle of Elmo balloons. They made a killing on those because all the parents got their kids a balloon. What are they trying to do to us parents? Luckily, our kids were more interested in looking around than the balloons. The show was still going on when we left around 8:30.

On Saturday, my cousins Andrew and Erin with their two kids - Drew and Ella, came over for dinner. They were in town for some shopping. The kids made themselves at home while we caught up. Drew and Kaitlyn have always liked each other. Kaitlyn laughed as Drew tried to pull her off the couch that kind of stuff. And Jackson had his most laughs watching Kaitlyn and Drew. Ella had so much fun in all of the dress up stuff. She really is so friendly and talkative.

In other news, cousin Shellie is making very small steps in rehab. She took some steps with a cane and can move her left arm a couple of times.

We are putting our house on the market on Wednesday. We cleaning up like crazy.

Take a Deep Breath

Sooo... Can you feel spring in the air yet? I kind of feel it. Well, of course we have been busy little bees cleaning up so we are definitely in the spring cleaning mode. But this is with a very well-intended purpose - selling our house. Last weekend, I hustled the whole family outside into the backyard to do major cleanup. Jackson and Kaitlyn had more fun jumping in leaves or throwing rocks in the pool than anything else. Kaitlyn was a good helper too with the broom and laying down some mulch.

We have been meeting with a real estate agent and driving around neighborhoods. We are definitely in full swing of looking for a new house. Both Brandon and I feel the pressure to pick a neighborhood and look for houses in a specific area. I think we have now both moved our mindset to more of a central location - Coppell/Flower Mound area. We have really liked our area and didn't realize it until we have started looking around. We love the proximity of shopping and friends. Although, moving to Coppell, may not be as big of a deal since it is so easy to jump on George Bush. Flower Mound is a little tougher to get out of.

We both feel this decision is a big decision for us and we are praying for the patience and guidance to make a good decision for our family. I think this decision is tough because there are so many great areas in DFW and we really want to try and hit all of our priorities. With driving around, we both do agree on one thing, Allen is little far and out of the way. Although, we will be leaving, good schools, a great church and some pretty good housing deals there right now. Yes, it sounds, like I don't want to leave, and I don't, but I think Coppell may have what we are looking for too. We have attended church there and like it a lot. Now the dream house. We want it all, but I think we are realizing that the big reason we are moving is so the kids have more room to play with a playroom and a backyard. We can't wait to get a big playset with swings and slides, etc.

Our official date is March 4 to put the house on the market. Is this really happening is what I keep asking myself!

We had to blow off some steam yesterday after driving around with the kids, so we stopped and took a chance on bowling. Even though they were a little young and we only stayed about 45 minutes, they both loved throwing that ball down the lane.



Here are some pictures of activities with the kids.

Soccer fun with Kaitlyn. She is the next Mia Hamm. She can really chase that ball. She gets really excited when she kicks the ball in the goal and loves the cheers. Jackson has a little gym class, but haven't gotten any photos yet.


A princess pizza birthday party for Caroline. Jackson came and loved playing with the other kiddos.

Birthday Video

Brandon made this video of Kaitlyn's Birthday. I thought I would share even though for some reason the quality was downgraded when I uploaded it to Photobucket.

Weekend Update

A couple of updates. Saturday was quite a day. We began with a little birthday painting party for Kaitlyn and her friends. She loved the playground out back. We made a little 4 shirt so she could wear that over her outfit. She loved her Winnie the Pooh cake that she picked out. We also learned that we need to remind her to hold on to the swing when she is swinging on it. She popped out quite unexpectedly, but it was a gentle fall.
We also attended an old friend's wedding on Sunday - Kristen Norton. She grew up with Brandon in Beaumont and we went to Italy together. I volunteered Brandon to video their wedding and I took some quite shots. I don't know why, but my pictures didn't come out like I liked, but they looked great in them! Kristen always asked us if we knew anyone to set her up with, but little did we all know that it would be her hairdresser that set them up.

And an update on my cousin Shellie - It is going to take awhile to recover, a couple of months in a stroke rehab and her left side is coming back a little bit at a time, but time will tell if she will be able walk or use her leg. So many friends and family are helping out and showing support. A lot of the men in the family have decided to shave their heads in support of her. It was so sweet to see the bald heads.

It is Kaitlyn's Birthday! A Poem for Kaitlyn from Mommy

Kaitlyn Magdalene Meche is 4 Today!

Oh sweet daughter of mine
How you have grown over time
You are curious, funny and sweet
Oh how you have lit up our lives
Being 4 is going to be so neat!

This week we made a little poster - Celebration of Life - for her school. Her school doesn't sing happy birthday, but we make a poster with a picture of every year of life from the time she was born to today celebrating every year of life. She then walks around the school so everyone can celebrate with her. It was so amazing to go through old photos and to say old photos were just three years ago, blows my mind.

On this day, four years ago, I spent 14 hours in labor, 2 and a half pushing like I was running a marathon until she came; So perfect with all her fingers and toes, waiting to greet her mommy and daddy. She didn't come quietly, she made her debut with a loud cry and a soft whisper when she heard her mommy's voice. She was such a happy baby. She was a curious and active toddler and has become an imaginative preschooler.

I could never have imagined having a daughter like her. She is so strong and independent, but so very attached and sweet at the same time. I am stunned by how much she wants to learn. I know I am telling her a great story or telling her something she is interested in when her eyes focus and she has a super thoughtful look.

Today, I gave Kaitlyn a choice of two toys to bring down from the attic to play with since they have been up for awhile. She said, "Hmm, let me think." It was so cute and then she really sat for a minute and thought about what she wanted more.

She is ready to go at a drop of a hat and is always up for an adventure. She will be the first to raise her hand to do something, and the first one to meet friends when they come to our house. Kaitlyn is an animal lover, an artist, peanut-butter enthusiast, a loving sister, book worm and wonderful daughter.

She has brought me more joy than I could have imagined being her mother as well as more worry, because I know I could not be without her.

Happy 4th birthday sweet, beautiful daughter!

Not out of the woods yet

If you have been keeping up with my posts about my cousin shellie, please keep the prayers going. She had a stroke this morning and is paralyzed on her left side. She is still in ICU and receiving best of care. As of yesterday, she hadn't held her new baby, Peter, yet. Her husband remains optimistic, he is a surgeon. She knows what is going on. She can see, talk and hear and that is good news. We don't know a ton because things are very hectic, but hopefully we will hear more tomorrow. :)

25 Random Things about Sarah Meche

I thought this was cute. It is going around on Facebook and I finally sat down and wrote some things out. Next up - Brandon, Kaitlyn and Jackson.


Today at 9:04pm | Edit Note | Delete

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I am a coupon-aholic. I clip coupons out of the Sunday paper every Sunday and save about $15 a week in groceries.

2. My husband and I have a secret code. We can communicate across a crowded room with our secret signs. We also have ESP. Whenever I say something random, he is usually thinking it too. Random!

3. My hair is graying a lot and I am desperately trying to cover it up. Growing old gracefully is not for me. I like my brown hair.

4. I have a secret passion to write a book one day. I would love to author a children's book or teen novel. I used to read Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High all the time!

5. I almost didn't make it to Baylor. Finances were tight and the decision wasn't finalized until June when it was time for orientation. Student loans weren't too bad. I loved Baylor and it was one of my best experiences.

6. My passion is snow skiing. Don't get to do it much, but love it when I get a chance. My second ski trip in high school, I went down the wrong trail and accidentally fell off about 15 feet onto a bunny slope. Almost landed it, but it didn't stop me from skiing.

7. The summer of 8th grade I went to Mexico for 13 days with Girl Scouts. It was an eye-opening experience. We saw so much of the culture and a lot of poverty.

8. I am tired of the news. I would like to keep it off all of the time, except for weather and sports to hear about college stuff. I wish I could, but it draws me in.

9. I have tried to live my life without regrets and live for the moment, but I do have some regrets about some of the relationships and friendships I have had. I wish I could meet up with them now for coffee and talk. What a different perspective now.

10. I would do absolutely anything for a friend. If a friend is need of anything, I am there. I am loyal and kind.

11. Navigating being a parent and learning to be a good parent has been my biggest accomplishment and challenge. I like what my dad says - Just love them. Love is all you need. I try to live by this as a parent.

12. I can't live without Mexican food. Absolutely no way!

13. I want to have more children.

14. Such a great saying: Be Kind for you never know what battle someone is fighting. I really like it because you never know what a person has been through.

15. My favorite show of all time is Friends. I have the box set and have watched every episode at least three times. I used to watch in the middle of the night when I nursed Jackson and Kaitlyn. It was good because sometimes we would fall asleep in the chair and it kept me up to pay a little attention.

16. I love to make Kaitlyn and Jackson laugh everyday. I try to come up with little things to be traditions, but I have found they just come on their own like Kaitlyn and I going shopping together or our once a year family trips.

17. I have to have sleep. If I don't get at least 8 hours, I can't function. Although, I have learned to function better on less sleep with kids, but still love it and need it.

18. I have always wondered why people get piercings in weird places. Is it to be cool? Doesn't it hurt? What purpose does it serve?

19. I love to order chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, roll, gravy and green beans if the restaurant has it. It is one of my favorite meals. Who cares if it is 1400 calories? It is finger-licking good!

20. I always wanted to take a trip to New York City, for a while I wanted to move there, even. I couldn't get myself out of Texas. I used to get books on New York City. I am 31 and have only been to NYC for a 24-hour business trip. One of these days, I will make it there!

21. I don't think I can live without a pool now. We have had a pool for 6 years and even though we only use it about 5 months out of the year, those 5 months are the best!

22. One of the best natural wonders of the world that I have seen in my life was in Hawaii. It was a geothermal pool on the Big Island. It was better than a hot tub, it was relaxing and surrounded by beautiful trees. The beach was only a couple of steps away. Only the locals know about it or if you are like us, pick up the Blue Book on Hawaii (Best Hawaii Tourist Books ever).

23. I am not a big drinker, but I am beginning to see how a glass of wine at the end of a long day, it definitely what the doctor ordered.

24. Can I say ditto to my friend Shelley Roberts' 25 random things? I never would have imagined myself with two kids, married and a stay at home mom by the time I was 30.

25. I love being random, spontaneous and excited. I am super independent, but have found that Brandon really does fill in all of the blanks. Ahhhh, hubby!

Update on Shellie

The 6 kids are staying at Chris’s (husband) mom and dad’s house; Chris is staying at the hospital; Peter (the new baby) is staying at the hospital; and Shellie is probably going to stay at the hospital for another week or so.

All the kids came to visit Shellie (2 at a time) today. She is still a bit foggy from two major surgeries in one day), but able to briefly see and reassure her kids she was ok.

Aunt Mary says, so far so good. Shellie is in a lot of pain… staples in her head (about 6 inch incission) and stitches in her tummy from the c-section, as the anesthesia is wearing off. They shaved only half of her head! (Harrison said he wanted to shave his head too).

Praise God for He is Good

Shellie was finished with surgery around 10:30 last night and taken to recovery where she is resting. Don't know too much right now, but will update soon. I said a lot of prayers last night and am so thankful that the surgery went okay.

Following Cousin Shellie

Just got an update on my cousin Shellie. I mentioned her yesterday in my blog. She had a healthy 7 pound baby boy this afternoon. She was just taken to surgery a couple of hours ago to remove the tumor behind her eye.

Apparently, she had been having severe headaches and her eye hurt when she touched it. She was out with some friends who knew someone with a tumor in the same area and same symptoms a week ago and that is when she when to the doctor and realized what she had. We are praying now for a safe surgery and recovery.

What's Happening?

Well, I feel like a lot is happening today. The kids are taking a nap before Kaitlyn's dance class and I had to write about what is happening lately. Everyday I have been cleaning out a closet to get the house ready to sell. Praying a lot about where we want to raise our family and praying about my project at 7-Eleven. God will take care of things I know. It is just being in the trenches sometimes that is hard.

As for 7-Eleven, I have a laptop now and Margaret just doesn't want to see me go. I have agreed to work from home some and go in for a weekly meeting. We will see how that works out. Now it is just maintaining some content for the website, not a whole lot.

As for the house and metroplex, there are too many options, but we are getting priorities straight and looking at things this weekend.

As for some direction, my weekend church retreat was wonderful in mid-January. I couldn't have needed a spirtual uplift more. I can't wait for Brandon to go for a weekend in March. I know he will enjoy it so much. Thanks St. Jude.

Also in March, we just signed up for Plano's Sweetheart dance for dads and daughters. This is the first year Kaitlyn can go with Brandon. I know he is so excited. They are going to go with our friends The Dickens, Jesse and Ashley.

And as for some sad news today. My cousin, Shellie, who lives in St. Louis and is raising six children and pregnant with her seventh was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her husband is a surgeon. The doctors are going to take the baby three weeks early on Feb. 3 and then she will need all her strength for an operation. Please pray for their family this month.

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22