The Herrins from Scratch: Life Lately

This post is going to fall on the random side. There's a lot to recap, but I don't know where to begin, so I'm just going to be pretty general. Ella and I have officially been in Roswell for a month and Brent has been here for 3 weeks. It's been SO busy in a really wonderful way. So busy in fact, that I haven't even finished my blog post about Mother's Day b/c Brent has all the pictures on his phone and I keep forgetting to go through them and email them to myself to add to the blog. I'll get around to it later this week (I hope)...but Mother's Day was really great! My little family made me feel very special.

Updates:
Work: Brent has been working with a financial planner to get the ball rolling on opening his VERY OWN Pediatric Dentistry Office close by. We have the plans in hand, equipment selected, AND Brent has some great marketing strategies...just waiting for the bank to give us the green light. We will know more by Wednesday. It's so surreal! Brent is very excited & so I am. He will continue to work for the company he is currently at for the next few years while he gets everything started. He actually really likes that job too, but has always dreamed of owning his own practice. So, with lots of support and encouragement, he has decided to go for it! We have been blessed with a really wonderful opportunity to be connected with a very successful dentist in town who has a plethora of resources that he is making available to us as Brent gets his start, so we are also really fortunate in that regard! More on that as things develop.

Pregnancy: Since we've been here it's been so much fun and very HELPFUL to spend so much time with my family. My mom's help with Ella has been invaluable. I'm starting to get really sluggish with 2 months to go and chasing a toddler is really tough--having my Mom here to help couldn't be more ideal. Plus, Ella loves spending time with her and lights up and runs to her whenever she enters the room. I told Brent the other day that I wish Ella got so excited about us. Ella also loves playing with her Uncle Jason too and thinks he's just so fun. He's so busy with work and his social life that we don't get to see him too much, but when we do--Ella is thrilled! I think it's really cool that they get to spend this time together so early on and if he stays in the Atlanta area (which I think he will) it will be great to have Uncle J so close to grow up around (and hopefully have some cousins for our girls to play with WAY on down the road)!

So, yesterday marked 32 weeks of pregnancy. 8 more to go and I'm already starting to have episodes of contractions similar to last time. The general rule of thumb for those of you who have not been pregnant or don't know a thing about being pregnant (which was totally me less than 2 years ago), if you have more than 6 contractions in a hour, you are suppose to go to the doctor/ER for monitoring to make sure you aren't going into preterm labor. I was having quite a few for several hours the other night until we finally got them under control. I'm really hoping to ward off doctor ordered bed rest by taking time to rest since I have my mom's help during the day and Brent's help at night. SO grateful. Yesterday I spent most of the day on the couch, laying on my side, drinking water trying to prevent going to the doctor for contractions. My sweet husband made sure I didn't lift a finger and my Mom and Ella spent most of the afternoon at Target "shopping" so that kept Bells occupied. Of course, Ella came home with a new bucket, book, and pair of shoes. She was really excited-- she's definitely spoiled! My contractions were much better yesterday, so I'm hoping by taking it "easier", I won't be forced to go on bed rest this pregnancy too. Don't know why my body tries to deliver babies at 32 weeks...I'm even on a shot right now to prevent preterm labor. All I can say is thank goodness for HELP and cross my fingers that I don't have to go on bed rest again.

Humble Abode: As far as life in the basement, things are pretty good. We are definitely making things work in our apartment size space. It's fully equip with and family room, office space, a full bath, and two bedrooms. It's cozy down here and really not too bad! We feel grateful to have the opportunity to have a place to be until we figure everything out. We are actually quite content with our set-up. Of course we look forward to home ownership and our own place...but this works surprisingly well for now. We've been having lots of fun and seeing friends, connecting with friends from the past, and enjoying everything Roswell has to offer. It's a great community and we are loving being here. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to start taking it a lot easier for now, but I'm excited to resume an active life after the baby comes...lots to do around town for a family of four!!

Here are some pictures from our time here so far. We are all very happy and enjoying life! I truly believe that sometimes your plans don't work out so you can find the plan truly intended for you.

Checking out the scene

These ducks come right up to me!

Ella: "Duck, duck"

Happy on a Saturday morning!

First encounter with the ducks!

Ella spent the afternoon with Babies Ward
and Finley...she saw they had pacifiers and
when she got home she kept pretending she
had one by sucking on things...so I gave her
one of her old ones for the afternoon...she was
so happy!