Posts
Has it literally been 1 1/2 years since my last post??...Seriously???...Well, as I read my last post, I had to laugh at how much has changed in the daily lives of the Rock Family...So no beating around the bush here...Let's go...
ME: Stopped working at NGPG in March of 2011 due to pregnancy with our second...I'll get to that in a minute...and school. School, HA! Well, I DID get into nursing school at Brenau, but that too I had to put on hold due to the pregnancy with my second. Work and school, and a 3 year old combined with a semi-high risk pregnancy were all just too demanding, so some things were put on the back burner for a while. I am still no longer working, though I decided that Brenau wasn't for me and with lots of thought, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to try my old Alma Mater's nursing school, so thus far I have been accepted back into North GA College & State University, but am waiting to see if I get accepted into their Nursing Program. I should find out in March. I mentioned in my last post that I thought I would like to try to become a Nurse Anesthetist, well, that has now changed to Mid Wifery...who knows where my decision will fall next month.
HOUSE IN CLEVELAND, GA: Seeeeee ya later house!!! We FINALLY sold that thing in Feb of last year. It literally happened over night. We got the offer and we were out within a week...aaaaaand we moved in with my parents in Gainesville. We decided that since I was preggers, that we would wait until after the baby to find and move into a new house. So, we lived with my parents for about 11 month, and went to the in-laws house in Roswell on the weekends, and a week here and there when Campbell wasn't in school. Love all of them for putting up with us for that long, and appreciate the hospitality, but Lord have mercy, we are so glad that is over!
ROCK: I will go ahead and boast and say that I have the world's BEST husband...HANDS DOWN!!! He holds our crazy little family together. He is our backbone. He has put up with a crazy, hormonal, pregnant wife; a WILD AS A MARCH HARE 3 year old blonde headed drama queen with a smile that warm's the coldest of hearts; and a colicy newborn (now 7 months), who STILL doesn't sleep through the night...and I have to mention that HE has taken mostly ALL of the night shifts with her without complaining ONCE (atleast not to me)...Yeah, my husband is a SAINT! Anyway, He too had a job change in this past year inbetween, my pregnancy, living with the in-laws and parents, and searching for a new home. He is still in the same profession, just a different company, and he seems to be very happy with them. You know you have a good one when he puts his "loves" aside, i.e: hunting, working out/races, X-Box, buddies etc, to take care of his family, and look out for their best interest. Now, that's what I call a man of God.
CAMPBELL: Lord has this child come into her own. She is no longer a toddler, but a full fledged 3 going on 4 going on 15 year old. She is so full of imagination & personality: giggles, belly laughs, made up words, whines, alligator tear cries, "whys", made up songs, not made up songs, "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mama, Mama, Mamas", "NOs", and dreaded arguements...we thought that happened when you were a teenager, not 3 year old! She keeps us on our toes, in stiches, with headaches, and you just honestly never know what this child will do from one minute to the next. Right now she is in preschool at Grace Episcopal three days a week, and next year will be starting Pre-K!! She loves school and seems eager to learn. She is also enrolled in a cheerleading/tumbling/dance class at a local cheer gym, and that seems to be right up her ally. She did become a BIG Sister this past June...but again, I'll get to that in a minute...She took the moving transition in stride, and settled in perfectly at both my parent's and his. She loved having her grandparents to play with while I was all full of baby.
AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR!: Yup, we are now a family of four. We found out we were preggers in October of 2010. It was a surprise on out part, but we were thrilled. My pregnancy was eventful being that she measured small from the get go and I pretty much had to be monitored twice a week starting at 20 wks into the pregnancy. I was induced at 37 weeks due to her small size and slow growth (same thing happened with Campbell), and little Hallie Marie Rock came into the world at 1:39 pm on the sunny, hot day of June 6th, weighing in at 5 lbs and 2 oz. (just one more ounce than her big sister was). Our OB, who is also a wonderful friend of ours, let Marcus actually deliver Hallie, which was such an amazing gift.
HALLIE: Hallie didn't get off the the best of starts. Almost automatically she was diagnosed with extreme reflux and colic...NO FUN ON ANYONE'S PART...especially when not living in a home of your own. It took us a few months to finally get her diet down pat, along with medications, feeding patterns,and not to mention her sleep pattern, which is still very off kilter, even with her being 7 months old. We weren't used to this with Campbell being such an easy baby. Hallie was also admitted into Scottish Rite Children's Hospital when she was only 6 weeks old due to a high fever and UTI. We were there for three days. While we were there she was also diagnosed with having a small hole in her heart and a heart murmur. Thankfully the hole has grown up, but she will be left with the murmur for most likely the rest of her life, which isn't anything to be concerned about. Health issues aside, she is a very happy baby, except when she is hungry..and lord help us when that happens because she will bring the house down with her screech of a cry that could probably shatter glass. She'll go from laughing to screaming a 1/2 a second. Rock calls it her "Angry Bird" personality. I call it her Jekyll and Hyde impression. She is a joy though. Has blonde hair that sticks straight up, big blue eyes, and pink pouty lips. She lights up when Campbell walks into the room, and she is "Campbell's baby".
NEW HOME IN GAINESVILLE: FINALLY, we bought and moved into our new home. This happened just last month, right before Christmas. We love our new neighborhood in Gainesville, which is located on Lake Lanier...though our house is not on the lake. It is a charming, older, house that is large enough for our family plus some. It is two stories with a full finished basement. 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, hardwood throughout other than the master bedroom, and basement, LOADS of ceiling to floor windows, 2 fireplaces, wrap around porches, a breezeway to the garage, and a huge flat front yard with an enormous oak tree with old branches fit for a swing! I foresee us living here for a good while, and am soooo excited about adding our own personal touches to the inside, starting with renovating the huge master bath followed by our kitchen. We love it here. We love the location, and love the friendliness of our neighbors. Everyone has been so welcoming. Settling into the house has been a breeze for all of us, including the cats. and unpacking wasn't all that bad, though I will say, I don't want to do it again for a loooooooong time. More pics in a later post.
OTHER 2011 HAPPENINGS:
-Our beloved Duke passed away in May of 2011. It was very unexpected and in a way we are still healing.
-My best friend, Natalie, had her first baby, also a girl, in Sept of 2011. I got the amazing priveledge of being with her while she delivered.
-My other best friend, Claudia, got engaged, and I couldn't be more thrilled for her and her wonderful fiance, Michael. I CAN'T WAIT until her wedding this April or May.
-We are back involved with Young Life, and love it more than ever!
Now, with all of this being said...it HAS been a HARD year, probably the hardest I/we have gone through yet, and I am extremely glad it's over. Yes, we are blessed beyond words, but no one has ever said that blessings don't come without stress. There has been buckets of tears, though loads of laughter, and God had truly tested our strength and patience. But I will say, He has stood beside us the entire time, even though I may have been blinded by the fact.
More to come...I promise...and the other's won't be this long...
