4 Year Blogiversary!

This little ol' blog reached the 4 year mark a couple weeks ago. 

Unfortunately, my posts get less and less every year.

And it kills me. 

But obviously not enough to actually post more, so "kills me" may be a bit of an exaggeration. 

We've reached quite a few milestones over the past 4 years and I thought it would be fun to do a quick recap. 

This was my very first post in 2010.

 I started blogging when we were about 6 months into marriage and living in Florida while Mr. B was finishing up school. 

 I was a nanny/stay home wife and had way too much glorious time on my hands while living in the sunshine state.

So here's a quick recap of the past 4 years as well as a few of the most popular posts:

We were in newly-wedded bliss.

He graduated.

We moved back home. 

We bought a puppy.

The puppy grew.

::That winter we vacation and I although this is slightly embarrassing, one of my most popular posts over the years was written around this time: Bathing Suits and Butt Cracks. 

Always, keeping it classy around here!::

We struggled with fertility.

 We vacationed. 

We were excited

There was sickness. Lots of it. 

For 33 weeks. 

She was worth every minute.

We became mommy and daddy.

Our hearts exploded.

::Shortly after, I wrote another one of my most viewed posts:

 Hair we go again…again. 

Clearly, the heartfelt ones are the kickers::

We moved again.

We vacationed. {and I cut my hair}

We reached half a year. 

::Another most viewed post: Adalyn's Pantry. Again, the content is heavy, so please read slowly and take it all in. ::

We learned that time flies. F-L-I-E-S.

We reached a year. 

::Another popular post from this time {that I never finished}: 

Giraffe Birthday Bash::

We became homeowners.

{and moved again}

We vacationed some more. 

We reached a year and a half.

We soaked up the little things.

We captured sweet moments.

We snuck in kisses as much as we could.

We reached two years. 

We love where we've been and we love where we are.

And we look forward to where will be in the next couple years! 

And for the record, I'm back to the same hair dilemma...

Thursday's Thoughts

I am so super proud of Mr. B for finishing his first semester of grad school. Not only with good grades, but on top of being a wonderful l husband, daddy and hard worker to provide for his girls! He has two weeks off and will start a summer semester which will be two nights a week :(  But the summer semester is shorter and this whole MBA thing is for a season in our lives and it's better to do it while Adalyn is still little and we only have one baby!! {I have to keep reminding myself of that from time to time..}

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I finally made a new layout and it's all bright and springy...if only the weather here could reflect that.

This weather is seriously ridiculous. It's really amazing the difference that the sun makes in a day. Rain = lazy, eat everything, bored, PJ day....too many of those make for one scary looking mama. Trust me. 

And btw the phone is lying, it's not sunny right now it's overcast. It must've forgotten what the sun looks like. 

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I don't like how the side bar on the blog is now on the right side. It makes me feel all weird and confused like I'm a lefty or something.

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I know not everyone agrees with letting their babies watch TV, but we do let Adalyn watch a few shows here and there- mostly in the morning when she wakes and at night during her bottle.  Not only does she enjoy it, but I am pretty sure we have the wiggliest worm of them all and it keeps her still, focused on the TV and distracted from everything else that makes her not want to finish her bottle. And at night time I want to fill that tummy as much as I can before bed! Anyways, this week what she was watching really clicked for her and became more than just bright colors. It has been the cutest thing. She loves at the end of Mickey when they do the Hot Dog Dance, but her favorite part is when he shouts "Hot Dog!"- guaranteed smile every time. He shouts it twice and she always smiles, the rest of the song is apparently entertaining, but not as much as that part. 

Her mouth is moving at the end like she's trying to sing along too, ha!

Btw this video was taken this morning and I'm pretty sure over night she turned into a teenager. Ok, maybe not a teenager, but she's not a baby baby anymore. She woke up and she's basically all grown up. Seriously. 

 Sitting up in bed, watching her Mickey, she has a legit neck, longer hair {that happens overnight too} and sucking on her shirt like a big kid.

As she grows, she is becoming a lot more fun and getting more of a personality each day and that makes these spurts slightly acceptable.

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This is usually what tubby time looks like. Both cute and annoying.

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Adalyn seems to be ready for bed lately between 6:30/7, it used to be tubby around 7:15 and bed around 8/8:30. Mr. B doesn't get home from work until 6:30/6:40 so I've been trying hard to keep her up so he can at least give her her bottle and say goodnight. 

But it's not easy!

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The problem with her going to bed so early is she is ready to rock n roll in the middle of the night. This was her last night at 2:30 AM

It's been 7.5 hours of sleep. I get it, but um...go to sleep. 

Mommy has only been sleeping for 3 hours. 

And 4 AM

Thankfully she did what she needed to do and fell back to sleep on her own, but what happened to sleeping through the night?? So we are trying to figure out that new schedule...add in her growth spurt and we have good nights and bad nights.

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I feel like more teeth will be popping soon, although I am not sure where yet. I keep looking, but I don't see any. The only places that are really white are where her molars will be and I don't think girlfriend can be getting those already, right?! I think they are just there, but not coming anytime soon. 

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Roxie sleeping last night.

So classy.

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 I've had instagram for a couple months and never used it because I couldn't really figure it out. It seemed like a lot of work at the time {am I that lazy? yes.} But now pretty much everyone and their mom are using it so I want to too {do I hop on every bandwagon? you betcha.} So I am going to try and start using it, but I don't want to look like I am because everyone else is....but well, that's exactly why I am doing it. So I just want it known that I did have it before it was totally "in" I just was using it, ok? OK. 

Good glad that is cleared up.

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I got the devotional "Jesus Calling" for Christmas and I just love how simple yet profound each one is every day. 
 Highly recommend it!
I thought I would share a little excerpt from today that I found to be encouraging. 
Although I am currently not going through a particularly stressful situation, I have been there and I know I will be there again at some point and this is a great reminder:
"When you start to feel stressed, let those feelings alert you to your need for Me. Thus, your needs become doorways to deep dependence on Me and increasing intimacy between us."

Thursday's Thoughts

New PJs different day

We are going on Day 3 of lazy PJ day. It's been rainy and in the 40s pretty much this whole week. So the whole "I'm going to blog about every day" thing isn't exactly going as planned. There are showers, baths, new undies, diapers and PJs in between {bras are a definite no-go on these days}, but for the most part we are just playing and relaxing.

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Thankful to be a SAHM

{when we were sick girlies last week}

Every day I am so thankful I get to stay home with Adalyn, but I am especially grateful on these cold rainy days! Although I am sure Mr. B wouldn't mind a different look when he gets home every night- I think he is used to it by now. And of course he works hard so that I can stay home with her and I can never thank him enough!

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Blog Design

I really need to update my blog layout. Although the weather lately feels winterish- it isn't. I need to find some new pictures and springy colors soon! Never mind the fact that her newborn pictures are on the header and she is going on 6 months! 

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Enchiladas

via

I made some enchiladas I found going around pinterest last night and they were delish. I usually make the Pioneer Woman's enchiladas, but it's kind of a lot of ingredients and steps, so I was thankful to find this one that is just as yummy and easier to make! 

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Roxie and Adalyn

Adalyn has become so fascinated with Roxie's every move lately and it's been really cute to see.

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Sitting

Adalyn is strong enough to sit up and she can, but she is in an arching the back phase and is always falling backwards on purpose. I either catch her or put the boppy behind her to help, but I also feel like she needs to know she will fall if she doesn't try and sit up...but I don't want her to hurt herself either. So we just keep practicing and trying to figure it out.

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Don't wake my baby

The landscapers are out mowing the grass and it's so loud and I will be livid if they wake her up from her nap. End of discussion.

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Nail Scissors

via

I forgot to mention a very important baby gear in my post the other day- Nail scissors!!! Lindsey told me about this trick one day when I tweeted about how Adalyn's nails were growing so fast-I was only filing them because I was too scared to use the clippers-she was always scratching her face and I couldn't keep up with them. Lindsey suggested the nail scissors and I love it! I am never nervous, I cut them all the time and the best part is- I can't {I don't think I can and I haven't} cut her skin. I actually find this kind of fun to do, more so when she is sleeping and not a complete wiggle worm but it is so much easier than the clippers!

Never Again

Ignore the stains on the couch.

It's Roxie drool and needs to be cleaned.

Ignore the fact that Rawhide is bad for dogs.

It keeps her busy and quiet.

Let's focus on the mess, shall we?

{never mind the drool stains on the window- that's a free and I am willing to sacrifice}

You see, this clearance 97 cent treat is so not worth it.

If I could go back in time I would say do not do it!!!!!

It's not a good deal.

It's a scam.

What's the point of keeping them busy if you have to clean up after the fact therefore creating more work for yourself??

This 97 cents is not worth the 10 minutes of sanity that it gave.

You are actually spending 97 cents on yourself to vacuum the living room again. 

The rug.

The couch.

Trails through the kitchen.

Our bed.

One treat.

This is obviously not the one she ate.

I bought 4 of these.

Oh yes I did. 

So not only did I pay 97 cents to vacuum again.

I threw away a few dollars, too.

The rest of those darn treats are finding a new home in the trash.

We will be sticking to peanut butter in the Kong.

Who me?

Yeah.

Never. Again.

And here's a better question...

What is so unappetizing about all those little pieces?

Why can't she eat those??

Seriously, never again.

Weekend Wrap-Up

On Thursday, although it wasn't technically part of the weekend- it was an important day no less, we celebrated Auntie Olivia' birthday!

Wearing her pretty dress that Auntie O got her for Christmas. 

We hung around the house for a little and went out for dinner at Panera {Yummy!!}.

We are so blessed to have Olivia in our lives and we are so thankful that Adalyn has such a great role-model! 

She is a great help with both Roxie and the baby and she is so mature for her age. 

Seriously...talk about 12 going on 20. 

As always we enjoyed tubby time. 

We slept in.

{This looks like one of those weird puppet things, but I just took her legs out of the sleep sack :)}

We went to the dog park and let Roxie have some much needed playtime/get her energy out.

{Dog parks are the best- you just sit there for 40 minutes, let your dog play and then she's tired for hours and hours!}

Then we met with a realtor as we are starting to look into purchasing a house again. 

"Again" as in we were looking before Adalyn was born, took a break and now we are looking again.

Currently we are renting a duplex and very eager to get out!

We spent the night at home relaxing, made some orange chicken and watched the Ides of March {too many swears for my liking and really sad that politics really are like that...the story line not the swearing. Although, I guess it's probably both!}

On Sunday we went to the earlier service for church and it was a bad idea.

We will not be doing that again.

We had to wake Adalyn up and it didn't go over so well. 

Duh.

The whole never wake a sleeping baby thing...it's for a reason.

Duh.

I had to go into the lobby 3 times because she was fussing because she was so tired. 

Not really a huge fan of the whole squeeze through the aisles, while tripping over human legs and chair legs and having everyone stare at you while you exit. 

No thanks. 

Lesson learned.

Then we went over to my parents' house for the day to hang out and meet the two newest additions to the farm.

Rylee and Rosko. 

They are 8 week old brother and sister Border Collies.

I was so excited for Roxie to meet them. 

One of the biggest regrets I have is not getting two puppies- or at least a playmate for Roxie.

She is such a social dog and I think she would've loved it.

Unfortunately, finances didn't allow it at the time. 

Currently, she is a little too big to really play with them.

She knows to be gentle, but she is still a giant compared to them and they aren't quite ready for a gentle giant.

She's intimidating regardless of that fact that she can be "gentle".

But soon enough it will be fun for them all!

When did my little puppy like that become a horse?

I was also excited because there would be a baby and puppies in the same room, and I am not really sure if there is anything cuter. 

I am hoping for a good photo sesh in the near future.

{Please note the versatile bow.  Thankfully, the Bills and Pats are the same colors so I just covered up the Bills logo for the day...3 times because Mr. B kept throwing it away!! Grr!}

::Warning, cuteness overload::

We enjoyed a relaxing day and were ready for the big game.

Of course the night couldn't continue with out doing our favorite dance moves {Soulja Boy}.

All good things must come to end. 

And here is the Super Bowl in a nutshell.