God's Faithfulness...

Throughout this closing/becoming home owners process, we have seen God working in a Mighty way for us.  We (mainly me) have been a little concerned on how it was all going to come together before the baby gets here and how we were going to pay for it all (without taking out another loan).  Below are just a few of the MANY blessings we have received in our moving process and our new home.

1. Jonathan's grandmother sells carpet and was able to get us some for the price of labor to install it - if that's not a blessing I don't know what is!

2. We needed a refrigerator for our Kitchen, but we weren't sure how we were going to take care of it - turns out that Miguel and his sweet wife came to church one Sunday and asked if we needed one - they had just purchased a new one and had no place for their old one - they gifted it to us!

3. Dishwasher's are not a must, but definitely a plus!  My dad had pulled out a dishwasher at a local surgery center and they wanted him to throw it away and get them another one - well with just one part, we are good to go with a really nice LG dishwasher.

4. We already had a range oven from Uncle Brian and Aunt Melinda from when we moved to Martin - so we didn't have to purchase any large appliances in order to move in and live.

5.  We had to get a new hot water heater for the house - so we decided that a tank-less unit would be much more efficient, and Jonathan's dad was able to get it for us at cost - and there was a special on them because the company we purchased them through had ordered too many for a job they were expecting to do for Mississippi State and it fell through...- so we were able to purchase it way, way below the market value (thanks to having an HVAC guy in the family!)

6. After we closed we found out that we had a cracked head on the heating and air package that was currently in the house, so we need a whole new package unit.  These are obviously very expensive, but when Jonathan and his dad were looking at them, he realized that there was one "scratch and dent" that was selling for a fraction of the price - and we were able to get it for 35% off...major savings!

7. We needed new toilets in the Master and 1/2 bath, along with a new vanity because the hot water heater leaked and damaged the one that was currently in the 1/2 bath.  Mr. Mike was at a supply store one day a few weeks ago and they had two toilets and a pedestal sink marked at ridiculous clearance prices - we now are set on these as well.

8. Mr. Rodney, Scott's dad, provided a few days for the men who work for him to paint our ceilings in the house - a huge time saver for us

9.  Miguel has a contact with Porter Paint in Oakland, so we were able to purchase our paint at contractor's pricing (which is ridiculously lower than normal price).

10.  Having both full time incomes - Jonathan just started working for Golding Mechanical full time - has allowed us to really fix the place up and make it "us" before little man gets here and we have other expenses on our hands!

11.  The Golding's purchased a new washer and dryer and gifted us theirs - much thanks! Now we can have clean clothes without having to purchase all new washer and dryers.

12. We did have to finance the flooring for the house, but it was at a clearance rate - the best pricing that we found - and also our favorite.  We purchased it at Lumber Liquidator and we already have 1/2 of it paid off...

13.  The most amazing blessings are the people who have helped us in this process...we have had family come out - especially Mr. Mike - and really help us get in before little Tucker arrives.  It's such a blessing to know that we have people who love us and really are willing to help us accomplish goals and dreams.  I'm so thankful for everyone who has sacrificed their time and energy to get us in our house!

BABY UPDATE:

On a side note...I went yesterday for my 38 week check up (I'll be 39 weeks on Saturday), and no changes from last week.  I'm dilated to 2 cm and looking like we'll still be pregnant this time next week.  If I have no more progress before February 11th, then we will meet our precious baby boy, Tucker Wiley Golding, when the doctors induce labor. 

I have to admit that I'm really struggling with the idea of inducing labor and him not coming on his own time, so I'm really praying that God will allow him to come when he's ready and we don't force the little man out.  I don't want it to be about our convenience and timing as much as I want it to be when God has ordained his time of birth.  This is heavy on my heart, but I know that the Lord will bless whatever way Tucker comes into the world, and we will all celebrate his sweet arrival! 

Officially Somerville Residents!

What a crazy, whirl wind the past few weeks have been!  We are trying so hard to get into the house before little Tucker Wiley makes his big debue!  J is worried that he's going to get here before we ever get in (which is tomorrow!).  I worked all day Monday on the house with my mom and Sarah to get our kitchen 95% set up and ready, and we now have 95% of the baseboard's down in the house.  The flooring is down in the upper part of the house and looks amazing. J did most of the laying with some of David's help, and Mr. Mike made all the cuts for him.  They did an awesome job....I absolutely love it. I'll post photos again when we are actually in the house, but that may be a while if little man tries to come before we are ready!  We are moving everything that hasn't already made it out to the house tomorrow.  We plan on setting up our bed first, so we have somewhere to sleep, and we'll just have to live with a mess for a few more days, while we finish unpacking.  I really don't think it'll be too bad though - we have really made so much progress that I think we will be mostly unpacked by Sunday night.

In the picture below, you can see that I have my kitchen somewhat set up - and our beautiful floors my hubby laid!  I'll make sure to take more thorough pictures this weekend and post so you can see somewhat of a finished project - I am sure that it'll take us months to get it like we really want it, but that's the fun of having your OWN home right?!?

I had my 37 week check up (I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow) yesterday, and she said all looks good! I'm more than 1 but less than 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced - he's ready...and so are we.  If for some reason Tucker decides he likes it just where he is, then we will induce on February 11th, but I'm really hoping that we don't have to do that - I want him to come in his timing and not ours.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I know we will! :)

Hello again

So I have been absolutely terrible about blogging lately, but I wanted to update you on what's been going on in our little world!  Hang on...this is going to be a long one.

Christmas Completed...

We had Christmas with all the Gilland's on the Tuesday after Christmas. It was a great time and we played a mean game of dirty santa...It's officially crazy when we get together now because of all the sweet little ones we have running around. We currently have 11 babies running around and three on the way - a total of 14 second generation grandchildren! I think the photos are explination enough...

Everyone just finished with dinner - about to open presents

The chaos begins - passing out presents

Opening presents - and seeing what everyone else received!



I believe that Lilly was having more fun with the tissue paper than her actual presents - too cute!





The parents pitched in and gave grandmother a new rocking chair recliner - she was really excited about it.


"Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...that's what little boys are made of!"

Our last shower was a theme shower. They had the table decorated with little frogs, turtles, dogs, and everything little boy! It was absolutely adorable. And might I just add that she made a strawberry cake that was TO DIE FOR...it was amazing to say the least. We had so many sweet friends come to the shower and we really stocked up on all the essentials - now all we need is sweet little Tucker Wiley!

The food table - it was so cute! Even had a tablecloth that looked like grass

My sweet hostesses - Mrs. Leslie Hollowell, Aunt Nancy Clark, Mrs. Denise Howard, Mrs. Kim McDaniel, and Mrs. Cheri Smith

The Grandmothers to be!

My wonderful sister-in-law's - my sister was already back at school and couldn't make it :(

Diaper bag!

So I know I'm looking terrible in this photo but thought I would share the cow story - When we moved from Martin I missed hearing the cows mooing outside my window at night (honestly!), and I have constantly talked about how noisy the city is and how much I wish we had our cows back - well my parents bought Tucker a cow so that we would have a little piece of Martin back in our house. - I loved it!

We received some really sweet outfits, along with his pack-n-play, blankets, books, the mobile for his crib, high chair cover, sound machine, hooded towels, bottles, and many other great baby essentials.

I had such a wonderful time at all of our showers and we are so thankful to be blessed with so many great friends and family who care about us.  We are so appreciative of everyone and all they have done for us during such a special time in our lives.

On the home front...

We have made HUGE strides since the last time I posted about the house.  All the painting on the main living area is completed - except for a little touch up paint on the ceilings.  Also, we have carpet in both bedrooms, the stairs, and upstairs.  The stairs were a night mare when we moved in - you couldn't even walk up them without going sideways, but these have been fixed and look awesome as well.  J is going to start laying the hardwood floors on Saturday, so I'm hoping that by Sunday night we have at least a room or two ready for furniture!  All the tile has also been laid and grouted in the second bath, laundry room, pantry, and 1/2 bath, so we brought out our washing machine and dryer and plan on putting the closet storage back up in working order this weekend as well.  We are getting so close to moving in - I just can't belive it.  We would like to be completely moved in by next Saturday, and it's actually looking like we might meet our goals!

We are going to start slowly moving our packed boxes out to the house each day next week and may even stay there a few nights.  I have some photos below to show the progress - the first is just from the pretty snow we received here this past week.

Master Bedroom with carpet and new blinds - no baseboards yet though.

Our greatly improved stair well - love the carpet and the dark colors!

2nd bathroom - just need scrub everything down, add the shower curtain and mirror, and we are in business -well we'll have to add the door back too! :)

All the fixtures in the house were so nasty, but Jonathan cleaned this one up in the kitchen, and spray painted it for me - it looks like a brand new light fixture!

Laundry room with new tile - all I need now is to hook up the washer and dryer and bring out my big freezer and refrigerator!

New toilet and pedistal sink - looks like a completely different house!

Tucker's room already has the baseboard's down and J was gracious enough to let me bring out his furniture and set it up - the only room in the house that is livable - the rest looks like a hot mess right now. Last night we set up the crib, all his furniture, and I put some of his gifts away...I'm far from completing the process, but it was a great feeling to at least have it started!

I love our wicker pieces - we are going to hang a mirror above the dresser when we get a chance.



His crib with adorable bedding and mobile!



Changing table, reading nook, and swing that Jonathan put together - it wan't be there normally, just needed a place for it now.

Little reading nook - I thought I had a ton of books - I guess I'll have to get on collecting them!

Ah...what a feeling to know that we are actually making progress and moving forward with everything!  Now just to clean every other room in the house and bring furniture into them as well!  Hopefully we'll be meeting a little Tucker Wiley very soon and he enjoys his room as much as we do!

Merry Christmas! - A few days late...

**Disclaimer -I have a new camera (I purchased it a few months back), and I have never used it in any other mode than automatic, so I ventured out this weekend to see if I could play with the lighting an eventually shoot in manual, so if the shots are a lot worse than normal, you know why...it may be a very slow process, but I'm determined to learn!**

So I know it's a few days late, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday.  It's so special to celebrate Christ's birth with the people you love.  Our days were crazy busy, but great.

Our festivities started on Thursday night with dinner, share time, and presents with J's immediate family. This is aways a fun time - we all draw names to prepare dishes so that everyone fixes something instead of Mrs. Pam cooking the entire meal. J had sides and I had dessert this year. It was a fun night!

The cute ginger bread men with each of our names on there - Tucker got two! TWG and Tucker...see them?

I try so hard for us to take pictures together...we actually matched that night on accident.

A little bubbly sparkling cider.

David and Bethany

The table set for our dinner!

On Christmas Eve we always have two stops - the Walker’s and the Golding’s (It was so cold and my hands were full, so I have no pictures from the Golding's - my camera was in the car). We went to my grandparents at 2 on Christmas Eve, ate a late lunch, celebrated with them, and then attended Faith's service at 5pm. We left from the service and went over to J's grandmother's for the rest of the evening.

At the Walkers

After we opened presents



Passing out presents

Christmas morning was very low key for us this year - our present to each other was a house - and that was MORE than enough! :) We went to my parent's at 8am to open gifts with each of them and see what Santa brought - He even knows that little Tucker is going to be here soon, so he sent lots of cute clothes!

We left my parents a little after 9:15 and headed over to J's parents to see what Santa had brought them...and once again, he knew that little Tucker was special and he even got a stocking! (I forgot my camera at my parents, so the lack of photos…maybe one day I'll get better at this!)

Christmas morning at my parents - Tucker's sweet clothes he received

Santa came to visit!

After going to both parents, we made our way to my grandmother's to get together with everyone that was in town for Christmas morning (most of my cousins came in on Sunday and we all got together on Tuesday night - pictures to come). We both went home and took a long nap before going back to J's parents to celebrate with the Whiteside's side of the family. His aunt and uncle, and cousins all come in from Texas each year for Christmas (this was the last year for that :(, but the older we get the more things change)...needless to say it was a busy weekend!

At Grandmother's

Sweet Ms. Lylah - Daniel and Leigh's little girl...she has the biggest eyes - just beautiful!

Sunday afternoon my aunt and cousin came in from Wisconsin, so we a got together again and had a great time getting to see them.  Unfortunately, I caught a cold from being around so many sick people, so I wasn't really feeling myself and couldn't fully enjoy everything...I'm still fighting this thing - I went to the doctor last Thursday and she gave me cough syrup for night time, but it doesn't seem to have helped much - I believe I might have caught bronchitis - isn't that lovely to have bronchitis and be 8 months pregnant - no fun! 

I hope to be back soon with updated photos of the house - it's looking amazing and we are planning on moving in the weekend on January 22nd!