not an actual post, but who doesn't love a BRAIN DUMP?

That’s right, y’all! If I’m coming back, why not come back with my favorite way to blog? It’s a brain dump.

And I guess I just need to fill everyone in on what we’ve been up to.

1. House hunting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What’s new, right? We’ve been house hunting since December 2011. We sold our house in November 2012 and we’re still house hunting. But guess what? We’ve made a decision! We’re meeting with a builder today and we’re getting started. For months, we went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to stay in town or move a little farther out to a neighborhood we’ve loved for a long time. But in the end, we never felt quite at peace about the longer drive, and we kept finding major things wrong with the houses we liked in these neighborhoods.

We’ve found the perfect compromise, we feel. Staying in town and still having new construction– with a garage. A garage! One of the non-negotiables from our original wish list. We’ll still be near our church, our preschool, so many friends (but our friends are scattered all over town, too), and the part of town that we’ve loved for 8 years.

2. TV. I’ve been watching an obscene amount of TV on Netflix and iTunes. I watched all of Pretty Little Liars, Parenthood, West Wing, and Downton Abbey. When the boys go to bed, Todd does a little work (or listens to the Dan Patrick podcast) and I watch a show.

3. Cooking. I’ve loved being back in the habit of meal planning and cooking in 2013. I cook 4 nights a week on average. Wednesday nights we eat at church and the rest of the time we have leftovers. I’ve done my best to make myself at home in Nana’s kitchen. And it’s been fun for us to sit down to eat every night with the boys and with Nana.

4. One of our dearest family friends passed away this week. Mrs. Lewis was a mentor to my parents, and she practically introduced them to each other. She was like a grandmother to me, and her love for my brother and me was so evident. I love the way she loved my parents as if they were her own. And her children and grandchildren are going to miss her so much, too. I’m so sad that I’m not able to go to Louisiana for the funeral this weekend with my parents. She will be missed.

5. Fiona and I have had a lot more quality time together in the past few weeks. She’s such a great little cuddler.

6. Hayes is making great strides in speech therapy. I have absolutely loved watching his progress and getting to know his speech therapist. It’s the neatest thing just watching him learn to correct habits, and I love that his speech therapist is teaching me different ways to work with Hayes.

7. I just have to say that we serve an amazing God. I am so thankful for His protection over our family and that each day He calms my fears and shows me that He is guiding us down each path. So often I am so caught up in the details, but I just need to leave those to Him. Because, guess what? He’s in the details, too. It’s been a tough week, and I’ve felt so much peace in the midst of it all.

8. Watching my boys grow up is the most bittersweet thing. I love seeing who they’re becoming, but when I look at them, especially Hudson, I just have no idea where the time has gone. I know every single mother says this every day, but it’s so true. So many parts of parenthood are just heartbreaking. Looking at my 3.5 year old and not being able to see a trace of chubby belly or a cheek to pinch just tears me up inside.

9. I feel pretty bad that I took a blogging break right after Christmas and I never really blogged about Christmas. It was wonderful. So much fun. So relaxing. But December hit me like a ton of breaks and left me in the dust. I’ve loved the quiet January and the time I’ve had with my family.

10. Today is a big day in the life of preschool. It’s the day that the 3 year olds put on their “Circus.” Hudson is going to be a tiger, much to his daddy’s dismay. (Sorry, Clemson fans.) He’s so excited about his role as a tiger, and I’ll look forward to sharing pictures.

If you stuck around through my break, thank you so much! I’ll try not to let it happen again, but I can’t make any promises.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

  1. K says

    Garages are so nice to have – I am glad I don’t have to defrost my car just to leave the driveway during cold weather! Enjoy the planning and building process of your new home!

    I love Downton Abbey! Not sure if you are caught up to Season 3 yet – the first episode with Shirley MacLaine was rather disappointing but it’s getting much better. We have Netflix, too, and Pretty Little Liars is next on my list.

    I’m sorry to hear about Mrs. Lewis :(. She sounds like she was an amazing woman.

  2. says

    So happy to see a new post pop up on my reader this morning 🙂 After hearing all of the hoopla for so long, I finally started watching Parenthood over Christmas and am now OB-SESSED. Best of luck with the builders meeting– that’s so exciting!!

  3. says

    Yeah for decisions! That always makes me feel better. I love my garage and would love a 3 car garage in our next house along with a gigantic pantry. There is never enough room for all that kitchen stuff.

  4. says

    What a great feeling to have a plan! We started building at the beginning of November and I started blogging about it the day we broke ground. The process has been intimidating for me but I love being able to pick out exactly what I want. We’ve certainly learned quite a bit along the way, so please feel free to reach out if you have questions. I’m do excited for the next step in your journey and hope you keep writing. I loved seeing your post pop up this morning!

  5. says

    So happy for y’all!!! I can’t wait to hear about/see progress on the new house! So curious to know where y’all are building. We JUST moved into our new house and I’m already dreaming of building. I watched parenthood seasons 1-3 over the past 2 months too….OBSESSED. My mom had been telling me that for a while, but there was just never enough time. Now, I’m just ready for season 4 to be done so it will come out on Netflix. Hope you will blog about the new house!!

  6. says

    Watching Devyn go through speech therapy was amazing! I loved seeing the lightbulbs switch on and hearingthat little voice start speaking in complete sentences. Her graduation party from therapy was an emotional day.

    And good for you for working with Hayes too. One of the things we learned is that siblings are often their biggest teachers and if the older one has speech issues, it can trickle down. That was our experience with Hudson. But thankfully, Devyn and Hudson are now chatterboxes. I have no concerns about Reagan and Ashlynn’s speech. At all.

  7. says

    I’m so sorry about your friend. It is never easy to say good bye.

    Excited to hear more about your home building process.

    I’m so glad you’re back!

  8. says

    Yes, so very glad you’re back!! However, you do deserve a break every now and then! Heck, I just took a 8 month break during pregnancy, having the baby, etc…didn’t ever intend on it being that long, but hey — it’s my blog and my journal, right? So don’t feel bad about that! Also, I’m so very sorry about your family friend. I know everyone says death is a part of life, but it still can be so sad. I hope God surrounds you and your family with his peace.

  9. Amanda says

    Looking forward to seeing the progress in your new home. With your sense of style, I’m sure it’ll be gorgeous.

    My oldest will be three in April and I am blown away by how much he has changed since turning two! He’s becoming such a little boy. It’s so bittersweet.

  10. Britt Z says

    I am so glad you are back! I always love reading your posts. How exciting to be building a new home. I hope you can share the process…the design part is so much fun and you have great taste! My boys will be turning 1 and 3 in April and I just cannot get over it. Some days feel so long, but it’s true when they say that the years are short. I wish they could stay little for longer! I hope you have a great weekend!

  11. says

    I’ve told myself I’m going to start cooking more this year and I’m actually doing it! It’s tough with 2 very active kids! I also have a son who is 3 who just started speech therapy last week. I’m already seeing a little bit of an improvement!

    And I’m sorry to hear about Mrs. Lewis. My thoughts and prayers go out to her loved ones.

  12. says

    So glad that you are back! I love this brain dump- so much great stuff going on- the house, the neighborhood, the speech therapist, TV show and the circus!

  13. says

    I’m glad to hear y’all are doing well! it’s so good to hear Hayes is doing well in speech therapy. that’s so exciting to hear about your house! & i’ve been watching a crazy amount of TV lately, too, including Downton Abbey and Pretty Little Liars. I actually just started Parenthood last week and loved it, so I’ll be watching that too!

  14. says

    I come here everyday to check in–but I have to say, as much as WE ALL miss you blogging everyday, I’m so glad you are taking this break for yourself. I havent’ been blogging as much either, and I’m really so ok with it. As you said–life flies by us! Taking the time to be present with the things that are important is such a blessing. Thanks for checking in–so excited for the changes to come for your family this year! 🙂 xo

  15. says

    I love that you’re building a new home!! Look forward to hearing about the process.

    I look at my girls and think the same thing. When the day comes that I don’t have a baby to pick up out of their crib…I may cry.

    Meal planning. What’s that??? Good grief, I need to get back to doing this! I love cooking and have been so lazy with it since the new year. If you have new recipes, do share!

    I too haven’t blogged about the holidays. I’m thinking I’ll add pics for memories sake and just post them under last year’s date. HA!

    Happy to see a post from you and to see all is well with your sweet family.

  16. says

    Glad to have you back! Building can be a challenge sometimes, but it is wonderful to have just the house you want when you are finished. I agree completely about the garage. Always nice to stay out of the rain and cold!

  17. says

    I’m playing catch-up, naturally. It hearts my hurt, too, how fast time is passing with my babies 🙁 Every day they are getting bigger and bigger. I think mister Knoxy might need speech therapy in the future so I’m glad to hear how well you guys are doing with it! Sorry about your family friend!!! YAY for deciding to build! It will be so fun!!! SUCH an amazing God 🙂

  18. anonymous says

    so nice that you’re back. you were missed. know that it’s totally okay to take breaks, though (but, you already know that). it kind of gave me permission to (or made me not feel so guilty about choosing to) hunker down a bit, too. do less outside of the home after the very, VERY busy holiday season. i’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your dear, family friend. xoxo

  19. anonymous says

    oh, and i forgeot to say congrats on the decision to build. i can’t wait to hear about your adventures. i also think it’s cool that you’ll be providing jobs for some people!

Leave a Reply to Jill Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *