Our last Christmas and days in Georgia ( Also- A look back Part 1: Post baby years )

A little bit of time, some wine and breaking bad on netflix while baking Christmas cookies and other such goodies....

Magic Bars (white and semi sweet chocolate), Buckeyes, Snowballs, Brigadieros, Sugar Cookies and Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies....a few of our Family Christmas Cookie traditions. I take pride in carrying on some of Jasons moms cookie recipes. I have added in a few of my own over the years, but being able to pass on any and all traditions to my kids is something that i hold dear to my heart.

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Daisy and Daddy went and delivered Christmas cookies.

Daisy really loved her little outfit :)

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Christmas Eve, Grandma and Grandpa came by to open some gifts.

Grandma is so thoughtful.

She will be dearly missed!

Then this happened.

:)

Jason, being the rad amazing person that he is...kept this little present a secret for a few months. I saw this large thing being carried in by his dad and placed under the tree, thought it was a big toy or the kids. Nope.

I was TOTALLY SHOCKED, TOTALLY STOKED, and yeah.
Awesome.

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Christmas morning :)

Clayton and Jason went head to head this year for best present. lol 

I cannot wait to hang my Claytons amazing art in our new Miami home. 

Taking the christmas tree down....

Time to get packing. For real. 

We moved the Saturday after Christmas.

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Liam has a fascination with Flags :)

our final little solo Downtown Newnan Adventure the day after Christmas.

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These two.

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Things got pretty icy right before we left...

Right in time for Uncle Matt, who hates cold weather lol

He's a hardcore Floridian ;)

Cozy time on mama and daddy's bed right before it got moved out and on to the truck.

This is when it got really real...

I was surprised at how upsetting the whole process was for Daisy. Watching everyone carry our things out and in to the truck, she kept saying- Oh no! Oh no!

We spent Friday night at Jasons parents house, since our beds and OUR HOUSE had already been moved into the truck.

Most of those last few days are a complete blur to me now, thankfully so.
It was pretty chaotic!

We had plenty of packing tape, but could never seem to find a roll (fortheloveofgodwhereisallthepackingtape?!?)
Requests for more boxes (how do we HAVE all this STUFF and where is it ALL COMING FROM?!?)
A lot of keeping the kids from being run over by all the foot traffic, or being crushed by stacks upon stacks of boxes everywhere or from having complete meltdowns because ohmygod where are my toys/books/are you taking my little bed/whatishappeningmama???

 Deciding how important this lamp/collection of baskets/old  towels/do we take the table with the wobbly leg or not?

We were going on little sleep, high stress and once the truck was packed....for me a strong desire to just GO.  

Saturday morning, we drove back to the house to collect the animals, and finish loading up the vehicles. Matt had left earlier in the moving truck.
We got Sam and Daisy in their car seats and went back in the house for a final check.
 We stood in the front living room, Jason holding Liam and looking around.

I said- Wow. It was just the 3 of us (me 6 months pregnant with Liam), when we moved in. Now look at us.

And thats all it took for me to burst in to tears.

I had been so focused on moving, starting this new life in florida.
Excited and ready to begin this new adventure.
Then all at once as we were preparing to finally leave, the memories came pouring in. 4 years in this house and the decade before,  in a flash.

From our first summer in the house while still pregnant with Liam....poolside bellyup :) to our half crazed race to piedmont hospital in the middle of the night when i went in to labor...

and everything after and since.

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the few years of my lovely veggie and herb garden ...
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Holidays :)
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Our backyard bamboo forest.

When the wind would blow it sounded like the ocean in the distance.

Tons of birds, squirrels and even bats hung out in there.
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 Fire pit fun.
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The butterflies (and caterpillars prior to) that swarmed our property every year.

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Surprise Surprise, you are pregnant with not one but TWO babies. Holy Moly.

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Our historic downtown Newnan and park adventures.
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It was the first time in my adult life i wasn't working and
i spent a lot of this time learning how to cook, bake stuff(other than rice and beans and brownies from a box), grow things and channel my inner most yogi
And thus beginning my love of cooking, baking and gardening.

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And everything thereafter and since.

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So many memories of friends, family and good times in our little home.

And so, in this home, began The Adventures of The Parch Family- starring The 3 Little Birds. 

The last 4 years brought us much love, many joys, life lessons and countless blessings.

Our adventures continue!

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MoeJoe, my copilot- On our journey.

Florida or bust!

Love and Light, 

A

Christmas 2012

Georgia

*4/7/2014*

I completely forgot to tell about the first hour of the trip. The other day i was telling someone about our move and then it all came back to me. Worthy of remembering because, like so many things in our life...it was kinda bananas.
Jason was in front of me in his car with Liam and the cats in their carriers. I was following behind in the van with twins and the dogs.
We knew we would be stopping for gas and some coffee within the first hour. We planned on making the stop somewhere close to Macon. But before we even made it that little bit of distance Jason calls me.
-Alex can you see inside our car from where your at?
I start panicking a little thinking liam is throwing up or throwing a mega fit or something.
I'm like -Nooooo WHY?
He says- Miko escaped. She is perched on my shoulder like a parrot.
(I could sense fear in his voice and tried not to laugh)
What do I do? he asks.
Well I say, just wait until we get to the gas station and I'll help you get her back in the carrier.
We hang up. A few minutes later, I begin feeling a strange tickling sensation on my feet, ankles and calves.
Then, biting. I reach down and pull my hand back up. Ants. There are ants crawling all over my Uggs. i fight the urge to screech to a halt on the side of the interstate and strip down naked because OMG THERE ARE ANTS ALL OVER ME.
I take a deep breath and call jason.
-You are NOT going to believe this. I have ants crawling all over me and we need to stop. NOW. nownownownow.
He's like what are you talking about.
I take another deep breath and then laugh a little. I mean really? What the.
I tell him i am being dead serious and we begin to merge off the interstate.
We pull into a gas station, i jump out and rip my boots and socks off like a crazy person in the middle of the parking lot and start swatting at my legs, feet, boots, arms...checking the rest of my body for more ants ...the inside of the van...floor, seat...looking like a total nut job i am sure. if i was someone watching this go down i probably would have said something like, whoa. Meth? lol
But, sure enough there where ants all over the floorboard. I must have stepped in an ant pile in our front yard as we were loading up. Since i was wearing thick Uggs that went up to my calves...it took them a while to make their way up and in. Little bastards.
After the ant disaster was averted, i helped jason get Miko back in her crate, got a couple of coffees and then we were on our way. What a way to start the trip. Parch style. ;)