Disheartening to realize I have not updated my blog since our anniversary (a year ago). [So much has happened since then].
I guess I should try and give a brief update on our lives between July of 2014 and now.
August of 2014, we went on a much needed vacation with some sweet friends. We enjoyed lots of food, games, laughs, and sunny days.
September was full of lots of fun adventures. We went to Dallas, TX with Homegrown Band.
We started renovations on Nick’s memaw’s house, so we could eventually move in. It was quite a load to tackle.
I went with the staff and students from CCF. We went to Whitewater Express in North Carolina. I basically battled illness all of September… sinus infections and constant nausea… even while we were gone on our retreat with the college students.
October was full of craziness from officiating my cousin’s wedding to attending other weddings.
Little man also got a new hair cut before all the wedding festivities began. He is way too cute! [Bias much].
If you have been following my blog for a while you know that our son, Zeke, is adopted and we had been told we would NEVER be able to have children of our own. In October we had talked about beginning the adoption process again starting in January and hopefully adopting from Haiti. After all the sickness in September and through October, a friend suggested we take a pregnancy test, which we thought was ridiculous since we had taken hundreds in the past with many disappointing results. Nick also mentioned taking one just to be sure before we made an appointment looking for answers to why I had been dealing with severe sickness with no answers.
After some major coaching and persuasion, October 12th, I found an old pregnancy test and decided to take it. I was honestly in shock when the results showed we were expecting, so shocked in fact that I took two more test just to be sure. We made a phone call the next day and made an appointment to confirm that this was actually happening. Needless-to-say, God provided a wonderful miracle for our family, even though that was not our train of thought when we first found out. We were nervous and scared, because we were so unprepared and planning our move from our larger house to a smaller house.
October 16th, our pregnancy was confirmed by the doctors and we shared the news with our parents that weekend. There were many excited and joyful tears shed as we all celebrated the life of one that had been long-awaited and prayed for.
God has been beyond faithful to our family and even though we were scared, we also saw where this precious gift was God’s perfect timing. God had been faithful to us in working out the perfectly smooth adoption of our amazing son, Zeke, and now He was blessing us yet again with a life we never expected.
October was an exciting time as well as a blur at times. We were so busy with fall festivities, packing, and weddings… we had little time to process this little one that was about to forever change our lives.
November was hectic. We moved to our new house, I participated in the ColorRun at Atlanta Motor Speedway with some ladies from my church, we celebrated Nick’s 28th birthday, I took Nick to see his childhood hero, Garth Brooks, and I went to see All Sons and Daughter and David Crowder at the Tabernacle with Katrina and Sarah.
This was the night of the Garth Brooks’ concert. He was so excited and I was thrilled that [I did good] getting him a great birthday present. 🙂
All Sons and Daughters were incredible!!! It is rare to hear a band that sounds just as flawless live as they do on their album.
We also were able to find out that we were having right before we went home for Thanksgiving.
Jasper Wyatt Ivey. Our newest addition and BOY were we excited to find out we would be having another little fella. [We were terrified at the thought of having a little girl]. Thanks to Baby Dimensions in Newnan, GA for their kindness and hard work.
December always brings adventure, business, and chaos with Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas family photos, traveling to visit family, and decorating for all the festivities. We had an amazing time with our family over the holidays. Children bring such a fun dynamic to the holiday season as you watch them open presents or they help you open yours. We had an unforgettable holiday season and our last one with just one little peanut running around.
I took some shots of my sweet men while we were Christmas tree hunting at Redland Nursery in Temple, Ga. It is our favorite place to go to pick out our Christmas tree. Zeke wanted to help cut down every Christmas tree. This was the first time I could really start to see just how much he idolized his daddy.
These are a few shots from our Christmas shoot with Aislinn Rain Photography. Aislinn is phenomenal at her job and we never leave worried that we won’t get what we paid for. She makes our family feel so at ease and can even get Zeke to take pictures when he hasn’t had a nap. Thankful she works such great magic. Haha.
We didn’t have as much room to work with this year as we played the role of Santa, but it was well worth the smile on Zeke’s face when he got the only gift he had asked for in the months prior to Christmas. A John Deere tractor.
December had some tough moments as well. Whit Maxey, one of our dear friends, received an amazing job offer at a church in our area. We knew that job would not be easy to turn down and so we said our sad goodbyes at the end of the semester. It was a very difficult night for all of us as a staff, but we were thrilled for him and his family.
January was not to hectic. We celebrated my sweet daddy’s birthday. Nick, Russell, Zeke, and I met my dad in Madison, GA, which is about half way between Augusta and Temple, to celebrate dad’s birthday. My mom was ill and not able to join which was disappointing, but it was wonderful to spend time with dad.
February and March were full of sickness within the family and Homegrown’s radio tour to Wisconsin. We spent a lot of time trying to get well from allergies, bronchitis, sinus infections, and walking pneumonia. All of us felt pretty miserable.
Homegrown’s radio tour was a huge success and help land them in the top 80 on the Country Music breakout charts. We were all very proud of their efforts and the momentum they were gaining. Zeke and I were happy when Nick returned home even though he was exhausted.
My sweet momma also through me a very special baby shower in Augusta with all of my family and friends from Augusta. It was such a special time with the people who had been praying for Nick and I for such a long time. It was a great time celebrating all God had done in our lives.
April was filled birthday celebrations, Zeke moving into his big boy bed, and nursery renovations. He was really excited about his new bed and sharing his crib with his baby brother. We were worried how the transition would go with him moving from a crib to a toddler bed, but it went smoother than we could have ever expected. 
Obviously, as you can see, he was quite comfortable in his new bed the first night. We took him to IKEA and let him pick out what bed, mattress, and bedding he wanted. We also let him pick out some stuffed animals to match his bedding.
Jasper’s room started coming together as well once we had our baby showers and figured out the decor for his nursery.
We also closed out another year at CCF, which was extremely bittersweet. The year had been full of changes and laughs, but the biggest transition was losing our three amazing interns; Austin, Elliot, and Paul. Those three kept our heads up when the days where uncertain and rough. They kept smiles on our faces through their infectious smiles, ridiculous jokes, and laughter.
At the end of the month we headed to North Atlanta to see one of our favorite boys, Wedds Alexis, play soccer for his school. We were so excited to see him and spend time with him. Zeke, especially! It was his final soccer game, so we had to make sure we attended the game. He had grown so much in the last year and had matured a great deal.
Megan also graduated from the University of West Georgia with her undergrad. We were so proud of her for her hard work and determination.
May was busy!!!! Homegrown had concerts almost every weekend. We were getting last minute things together before Jasper made his appearance. We spent as much quality time as we good with Zeke before he was no longer the only little guy. We made the most of date nights as we could as well.
Homegrown played at the AMP in Carrollton at Adamson Square for an event to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club. It was a lot of fun with tons of people. We had a great time, especially Zeke. He loved watching his daddy playing lead guitar. It made my heart melt. 🙂
The next weekend Homegrown Band had a private event for some of their backer who had invested in their newest album, “Summer Song.”
The event was held at the Train Depot in Carrollton, GA. It was such a great way for the band to say, “thank you” to those who have given for their efforts, money, and time to see them into this next chapter. It was also great to see some very sweet friends. Sherry Sullivan is truly one of a kind. It was fun spending an evening unwinding with her. Crazy to think I was nine months pregnant.
Here is one of our many car rides during the last month of our pregnancy. Zeke is getting so big and it makes me overwhelmed with emotions at times. He is our stylish kiddo. 🙂
Nick and I also enjoyed a date and took one last picture of us as a family of three.
I am sorry for the extremely long post, but Evanda Estes and Sarah Steffes have been asking me to update my blog (this is for you two). I will hopefully add another post soon about our newest addition and our growing family. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for all He has done and is continuing to do in our lives. We are very blessed!
-Mrs. I
IVEY VINE ADVENTURES 