Growing up: Inches and Miles at a Time

In so many ways, Shelby is developmentally still our little girl, but I've been noticing how she seems to have grown a lot over the last couple months. My long legged baby girl is looking like a big girl!

And to cinch the deal, she lost her first baby tooth earlier this week.....

 

 

She didn't quite get what the rest of us were excited about--but she enjoyed all of us making a big deal out of the occasion, and of course, the tooth fairy came through and brought Shelby a dollar bill!

And as if to prove that she's not just growing physically, Shelby started carrying her back pack by herself. Previously, she hasn't been able to handle balancing and walking and carrying it all at once, but she's got it now.

2014: What a Year!

2014 was a whirlwind of a year for our family! So much has happened and I have been too overwhelmed and in awe of it all to even attempt to document it on this blog....  

Major milestones included: 

1. Selling and moving out of our home of nine plus years.

2. Bunking at Trip's parents' house on the mountain for 6 months while our new house was under construction (God bless them for putting up with us).

3. Shelby started kindergarten. 

4. Harding switched to a local charter school. 

5. I changed jobs and am now happily employed as a school counselor.

6. We moved into our dream house on the mountaintop. 

7. We celebrated my beautiful grandmother Penny's 90th birthday at the beach with my dad's side of the family this Thanksgiving. 

8. After 4 1/2 years of  graduate school, I finally finished! I graduated from Western Carolina University with my Masters in School Counseling in December.

We have had so many transitions since last April. All of them were worthwhile, but also incredibly  stressful for everyone. Honestly, I'm still recovering from it all! So, what's next? Hopefully no huge transitions! In 2015, we're going to concentrate on having more quality time: loving. laughing, enjoying, reading, conversing, camping, splashing, creating, and sunset appreciating. And maybe I'll even document some of it on this little ol' blog. Cheers to a new year!