The haps

I've been kinda bad at blogging.

There just doesn't seem to be time to sit down and put together the thoughtful, heartfelt posts that used to come to me so freely.

Now, blogging almost feels like a chore, which I don't like.

I miss my little blog and my blogging friends!

Seems we're all pretty busy livin' the lives we love these days...and that's a good thing.

So, every couple of weeks you'll see an update, a picture or two, a holiday rundown or just something that's on my mind.  But, don't expect too much...

Although I love doing my blog, I love doing life much more! :)

Now that that's out of the way, let me get you up to date on what's been going on around here.

Matt officially started his new job this week, which means he also started his new commute...to the end of the hall!

I wasn't sure how it was going to be having him "in my space" every day.

I thought I might feel a little imposed upon with him tucked in the bedroom, able to come out and check up on us whenever he wanted.

But, it's actually quite the opposite!

Taylor and I are finding ourselves having a hard time staying away from him!

We're finding little reasons to knock, peek our heads in and see how he's doing.

We love it when he takes a break to sit down and have breakfast or lunch with us.

And I love being able to "take care of him" while he's working...fetching coffee, helping with the fax machine, etc.

It feels so right having him here doing this job.

And {most importantly} he's loving it, too.

The expectations his management had for him when they hired him was for him to be selling 5-6 truckloads of lumber by the time he hit his 6 month mark.

He's already at 10 for this month...his first month...and he's only been selling for a total of about 2 weeks!

I think even he's a little surprised at how quickly things have taken off for him, but if you know Matt then you know he has the personality for sales.

He's motivated, he thinks on his feet, he's honest {sometimes brutally!} and he's got a heart of gold.

I can't say enough how proud I am of him.

He works so hard and has made some tough decisions in the last year to provide for our family, and we are so thankful and blessed to be in the position we now find ourselves in.

With our little babe on his way, this just seems like the perfect fit for all of us.♥

Taylor has grown up so much in the last couple of months.  She's learning at lightening speed and loving every minute of it!

Riding her bike and being outside is still her favorite past time, but with the weather not cooperating much lately she's been finding ways to stay busy inside.

She still loves puzzles.

She colors and paints daily.

She loves her babies and stuffed animals and everyday still plays with them in her room for what seems like hours.

Her imagination is wild!

Just yesterday in the bathtub, Prince Eric was propositioned by 4 princesses and had to choose which one he would marry.  He ultimately chose Ariel, but told the others they were amazing too and that they should all be friends.

I think she's been watching too much of The Bachelor. :)

Speaking of TV, she would sit in front of it watching cartoons all day if I let her.  And she's really into playing games on the computer/iPad, too.

She's actually downloaded a game onto the iPad all by herself {which she is not allowed to do!} and she knows how to get online and go to sproutonline.com to play her favorite games too.

Yah. Blows me away.

Every once in awhile she picks out her own outfit or jammies, but for the most part is still perfectly content to let me dress her in whatever I see fit for the day.  Praise the Lord, we have yet to start that battle!

On any given night, I can ask her what we should have for dinner and you can bet her answer will be steak, pancakes or spaghetti.

Every night when she gets in bed we make up a song or two, or three...or four.  Or a story.  The songs are always lullabies "so she can have happy dreams" and the stories always start with "Once upon a time..." and 90% of the time the main character is a princess named Taylor.  I love every single one of them and I wish I would have recorded them...

With a baby on the way, she loves to listen to stories about when she was first born.

She's also picked out a few of her "friends" that she will be sharing with her baby brother when he arrives.  We'll see if that really happens, but I think the thought is pretty sweet. :)

Aside from mommy and daddy, her Papa is hands-down her favorite person.

She called him yesterday to ask him if he wanted to take her to lunch!  Sadly, he wasn't able to go, but promised to take her soon. :)

She's also really gotten into Skyping with her Grandparents, uncle/aunt and cousins in Wisconsin!  It's so much fun seeing the girls being silly and giggling and telling each other all about whatever they can think of to say!  I can't wait for them to actually see each other again...which may be in just a few short weeks!

And then there's me.

23 weeks and loving it!

I've been feeling this little man moving for quite a while, but I can tell he's starting to take up a lot more room in my belly because I feel him all day long now!  Before I would feel him when I sat still for a bit or layed down at night, but now I'm feeling him as I'm walking around, getting ready in the morning, and even when I'm blogging. :)

It's such a comforting feeling.  Gives me a little bit of reassurance and peace of mind all throughout the day.  And a lot times, just feeling him moving can literally put a smile on my face.

I'm so in love with this little baby boy.

I can't imagine how he's going to steal my heart in less than 4 months!♥

On a different note, I'm less than thrilled with boy "stuff."

Maybe it's because I've been all girl for 4 1/2 years, but I was almost in tears today as I was browing Target's baby boy section.

There's practically nothing!

And what is there isn't cute.

I actually had to walk away from it because it was making me so upset!

Where is all the cute baby boy stuff?!?!

Anyway...I'm still feeling good and have been spending more of my time being productive and feeling like a normal person again.  I know Matt and Taylor are thankful to have me back to "normal" again...it's not easy for anyone when mama's sick and tired and emotional all the time. :)

I have an appointment with my regular OB doc next week and I'm so excited to see her again!  The specialist I was seeing is an amazing doctor and I wouldn't be where I am without him, that's for sure.  But, I've also been missing the relationship that I had with my other doctor.  She's been there through every up and down with me and I feel so good about my decision to see her through the rest of my pregnancy and delivery.

She's going to be so excited to see me with a 24 week belly!! :)

That's all for now!

We'll do it again, soon. :)

XOXO