2016: The Year That Flew By: May

May was the big one. I don't think our family's undergone as much drastic change as what happened in May. For one thing, we moved. Mary and Sam and their family came to help. We couldn't have pulled it off without them.

Here is Eric, Beth and Robert hanging out with Maggie and Anson in what was left of our living room, with almost everything packed up except the big furniture.

Here's a last shot of our home for the past twelve years. This was Cassie's and my first home together, and for the kids, it's the only home they've ever known. It was a good, solid home full of love, and it was so hard to say goodbye to it and the wonderful friends we've made there.

What made the move really difficult was we had to make sure Cassie did as little as possible. She was seven and a half months pregnant, and with our trouble with pregnancies in the past, we were worried what the stress of a move might do. And sure enough, the week after we moved into the new house, we got hit with big change number two.

I was downstairs getting the kids ready for bed when I heard Cassie shouting for me upstairs. I ran up and she told me her water had broken. Of course I was terrified. We still had six weeks before the baby was due, or four according to the revised due date. But once the water's broken, that's that.

We managed to find a friend to stay with the kids (thank you, Rachel!) and to watch them the next day (thank you, Nikki!) and Cassie and I jetted to the hospital. Everything progressed smoothly, and the baby came in the wee hours of the morning.

Here I am with the little guy.

Here he is at home in his cradle.

He was so tiny!

Here's Beth loving on him.

And one more, with Robert feeding the baby.

After we had baby here safe and Cassie was situated, I went to go grab the kids and introduce them to their baby brother, Nick.

Beth made her peace with having ANOTHER brother.

Eric liked him, too.

And Robert was glad to finally get to hold a baby of his own.

We were very lucky that Mary unpacked the kitchen for us before she headed back to Nevada. It was also fortunate that Cassie's mom was able to fly up on such short notice to help us out. Between the unpacking and the baby, our hands were full! Thanks, Lela!

Here's another photo of Nick, to show how small he was. The car seat seemed to just swallow him up. And Nick wasn't too fond of it, truth be told.

It also happened to be my birthday not so soon thereafter. Nick's the best birthday present ever! Of course, in our house, you have to protect your candles from Robert.

Grammy also came to celebrate with us. She passed away recently, so as we looked back over last year, we were especially grateful for the times we had with her, and that we got some pictures of her with baby Nick.

Here was the birthday cake we had.

Eric also made a cake during May.

We also had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Alleman. Grandma really took a shining to Nick.

We also discovered our new city held a big Summerfest celebration right next door to our new place. Even in the rain, it was pretty fun.

Here's Beth and Robert on a ride.

Here' all of us on another ride. Cassie was a good sport and held Nick while also taking pictures.

Like I said, this was perhaps the most tumultous month we've ever experienced. But we received so much help during that time, and the changes have proven to be a blessing to our family.