workin on our house....tenley's room is going dark green to white and installing ceiling fans! whew lots to do!

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tenley's 4th wedding this summer. a hot outdoors wedding and she did great! danced with daddy and mommy too!

our newest addition to the family. Bella Mae Byrd. born march 14 2011. a cockapoo (cockerspaniel and poodle mix)

So long for now Carson-Newman College

Well today I turned in my keys to Carson-Newman and cleaned out my office. :( My official last day won't be until June 10th, but I'm still on ML til then. It was a bittersweet process and once I packed and loaded everything into my car, I went and chatted with everyone in the office. My boss said she doesn't do well with goodbye's so we said "see you later." I spent the last 2 years of my life working there and traveling and meeting new people through my travels. Truly a wonderful experience. As I drove away, I cried. Yes, I cried. Tears were streaming down my face as a song that said something like have faith knowing God has a greater plan for you that what you've seen and where you've been.

Leaving this job was one of the toughest things I have had to do yet but I know He has greater plans for our family and He is in control and will continue to bless our family as we seek Him.

2 Years of Life!

Yep! 2 years ago we gave "birth" to our family of JR and Michelle Byrd! hehe! (I have to use this analogy because of the recent birth of our Tenley! It's been 2 years since our wedding day and there are so many things that have happened that have made the past two years pretty stinkin amazing! I will first re-cap our wonderful weekend of our Anniversary! Saturday my parents (MiMi and Poppa) decided to keep Tenley for us so we could go out all day and night on a date to celebrate our anniversary! I was able to pump and leave enough milk for her so she was set! We decided to go to DollyWood because 1. It was our first date alone. 2. We have passes. 3. We just wanted to do something fun like riding rides and seeing shows etc! So we spent the day riding roller coasters and laughing and watching shows and eating ice cream! haha! I was so excited to ride the new rides because the past few times I'd gone to DollyWood I was preggo so no rides for me! After DollyWood, we went and shopped really fast for tennis shoes for JR...with no luck. boo. Then we went to eat at Logan's...we had never been there before so we wanted to try it! It was delish!! JR got steak and I got fish and then we split a Chocolate Stampede dessert (well, got it to go b/c we were too stuffed to eat it then!) I really want to learn how to make the stuffed fish I had, because it was wonderful! After that we drove home and went to sleep. We slept til 11am the next morning with no interruptions! wonderful! Probably the last time that will happen in a while but it was seriously amazing!

Sunday::: JR and I had "bring a friend free tickets" so we took my family and Tenley back to DollyWood! Some people may think it's lame but I love this park! It's so family oriented and just fun! I enjoyed walking around pushing the stroller and being with my little family and my original family. :) We rode rides and took pictures and Tenley was in such a fantastic mood too so we got lots of smiling pictures of her. She has been such a happy baby, I just love it! I never thought our family could feel so much more complete as it does now that we have Tenley!

Monday::: Our "actual" anniversary! 2 years ago....I did a lot of reminiscing of our wedding day. A LOT! We even laid in bed Monday night and picked through every detail of the day...things that made us laugh, cry, and even the drama we want to "omit or change" haha! We decided to not to gifts for each other but rather, did a gift to share...well 2 to share. :) We got a puppy! Crazy I know right? A 7 week old daughter and a 10 week old puppy! We got a Cockapoo named Bella Mae (Mae after my mamaw that passed away May 17, 2010). Bella is such a spunky and adorable little puppy! She is tan/cream colored and has the cutest little face. She already loves Tenley and has a blast playing with Riley (momma's dog). We also closed on our very first home on our anniversary!!!! It's so exciting! 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with a kitchen, 2 car garage, living room, dining room and eat in kitchen and a large fenced in backyard! Perfect for our little family! I am so excited to begin painting and decorating our home and making it ours. We have plans to work on it with family and friends and I am pumped about it!! I am using my colors of red, brown, tan, white and black in the main parts of the house. Hot pink, white and black for Tenley's room and I am thinking teal and brown for the guest room! I am so excited!! I never would have thought 2 years ago, we would be getting a house on the day we got married, have had a baby girl and a puppy all in the same year! God is Good!

Ways you can pray for us:
1. JR's med school loans and living expenses loans to go through as they are supposed to.
2. Scholarships to work out.
3. Moving and getting all set up to go smoothly.
4. Tenley to continue to grow and develop and learn new things!
5. Bella to housetrain well!
6. Our marriage to strengthen and grow even more.
7. That we are able to tie up loose ends and make sure we get all things smoothed out in this transition.
8. That we grow closer to the Lord during all of this as well.

We love y'all!

~JR, Michelle, Tenley, and Bella Byrd
*Written a day after our anniversary for obvious reasons*

Loads of Excitement!!!

A lot has happened in the Byrd household since I last blogged! As I type (at 4am with one hand), I am holding and rocking our sweet baby girl Tenley Joy. :) She was born at 37 weeks and 1 day, making her birthday fall in March (not April as expected). She was 6 lbs 10 oz, 19 inches long with a head full of dark brown hair, blue eyes, long fingers and toes and absolutely stunning! I really had a great labor when I think about it too. Yes, I was on bedrest for about 2 weeks prior and when I arrived at the hospital I was 6 cm dialated so thiings went pretty quickly from there. We are still in the recovery stage and I am learning lots about infant sleep cycles (she was awake in the womb from 1-6am and so she is still on that schedule right now). I am also learning that my own recovery takes more energy, time, and patience than I ever knew. (Im also learning to take my pain meds before they wear off and not try and tough it out lol!!)
We are still waiting on a few things to be for sure, but things are looking up in several areas for our future. Here is a list of current prayer needs:

1. Daddy, Mommy and Tenley to figure out her needs and better incorporate them into our lives.
2.Med school loans, paperwork, financial aid, and all it entails.
3. Finances regarding future needs and current with hospital bills coming our way.
4. My healing and recovery.
5. Wisdom in how to deal with various situations right now.

This was just a short update... hope to update more later, but no promises!

HUGE REQUEST

OK, Can't say specifics right now but we have 2 HUGE prayer requests that we ask you to pray with us about. God knows the details and that is all that matters.

Thanks a bunch!