the past month

Hello out there!  If all the non-posting isn't evidence enough, this past month has been a doozie!  Here's the short version of what we've been up to.

1.  At the beginning of March we packed up and moved from the only home Dan and I have known together.  We survived our first year of marriage and seminary there, changed jobs/cars/churches there, bought a house there and brought two babies home from the hospital there.  We found incredible people there who for some unknown reason wanted to be friends with us.  We were mentored there, challenged there, broken there.  We grew up a lot there.  Whatever roots you can manage to have in six years, ours are buried there.  Thank goodness, we have many reasons to go back and visit.

Moving Day Nap

Checking out the truck.

Last picture in front of our first house.

Sometimes the stress of moving day can make you give your mama the stink eye.

Saying "See you soon!" to sweet friends.

2.  Before moving, Reesie had her last day at preschool.  She got to be the special helper for the day.  Hopie and I tagged along for the morning.

3.  Two days after moving we celebrated my birthday.  I'm officially in the late twenties bracket.  Whoa.

4.  We've visited a couple of churches multiple times and loved both of them.  We have a few more we want to see.  I'm looking into some options for MOPS and women's Bible study and we're praying for a good fit somewhere.

5.  We got hit by the stomach bug.  :(  It took Reese and me down.  Unfortunately I got dehydrated (nursing and the stomach bug are a bad mix) and wound up in the ER for a little bit.

6.  We traveled to Kansas City for a Weekend to Remember marriage conference.  The girls stayed with the grandparents and Dan and I stayed at a hotel for two nights.  The conference was fantastic and we loved getting away for a bit.

7.  I traveled to Oxford, MS to speak at a Mother/Daughter retreat.  It was a fun overnight and I loved hanging out with the teenagers and their mamas.  It gave me a small peek at what's to come. :)  Auntie Sandra came to town to hang out with Dan and the girls while I was away.

8.  We traveled to Southaven so Reesie could perform in her preschool music program.  She's been anticipating the program for months, so even though we had moved, they let us come back for it.  Nana came with us.  We stayed in a hotel with a pool and Hopie went swimming for the first time.  She loved it and like anything else, was perfectly content as long as she had a good view of her big sister.

Reesie's Pledge of Allegiance looks a lot like the universal signal for choking.  :)

9.  We traveled to Kansas City for Easter and to celebrate Reesie's birthday with family.  While we were there we saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the new performing arts center.  It was a fun weekend!

10.  We got a library card and have been going to story time once a week.  We look forward to it each week and are so proud of ourselves because so far we haven't lost a single book!

We arrived a little early this day and much to the delight of her Teacher's Pet Mama, she picked a seat in the front row.

11.  We've been to a few local playgrounds and parks.  One Saturday we tried hiking up Pinnacle Mountain.  We didn't make it to the top but had a pretty good view anyway.

12.  We've unpacked a little at a time.  It's hard to make a ton of progress, especially since Hope is starting to move around.  But I also want to finish before she starts to crawl.

13.  After one final trip to Memphis this past weekend, the Hinton family is staying put for a while.  Hopefully we'll find time to finish up some projects at the house, enjoy this beautiful spring and blog a little more frequently!