While our Babies are Still Babies...

Shelby works so hard and I love him so much for it! He was gone all of last week, was home Saturday and Sunday, and then left again on Monday. He arrived home again on Thursday and was ready to get his hands on these girls. Ivy Jane doesn't look very happy, but she is actually very relaxed! She's liking Daddy more and more these days. We're all looking forward to his week of vacation next week...we started it tonight by eating breakfast for supper at Mom & Dad's. That is one of my FAVORITE things to eat on a cold winter night...homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and gravy! =) You could call it a celebration of sorts...

Several weeks ago (sometime in October) Shelby was asked to apply for a job with his current company, which would be a huge promotion, in OKLAHOMA CITY. I can remember asking Shelby, "Who wants to live in OKLAHOMA? I sure don't!" In the beginning I was sad...sad to leave my parents, my sister Kathy & her sweet family, etc. Soon my sadness turned to determination to find out all that I could about the city. I've learned that about myself...my way of "coping" is to inform myself...I was online every chance I got checking out schools, churches, neighborhoods, things to do, etc. I've only been to OKC one time before...Shelby took me to a John Mayer concert for my birthday a few years ago. It was lots of fun, but I didn't really remember the city. Shelby goes a lot with work and says that it's a really nice place. Other people had told me the same thing. A friend of mine even told me that she lived there for about 10 years, said it was a great place to raise a family. Then my November subscription of my "Parents" magazine came in the mail and on the front was "10 best cities for babies". Number 9 was...you guessed it...OKC! A few weeks later we heard a lesson at church about letting God take us out of our "comfort zone". It seemed that God was leading us to make the move, and I was really OK with it. I was still sad to think about Georgia not being able to go see the cows or see her cousins at church every week or attend MDO, and I was sad to think that Ivy Jane wouldn't ever know those things, but I was willing to move, to support my husband, and his career. After all, his career is the whole reason I can stay at home with our sweet baby girls! God had changed my heart.

I started searching out new houses and new cars. If I was going to live 5 hours away from my family, I would need a bigger, more comfortable car to make all of those trips back to East Texas!

Fast forward to yesterday, (skipping LOTS of negotiations, phone calls, a very successful interview, meetings, etc.), and Shelby called me to say that the "big bosses" were working on another offer...it looked like we were going to OKC on Monday to see the city. When he finally got home, we talked and I told him it was ultimately his decision because it was his career. He knew I would support him in whatever decision he made. After our discussion, he officially declined the position. The negatives outweighed the positives. For the first time in SEVERAL weeks he seemed relieved and comfortable with making a final decision. He found out that the first couple of years would be A LOT of traveling and time away from us & that I would essentially be a "single mom". These next two years are so very important in the life of our girls. He doesn't want to miss out more than he already is. He also told me that he hadn't felt good about the job all along...he knew it would be a high stress position, making it even harder on all of us. SO, while our babies are still babies, we're staying put! (I'm still working on getting that bigger car, though!) =)