The hunt

It's such a helpless feeling as a parent when the one thing your child needs ...is unavailable. Grady drinks a special formula called Neocate Jr Unflavored without prebiotics. Our insurance does not cover it so we have to buy it from secondary sources to be able to afford it. We have 2 facebook groups that we buy formula from. Unfortunately, we have to bargain with people and pray they aren't scammers.

Our shipment was supposed to be here today and we were counting on it. I just checked the tracking info and it was delayed till tomorrow for whatever reason...so we won't have formula to give Grady tonight. Do you understand what that means? I won't be able to give my child enough calories tonight before he goes to bed.

You cannot buy this formula in stores. So...I can't just run to Walmart and get it. Do you know how anxiety provoking that is???? My child has to eat. And I cannot give him what he needs if I'm not on top of it. So stressful.

So, I call around to every doctors office in town to see if they MIGHT have a sample can. When they put me on hold and I have to listen to the "waiting music" it makes me feel like I'm in a straight drama movie. What kind of crisis is about to happen next? How can I convince them that we truly need this formula and I'm not trying to steal it? What can I say to make thisure happen?

I plead with the Lord..."Father, God, seriously. You know we need this. We cannot handle anything else. We need you to allow this to happen. PLEASE."

The Lord had serious mercy on us today because the 3rd office I called has a few cans and they are going to give us one to get through today. Thank you God. Crisis averted.

Fpies.

Deep breath in and out. Having to spend Grady's nap time calling a million people is not what I had on the list for today but we have formula and that's more important than my sanity I suppose....

Life boat needed

Grady is now almost 20 months old and I'm wishing I would have blogged our experience from his birth till now. It's been nonstop. Literally one thing after another. By the time we catch our breaths from the previous crisis, we turn around and there is another one coming. It's like being in the ocean and the rip currents are beating you down one after the other. If you don't get out, take a break, or call for help...then you're going to drown.

And that's where I am. I'm drowning and I have been for quite some time. And for the (atleast) 10th time in this process, I'm calling for help. I'm grasping at every straw I have left. I'm desperate for a break.

Very brief back story. 11/4/14 our angel was born. Healthy baby, healthy mom, natural delivery. After thr first week or so, we knew something wasn't quite right. I was making so much milk that I was pumping before and after Grady's 2 hour or less feeds- and he nursed for more than an hour. So I literally was sleeping none. I did this for 4 months. Why was he nursing so often??? We were told it was normal.

Covered in a red prickly rash. We were told it was normal. Spitting up all the time and staying awake for 8-9 hours sometimes...we were told it was normal.

His gas smelled like sulfur. Straight sulfur. Literally burn your nose hairs. We were told it was normal.

He would get extremely overwhelmed after about 10 minutes of someone talking to him or people talking in the room, etc. We were told...this was normal.

Fast forward to 6 months. He got his normal vaccinations. It went AWFUL. He got very ill. Projectile vomiting and up every 10 minutes at night.

Then. He was diagnosed with a tongue and lip tie (after my milk supply went in the toilet due to a medication). Thank you Lord for the blessing in disguise of my milk supply dropping and seeing our precious Lactation consultant who will always have a special place in my heart.

In between these events...Grady had his first FPIES reaction. His 4th time getting avocados. He vomited till he went into shock about 2 hours after consumption. I called 911 because he was non responsive. After emergency crew arrived we were able to get him to respond and we were sent to ER. They diagnosed us with a virus. Told us there was NO WAY that was an allergic reaction.

Two weeks later we saw an allergist who told us we were crazy and there is no way our son had FPIES. He sent us home that night to start food again. That night we had our 2nd trip to the ER with our 2nd FPIES reaction to peaches.

We switched allergists and they told us they knew nothing about FPIES and sent us home. I researched, researched, studied, called, emailed every person and thing I could get my hands on. I pleaded with people to listen to me. I knew our son had FPIES. I just had to find someone to listen.

We had his lip and tongue tie release done that same month, July 2015. I removed all major allergens from my diet. He skin tested positive for multiple major allergens. We had to force feed him formula for one week until I could get my milk "clean" of dairy and eggs. He had never had a bottle before...it was horrible.

I found a test called an MRT. It was a blood test which would show us foods that Grady was most "reactive". These foods caused him the most inflammation. It was a place to start and we were desperate for answers.

So, because Breast milk was his only "safe" food...I was put on a diet consisting of beef, pork, coconut, oranges, grapefruit, and buckwheat. That was it. That was all I could eat. My poor husband would have to come home every night and grill me a hamburger or a steak. It was ...insane.

After months of eating like this, we did see some healing in Grady. He started to be able to handle more activity and acted a lot less overwhelmed. His sensory issues were improving. He was happy. We heard him laugh for the first time. He started sleeping a 2 hr stretch. He wasn't up all night long wired. He fell asleep in his carseat for the first time. Improvements.

I started losing a lot of weight and I was TIRED. How long could I keep eating like this? How long can I afford to eat like this? Will we ever find a doctor that will help us?

Finally we got an appointment with an FPIES specialist in Dallas on Grady's 1st birthday. Best birthday present ever. We were encouraged to start Grady on Neocate Jr, a formula that we could trial to get him off Breast milk. And we were given a plan about food once we passed the formula. We felt hopeful.

I got to eat pizza at Grady's 1st birthday party. I knew once I ate dairy...I couldn't go back. No...it's wasn't easy to quit and trust the formula was going to work but we had to start somewhere. We finally found a flavor of the formula that worked but he would only take 2 oz at a time and only if distracted by the TV.

We got his 12 month shots...and he got VERY sick. We were starting to see a pattern. VERY ill. Lost a ton of weight.
Why are vaccinations killing my baby????

We had been seeing an Occupational therapist for Grady's sensory issues but there was nothing we could do until he started eating. So, we started seeing a therapist for eating issues after that.

We slowly started trialing foods. He loved it. We've had many set backs and are still having set backs with food. But we take our time and try not to rush anything.

We started seeing great improvement. He loved eating and we LOVED watching him. We worked with a speech therapist. He started sleeping better and was much happier. He gained weight beautifully.

Then, March 2016 he got very sick. Really sick. His blood work was really bad and we were admitted to LSU. We were told he might have leukemia. We were devatated. After 4 night and countless number of tests, we were told it was most likely a bad virus but Grady might have some immunity issues.

We have not gone to church more than 5 times in 20 months. We are church goers. We went every Sunday before Grady was born and we served...a lot. Now...nothing. our baby can't go in the nursery.

Between immunity, food, or pure sensory overload...the nursery is a nightmare.

In the last 3 weeks we miserably have failed multiple things. Acid diaper, vommit, sleepless nights. Whatever the outcome...it's been hell.

We know this is a season. We know this won't be forever. We LOVE our son unconditionally and wouldn't trade him for the world. We are so thankful to be his parents and we couldn't imagine this life without him (seriously what the hell did we do before him?). But...we are BURNED OUT.

Our marriage has suffered so much. We know this is a season. We know we will make it through anything but we are tired of not being us. We want to go out. We want to worship together in church. We want to serve together. We want to be us again.

I've been without Grady...maybe 5 times...in 20 months. Whether is was low milk supply and he nursed every 1.5 hr or no one qualified to keep him or him only taking the bottle from me or whatever.

If you are a Mom...and your kid has FPIES or whatever other kind of horrible disease.  I get you. You feel alone. You feel so frickin alone. No one understands. And you blame them for not understanding and yet you dont. How can they understand? They have no flippin clue. You want to be normal. You want to just drop your kid off at the nursery and let them cry like the other kids without them having a sensory meltdown. You want your kid to eat pizza with all the other kids at a restaurant. You want to not have to watch your kid like a day hawk to make sure he isn't eating whatever off the floor. You want to not want to punch other moms in the face when they say they are tired. I get it. It sucks.

And I know the answer is cling to Jesus. He is the only one that can fulfill us. And I know that even feel impossible. You have nothing left to give. And you don't have to give anything to Jesus because He already gave fully for us. We just have to allow Him to have our hearts and our minds. And He knows that sucks. Giving your cares to Jesus doesn't mean you can't still be upset as hell about all of this. He is too; He is crying watching His children suffer. He is for us, not against us.

So I leave you with that. And I leave you with the fact that there is hope even though we can't live a "typical" life. Even though we are alone in the worldly sense- we aren't alone. Jesus is holding our hands through this crap. And He will eventually heal our babies one way or another.

So hold on. Take a deep breath. Take it minute by minute. Crisis by crisis. Try to find qualified help. Learn to selfcare even if it's only for 30 min. That's what is killing me- selfcare. You have to take care of yourself so you can care for others. Sigh.

Prayer Request:

1. Meeting with an SLP on Wednesday as a potential babysitter. Pray she is a good fit, we feel comfortable, Grady likes her and the dogs like her.
2. I need to selfcare weekly for 30 min or more.
3. Grady trials wheat July 11th.
4. Prayers for now more crisis situations.
5. Prayers for peace, rest, and health.

God and the Big Picture.

Hey guys and gals (Clint, here),

So... Ill just get right to it. Recently I was called by the Samaritan Counseling Center to be the Director/Coordinator for two programs! One is called "Heart for Heroes," I will be working with Active Duty military members or Veteran's and their families in all walks of life. There is a long list of things I can do, but I will not bore you with the details or terms, but I will say that this community here, in Shreveport, and throughout the country, needs to be reached and helped in a BIG way. The second program is called "Clergy and Congregation Care'. It will be designed to help Pastor's and Congregations in all sorts of amazing and fun ways. I will be providing support, counseling, consulting, and group education for Churches and community groups. I will also be educating and teaching the community and Churches on being first responder's to PTSD and other psychological struggles that people face in our communities and congregations. This has all happened very fast and I have been blessed to have been able to work this job on the side with my full time job as a Marriage and Family Therapist doing in home family therapy for the Multi-Sytemic Model here in Shreveport. Right now with Samaritan, we are doing a lot of public relations work and attempting to get these programs off and running. I don't know what God will do with this in the future, but I am willing to risk and trust that whatever it is it will be glorifying to Him and will lead the broken to Christ's Healing love. This is an amazing opportunity and we are in awe of how God has prepared me for this.
I have been to Seminary, I am a Military Veteran, and I am a Marriage and Family Therapist! Who would have thought that all of these things would be put together and that God would have designed a job perfectly suited to those three things! I am speechless still and in awe of how God has such a huge view of our lives and we can only see tiny parts. I can now look back on a lot of hard work, pain, and sacrifice and realize that God had it under control this whole time. Along the way I knew that and trusted in that, but to be on this end of it I am still shocked and dumbfounded at how much I do not deserve any of this and yet God continues to shower and bless us anyway.
My last message is about this past weekend. I decided that I really felt that with this new position and work with Churches and Pastors I needed to step it up a notch, so I decided that I would make it official and become an Ordained Minister as well. This process is not easy, but God made it so once again. The service was this weekend October the 7th and let me tell you God was there and once again showed off big time :)
My Pastor from high school, Steve Speer, my Uncle Jeff, and a family friend Brother Kevin Boles did an amazing service and made it personal and special for me and my family. Molly Jo Johnson sang "Alive" by Natalie Grant and just WOW is all I can say. One of my favorite parts of the whole ceremony was when my Dad asked if he could say a few things. Now my Dad is not a public speaker and suffers from anxiety and heart trouble, so for him to even attempt to speak in front of a group of people is a SACRIFICE in and of itself. He said that he must have gotten the Holy Spirit because what followed was truly amazing. He stood in front of my family and friends and was vulnerable, loving, kind, and humble. He spoke of being proud of me and of his thankfulness in my sacrifices for him and to him. He told some stories about teaching me to ride a bike and of how arguing with a psychologist or therapist can be difficult :), but that we always work it out for God's glory! He called me a man he is proud of and he shed a few tears and a big hug! Now I am not going to say all he said and I cannot express the thanks I have for the support he gave in that moment, but it was truly a God thing. It was as if God said to me directly "Thank you Clint for being obedient here is a little taste of how good I am when you follow what I ask. My yoke truly is easy!!" I mean I am again humbled by how great God is and by how faithful is is to those of us who love Him. All Glory and Honor and Praise be to Him!! I am so thankful for my family and community support and for all of you who have been there over the years and those who will continue to be there in the future. I hope that I can continue to make my family and God proud so that on the day I kneel before Him, He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"

Busy Blessed Life

Goodness!  Busy times! It has been so long since I have visited the ole blog!  It seems like every free second I have I am trying to shove myself with nutrients so I can take another step to finish my next task!  All amazing blessings that we are busy with, but nonetheless...BUSY!

I do not even know where to begin to catch up most of you!

Clint started his new job the last week in August.  He is the Director of Hearts for Hero's and Director of Clergy Care for the Samaritan Counseling Center here in Shreveport, LA.  He is also still working as an MST (Multi-Systemic Therapist) for Louisiana Methodist Children's Home.  He is obviously busy working 2 jobs, however so blessed to have both.  We both feel that God has been preparing him for quite some time for his new job. (Still trying to get him on here to tell y'all what the new job is...)

I am still working as a Dietitian at Pierremont Healthcare Center.  I am still actively seeking employment elsewhere, but I am embracing where God has me right now and trying every day to be thankful that I have a job.  I am also trying every day to understand why I am there and making sure I try and impact those around me as much as possible.

We are blessed beyond belief with the Hopkins B-Group (Sunday School class) and our Bible Study.  We have met so many amazing people and we have a community of friends that I never thought was possible!  We asked for it and God has poured out loving people all around us.  This makes us busy every night of the week, but who can turn down amazing community support???  Not this couple!

We are LOVING having our Brother and Sister in law here!  (Clint's Sister).  We love being able to see our nieces at the drop of a hat.  They have gotten plugged into our church very quickly, made friends, and are fitting in wonderfully!

Addie celebrated her 7th birthday this week!  I cannot believe she is 7!  Blows my mind.  I have a SMALL INSIGNIFICANT glimpse of how quickly "children" grow up before your eyes. I feel like it was yesterday that I brought her home with me.  So strange!

Currently we are praying and challenging ourselves with being obedient to God.  Our church is raising money for an expansion to one of our worship centers.  Our church has been DEBT FREE since 2002!!  And they are going to continue to be debt free.  So, we have been asked to pray for 40 days, a series of prayers, and challenge ourselves as a family to give until it hurts.  Clint and I aren't sure what that looks like right now for us, but we are really praying and seeking God to show us/stretch us to be obedient to Him and what he wants us to give.  The campaign is called, "To All Generations".  All I can think about is: if just one person can feel as loved as I do right now with what we have been blessed with through this church, then I want to give until it hurts.  I want all generations to be able to come to this place of worship to feel loved, accepted, and learn more about Christ then go on to be missionaries and tell others about His love as well.

With all that being said, it is difficult.  I truly believe I want to give till it hurts, but there is also a little girl voice inside of me that really wants some chairs to go around my DR table...and some lamps....and a Master Bed...but all of those things will come.  And do I want it to come at a price of someone's possible salvation? We are stewards/borrowers of the money God has given us.  It is not ours; it is His.  He is trusting that we are doing the right thing with our money.  Does that mean we cannot have nice things?  No.  Not at all.  But it does mean to seek His provision and get your priorities in check.

So, that is where we are right now.  Trying to pray and see where God is leading us financially.  Such a great challenge God is bringing us through.

We have gotten to do some pretty amazing update to the house though!  Mom came the second weekend in September and MADE my kitchen and Den curtains.  4 FULL days of sewing from 8am-9/10PM!  Mother of the year award.  She worked her booty off for us!  (I will put up pictures soon!!)  It looks incredible.

Also, we are re-doing the front walk-way.  Clint and CJ have really been busting their booties on that.

Mr. Tracy (Clint's step-dad) is in the process of building us a built-in bench for the b'fast room and 2 built in bookcases for the den!  So, we have A LOT of projects going on!

Again, I will post picture probably late October/November!  Y'all have to remember I don't have a smart phone!!

PRAISES:

1. Dustin Wiley, Brother-in-law is CANCER FREE!!! WOOHOOOOO
2. Praises for an amazing community that God has blessed us with.
3. Praises for Pumpkin Spice Latte time!



PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Clint's Dad had another heart attack last week.  Please pray for his recovery.
2. Continued prayers for my job situation.


That is my quick update for now!  Hopefully I will be able to add more sooner than later with some awesome pictures!!  Love to all!

We Can't Do It Alone.

Do you not know?  Have you not heard? 

Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole Earth. 

 He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.  

He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. 

 Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, 

but those who trust in the Lord, will renew their strength;

 they will soar on wings like eagles; 

they will run and not grow weary; 

they will walk and not faint. 

Isiah 40:28-31

When you begin to rely on yourself or your spouse to make you feel better or to fix all of the problems that are going on, things can get hard.  Actually, they get even harder than they were before and you wonder why because all you are trying to do is make things better.  That is why God calls upon us to trust in Him.  He calls us to get our renewed strength, rest, hope, and faith in Him.  No one else.

How exhausting to try to refresh and renew your own spirit.  That is what I have been trying to do for the last 3 weeks.  Yes, we have had A LOT going on, as I explained in our last post, but we were trying to fix all of our own problems!  

And, of course, we were miserably failing!

I just flipped back to our last post and read where we were asking for prayers for us to receive a restful spirit and to have patience.  That is exactly what has happened over the last 5 days!  God brought Clint and I back to reality last Friday when we encouraged one another to really open up God's word and just divulge in it.  Submerse ourselves in God's word, because that is the only thing that was going to renew our spirit.  

God really moved through us this past weekend.  We had some great conversations with some friends in our community/B-Group.  God is really transforming us through our Bible Study(s) and creating/establishing relationship that are going to be everlasting. God restored our hope and faith this weekend and we are so grateful.  

It is kind of like working out.  Whenever you are in the gym, you feel so good and restored and whole.  When you quit for a week or so, you feel like mush and you feel terrible about yourself; beating yourself up about the food choices you are making, etc.  

When you are in the word of God, it is unlike anything else.  You have your shield on and covering your heart.  Scripture is pumping through your heart and veins and protecting you against the next strike against you.  You aren't so defensive and on edge.  You quit being so selfish and "wordly" thinking.  You aren't so burned out to where you are biting everyone's head off around you. 

We knew that we needed to be restored and rested to make it another hour through another day.  And we thank God for his restoration because we were prepared to face Monday...

.......

Monday morning I walk into my nursing home to find out that State was in the building and we were having our annual review.  For those of you who know LTC, this is the big one.  You have to have everything perfect.  You do not leave the building until everything is perfect and complete.  So..that is what I have been doing the past 48 hours.  Working.  A lot of hours...I cannot believe it is only Tuesday!

Clint and I walk in the door after work about the same time on Monday to immediately get in the car and head to Bible Study.  Bible Study was amazing and the Holy Spirit was moving in that place!  So excited about our group. As I was walking to meet Clint, after our study, I looked down at my phone and saw I had a missed call from Chantel and a text saying, "Call me now."

Clint and I immediately called her to find out that Clint's dad was being rushed to the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack. After many hours/tests...he had a heart cath that determined his previously placed stents were blocked and he had to have two larger stents put in.

Clint and Chantel decided to leave this afternoon to be with their Dad.  Dustin and I are holding down the fort in Shreveport. Praise God Mr. Greg is alive and doing well. Thanks for the prayers.

Praises:

1. Praises for my husband stepping up to the plate and taking care of EVERYTHING, even more than normal, on Monday so that I didn't have to think about anything aside from work. Perfect timing from him all the way around.

2. Praises for my Mom who is in town and cleaned our house, cooked for us, grocery shopped for us, and has picked up all the pieces that neither one of us has had time for!  HUGE HELP and I don't know what I would have done without it.

3. Praises that Mr. Greg is alive and in recovery.

4. Praises for new friends who are so encouraging and uplifting!

Prayer Requests:

1. Continued prayers for our Brother-In-Law, Dustin, who is still in remission from cancer. PT went well this past Monday. Please pray for his continued success with PT.

2. Prayers for Mr. Greg and his recovery from surgery. Quick healing, patience, change of lifestyle, and diligence through this process.

3. Prayers for Clint and Chantel as they travel back tomorrow from Alex.

4. Prayers for Clint as he travels to Denver, CO on Thursday-Monday for a conference.

5. Prayers for continued peace for Clint and me in the midst of craziness!!

6. Prayers for my job situation.  That God's will be done whether that means me staying to God softening my heart to a really tough environment or God finding me a new place of employment.  

Thanks again for all your prayers and thoughts.  We really appreciate it.  We can truly feel your prayers.  Love you all.  Have a wonderful week.  

Color Me Grey...Charcoal Grey!

Good Thursday Morning!  We are almost there..Countdown to Friday!!!

We, the Davis's, are doing...O.K. We have been blessed with tons of community, a new house, friends and family moving into our town, and jobs which are all realllly great things, BUT sometimes it can be a little much!  These past 2 months have been very overwhelming with all the action we have been a part of!  I am so thankful for all of these blessings God has put in our lives, we just haven't had time to sit back, reflect, and most of all breathe.

So, that has been our focus of this week.  Being at peace and having calmness in the midst of chaos.  

I haven't blogged a lot, or any, about the job that God placed in my life last October 2011.  Since day one it has pretty much been one of the hardest situations I have had to endure without being able to leave.  Not only do I have to endure the complications of having a very difficult work environment, it weighs heavily on my husband who has to listen to all of the junk that comes from me being miserable at work (for 8 long hours a day).  I have been searching for another job since I started the one I have.  I know that God has me there for a reason and I have done my absolute best to try and focus in on what that reason might be, but I feel like I have reached my breaking point.  And I am pretty sure Clint has as well. So, everything else outside of work is difficult for me because I am so worn out from the stress and anxiety I get from my workplace. 

It is always very difficult to be in a bad situation yourself, but it is almost more difficult for your spouse to watch you go through a difficult situation and not be able to do anything but listen and give occasional advice.    It is very frustrating and exhausting.   

So, please pray for us.  We need a sense of peace and calmness about my job situation.  Please pray for me to be able to get out of the job that I am currently in.  Please pray that I can differentiate and not bring my work home with me.  Please pray that my emotions will not drown me in exhaustion taking away my alertness to be there for my husband, friends, family, and most of all God.  

Ah.  That feels good to get off my chest so that I can rest assured that I have my prayer warriors alert and ready to help me fight off this situation! God gave me a wonderful sense of hope yesterday.  It was a very random situation; a marketer for a Home Health company came by to see the Social Worker at my facility.  The Social Worker quit last Friday, so she wasn't there to talk with the marketer, so I invited this girl into my office.  I was previously talking with our Speech Therapist and we were discussing how much we hate our jobs and all of the possibilities of where we could go!  I introduced myself to the marketer and she said their only Dietitian just quit a few days back to take another job and they were searching for a new Dietitian.  She immediately emailed her boss saying she had someone in mind for the job and left me with her number.

Just to get a sense of hope slapped in my face was such a breath of fresh air.  It was so nice for God to send someone to just say, "Here.  You see this?  I know you are drowning.  Just give me a little time! Be patient and remember my promises". It was so nice to get the giddy feeling of knowing I'm not stuck.  I should be able to open my Bible and be filled with the hope God promises us every day, but after all, I am broken and human.  So, thanks be to God for this girl delivering the piece of hope that I have been praying for.

House News:

Well. We haven't had much time to work on the house because of our crazy schedules. But, I did take some time this past weekend to paint our Master Bedroom.  Clint had a golf outing with some guys from church, so I locked myself in the bedroom and painted until I could no longer stand.  Thank God Clint came home when he did!  I free-handed the trim, so it was taking me FOREVER!  He helped me finish it up.
And it turned out BEAUTIFUL! A lovely shade of Charcoal Grey with white trim!  Ahhhmazing!
(Pictures to come)

Last Friday we went to a gender reveal party for our friends: The Merville's.  Here is a cute pic we got of some of the girls from the Hopkins B Group (Sunday School Class).  It was a  boy!!!  Yay for team blue!

(Jennifer Wasson, Katie Schiro, Megan Gallien, Ellen Spencer, Kelli Millet, and Me!)

PRAISES:

1. Bless my Mom's heart that she came two weeks ago to help us wash all of our blinds and clean up around our house.  She is a blessing from God.  She is coming this next week too to help out.  BIG PRAISE.

2. Clint's Great Aunt, "Aunt Tiny" was diagnosed with a brain tumor almost two weeks ago.  She had surgery yesterday and it was a success!  They removed all of the tumor and she will be doing chemo and radiation for the next month or so.  

3. Dustin, Chantel, and the girls got moved in and everything is going really well for them!  They have their house looking so cute!  It is so nice being able to drive down the street to see our nieces...and our brother and sister in law!! :) 

4. CJ finally got word that he is 100% moving to Shreveport!  He signed paper on an apartment this past Monday and he moved in half of his stuff yesterday and the rest will come this weekend!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Continued prayers for our Brother-In-Law, Dustin, who is still in remission from cancer.  He will be starting back to PT on Monday for a growth he has on his neck putting pressure on his nerves. Please pray for his success with PT.

2. Aunt Tiny's recovery. Prayers for her strength and endurance through chemo and radiation.

3. Prayers for Clint as he travels to Denver, CO next week for a conference.

4. Prayers for our friends, The Galliens.  Megan is going away for a rotation for PT school.  Her and her husband will be separated for quite some time.  Please pray for their marriage, communication, and endurance through this difficult time. 

5. Prayers for Clint and Me during this time of chaos.  Prayers that we can enjoy all of the awesome things God has placed in our life without stress.  Prayers that I can find a new job. Prayers that I can stop bringing work home and letting it interfere with our marriage and extra curricular activities.

Excited for next week:  My Mom is coming to spend Thursday-Monday with me to help me get the house in order and for things to feel like home!  Lots of fabric shopping and one 101 trips to Lowes.  I'm very thankful and excited!

37 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes till LSU's first kick-off!  We need to get some dining room chairs ASAP! :)

Love you all.  Have a great rest of the week and weekend.

Finally, We Are Home.

After a LONG, drawn out, emotionally, physically, and mentally draining buying/moving in process:

 We Are Home.

To recap the process:

We put an offer in on our home on April 13th, 2012.  We closed on June 1st, 2012.  The sellers remained in our home from June 1st-June 30th under a post-occupancy agreement (essentially they rented our house from us).  And we moved in June 30th, 2012.  

We had A LOT of issues that happened over the past 3 months.  Most of them were completely uncalled for and stressful.  God was really working on someone's heart during this process.  Thank you for all of your prayers for us.  We did the best we could to remain Christ-like and calm during this process; however, it was very hard.  There were quite a lot of tears shed Sunday, July 1st when we closed our garage for the last time in Bossier City.  It was probably a mix of stress, exhaustion, anger, and sadness, but a solid 1hr cry happened.  It was very strange going "home" to a house that you have owned for a month, but weren't allowed in.  It took a few days of unpacking, HEAVY cleaning, and completely renovating the yard to really place our mark at our new home. It is finally beginning to feel like ours and we are in love.

In the midst of all this craziness, Clint received a really big job opportunity on Tuesday!  We are very excited about all of the possibilities and doors God is opening up regarding this position!  I will have him blog about it since there are so many details! Please pray for us during this process.

Thanks again to all the people who helped us move out and move in!  We REALLY appreciate your patience and time.  Some pictures of moving out:

Layla catching her last squirrel at the old house.

Thank God for the 24' truck!

 Goodbye old house!

Strategically placing items!

Clint being hot!

The Moving Crew!

The Moving Crew (Silly Shot)!

We had 8 hours between loading the truck and unloading the truck, so we took a nap in Mr. Tracy and Mrs Julie's hotel room!  The girls didn't have any trouble sleeping since they were fresh leaving the groomer!

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At the New House:

Check out these before and after shots of the front:

Before

After!!!

We tore down the pergola and added brick columns with a wrought iron fence.  The gate in the middle will be going up on Monday.  We also have added a cedar fence along the back yard, but it won't be done till next week.  Will post pics next week!  Many more yard projects to come!! Excited.

I hung my first set of pictures today!  I was very excited.   

The girls having NO trouble making themselves at home.  Loving their new floor to ceiling windows.  Looks like we are going to have to invest in Windex! 

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for The Wiley's as they move to Shreveport this coming weekend.  Please pray that they will have great weather, easy transition, and plenty of help.  Please pray that they feel well rested and prepared.

2. Please pray for CJ as he waits for the decision on whether or not he will be assigned/transferring to Shreveport.

3. Please pray for me and my patience/acceptance with my job.

4. Please pray for Clint and his new opportunity/job he received earlier this week (I will get him to post a blog about it).

5. Please pray for my Mom as she travels south to visit.

6. Please pray for Tracy as he travels to Columbia for work.

7. Please pray for Clint and me as we transition into our new house.

Thanks to all who pray with us and for us.  We appreciate you so much.  Please let us know when y'all want to come take a gander at the new place! Love y'all.