Tomorrow!!!

My parents are coming TOMORROW!  We are excited!  The kids are thrilled!  They ask every day to take a ring off their countdown!  We haven't seen them in a year and a half.  My grandparents are coming with them.  They will be staying with us overnight and my parents will stay with Nikki.  On Friday morning we'll get up and head to Michigan.  SO EXCITED!

I can't believe it's July!

It's July! And that means family reunions coming up! WOOHOO!! I am soooo excited! My parents and grandparents will be arriving here in 10 days!!!

We've spent the past couple weeks moving. We've got everything in our new place, but we are still trying to get things set up. The kids are enjoying all the space they have to play. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by all the boxes that need emptying. So far, we are loving it. We had one scare though. I tried doing laundry one day and could smell gas. I shut everything off, but the smell only got worse. I called Nick, he called the landlord, she called the gas company. We had multiple leaks in the basement. Someone, who apparently wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, put the lines together without sealing any of the threaded connections. How the people who lived here in the past are still alive, I do not know. Landlord sent someone out, they took it all apart, put it back together and sealed it all. We haven't smelled any gas since.

We had a great 4th of July. We took the kids swimming, then we took them to the fireworks in Momence. We got there a little late, so we just parked in a parking lot and watched from there. Next year we'll go early.

Missing my sisters

I'm missing my sisters tonight. Nikki is close by. I see her frequently. But I miss the four of us being together. We haven't been together since the our wedding and the following weekend at my grandparents anniversary party. That was almost five years ago! In just a little over 3 weeks, the four of us will be together again. I'm so excited!

My sisters and my dad. April 2005

Us four girls. Not sure when, but I think Thanksgiving 1999

Christmas one year...I think 2003...and that was the last Christmas I've been with my parents.

Us girls and my mom. Late fall 2000

Us four girls...a very long time ago. I was a freshman in high school.

Happy Father's Day to my awesome hubby!

Deeper and Deeper

I feel like we are drowning...and we are sinking further and further away from the surface...

Where does the time go?

How did we go from this:

to this?

From here:
to here?

How is it possible that it's been almost four years since you made us a mommy and daddy? In just over 3 months you will be four years old! Time sure has flown and you sure have grown so much! I don't know why, but four is so much harder for me to handle than the three previous birthdays you've had. Maybe it's because four is a preschooler, no longer a toddler. Maybe it's because you've been promoted out of the nursery at church. You are such a sweet, smart, beautiful little girl. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. But please stop growing so fast!!!

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We looked at a rental house last night. It is fantastic, cheaper than our current home, and oh so perfect for our family. I love the old woodwork inside. I love that there is not just one bathroom, but a half bath as well! Two people can pee at the same time! Until you've had a pregnant mommy and a 3 year old or a newly potty-trained 2 year old and a 3 year old in the same house, you don't understand just how important this can be! =) It has a basement, and after the tornadoes last weekend and how uncomfortably close they were to us, a basement is high on my priority list. We love this house. But we also know that God has a plan and it's all in his hands if it becomes "ours" or not. I will be a little sad if we don't, but only because it seems so perfect for us. But if we don't get it, I know there is something better out there for us. But I really like this one. I can already picture ways to decorate for Christmas. I already know exactly where the Christmas tree will go, and how we can wrap greenery on the stair case. I already know exactly where I would put my kitchen aide mixer. I can already picture us teaching Adleigh how to get upstairs to her room. I am totally in love with the closets in the master bedroom! Adleigh could actually sleep IN one for a few months before we move her out of our room! We are putting a lot of prayer into this house. We have made a move in the past where we thought God wanted us to go, but we were so completely wrong. I don't want to make a mistake like that, even if it is only across town rather than across country. I want what is best for our family.

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Check out my friend Julie's etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZipADeeDooDads

Total Cuteness

Does it get any cuter than this? I think not!!!