Our Growing Family

Well we have some exciting news....Our family has grown! 

We are now the proud parents of 8 week old TWINS! 

Meet the newest Thurmons: Draper and Dillon

 

  DRAPER

(namesake Don Draper of MadMen) 

DILLON

(namesake Dillon Panthers of Friday Night Lights)

Our little boys are adjusting quite nicely. Mom and Dad are still getting used to 2 AM potty trips and not being able to look away for fear of carpet disaster or couch mutilation.
Draper and Dillon are brothers born on 9-15-12. They are at least 3/4 lab which is just fine with us! They play together a lot, thereby pretty much entertaining themselves. Squeak toys are in high demand as are evening cuddles with mom. Bath time is less anticipated but is much needed. 

Our new additions should keep us pretty occupied for the next several months. My sisters about died when I told them we needed a Skype date because "we had news."  Puppies weren't the expected announcement. :) 

For now, I'm just ready to get through potty training! Two pups.. what were we thinking!?

Seasons

It makes me sad to see that my last blog post was three months ago.. Good grief.. Can I just chalk it up to being in a crazy season of my life? Well I'm going to and you can secretly look upon my lack of dedication in disgust. Thank you for visiting.

I suppose I left off in the midst of house-purchasing, work-event-planning, and nephew introductions. To catch you up...

Work has been a lot of fun lately. I helped to coordinate our departments' Halloween party/decoration contest. Our team has won two years in a row and we were aiming for a three-peat. I had my work cut out for me but everything turned out great! We kicked some serious Halloween butt and took home the trophy! Can you guess what our theme was?

Since softball ended, Aaron and I joined an office kickball league. One would think that we would all be stellar at a sport that you're pretty much required to play in every P.E. class you'll ever have. This was not the case. We went 0 - 8 but had a lot of fun in the process!

We finally were able to close on our house in late September. This was not without heartache. Our loan fell through a week before closing and we took a pretty significant (and unplanned) financial knife-to-the-chest to get it sorted out. Still, we are here now and it feels amazing to be in our own place again. We are so incredibly blessed and humbled by the love and generosity of everyone who prayed for us along the way. I must say though that we would not be where we are now without our amazing brother and sister in law! Any attempts that I might make at trying to come  up with the right words to express my gratitude would fall so So SO incredibly short. Thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU!

And as ready as we were to settle down and re-enter life with just the two of us, I was not at all ready to leave my sweet niece-babies and new little nephew. My heart was heavy with thankfulness and sadness as we pulled the U-Haul out of their driveway. I am so grateful for the nine months that we were able to share with Adam & Lisa. I don't think I would have had it any other way. We are so lucky to be so loved.

We still have a lot of unpacking to do. With every box I unpack I'm hit with memories of the season of struggle we had just been thrown into when everything was being boxed up. A year ago this week, I had just lost my job only to have Aaron come home to tell me he'd been laid off too. We were confident and hopeful that God would have a plan for us that would be greater than anything we could have imagined for ourselves. Now, we live in a whole new city, have great jobs, and own a house! What an incredible, amazing and wonderful season we are entering into and I can describe the one we just left the same way.

Everything happens for a reason and my God has ALWAYS been faithful to me.

Baby Raylan

I have a NEPHEW!!!!!

Presenting baby Raylan Givens Thurmon!

Just kidding - 

Judson James was born at
12:58p on 8-1-12 weighing 7lbs 14oz!

Now that you've arrived, I thought I'd take the time to introduce you to life out here...

For starters, you have three psycho sisters: Crusty, Terrorist, & Filibuster. One stubborn, loves-you-to-bits momma. A hard-ass, gun-wielding daddy. More aunts, uncles and grandparents than you'll know what to do with... all of whom prayed for you and have loved you since we knew you were coming. 

Not to brag or anything but you have a pretty freakin awesome Auntie who is chomping at the bit to cuddle you and watch you grow. (Not going to lie, not looking forward to the diaper changing logistics.)

Most importantly, Jesus loves you!  He's loved you from before you were even a speck in your mommas belly or a thought in your daddy's mind. God will NEVER fail you. Trust in Him. He made you perfect and to be loved! And that you are. 

Not a Post About a Baby

This will not be a blog introducing the world to my new little nephew. Yes, this is me crushing your Thurmonstrosity blog-reading dreams. The hospital pushed my sister-in-law's induction date to Wednesday. I know, we were all bummed.. though not nearly as much as his momma!

Instead, I thought it'd be nice to let you in on a little bit of life's happenings outside of house-buying and nephew-birthing. Here goes:

1.  I've been taking a class at work to learn how to eat healthier and it's working! I've lost 7 pounds! Woo hoo! Who knew I ate that much cake and pizza???  ({Points to self.}This girl.) The great part is, everyone at work who is participating in the program is seeing results! It's awesome! We have such a unique culture at the office. It seems like everyone is into eating right and exercising. (Except on the days when cookies are left on the filing cabinet outside of my cube. Today.) I just feel so much better about my body right now, which is exactly the confidence I've been praying for.

2. Aaron and I collectively make up 12% of my company's co-ed softball team! I play right field mostly. I guess that means they trust me to throw far and run after a ball. Though I'm not very good, to say the least. Still, I got to design our shirts! 

Please excuse the insinuation of waste abandonment. 

Our team is going to compete this week in the playoffs. Apparently, we are so intimidating that our competitors can't muster up enough players and end up forfeiting.  

Probably the ONLY reason we've made it to the playoffs! :) 

3. I've signed myself up to co-coordinate several Fall office events. The first, a company-wide talent show, will be a volunteer opportunity to showcase the best talent the rebate-marketing-world has to offer. We will be putting on the show for kids, families, and staff at a local non-profit hospital! The thespian in me is a little bit excited! The second, and historically most-enthusiastic, event is a massive Halloween exhibit. Each department chooses a theme and very truly goes all out with decorations, costumes, games, you name it. The CEO picks a winning department and treats them to a happy hour! We've already started working on it and it's not even August! I've definitely got my work cut out for me!

4. Okay I know I said I'd steer clear of anything house related, but I've also been busy brainstorming all the creative and crafty projects I want to take on in our new house. Pinterest is totally my friend! Check out all my pending ideas here! You just have to promise if you come visit me not to point to everything and say that you saw it on Pinterest. Hmmm.. Maybe I'll add that to my house rules craft project. :) Houzz is also a great resource for anyone in future-homeownership-la-la-land.

There's really not much else to report.
I'm very anxious to move. We are super ready to settle in and feel stationary for the first time in almost a year. What I'm most looking forward to is being more involved in a church. We are so limited right now with our social capabilities purely because we live so far away. I've been praying for good, Godly girl friends. I know God is going to provide them because He promises to listen to us and answer our prayers in accordance with His will and purpose for our lives. I know that Godly fellowship is key to a healthy faith and can't wait to see who He brings into my life!

Blessings!

Being Efficient

"Efficient" has to be in my top 10 list of favorite words. I love being efficient. I hate things that interrupt my efficiency. It is very important to me that I be characterized by this word.

The jump back into house hunting was quick. We found out last Wednesday that we'd need to start looking for a new home and Friday we already had viewings scheduled. Again we spent hours viewing this floor plan and that... one builder here, another there... houses both new and old.

It takes a lot of vision to buy a home. You're likely going into a home that has yet to be adorned with drywall, plumbing and other pleasantries. You might be fortunate enough to view a house that is ready to go, neat and tied up with a bow. Or you're going into a home that belongs to someone else, with their food in the fridge, their furniture on the carpet, and filled with their love. In any situation, you have to figure out how these four walls can be yours. Sometimes it means hypothetically re-painting, mentally arranging, and emotionally filling a room.

Every time I walked into a house, I would stand in the kitchen and relive our church small group meetings. Could I see a pot of queso on the counter? Upwards of 15 people fitting on and around my imagined furnishings? I would walk into the backyard and picture my husband mowing the grass, growing his garden, and our future babies playing with our also future puppy. I'd picture our bedrooms. Where will we put Tyler & Aubri when they most certainly come to visit? (Hint.) Is the sun going to wake me up every morning? (Not a morning person.) Where will we put our kiddos? (Not a hint.) 

When we finished walking through our future home, I called Aaron into the bathroom. I wanted to see what he was thinking. We are very stoic house hunters. I don't like giving away my feelings about a house, especially if a salesman is present. I'm sorry, no I do not in fact like to be stalked through each room. No I don't need you to try to put a positive spin on every negative thing I point out. And no, I will not call you back as your house sucks. But I digress... I called Aaron into our future bathroom and didn't even really have to ask him anything. We both smiled. I, in my ever-energetic nature, started jumping up and down and doing my I-LOVE-THIS-HOUSE dance.

A few hours later we'd finished paperwork and drove home, crossing our fingers in hopes the builder would accept our offer. By Sunday afternoon, we were homeowners again! (See, I told you I love being efficient!)

We are both feeling MUCH better about this house. We got a great deal, a stellar interest rate, and will have a lot of space to fill. The best part is that we will move into our home just in time to start decorating for Halloween!! I cant wait for Trick-or-Treaters!!

Now we just have to continue praying that God will align all the final details and we will be able to close on this home without any major complications.

God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. We are so fortunate in that He has provided us with the means to own our own place!

God is good.

Get excited! The next post should be about the little one headed our way this weekend!!!