One Month Later...Cocooning is FUN!

Today is a special day for the Stoves family for two reasons.

#1:
Today marks our ninth wedding anniversary!  It's hard to believe that we have been married for nine years now.  Time truly does fly when you're having fun!  However, when you add up all that we have done since we were married, you start to see where the time went.

In nine years we have:
*Bought 3 houses
*Sold 2 houses
*Brought 3 beautiful children into our family
*Lived in Kentucky
*Lived in Alabama
*Gone on lots of trips (South America, Asia, Hawaii, Disney, Beach, Mountains, etc)

I sure am glad that God put the two of us together!  I believe we make a great team, and it has been a joy to follow God's plans for our life together.  I can't wait to see what the next nine years holds!

Then

Now

#2:
Today marks one month since we have had our entire family of five under one roof!

This is the beautiful video our friend Rusty made of our homecoming at the airport.  Isn't it precious!?!  Thank you, Rusty!

Welcome HOME Eliana from Rusty Jackson on Vimeo.

We have had a lot of fun over the past month!  Even though we are cocooning and it is taking time to adjust to our new family dynamic, we have found special moments to make memories and have a good time.

Playing with the sprinkler in the back yard!

Lots of Playtime Outside!

Cuddling on the couch.

(We were watching our new family favorite in this pic...Wipe Out!)

Tons of snacks!

(I need to start keeping track of the number of Cheerios & Goldfish boxes we go through in a month.)

Clay had VBS for the first time!

Doctor Appointments

Eliana's first time at church!

Cocooning has definitely had its fun moments, and it has given me the freedom to stay home and focus on the kiddos guilt-free.  However, it hasn't been all fun and games.  Sure that's what I have pictures of, so that's what you see here on the blog.  The fits and breakdowns (by children &, let's face it, mom too) aren't exactly the "get your camera out and snap a picture" moments.  But I want to be honest and let you know that there are moments when all I want to do is get away from everything for an hour or two.  Even if it's just to go to the grocery store.  But overall, it has been a great experience.

Here is a pic of one of those "less-than-awesome" moments.  One of the two year olds decided the playroom wall needed a little color.

Overall, everyone is adjusting much quicker than anticipated.  God has truly been good to our family!

Clay is very excited about starting kindergarten in the fall, and he has been working on his sight-words and single digit addition.  We are up to almost 90 sight-words that he can identify quickly when doing flash cards.  He has also become very excited about Lego's!  He has been working on a Lego kit that he is very proud to tell you is for 8-12 year olds (he is one month shy of five years old).

Davis has recently found great delight in singing!  He loves to sit with me and sing songs several times each day.  My favorite is when he asks to sing, "Jesus wuvs da wittle chwildwen."  Some of his favorites that I catch him singing throughout the day are:  "Twinkle-Twinkle," "Auburn Fight Song," "Jesus Loves Me," and "Itsy-Bitsy Spider."  I just love his little, two year old language.

Eliana is adjusting beautifully, and much quicker than expected!  She knows who Mommy, Daddy and her brothers are, and she says our names.  She is sleeping well, eating well, and interacting with her brothers exactly like a two year old should.  When I ask her to identify different body parts (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, lips, hair, head, feet, toes, hands, knees, belly) she can point to them, and she tries to say the words.  She mimics many of the words we say, and she can understand a lot of simple directions.  It's amazing how quickly she is learning English.   

We have begun to test the waters of the outside world, and it is refreshing!  Hopefully, we will be ready to dive in soon!