We're Moving!

Well, it's been a little while since I've updated my blog, so first things first.

We are now officially a family of FIVE! Lorelai is almost 15 months old and she is just the sweetest little addition to our family. She is different in so many ways from her two older brothers, but looks a HECK of a lot like Conner!

Our first few days home in April 2016. 

My babies looked a lot like each other!

Conner / Lorelai on top.

Hudson / Lorelai on bottom.

And then here they are now...

So, basically, having three kids is hard sometimes, but most of the time I feel like it's easier than two! When I had two I felt like everything was so extremely hard. I think it was because I had a 22 month old and a newborn...which is two babies! As the boys have gotten older they have become the best of friends. Don't get me wrong...they fight. Sometimes they fight a lot. But most of the time you will find them playing together and having so much fun. And especially if we go anywhere like a park, or play date somewhere...generally they stick together. I feel like this is why it seems easier with three. I can focus on the baby and most of the time the boys entertain each other.

All that said...this makes me laugh. Hard.

Right now the boys still share a room and I think it's been going great. I feel like over the past year they've been sharing a room they have really grown closer. When we built our house a few years ago I was pregnant with Hudson and we didn't think we'd have three kids, but kind of decided that if we had more than two kids they'd just share rooms like Jason did growing up. Once we had Lorelai we had basically decided that the boys would always share a room and Lorelai would have her own. And while it works great some of the time ... a lot of nights are also like this...

The idea of finding a "forever" home has been something that has kept coming up every few weeks over the past year or so. Once we had Lorelai, the idea of four bedrooms so each kid could potentially have their own room kept surfacing. There were also little things that bugged us about our current house, especially when thinking about being here long term. The thing that made the decision for us is that Conner is starting Kindergarten in the Fall, so since we knew it was something we wanted to do, we knew we needed to just go for it. So, we called our realtors and put our house on the market! The past month has been insane with all the decluttering and cleaning we did to get our house ready to sell. And of course it's summer so the kids are home and we had VBS and two weeks of swim lessons thrown in for good measure. This is how I feel about the past month...

But seriously ... our realtors are AWESOME. And our house sold in a weekend and we found a house we really love in a neighborhood we really love in a school district we love in the city we love. 

Win, win, win, WIN!

Our timeline is a little complicated, but it actually works out really well considering it still works with our big vacation we have planned! Also, since we are changing school districts we actually GAIN a week of summer!!

I really feel like the Lord has been in the details. He has been guiding us and I can't wait to see what His plans for our family involve in this new neighborhood. I can't wait to host bible studies and get togethers in our home and hopefully be the hub where our kids and their friends want to hang out.

Right now I'm working through the details of moving and have hired movers. I also have a carpet/tile cleaning company scheduled for the day before we move in. We will need a storage unit for a few days at the end of July and a few days at the beginning of August (16 days total), so if you know of an affordable and quality option for that, send your recommendation my way!

Also, the new house has beautiful engineered hard wood floors ... and I mean BEAUTIFUL! It's been a long time since I've had wood floors, so I need cleaning tips! It was going to cost $600+ to have the cleaning company clean and polish the wood, too, so I opted to do it myself. When we clean them for the first time the house will be empty, so if you have any tips/tricks for cleaning them or polishing them, I'd love to hear it!

Oh! And we've only ever had Coserv for our utilities because we've been in the co-op that requires us to use them. The new house isn't in the co-op so we actually have options. Anyone have a utilities provider they recommend?

I can't wait to show you guys pictures and share more about the new house! We still have a little over a month before we move in, so in the meantime we'll be purging and packing and trying to squeeze some fun in there, too. Haha!

Bumpdate! 37 weeks...

There are only 3 weeks to go and I simply cannot believe it! How is the time seeming to pass so quickly all of a sudden? 

My sweet sister-in-law and friends from my life group threw me and Lorelai the sweetest baby shower this past weekend. It was at one of my favorite restaurants, Spoon's, on the Square in McKinney and there were balloons, the sweetest diaper cake with roses on top, yummy appetizers, the most adorable cake balls that were so incredibly delicious and a strawberry cupcake for me. And did I mention how PINK everything was? SO pink, and I love, love, loved it! 

These were my sweet hostesses. They made everything so, so special for me!

These are my Life Group ladies who were able to be there. We really love our life group at our church and can't imagine our lives without these awesome families and friendships.

The Smith girls! My sister-in-law Courtney and my niece Kylee definitely made me feel special and can I just brag on my niece for a second? She did so good at the shower and genuinely loved watching me open up presents. Way to go, big girl! I will definitely be calling on Courtney for all things Girl Mom related because she does an awesome job with her two girls. My other sister-in-law has two boys, too, so we are venturing into new territory in our family with having 2 boys and a girl. 

My best friend Kylee and I - this girl is amazing and I don't know what I'd do without her. She is like me in so many ways, and in the ways she's not, she's like Jason. We are so glad we met Kylee and her husband Chris when we did - they are like family to us! She's been wanting me to have a girl from the beginning even though I was pretty freaked out by the idea of a girl back when I was pregnant with Conner and even Hudson. I'm so glad I came around to being excited about the idea and then found out it was a girl - it's been a really fun and exciting time. So, so thankful for my sweet friend who knew I had it in me from the beginning.

My mom and I - I think she's pretty pumped about having a granddaughter along with her two grandsons. She is such an awesome MiMi to the boys and I can't wait to see her with a little girl!

Then Sunday was my birthday and I turned 31. Jason and the boys and I went to Einstein Bagels for breakfast and got coffee from Starbucks on our way to church. Afterwards we headed home and ate a quick lunch and put Hudson down for his nap. Conner was really tired, but perked right up when my family came over. We hung out while Hudson slept and then opened presents when he woke up. I was blown away by the thoughtfulness and awesomeness of my gifts! Jason wrote little notes from the boys on why they picked what they picked to give me, which was fun. Conner got me the Jen Hatmaker book and the note said, This book is from Conner because..."I love books and Mommy loves to read books, too!!" So, so sweet. And Hudson got me the round brush and the note said, This brush is from Hudson because "Wow!" Haha! I can totally see him saying that. Jason and my parents blew me away with the thoughtfulness of the rest of my gifts and wrote me sweet notes, too. And I LOVE me a homemade card, especially from my boys!  

Then my mom made her famous chocolate cake that I LOVE. For the first 6 or so years Jason and I were together I could never figure out why Jason wasn't as in love with this cake as the rest of my family. One day he was watching me make the cake and saw the cinnamon and I'm pretty sure his mind exploded. It's the special ingredient that makes it so, so good, but, it's the reason Jason calls it the "broken chocolate cake." Haha! It's ok, honey. More for me!

Then we decided to take advantage of the nice weather since the forecast was looking pretty wet for the week and hung out in the backyard for a bit. While the kids played, I took a 36 and a half week baby bump pic. I can't believe how big our baby girl is getting!   

... and then I saw this funny YouTube video called "Instagram Husband" and I cracked up! There's even a brick wall in my photo and everything. Thank you, Jason, for being my Instagram Husband!

Then we headed out to Babe's for dinner and then home for chocolate cake for dessert. The kids went to bed before cake, so no singing happy birthday to Mommy this year. It's okay, though. They got some cake the next day after dinner and there's always next year. ;)

This week is Spring Break and I can't believe how much it's already rained! We have been cooped up inside, which hasn't been that bad, but I do wish we could play a little bit outside. Conner was a little sicky on Monday and then Tuesday we rented The Good Dinosaur and relaxed while it stormed outside. I had my 37 week OB appt that morning and so my mom came over to hang out with the boys while I went to that appointment and ran to Target by myself. Can I get a hallelujah?! Seriously. Solo shopping at Target is my jam. I picked up a few things for our hospital bags and plan to pack those up this week. {WHAT?!?! Seriously can't believe we're to that point!} Today I think I'm going to wash the newborn clothes, 3 month clothes, swaddle blankets, and sheets. I've got to get it all ready in case baby girl makes her debut early! I can't believe we are just 3 weeks (or less) away!


Happy Hump Day, friends!!

Life lately.

Good morning, good morning!

Today is Jason's "Friday" and it makes me so, so happy! I feel like I've hit the stage of pregnancy where my mind is going a mile a minute and I am constantly reviewing the checklist over and over in my mind. It is exhausting! So, thankfully, we'll have some extra time this weekend to knock some things off my list and free up some brain space.

We made some excellent progress last weekend with the name signs and I made a bow/headband frame for Lorelai's room. I also washed a load of pink...a couple of blankets and a crib sheet and even though her room is pretty bare, putting the crib sheet on the mattress made a big impact! I still need to find a couple of cute things to hang on the walls, but I did find a super cute lamp at Target this week. It's funny that her room is what I've been focusing on because she probably won't sleep in there for several months...but whatever.

We had a super sweet, super simple Valentine's Day that I absolutely loved! The whole weekend was filled with lots of sweet family time. Jason and I made a nice dinner for just the two of us Saturday night after the kids were in bed and had some great conversation and peace and quiet. ;) On Sunday, we had a family breakfast and little gifts for the kids. These pictures crack me up.

Having a due date in late March made me super excited to experience the cold weather while super pregnant. The boys were born before it really got cold, so I didn't get to experience that with either of them. But, I should have known not to get my hopes up. Darn you, Texas weather! It has been so unseasonably warm this winter. Like highs in the 70's, warm. While I want to complain about how this affects me ... it has been awesome for the boys! They have loved all the extra time to play outside and it's something we definitely look forward to when the weather is nice.

We've had plenty of cold days, too, so we've been trying to make the most of our time inside. I moved their little table out of the kitchen and into the living room so they could see out the windows into the backyard. They love coloring in their new spot. 

Conner got some Blaze tattoos in his Valentine's from school, so one day while Hudson napped I put the Blaze one on him and the Crusher one on me. Even though I explained thoroughly about how a tattoo is different than a sticker, he was pretty disappointed that it wasn't a sticker and rubbed it off within 2 minutes. At least I got a picture of us looking cool and tough with our tattoos.

Even though Conner is done napping on a regular basis, he sometimes falls asleep during the day while Hudson is napping. I love watching him sleep - it reminds me of those sweet snuggly newborn days ... I just want to scoop him up in my arms and rock him.

And this little guy is such a ham! I love his sweet little cheeks!

Sometimes you just have to wear a bucket on your head and call it a day.

This kid's cuddles melt my heart. I love them so much and I'm really trying to soak up my last few weeks where he's my baby!

We've also been making progress with the boys sharing a room. Mostly we are working on getting a good nighttime routine in place so they can calm down a little more easily. It was so easy to put them to bed separately...and I'm sure with a little more time we'll have this process smoothed out, too. 

Although, there are plenty of nights like this, too... Jason had gone to bible study and we had put them in bed before he left... Honestly, it was funny to me then, and it's even funnier now.

Oh, the joys! ;)

Happy Thursday, friends!

Bumpdate! 33 weeks...

Yesterday marked 33 weeks and according to my email from Baby Center, baby girl weighs as much as a pineapple! Two weeks ago in my ultrasound they estimated her to be over 18 inches long ... and this week, my email said she should be around 17 inches. She's going to be a long baby! I'm not surprised, though. The boys were both over 22 inches long when they were born.

I mentioned in my last "life lately" post that we were going to move the boys into the same room. Well, we did it last weekend, and boy was that an experience I hope to never forget. It was hilarious, frustrating, surprising, and just a funny new transition for our family.

Friday afternoon we moved Hudson's bed into Conner's room and hung our decorations on the walls to make it a fun new room for them. We tried to keep our routine as close to normal as possible and ended up putting them to bed a little early because they were exhausted from a day of playing hard. We really wanted to put them to bed at the same time so that they can just get used to falling asleep with each other instead of one at a time. Plus, they both go to bed at the same time anyway, so it worked out well for us. We did baths, brushed teeth, read books, said a prayer and sang them "You Are My Sunshine."

 We talked to them about how it's okay if they talk quietly, but they need to stay in their beds until their clock turns green every morning. Thankfully, Hudson is still in a crib, and Conner is pretty used to that rule, but it was definitely good to remind them since we were changing up their "normal." We turned off the light, and walked out of the room at 6:30p (I know, so early ... but that's our normal on days they are exhausted). At first they talked a lot - they were hyped up and so, so excited. After about 15 minutes, Conner got up, and came out of the room to tell us that Hudson wouldn't stop talking and he wanted to go to sleep. Ha! We told him to stop talking to Hudson and he would eventually stop. So Conner went back to his bed, laid down, and proceeded to tell Hudson, "It's dark outside, Hudson. When it's dark, that's when it's time to go to sleep." Sweet, Conner Bear! Finally after an hour of being in there with Hudson talking non-stop, Conner fell asleep at 7:30p. Hudson continued to talk ("Conner Bear? Conner Bear? Wake up, Conner Bear!") for another 45 minutes and then just fell asleep suddenly at 8:15p pretty much mid-sentence. It was hilarious! We were cracking up about it.

At 2am, when Hudson started screaming for us to come "carry" him, we were not cracking up. Ha! He did that for a while. We have learned to just leave him in his crib when he does this, otherwise it makes it so much worse and amps him up a lot each time we go in. He just needed to adjust. Boy, was that rough, though!

Then at 5am, Conner got up to pee, and woke Hudson up and they talked (read: yelled) to each other until their clock turned green at 7am. That, was a real joy on a Saturday morning, let me tell you.

Thankfully, my parents came over for breakfast and to hang out for the day and saw my post on Facebook about being tired so they brought us coffee. Amen.

After a week of them being in the same room, we are all adjusting to our new normal and they are falling asleep quicker. Really, the only reason this is remotely working out at all is that Conner can sleep through anything. That boy loves his nighttime sleep. Hudson will talk to anything that moves. Now that they are in the same room, we can get Lorelai's room ready. I went over to a friend's house earlier this week and she's due with her second, a girl, a few weeks before me, and the nursery is just adorable! It really got me thinking about what all I want to do in Lorelai's room - I may even paint it. Who knows?

A sweet moment from the past week was with this little love bug. I really can't wait for him to meet his baby sister. He loves giving my belly hugs and kisses and is always lifting up my shirt, asking to see her. He's 4 months older than the Bear was at this phase...and man does it make a difference!

Today was my 32 week appointment (even though I'm 33 weeks now) and it was easy peasy. I go back in 2 weeks and then it's every week after that. The time really is flying by.

This weekend we are going to work on finishing the name signs. The boys name signs are going in the playroom, and Lorelai's sign is going in her room until she's older. We'll also go ahead and put the crib together and get the swing out so the boys can get used to it and learn to not touch or climb in it. If we have time, we might also start looking at the closet to figure out how to best organize it. Knocking things off my list, left and right! Nesting for the WIN!

DIY Fun - Earring Organizer

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I love the awesome ideas, but sometimes it leaves me feeling like I'm wasting my life away because I'm not making 87 freezer meals for $100 in 3 hours time, or building unique furniture, or have a magazine worthy house, or dress like a fashionista when I drop off my kids at school. That is the part I hate. But that doesn't stop my from having over 2,000 pins on Pinterest. Absurd, I know. Anyway, one of the things I've wanted to do for a while is figure out a better way to organize my jewelry, especially my dangly earrings. This weekend we headed to Home Depot for some supplies for the projects we are trying to get done for Lorelai's room, and while we were there I snagged the supplies for this project.

So here's my inspiration:

And here is what I did...

Supplies:

-Large empty frame (got this one at Hobby Lobby when it was 50% off)

-Poultry wire

-Tin Snips

-Staple gun

So first I measured the poultry wire to fit on the back of the frame and cut it with the tin snips.

Then I used the staple gun to secure the wire to the back of the frame.

After that I hung it on the wall in my bathroom and filled it with my earrings. Who knew I had so many? 

I just love that not only does this provide organization for my earrings, but it's pretty to look at, too! It was really easy and probably only took about 30 minutes total. Next on my list of fun DIY projects is a way to organize my stud earrings and necklaces. For now, my stud earrings are in my jewelry box because there's finally plenty of space for me to find them in there. I put my necklaces in individual snack ziplock baggies to help me find them because I've seen that done before, but I don't love it. I would really like to hang them from a rack much like the inspiration photo at the beginning of this post, so we will see how that goes. How do you organize your jewelry?

Happy Hump Day, friends!!

More life lately ...

A little of life lately for you again this gorgeous Friday! The weather here is going to get up to 70 degrees today and I just can hardly believe it. This has been such a warm, mild winter so far. I know we are going to take advantage of the great weather and spend a lot of this weekend outside playing in the backyard and letting Conner practice his bike riding skills. Fun times this weekend!

Last week we had Pastries with Parents at the boys' school and I braved it on my own because Jason had a meeting he couldn't miss. Of course it rained that day, so I was already gearing up for the extra challenging trek from the car into the building. Right as we pulled into the parking lot the front and center drop-off lane spot opened up and it was glorious!! I definitely was thanking the Lord for that unexpected bright spot in my morning. Once we got inside I realized I had no plan for getting the donuts and both boys to a table. On a whim, I told the boys to hold hands and stay with me. As we walked, I turned around a few times to make sure they were still there and guided them along. I was so impressed that it worked so well...they are getting so much easier!! Mamas with kiddos littler than mine...there's hope!

I tried to get pics of the boys eating and then asked for them to sit on my lap for a selfie...no way, Jose! So these blurry, face-stuffing pics will have to do. It's more realistic anyway.

While they were at school I went shopping for baby shower gifts and got my wedding ring cleaned and inspected. It was cold and rainy pretty much the entire day, so after I got the kids home from school we took warm afternoon baths, made race car shaped sugar cookies for an afternoon snack and cuddled on the couch to watch Big Hero 6. It was the perfect afternoon.

SUGAR COOKIES!!!

More cuddling on the couch...

Jason had bible study that night so I put the boys to bed and went to bed early after my long day of shopping. Something about this third pregnancy has me down for the count during the 7 o'clock hour most nights.

The next morning we got up and got ready for the day and then the boys started playing together so well! A favorite game they play lately is the "let's take a nap" game. Sounds fun, right? There were lots of giggles and sweet moments. I was able to sit on the couch, drink my cup of coffee, and watch them play, all while feeling baby sister's sweet baby kicks in my belly. It was a great start to my Friday, that's for sure!

After our relaxed morning, we headed to Urban Air in Frisco for a play date with my Fresh Spirit ladies. The kids had a great time and it was one of the better experienced at a play date for me since they both played pretty darn well independent of me. Although, Hudson kept running down these ramps to a random exit door, so that was frustrating. But, he eventually stopped that and the rest of the time was great.

After we jumped for about an hour and a half we headed home for lunch and Hudson's nap. I set Conner up with a movie and started packing for my girls weekend! Kylee picked me up around 4:30 and we headed out. First we got manicures, which was a nice treat, then decided on Panera for dinner. There was lots of talking and catching up...life's been so busy lately that we haven't seen much of each other. After dinner we headed to the lake house on Lake Athens where we were staying with the other girls in our life group.

Saturday was filled with LOTS of girl talk, some shopping, eating, relaxing, and we finished off the night playing Disney Trivial Pursuit and watching Something Borrowed. I took zero pictures. We just had a great time being together without distractions or responsibilities and it was an awesome weekend getaway! I love these ladies so much and am thankful to continue getting to know each other and doing life alongside each other.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast and got our stuff together at a leisurely pace. Even though I was away on a girls weekend I was super curious how things were going at home. Jason was good at keeping me updated with text messages. He had gotten the boys up and ready and stuck to our usual routine. He took them to get kolaches and made it up to church super early. Haha! I got a couple of sweet pics that morning of my babies...

When I got home we had the most relaxing afternoon just chilling out as a family. Jason commented on how much louder and more wild they were after I got home. Geez, thanks kids for saving the crazy for Mommy. Now I know why I needed a girls weekend!

I do feel like I need to pause for a minute and give mad props to my awesome husband. There is no way I'd be able to get away for a weekend if he didn't carry on like a rock star while I'm gone. That's something he's always been great at from the very beginning of having kids. I wanted him to be fully comfortable in all aspects of being alone with the kids and he agreed. He may not do it how I would have done it...but that's ok! I'm so grateful to him for always being the awesome dad and husband he is. We are so thankful he is ours!!

And...back to the movie! (Name that movie)

Monday was a lazy day at home and I had a little set-back in my sinus infection. I felt pretty terrible, but I made dinner anyway. That's about all I did besides taking care of the kids. What did I make? The most random meal ever. Baked potatoes, corn (frozen microwavable bag), and diced fresh peaches. Who makes weirdo meals like that? Apparently I do. And apparently it was my kids' favorite meal. Weird? Yes. Awesome? Double Yes. Conner said, and I quote, "I love, love, love your dinner, Mommy!"

Day. Made.

And he wanted to take a picture of me...in my pjs at dinner. Whatev.

Tuesday was filled with doctors appointments and 2 trips to Target. I reverted back to my chicken nuggets for the kids, take-out for Mommy and Daddy after the kids went to bed...and while it was delicious, I missed eating all together as a family. I'm so happy that the hard work preparing meals and getting dinner ready for when Jason walks through the door is paying off! Now we just need our new dining table. Jason is picking it up this morning from Grand Prairie, so that will be a fun project this weekend!

Wednesday was filled with lots of laundry and time-outs. Fun! Keeping it real over here, people. Every day isn't amazing, but I love my little family whether they are angels or having a rough day. Because, really, we all have rough days, don't we? Little kids are no exception. 

Here I am just laying on the couch, humming the circus theme song in my head... ;)

Every morning Jason texts me either that he's on the vanpool, or at work, or both. I realize that back in the days before cell phones your husband just went to work in the morning and then you saw him again when he walked back through the door at 6pm. I get it. I really do. But, now that we have cell phones, it's so easy to send a quick text for peace of mind. When I'm pregnant, I also get a little crazy about knowing where Jason is. So, yesterday morning Jason and I had this text convo and I thought it was hilarious. Jason is terrible at spell checking his text messages ... and I use correct grammar in all of mine, including punctuation. We are complete opposites, so I have to have fun with it or it will drive me crazy...

Conner is getting to be such a great helper. Here he is vacuuming the breakfast crumbs off the floor. He's also recently mastered refilling the boys' water bottles for school, including putting the lids back on, fetching diapers for me when I have to change Hudson downstairs, throwing dirty diapers in the diaper genie, opening his own string cheese .... it's happening at the perfect time! I can't wait to see him be my little helper when baby sister arrives. 

Yesterday I also got a haircut ... my last one was in July! It was just a trim, so it's hard to tell much of a difference. It's getting so long. I just love it!

And here I am this morning, ready to head out for Fresh Spirit with my ladies! The kids are playing nicely (for the most part), Jason is doing a little work from home and I am catching up on my blogging. When we head out, Jason is going to go pick up our new table and I couldn't be more excited!

Today is the day we move the boys into the same room, so that's what our afternoon will be filled with ... getting their room ready.


Happy Friday, y'all!!