Finally Updating!!

My goodness, it seems my posts are getting fewer and fewer and farther in between. Something about having a house full of kiddos to add to my daily plate sure does take away from things....like this blog ;)

SO....NEWS FLASH (for those of you who do not already know)...

Yep, that's right! We are expecting. NO, not May 8th, 2013 - BUT baby number 8. Due date is May 19th! We are so excited!! All the kids (whom can talk) are rooting for a boy, with the exception of Shaelee. She is wanting a girl. She wants to make sure us girls continue to rule the roost :)

Today Tad finally got the camera out and decided to take some pics of my vastly growing baby bump. So, I had to go and compare to the twins and holly crud-o-la!! Yes, I look HUGE compared to my 15 week pic with the twins!! I cannot believe it! Just in case you don't remember me when I was 15 weeks prego with the twins...click HERE to check those days out :)

Today starts off my second trimester, so...Hoping that I get some major burst of energy SOON, and not so tired! Boy, what would that feel like. We will find out right before Christmas what the gender is. And...I already have names picked out!

Once again, I will be starting over from scratch with baby stuff. As the twins outgrew stuff I got rid of it because I was certain I was done. Well, I thought...and my thought was WRONG!!

We know that this baby is going to be the prefect addition to our family. He or she will certainly be welcomed into a home filled with LOTS and LOTS of love!!

8 years and counting...

I guess I should blog about something :) Today mark mine and Tad's 8 year wedding anniversary. The years seem to go by faster than ever! He is still my amazing man, an incredible father, and the hardest working man I have ever known.

Since my post....7 Years and Counting, Not too much has happened. Lets see, we moved - AGAIN- to Missouri. A little out of our comfort zone at first but we really are loving it here. The twins have turned 1 since we have been here...which does not even seem possible. And school starts this week. EEK!

Only thing with this move, we DOWN Sized, A LOT! Not the little 900 sqft house like Elko, NV, but is just under 1500 sqft. We still drive the big ole 15 passenger white Ford van around. And our kiddo count is still at 7 (for now) :) We are making things work in our smaller home...it is quite cozy but we have a nice size yard which is perfect for all my little busy bodies :)

Happy Anniversary Mr. Tad :) You are rock, my best friend and the greatest husband a gal could ask for!!

The Twins Turn 1!!

I have no idea where the year has went to!! I cannot believe my babies are a year old already. Is is 28 days shy of my announcing the birth of my precious bundles on this blog....(wanna recap...take a look right HERE).

They share a few of the same characteristics, but they have so many of their own traits. They are perfect in every which way! Having them in our family is such a blessing. They bring so much to everyone in our home.

Happy 1st Birthday Bubba and Peek-a-Boo!! 

P.S.
I think they enjoyed their cupcake and ice cream :)

The Move is On....

Geeze, I really wanted to get this post done like 2 weeks ago, but trying to get settled has been a little crazy!! My last post I announced we were moving to Cape Girardeau, MO. Well, we are now HERE and loving it!!

Tad left to Cape Girardeau on Saturday, May 19th. That left me and my 7 kiddos to oversee all the moving. Now that was a fun filled 3 days! The packers packed our 3600+ sqft house on June 7th and 8th. Then on the 9th they came and loaded a semi and it was all done with just like that!! It was CRAZY!! I have to admit, a little part of me was saddened to see my house all in boxes...

Packing Day 1

When they gave us the quote they had specified the number of boxes we would need. By the end of day one they decided they needed to double the count. The next day they came back with the same amount of boxes as the first day.

Packers Truck...used only to carry all the packing supplies in.

Food Storage (part one)

Tate's Room

There were so many boxes. It was a little overwhelming to see so much stuff packed up! There was no turning back when the semi left the house with our stuff on the 9th.

The kids and I left Eagle Mountain on the Sunday, June 10th. We headed to Evanston, WY to stay a night and spend a little bit of time with a few nieces and nephews, sister, and sister-in-law. It was a fun night of swimming :) 

KK and McKenli

Next we were off to Cheyenne, WY to spend a night with our GREAT friends, The Gundersen's. It was a fun night. It was so nice to see all 12 of our kids together. The plan was to stay 2 nights, but very eager to see daddy, we decided to get on the road the next day (13th). 

Before reaching our next planned stop, Lincoln, Nebraska, we pulled off the interstate to get a bite to eat. It was then that I realized that my transmission was acting up. At that time we were in Grand Island, NE, which is about an hour and 20 minutes away from Lincoln. After talking to Tad, he assured me I would be fine to get to Lincoln and he was pretty sure I would be able to make it Cape Girardeau. That night we finally got to Lincoln, NE (our next planned stop). I was so relieved!! 

The next morning we got up, packed our stuff back up and loaded it all back in the van. As we got ready to leave the hotel, the transmission was acting up even more so than the night before. So, I called my hubby and told him everything that was going on. His response to me..."Go back to the hotel, get a room for tonight. I am on my way." Yep...He was coming to rescue us :) At about 2 in the morning my Knight and Shining Armor showed up in a big red ford truck (who needs a white horse) :) :) :) So sexy! 

He brought a trailer along with him to haul it to Cape Girardeau on if need be. When Tate had seen that Tad brought a trailer with him he thought for sure that Tad would be driving the truck and trailer to Cape, but when he (Tate) found out that I was driving the truck and trailer and Tad was driving the van, He (Tate) was worried! He looked at me and said, "You know how to pull a trailer?" He obviously has no idea how many horses I pulled around in my younger years. He was amazed that I was pulling that trailer. And then when he seen me back it up with no problem...he was in complete Ahhh! That's right...I impressed my boy! 

The trailer was not needed though. Tad had no problem driving  van to Cape. I was scared to death to drive it, but he knew what he was doing and how to make it work or how to fix it if something went wrong. All else fails, we would have loaded it up on to the trailer and I would have had to get a rental car to get all of our kiddos to Cape. 

We finally arrived to Cape at midnight on the 14th. We headed straight to Tad's hotel room which had 2 queen beds and a FULL kitchen. NICE!! That is where we slept until our stuff finally got to Cape. It was a bit tight, but we survived!! 

On the 16th we went to this really cool place where we could over look the river, The Mississippi River. We seen barge heading up the river. The kids could not believe how big the barge was. After checking out the river we went to this small lake and set out to play in lots of mud to catch some little frogs. It was so much fun...I had not played in the mud like that in YEARS!! 

The semi arrived on the 18th with all of our stuff. Now came the fun part...trying to figure out where to put all our stuff. Coming from 3600+ sqft to barely 1500 sqft does certainly have it's challenges! My oh my...coming from 5 bedrooms to 4 was not the challenge. BUT coming from 2.5 baths to only 1...oh, it has been a challenge. 

Move In Day!

So, all my craft room is still in boxes in the basement (which is driving me CRAZY), my food storage in partially unpacked, and there are NO boxes left to unpack upstairs. There are still a ton of boxes that I have no idea what to do with, but I am sure in time I will figure it all out, hopefully!

So, we are loving Cape Girardeau. It is so green, lots of creeks and lakes around our house. We have a really big yard, and only 1 neighbor. Tad is really happy with his job and keeps assuring me everyday that this small house will work just fine. I am so glad he sees something I don't. Although there are lots of bugs and other critters, I am so happy this is OURS! Something that we never thought we would do, we have now done. I am looking forward to a very long future here in Cape Girardeau, Missouri :) 

Some Catching Up To Do...And a BIG Announcement...

It certainly has been awhile and long over due! Life has been crazy busy...

I am sure somewhere along the line, I have mentioned that I started a Girl Scout Daisy troop in January. At my very first meeting I had 7 girls, 2 of which were my own. By the end of January I had 18 daisies, need I mind you that daisies are kindergarten and 1st graders??? Oh, but there is more...By the end of March was up to 20 girls! It sure is a lot of fun but A LOT of work too! Thank goodness for amazing co-leaders.

Things started getting even more hectic in our everyday lives early on in February. Tad quit his job... YES, quit his job! Nothing brewing on the back burner, things had just gone way too far with his, at the time, employer. So, he had enough and decided it was time to look for something new.

In search for something close to home (where we are now), we also started searching out of state. Nothing was panning out and of course things started getting very stressful. March 11th Tad headed out on a red-eye flight to Elmira, New York. We were not sure if this would be a permanent thing or something to keep us a float until something else came along. I stayed behind with our 7 kiddos and kept plowing forward with our everyday lives. Things were hectic here and for Tad too. Thank goodness for Skype! That first trip to New York kept him away for just 2 days shy of 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS! It was the longest 5 weeks of my life, and the hardest 5 weeks of his life. The kids were such troopers, but we knew that daddy was doing what he had to do to support his family.

After the almost 5 weeks, Tad returned home for 9 whole days. It was so nice!! And then he departed once again for another 3 weeks. That 3 weeks was not nearly at long or as enduring as the first 5 weeks. However, we knew that this could not be a long term deal. Even though he was away from home he was still doing A LOT of traveling back East and was not happy at all.

During his 9 days home we did some extensive job searching...again! I distinctly remember applying for a job in Missouri with a company by the name of "Delta Companies". I never thought any more of it until one day while Tad was in New York (during the 3 week stretch) and he called me to tell me he had a phone interview with a company out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. My first response was..."Cape What?!?!"...and this it was "You have got to be kidding me!!!"

The phone interview then led to an on site interview. Tad felt that the interview went GREAT and on his way back to catch his plane out of St. Louis, back to Georgia, he received a phone call from the regional manager. He had informed Tad that the job was his if he was willing to accept it and relocate. Then he proceeded to tell  Tad that Delta Companies would like to fly us BOTH (Tad and I) out to Cape Girardeau for a few days to see if I liked to area and be sure that I would be willing to make that move.

So, Tad flew home on Friday, May 4th. Home from his 3 weeks away. Then on Monday, May 7th we (Tad and I) boarded a plane bound for St. Louis for a 4 day all expense paid trip, This was something major for us. The two of us together had never been away from our kids, except to spend a night or 2 in a hospital to have another (or two :). I was certainly looking forward to this trip, just for the pleasure! Tad, however, had his focus directly on the job.

I am so grateful to my mom who was more than willing to come to Eagle Mountain to stay with all 7 kids and tackle the everyday hustle and bustle of getting the older two to school. Oh, and baseball, T-ball, Dance, Scouts and shuttling us to and from the airport.

The entire 4 days was GREAT! Cape Girardeau was awesome! I loved it! We loved it! GREAT, GREAT, GREAT!! Our first night there we ate "Gator" and "Frog Legs"...REALLY! I did not mind the gator but one bite of the frog legs was good enough for me :)

I might as well get this out of the way right now...

It is official - WE ARE MOVING TO CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI!!!

The job offer seems to good to be true! So we are not going to pass this one up by no means! Tad will leave next Saturday to head to Missouri to start his new job, and the kids and I will stay behind until school is out. Then we will all be Missouri bound...and our family will be TOGETHER!!!! I am very excited about this new chapter in our life!

The stress level for Tad is going to be next to nothing. He will only have 1 quarry, not 3-6 at a time, to manage. Salary is great, and amazing benefits too! Delta Companies a division of Collas Companies, which is the 3rd largest construction company in the world.

We have already found a home that hopefully we will hear back on this coming week. It is quite a bit smaller than what we are used to but it is on 6 acres of land with LOTS, LOTS, LOTS of trees. It will be GREAT!!

There is never a dull moment for the Moats family... and I would not want to trade one day of it either!! 

Another January...

...has come and gone! WOW! This year we had A LOT to remember about the January we had last year. Our HUGE, but AMAZING news...January 10th we found out we were expecting twins. Bringing our family of 7 to 9 in just a few short minutes. It was so overwhelming but such wonderful news.

Since we were outgrowing our Excursion, which seated 8, we had to upgrade (not sure if that's the proper term for that one) to a 15 passenger van! Still not too thrilled about it, but it does fit our entire family! CRAZY!!

And this year on January 14th marked 8 years since Tad and I went on our first date! January, every year, will be a memorable month.

So many changes, but such wonderful blessings :)

Looking into the coming months...
I still have to take a double take every morning when I get the twins out of their cribs. I guess just to reasure myself that there really is 2 of them. Everyday is a challenging day, balancing being mommy to so many little ones, a wife, sorta keeping a house all intact, girl scouts, and me time (me time really is non existant)! I wouldn't change it though! Every day my kids teach me something new! My husband teaches me a thing or two, too :)

6 Months

How is it possible that the twins are already 6 months old? Time just goes by WAY TO FAST! Slow them down so I can enjoy them (or maybe I need to slow down, hmmm...)!!!

William is very, very, energetic...he is so hard to keep still....

...and Natalee, she LOVES her toes! Trying to get a picture of her without her toes in her hands was impossible!!

As I look back on the past 6 months since they have blessed our lives, it makes my heart feel full. They have been such a blessing to us and they are so loved! I wouuld not want to give up those sleepless nights for anything and the days when I feel like I have gotten nothing accomplished except for babies fed, lots of diapers changed, endless bottle making and lots of spit up cleaned up (and I smell by the end of the day)...those are the days that I know I am doing my job well.

Nothing says it better than the lyrics of this song...I absolutley love this and listen to it daily (for real :)!!

This fits my life, exactly where my life is right now!!