The Early Months

The Moss Family rung in the New Year amongst friends and sunshine in Destin, FL. We rented a house and carpooled to the beach for three days of relaxation. Among those friends that joined us were Josh and Mary Parrish, Will and Tuan Blank, Lance and Traci Jackson, Matt and Rebecca (soon-to-be) Anderson, Tony Ferrante, Brandon and Leah Arkle, and Jordan and Alicia Yates. For our last meal in 2008, we dined at AJ's then headed back to our absurdly enormous house to continue the celebration. Despite the fact that three of us (including me) were pregnant, we managed to stay up until the ball dropped so that we could officially see 2009 start its course. In this picture are Mary Parrish (four months pregnant with Colton Andrew Parrish), Alicia Yates (five months pregnant with Ava Grace Yates) and myself (six months pregnant with Barry Canon Moss).

Back in Dothan, we got back to business as usual. Barry and I had been building a house since September, so we spent the next several weeks putting the last of the pieces together. As we got closer and closer to March 23 (my due date), we became more and more anxious about its completion. Thanks to our amazing builders, we officially moved in to 115 Redbud (just 1/4 mile from our old house) on Friday, February 27. Barry took the day off to get everything started. For those of you who know Barry, missing work is not something he does often, so we all knew he meant business. My parents (who from this point forward will be known as MyGoo and Doc) came down to help. Of course, our faithful friends also joined the party, and by the end of the day, nearly everything that was once at 800 Orchard was now safely stacked up at 115 Redbud.


We spent the rest of the weekend unpacking boxes. I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time so was not the best help. Several of my girlfriends and my parents unpacked most of the boxes and put things away. Later, when friends would come to hang out, I would jokingly ask Leslie where different things were. As the boys had spent most of their energy moving heavy boxes and furniture the day before, they spent most of the weekend playing horseshoes and Bocci ball in the park across the street from the new house. I did more lifting, bending, and stretching than I probably should have, and by Sunday I was having some painless contractions. Twelve days later . . .