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...

Weekend Rewind

I love long weekends.

How awesome would it be if they were always 3 days. 

Well, I'm sure then we'd wish for 4, but we can still dream about how amazing 3 days weekends would be….

Unfortunately we've been hit with a never ending cold.

Seriously, there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe a crevice of light.

Maybe.

So we had a low key weekend filled with medicine and tissues,

but we were together and we were lazy and it was just what we needed. 

And still need, because we're still sick…

So this weekend wasn't a very exciting one, but if I want to get back onto the blogging train I need to post about the every day weekends too!

Friday my sweet girl blessed this sick mama with sleeping in until a little past 10 and we followed that up with some snuggles in my bed. 

We stayed in our PJs, I had a fever and was pretty much glued to the couch all day.

During this time I realized we haven't been trying for Baby #2 as long as I had thought. 

In my head I had March, but that was because of when the due date would've been. 

So thanks to an old blog post, a friend and Mr. B, it was brought to my attention that it will be 9 months, not 11. 

Which doesn't make quite as bad as I thought. 

Which is sad, because it's still pretty bad, but it came with a little relief too.  

So that was good. 

The not so good…she was sick and oversensitive. 

Mix that with typical 2 year old mood swings and you get something like this because your baby won't sit. 

Cue nap time and hallelujah chorus. 

After nap we enjoyed more snuggles and sent Mr. B this pic 

as a warning that the house looks like a tornado went through it and a request to bring home dinner. 

Saturday was a surprise snow day and perfect for us to stay in a clean pair of {mismatched} PJs. 

We relaxed, watched tv, played, napped and made some cookies.

She took a tubby and changed into new {matching} Super Girl PJs from her Auntie, that she loves!

Sunday we skipped church to avoid being those people.

The kind the discretely sniff, snort, blow and gross everyone out. 

So instead we slept in and I had my super smoothie helper and strawberry stealer to assist with breakfast.

Then we …put on real clothes and brought our sniffs and germs to the great-grandparents' house.

We went out for a late lunch for Mimi's birthday.

{For the record, I don't suggest bringing an oversensitive, overtired, toddler with a cold to a restaurant during nap time. }

Then we went to the farm and hoped the Pats would make it to the Super Bowl.

And our hopes were crushed. 

She took a late nap from 4-7, we had dinner, played and watched the first half of the next game before heading home.

We gave her the last of her 5 day antibiotic 

and then cried because it didn't work.

It still could've prevented her ear infection, but it definitely didn't fight off anything else she has going on.

Which means it's viral.

Which means more days staying home.

More missed swim classes.

More missed play dates.

More missed My Gym classes.

Bottom line…. SOS.

But, in saying all of that, I'm always grateful {can't you tell ;) } that at the end of the day it is just a never-ending cold and nothing more. 

Monday we woke up and headed back to the farm for a little sled time. 

And by little, I mean little.

She probably lasted all of 5 minutes.

I think it's time to ditch the baby sled and show her the real deal. 

After that, she napped, I worked on some pictures and Mr. B went and played some racquet ball.

We hung around the farm for some chinese food
 {a perk to being at the farm- free good dinners!},
 came home, tubbied and took her final 24 month picture.

A day before she turned 26 months.
And she's tired, and it's not really her smile and it was with a flash.
But it's done.
I won't even go into the frustrations I have with myself for not getting it together for her last monthly pic.
But in the end she's still 2 so...it counts.

Then we went to bed and prayed for a miraculous healing and healthy week!

Daddy's Work

A month ago {yes a month ago, but a year and a half later and I finally updated my blog design so…you win some you lose some} we had a fun night away with our little family. 

We had a wonderful time!

 What makes it even more special is that Adalyn talks about it at least once a day. 

And what makes it hilarious is her memories of the weekend and the fact that she thinks Daddy works at the aquarium.

Adalyn's version of our weekend {that's repeated on a daily basis}:

Daddy's work.

Fishies.

Penguins.

No turtle. 

Mickey skates.

Minnie.

Goofy.

Daisy. 

Donald.

Mickey bag and popcorn. 

I drove into the city by myself- which is a pretty big deal for me- I only hit traffic in the part the I dread the most, but we made it and it really wasn't that bad. 

We parked and headed off to Daddy's {real} work

we said hi to everyone, he grabbed his stuff and we were off to the aquarium that's right around the corner. 

Cue toddler confusion. 

Daddy's work suddenly became so exciting. 

We did some quick poses with her penguin shirt to match the penguins...

and we were off to see the fishes! 

The fun ended when a big sting ray and this guy swam in front of her.

We tried to explain that there's a very thick glass and she was safe, but she wasn't having it. 

She did enjoy a little hands on turtle activity though. 

After the aquarium we checked into our hotel and walked around to find a place to eat. 

After dinner we got into our "soups" and went for a swim! 

I keep trying to record her saying "soups on!" because it's pretty much the cutest thing ever, 

but in true Adalyn fashion, the moment I go to record her saying it she stops. 

A busy day led to a great night's sleep to prepare for another fun filled day. 

Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and made our time there that much more enjoyable! 

We walked around the Commons and got some breakfast. 

She's got the cheese part down, we are just working on the looking at the camera part now

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at frog pond

and a visit with the ducks,

that were clearly thirsty for some juice. 

I loved our time in the Commons!

Usually when I go to the city most of my time is spent in the Faneuil Hall area, 

so this was a newish experience for me. 

 We grabbed some pizza for lunch and headed back to the hotel to change for the main event.

We are going to Disney in March and we are a little nervous about how is going to handle the characters.

Mr B bought us tickets to see Disney on Ice as a Disney prep. 

Having been to Disney on Ice before {pre-Adalyn},

 I came prepared with our own stuffed Minnie and Mickey

and light-up toy {thank you $5 spot at Target}

to save us approximately $200. 

I'm not even kidding.

Okay, so maybe it's a slight exaggeration.

Instead, we spent $40 on popcorn, water and…cotton candy because Mr. B's inner 5 year old couldn't resist. 

{And shout out to my super talented friend for making Adalyn the adorable bow to match her outfit!}

Adalyn was a little scared the first 10 seconds or so, 

but the rest of the time she loved it 

and was filled with awe and excitement!

We had so much fun! 

It's always nice to have some time away

making these sweet memories with just the three of us. 

We decided we would love to visit Daddy's work and spend the night in the city every couple months-

a chance to be together and talk about it every single day,

 until the next time :) 

{in}Fertile Friends

I am extremely behind on blogging.

It's ridiculous. 

Pre-Adalyn time seemed to go by fairly quickly.

Post-Adalyn time literally {literally} flies bye. 

Bzzzzz. Gone. 

Just like that.

Having a blog {and not keeping up with it} basically multiplies how fast time goes by by approximately 100.

I'm not kidding.

I'm thinking my best bet is to focus on a few big things that happened that I missed and then from here on out get back in to the swing of things with day to day life. 

But until I do that and can even figure out where to start with that,  I wanted a post to be specifically for a little group I created on Facebook. 

I've mentioned it before recently, but this is a specific post/invite to join.

I actually created this group when I was trying to get pregnant with Adalyn and praise the Lord all of the girls who were a part of that group ended up getting pregnant at some point!!

So here we are again with baby #2. 

In the same boat.

The boat I was dreading. 

Actually, this boat is worse because it's going on an even longer journey (almost a year), but it comes with a sweet awesome little distraction- thank you, Lord.

I was just saying today that she has no idea how much she helps me get through this. 

I am so so thankful for her. 

Roxie was my distraction when trying for Adalyn and I think it's pretty obvious that Adalyn takes the cake on this one!

So anyways this is a private group on Facebook- so no one can see anything unless they are a part of it. 

And it's just a place to vent, whine, get advice, request prayer, encourage etc. 

Infertility sucks.

Big time.

And it's something that most people truly don't understand until they've been there. 

Connecting with others who are going through the same thing is really valuable!

It's certainly not a group I wish I were a part of or a group I want anyone to be a part of, but this is the journey the Lord has us on and I try my hardest {some days are worse than others} to look at it as an opportunity to connect, to strengthen our walk and our faith, to know it's a part of our story and a testament to His faithfulness. 

He is faithful and we are believing. 

And in the meantime, I'm venting about how everyone around me is pregnant or having babies and how evil digital pregnancy tests are.

If you're not familiar, you wait for an eternity while you stare at a little flashing timer, you stare so long that you begin to wonder if the little hand is starting to move and then you're given the result:

 "Not pregnant." 

Yeah. I'm good.

I'll stick with one solid dark line, pleaseandthankyou.

I love the {awesomely overplayed} song Oceans by Hillsong- one part in particular has been standing out to me lately:

He's never failed me.

And He won't start now.

He knows who the perfect addition to our family and when the time is right. 

And until that time comes, I will limit my waaaaahhhs, ughhhhhhhhhs and 9u389uitwygjfbhjabf!!!!s and work on my praise for what he has blessed me with. 

Sooo if you'd like to join and connect with some sweet ladies with the same desires and frustrations as you- just comment with your email or send me an email: thesmellylife@gmail.com and I can send you an invite to the group and get you on my prayer list! 

And of course, for anyone not in this season of life, if you could keep me and the other ladies of the group in your prayers as well that would be wonderful!

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Blessing Box

This week we had our first snow of the season.

I'm always blessed by Adalyn's joy and awe in the simple things.

This is such a busy time of year and I love taking the time to just stop and watch her. 

A great reminder to be still,

be present

and be thankful. 

How have you been blessed this week? 

Grab the code, link up and be a blessing to others by sharing a way that you've been blessed!

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