Our Sweet Roxy

I feel like I can't get across how ridiculously SWEET this puppy is!! I try to tell people, but until you've held & snuggled & been loved by her, you can't truly know. She's so perfect!

It's been an entire week since we've brought Roxy home & it has simultaneously been the fastest & slowest week ever. :) People always compare puppies to newborn babies, & while I always thought that was kinda crazy, I GET IT! And if you, too, think it's kinda crazy, it's really not that far off, haha!

We were suppose to pick Roxy up on April 3rd (tomorrow!) at eight weeks, but she was ready to go a week early, at seven! We weren't prepared to get her last week & I ended up getting sick the day before we were scheduled to pick her up, but we went with it because we (mostly me, of course!) were so excited!

After we got her, we went to my parents house to pick up a crate & she was so scared! She scratched my shoulders/back the entire car ride trying to get back to her mama. Thankfully, she warmed up to us really quickly, then didn't want to leave our side.

Roxy came to us with a floppy ear & I was SO hopeful it would stay that way. :) Throughout the week, it's stood up & she's even cuter than before, which I didn't think was possible! Real quick: can we talk about how much she's GROWN in just one week!?

Every day, we go to my parents house with Sam & Reagan, so she's gotten accustomed to car rides, although her favorite place to sit is still in my lap. :)

One of the things about this breed is if you want them to be good with kids, you need to get them around kids early & often. If you do that, they're great family dogs! Though we don't have kids yet, Sam & Reagan are here every day & Ryder, Rosie, & Carson are here throughout the week, so she's getting lots of kid time! All five of them love her & she loves them, which I'm so so happy about. :)

Let's talk SLEEP! Or lack of it! ;) This is when that newborn comparison is so real, haha! I hadn't prepared myself to be up all night, & I don't do well without sleep. The first night, we tried putting her in the crate in our room & she cried the. entire. night.  We took her outside more times than I can remember, but she really just wasn't having it! It broke my heart knowing she was probably so stressed & scared spending the first night away from her mom & siblings.

The next night, we ditched the crate & just put her bed in our room. She was better & didn't cry nearly as much, but was still up multiple times pawing at Sebastian's side of the bed. We took turns taking her outside again two, three, four (??) times an hour. So little sleeeeep!

We tried that approach Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday night. By Thursday, we were both SO tires & we both had to work early on Friday, so we caved & put her in bed with us and she SLEPT the entire night! I took her outside at around 3:00, but other than that, we all slept! HOW REFRESHING! Hahah

We've done that every night since, which I don't mind, although we really do need to train her to sleep on her own bed. Right now, she's really tiny & snuggly & she sleeps curled up next to me with her head on my pillow. When she gets to be seventy-five pounds, this set up isn't going to work so well! But for tonight, I'm going to soak in those sleepy snuggles & enjoy getting a full nights rest. ;)

She's a really good napper! For the first couple of days, she wouldn't sleep anywhere but in my arms, usually belly up. Tell me that's not like a baby? ;)

Roxy came to us house trained! We were't expecting that, but I am SO thankful! I think I would have definitely lost my sanity if I was having to deal with a dog who didn't sleep AND messed all over the house. She's so smart - she either comes & paws on us, cries, or runs to the back door when she needs to go. Seriously so thankful for that!

She has met so many people & she does a really good job of loving on them & protecting us. :) I am especially thankful for my mom who has been my Roxy-sitter when I've had photo sessions or just needed to run out somewhere! Her favorite place to nap is in my mama's bed. As soon as we go in her room, Roxy's tail starts wagging & she's trying to jump out of my arms & into mom's bed to go give her aaaallllll of the kisses. :)

I love, love, love this little dog & I'm SO glad she's ours!! I can't believe how much she's grown in one short week, but it makes me sad to think about the incredibly SHORT time she'll be this tiny puppy! I'll just keep snuggling with her until... well, forever. :)

YAY for our first week with our little, furry love! :)

Valentine's Day

Last year at this time, Sebastian was in South Carolina training to be the general manager of Huddle House. That was a long month that neither of us have fond memories of, & it was tough being apart for so long after just getting married four months before!

Last Valentine's Day, I was able to go down & visit for the weekend, which turned into the entire week because I got so sick! I couldn't get out of bed without throwing up, much less ride six hours in a car to get home. So I was thankful to spend that time with him, but we both wish I had been well enough for us to actually DO something while I was there!

This Valentine's Day, we were HOME! Together. In our house. We didn't do anything extravagant - he had to work Tuesday night, so we just had the morning together. But let me tell you - this was my favorite Valentine's Day out of the seven we've spent together!

I woke up to a clean, empty sink. I left to pick up Reagan & came home to Sebastian making a really yummy brunch. He was getting ready for work when two dozen roses were delivered, & right before he left, he told me we were getting a puppy. The best day!

I'm so thankful for the husband the Lord has blessed me with. So in love with my Forever Valentine. <3

Oh, Happy Day

We have exciting news!! Every time I say that, atleast one person assumes we're pregnant, so I'll start off by saying that ISN'T it. YET! :)

Sebastian has been working for Huddle House since August of 2015. He started when they opened their first store here in Virginia Beach & he's one of the few employees they've had from the beginning! Last March, they opened their Chesapeake location & they made him general manager, which was an exciting promotion!

Huddle House has served us well. Since he got that job, we have gotten married, bought a truck, bought a house, & did other things that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. It hasn't always been easy for him there, but we are truly thankful for the time he has spent & the lessons he's learned while working there.

At the beginning of January, some changes were made & Sebastian decided it was time to look for another job. He only applied to two places before choosing to stick with Huddle House & continue giving his all. In this season of life we are in, he was content & knew the Lord was in control.

Last week, seemingly out of the blue, he got an email from Olive Garden (one of the two places he'd applied) asking for an interview. He went in on Wednesday & then again Thursday for a second interview where they offered him a job!

Full time, full benefits (& a TON of extra, random benefits!) & only four miles from our house! And let's be real, I'm equally excited about the discounts he/we get at all of the restaurants that are a part of Darden. ;)

He will be starting there on Wednesday while continuing to work until his two week notice is complete on February 24th.

Huddle House has truly been a blessing to us, even when it's been hard to see. The owner has been such an encouragement to Sebastian & we are so thankful for him! But we are so excited for this change & are welcoming it with open arms!

I'm thankful to the Lord for always taking care of His children. He's never let us down, & it's so comforting to know that He never will. :)

Laundry, Clothes Lines, & a Chalkboard Wall

This past month has been so so busy! I'm excited to finally be slowing down & settling in.

We slept in our house for the first time on January 2nd, one month after we closed. We have absolutely LOVED being there & calling our little place 'home'. We did a lot of work painting & moving things & making our house livable, so once we were in there, we were really slow getting to the unpacking & putting away of things! 

It actually wasn't until last week that we started unloading our back bedroom, emptying boxes, moving more furniture over, & getting into the 'settling' stage. It's sometimes overwhelming to have so much stuff & to have no idea where it's all going to fit! Crazy how much you accumulate in so little time. 

When we moved, we packed all of our clothes/towels/bedding in garbage bags for easy transit. Today while the kids napped, I fiiinally took all of that out, organized it, & put it away - it was like Christmas morning, having not had most of my wardrobe since September! But goodness gracious.   So. Much. Folding. 

We have a washing machine in our kitchen & a dryer in our little utility closet outside. We need to change out a piece on our dryer for it to work, so after we've washed our clothes, we've been hanging them around the house to dry. Well, in our frugal ways (HA! I wish I were frugal.) we decided to try a clothes line outside. We don't have the right poles to set it up correctly, but we jerry rigged it for now & I LOVE it!! There's something strangely relaxing about hanging clothes on the line. Our neighbors probably think we're crazy, but I'm totally okay with that. ;)

Our kitchen is coming along, but has a ways to go! We've painted out cabinets & started to fill them, but need to get new hardware before we can put the doors back on. We still have lots of boxes to unpack!

Also, the best news (hehe ;)) - the office is cleared out enough that the kids can color on our chalkboard wall! We've had a couple of chalk parties because coloring on a wall is so stinkin' exciting. ;)

This little clothes line setup is pretty ghetto, but it gets the job done. ;) 

I have a bathing suit hanging, which I'm sure looks extra strange to the neighbors since it's February. ;) 

 That's it for my super random, rambling, house update!