All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready to Go...

Well, sort of...our hospital bags are packed, and we're as ready as I guess we'll ever be to go have these babies! The bags are in the car, the car seats are in the car, the nursery is all set up (for now, anyway), and we are playing the waiting game. My blood pressure was getting a little higher than the doctors wanted to see it, so as of last week I have been home resting and waiting. It's quite a different lifestyle from working full time, especially since Sarah has been going to school. In fact, as of today, I think I could get used to this pace :-) When I went to the doctor last week, they did a routine ultrasound and discovered that Baby Lauren decided to flip around and she is no longer head-down, so at this point, they are recommending a C-section just to be on the safe side, unless she changes her mind and turns around again. We went ahead and scheduled the C-section for next Tuesday, August 31st! I can't believe it's just over a week away!!! I have tried and tried to coax the babies to go ahead and be born now, but it looks at this point like we will be going all the way to the 31st :-) I will be 38 1/2 weeks at that point, so it's still just a little before my due date, but I'm sure they will be plump and healthy by that point!

Two weeks after the babies are born, we're moving. Great timing, right? After a long, grueling summer of trying to sell our house and having no "bites," we suddenly got an offer one day! What an answer to prayer! We are closing on this house sometime between now and September 16th. We also have an offer on a "new" house (after a LONG weekend of stressful home searching- the house we picked was the LAST of about 30 that we looked at), and we'll close on that one on September 16th. So the bags at home are somewhat packed as well. Well, there is still a long way to go, but I think we've made outstanding progress and will be in great shape for moving out in just a few weeks! It's very strange to spend weeks and weeks in your house surrounded by boxes, and boxes, and boxes.....but I know packing now is the smart choice and that once next week gets here, our minds will be elsewhere!

Oh, by the way, Jeremy started a new job two weeks ago. We can't do anything simply, can we? He started his job as "Assistant Professor of Physics" at Kennesaw State University and has been commuting 1+ hours each way at odd hours of the day to avoid Atlanta morning and evening traffic (hence the move to Acworth). So far he seems to enjoy his new job and is so excited about getting his research program going. He's teaching one class this semester, which doesn't sound like much, but it pretty much takes up most of his time at this point. Hopefully once that gets settled into a routine, he will have more time to focus on his research. He's also planning to go to Colorado at the end of September to present at a conference. Thanks to Mimi, who is planning to come stay the week with us here while Jeremy is gone, I think we might survive the week while he is out of town!

My goal this week, besides relaxing and enjoying what I feel like is my last week of "me time" forever, is spending some quality one on one time with Sarah and making sure she knows how special she is to all of us and that she will be a great big sister and that more importantly, she is already a great daughter :-) As much as I'd like to be glued to the couch at all hours of the day, and as hard as it is lately to get up and down off of the floor, I've still tried to do what I can with Sarah and make sure she is enjoying the rest of her summer and getting lots of "mommy time." We've spent a lot of time at the pool, and we are all so excited that Sarah finally wants to swim all by herself (with her floaties)! She has been nothing less than terrified of being let go of in the water ALL SUMMER, until one day this past weekend Nana was able to sneakily let go and Sarah actually realized she enjoyed it! Yay Sarah! This will make going swimming with three children a bit easier (I didn't say easy!) next summer, I assume. Enjoy the assortment of pictures below--it's been awhile since the last update!















Look at me! I can swim all by myself!















Painting a masterpiece for her new bedroom




















Sarah "performing" for her last day of dance/gymnastics at The Little Gym















Is that a big belly or what???















Sarah and her new best friend (ie. cousin) Elizabeth















Mary Evelyn's wedding was so much fun!




















Preparing for her debut as "The Flower Girl"




















Sarah with her quadruplets- I hope she doesn't think I'm having 4 babies!




















At Mary Evelyn's bridal luncheon, reading her new flower girl book




















Getting ready to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July!















Mommy tried out taking black and white pictures :-)

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah!

Our baby girl turned three years old on Sunday, and it's very hard to believe how grown up she has gotten! She got to share her birthday this year with Father's Day, which was kind of neat. We celebrated her birthday mostly on Saturday with a party at The Little Gym where she does gymnastics and dance. Everyone had a great time!

This summer is flying by so fast! It's been really great to spend many, many lazy days at home with Sarah. I try to relax but she does still keep me pretty busy! Some of the things Sarah most enjoys these days are...
*pretending to get married- for some reason, probably thanks to several disney movies, she associates going down steps holding someone's hand with getting married, so that's what we do anytime we're near steps. She says, "Come on mommy, let's get married!"
*practicing for Mary Evelyn's wedding- Aunt Mary recently gave her some petals and a flower basket to start practicing, and it has been a big hit at our house
*having picnics in the playroom with mommy and/or daddy and fixing lots of plates for us
*playing wrestling and tackle games
*playing in the swimming pool and talking about (not going near) the sprinkler. She says she'll put her face in when she "gets a little bigger."
*reminding us that she is little and that she wants to be a little baby. I think she's getting a little concerned that she is no longer our baby since we are having two more babies, and she wants to make sure we know she's still our baby, too :-)
*eating junk food- popsicles, potato chips, lollipops, you name it, but only for "bassert (dessert)
*going on "pacation" (vacation)

Some things Sarah does NOT enjoy these days are...
*being told she is a "big girl"
*getting water in her face
*eating vegetables
*sleeping all night. She has developed many new "fears" in the middle of the night; most recently she is afraid of the ceiling fan (which has never been turned on in her room that I can remember). She wants me to take "that big flashlight" out of her room. Sorry, Sarah, we are trying to sell our house and people like ceiling fans in bedrooms!

Enjoy the photos and video from Sarah's birthday party!

Williamsburg Vacation 2010

This week we've been in Williamsburg, VA with Jeremy's parents (Mimi and PawPaw), Uncle Joseph, and Aunt Alecia. It has been sooooo much fun! I think this has been perhaps my favorite vacation to take with Sarah, simply because she is at such a fun age! She has loved every minute of the trip and can be entertained by almost anything :-) I do think her favorite part of the week was the swimming pool. I have had the best time this week just making Sarah happy and spending so much quality time with her one on one. It's hard to believe that in about 2 months I will be a mother of three! Eeeck! Enjoy the slideshows of our trip :-)

4 More Days 'Til Summer Vacation!!!

Every morning I have the same conversation with Sarah:

Mommy: Time to wake up, sweetie!
Sarah: I don't WANNA go to school....
Mommy: I know, but we have to...

...and on, and on, and on. Well, at last, we are down to the last few days of school and then it's time for summer vacation! Yay!

I know I've been bad about updating lately, but all I can say is, it's been a busy spring! Hopefully the posts will be much more frequent this summer :-) We've been enjoying the sunny weekends around here, and Sarah has been able to spend a lot of time at home with mommy and daddy, and she's also been able to spend a lot of time with Mimi, Pawpaw, Nana, and Papa. We're really looking forward to being lazy this summer and enjoying the time together before our family dynamics changes drastically!

Belated Easter Update

Getting ready to dye Easter eggs with Caleb


She said she made a baby just like mommy's baby











Sorry for the delay in updating-it's been a little crazy around here! After years of job searching and a long ordeal of decision-making, Jeremy has accepted a tenure-track teaching position at Kennesaw State University to start in August, which has put our lives into a mini whirlwind of craziness. It's great not to be wondering about his job prospects anymore, though! We've spent the last several weeks preparing to put our house on the market so that we can try to move closer to KSU. Now that we've just about gotten the house in tip top shape, and the "for sale" sign is in the yard, we can hopefully get back to the normal routine and play the waiting game for as long as it takes to sell our house :-)

We all had a nice Easter and a super (fast) Spring Break. Sarah semi-enjoyed the family Egg Hunt, even though she had a boo boo on her foot and was more or less cranky the whole day. Enjoy the video clip of all the Grant babies. I would like to say that next year's will be without tears, but with twins on the way, I guess we will have even more drama at next year's hunt!

One of the cuter things Sarah has been doing lately is playing with her baby dolls. As we slowly move more and more baby "things" back into our house, Sarah seems to find them quickly and put her babies into all of the equipment. Every time I turn around there is a baby "sleeping" in something. She says she's going to be a big helper to her baby brother and sister, including bringing them pacis and giving them their diapers (which babies wear, but big girls wear panties, according to Sarah).