One season down......

We have our first T-ball season under our belt and probably a hundred more to go between all of the sports that Brody and Levi (and Aven) will play in their lifetime! Brody had such a great season and loved every minute of it. It was pretty comical watching twelve 4-5 year olds all running for the ball each time it was hit, playing in the dirt when they got bored, and sometimes forgetting where first base was! We loved watching Brody have fun, and he loved having his own little cheering section at each game. He always looked to make sure we were watching him and would wave when he saw his brother and sister cheering for him. Way to go, Brody! We loved every minute watching you play!

Home 6 months

HOME. 6. months. I love that word...HOME. This is definitely Aven's home now. We are her family. She loves her grandparents and our friends.  She is growing up so much! She is running around chasing her brothers now. She has 4 teeth. She is healthy....finally! No more cough and running nose thanks to figuring out her dairy allergy. She is doing great now going into childcare at church. She isn't scared of strangers anymore and may even let some hold her occasionally:) We love you, baby girl! We are so blessed to call you OURS!

Exchange Church Commission/Launch

Its been a year and a half in the making. Exchange Church. There is so much to tell, too much to write in a blog post. Years ago the Lord began laying church planting on Brian's heart. A few years ago, he began talking with the elders of our church about a local church plant out of our current church North Wake. In January of 2012, we entered into North Wake's Church Planting Residency along with 6 other couples. In June, we committed to planting a church with the Martin Family! Exactly one year later (May 19, 2013), we were commissioned from North Wake Church along with other families to plant Exchange Church in Rolesville! North Wake has been our church home for 10 years and we will miss everyone so much! We are so excited to see what the Lord has for Exchange Church in the Rolesville Community.

Our official launch date was June 2nd, 2013. We are meeting on Sunday nights in North Wake's building as we get established as a church body. In October, we will be launching at the new Rolesville High school!

Preschool Graduation

Brody had another great year at preschool! Its hard to believe our oldest is entering Kindergarten! Here are a few pictures from his graduation this year. And let it be said, that this was the night PopPop officially won Aven over:) All it took was a little bit of punch!

Mother's Day and Family update

Last year THIS is where my heart was on Mother's Day. My heart was aching for my daughter. My heart was longing for my family to all be in one place. But this year, I am so thankful for my THREE kids that are ALL under one roof and celebrating being a mommy to all of them. I am still in awe almost daily that the Lord has blessed me with these 3. They are my heart and my joy! 

Aven has been home 5 months (tomorrow). She has changed so much even in the past few weeks. Her first tooth finally popped through a couple of weeks ago (at 16 months old) and her second was close behind. She is walking everywhere now and choosing to walk instead of crawl. She took her first steps around 14 months, but has still chosen to crawl everywhere she needs to go. A couple of weeks ago she decided that walking was her chosen form of transportation:) And she is finally really bonding with her daddy! She has done great with him since we brought her home in December....as long as I am nowhere near them. She would pitch a complete fit if he was the one holding her and I was anywhere nearby. That has changed in the past few weeks. She is completely content in his arms even if I am in the same room. She tries to get his attention and begs for him to make her giggle. She wants his affection now and is so excited when he walks in the door each day. It's been amazing to watch her transformation over the past few weeks! 

I remember watching the boys play in the yard last summer, and on many occasions thinking "next summer their little sister will be running around here with them!" It's so amazing to see them running around our farm together....just like I imagined.

Lennon Reese McKoy is here!!

We finally got to go see our newest little niece! She was born on March 10th and due to the crazy amount of sickness my kids have had going on, we have not been able to make it up to see her. The boys and I loved every minute of snuggling her!

  

He is Risen!