Playing Catch-Up

So, I haven't been super good about updating my blog and that makes me sad. The main reason I write on here is so I can look back on it to see Hannah when she was a baby and Colson and of course Hailey--essentially it's my photo album of life. 

I do not have nearly enough photos printed which I am ashamed of because photos deserve and should live in print form. But in this digital age, most of mine sit on hard drives. 

I hate that Hailey's life has not been as documented on my blog as the other two kiddos. I hate that I haven't posted more 'random' blog posts just to know what is/was going on in our life. I hate that my photos only live on my phone and on Instagram and on my computer. It's my fault and I want to be better.

I have no idea who all reads my blog. I have a few commenters every now and then and I am so grateful for you! You are an added bonus to my 'photo album'! I want you guys to stick around!

I know I have posted about being a bad blogger before and how annoying those posts can get, but I write them more to hold myself accountable, I think. And this time I hope to be better at posting. Even if it's a small one photo post...or maybe even a post with no photos at all.

Let's start with this past weekend.

The weather has finally gotten nice...we were still seeing a few random 40 and 50 degree days but I think those are gone now. So I have been out walking with the kiddos and we do family walks when Nick gets home. On our last walk we stopped at our lot so I could get a photo of the kids sitting where our house is going to be built.

Then, on Friday, we meet Nick at the local zoo for a bit. Hannah was at school so it was just Hailey and Colson.

Saturday we celebrated with my cousin and his new husband at their wedding reception/open house. There was a tiny, maybe 4 foot hill at their house and the kids had a blast running and rolling down it. We might need to put in a hill at our new house!

Sunday we went to my parents for a cookout and as an early birthday celebration.

On Memorial Day, Hannah and I spent a couple hours outside while the younger two napped. It was some great one on one time!!

So there is a little catch-up. I still have a post I want to write about the kiddos Mother's Day craft for the grandmas so that is coming. Then hopefully I can stay up to date with my updates. There will be lots of home related posts because that will be a BIG part of our lives for a while, but I also hope to have other random posts in there.

We're Building A Home!!

We built our current home when I was pregnant with Hannah. We have been here six years. 

When we built it, we saw ourselves with 2 kiddos so it's a 3 bedroom 2 bath home. It worked for us and was plenty big but when we decided to have a third child, we knew that we would eventually have to move.

That moment has finally come and we couldn't be more excited! 

I designed the house myself--combining bits and pieces that we liked from other house plans. I spent A LOT of time on it and after some stress and a few tears, we finally got it perfect. 

The kiddos will have their own room plus a playroom, we'll have a kitchen with a large island, and we'll have a mudroom with lockers for the kiddos to put coats and backpacks.

We met with a designer over a month ago to finish things out and make our blueprint files and we just got all the documents back from him.

Now we're at the permit stage so hopefully we will be breaking ground in the next couple weeks.

I am very excited--not only for myself because I designed it and I get to see it come to life, but because we are doing this for the kids. I am excited for them to watch our house being built. My parents built their home when I was Hannah's age and I still remember a lot from the process. Playing in the poured basement after it rained because there was 2 inches of water in it...building forts with the cabinet and appliance boxes...doing cartwheels in the freshly carpeted living room...putting our handprints in the wet cement of the driveway...

I am excited to photograph every step along the way because this is a big deal for them--and for our family.

So stay tuned for home updates here on the blog and be sure to follow me on Instagram for what will probably be an annoying amount of home building photos. #thelovingsbuildahome

Mother's Day 2015

Mother's Day started with breakfast in bed.

Hannah kept telling me how she wanted to bring me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day and I told her that she needed to talk to daddy. :oP 

She was so excited when she walked into the bedroom with my food. Plus, the kids loved having a 'picnic' on mommy and daddy's bed. :o)

After hanging out at home we headed out to a late lunch with my mom, MIL, SIL and families. 

I got some beautiful flowers (and an awesome buffet which I will post about later) and the kiddos gave their grandma's the gift they made for them.

We ended the day with some pictures. :o)