Wow...

Ok, this is bad....really bad! I can't believe I haven't blogged in OVER a YEAR!! The last post I had was August 2015 and now it is September 2016! The last thing I blogged about was announcing our pregnancy, and yesterday our little peanut turned 6 months! What have I been doing??

Well, in a shortened, quick version of things, we moved in September to be closer to Nick's work (no more long drives for him!! Yay!) We bought a new, more reliable car for our soon to be family of 4, I was pregnant (which believe me is a BIG reason the blogging did not get done! I just did NOT have the energy this time around to do much of anything except the necessities and time with Owen!) Then the Holidays, winter (gross!), and just waiting for Baby. Once baby was born it has been a whirlwind of transitions, Going from one to two kids is kind of rough, but not as difficult as I was working myself up thinking it would be. Then it has just been time. There is hardly ever time for myself. Scrapbooking, Blogging, and even reading are going on the back burner for a while because all I can keep up with is the kids and whatever house work I am able to get done and hopefully be able to hop in the shower by myself (lets be real, the only way I really get showers is if the kids are in there with me...)! Between the kids just needing to be on me, trying to do "school" with Owen (Just teaching him letters, sounds, etc. Equals about an hour a day right now), baths, lunch, snacks, diapers, helping Owen on the toilet, and just trying to play and have quality time with each of them, I STILL need to find time for laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, picking up toys (20 times a day), and all the other mundane household chores that need to get done. I know it sounds like I am complaining, and some days when my husband comes home and makes a remark about something not being clean (lets face it, he really doesn't understand the craziness of life at home during the day), I do then complain, but overall I am extremely happy with that being my days! One day I will not have baby puke/food/poop in my hair and on my clothes, I will have a more organized home with less toys scattered all over the place, I will be able to sit down and read for an hour or two at a time, and have excess time to blog or scrapbook that I will be all caught up, BUT no matter how nice that sounds, I am not ready for it. I am not ready for that much time to myself because it means my kids are grown, not needing me, not wanting to play with toys but rather friends, electronics or sports, not being around me as much and having or even wanting quality cuddle time. I want to enjoy the moments I have with my kids, no matter how rough of a day I might have every now and again (and lets be honest, its at least once or twice a week that we have ROUGH days lol) It is all worth it; the chance to stay home, see them grow and be able to teach them and watch them learn, the multiple hugs and kisses a day that I wouldn't get if I worked, and seeing the happiness and joy they have over the littlest things. I am forever grateful for my Husband who works very hard to let us do this! I am so blessed and for that reason I am not going to stress about not getting to my blog (and again honesty time, just writing this has taken me 2 days and multiple times of sitting down and writing one sentence) I am not going to worry about the fact that i get further and further behind in my scrapbook every year (I am currently on 6 month Owen, 2 and a half years behind) and books, well I am still reading, it just takes me a month to read one book. I do still get some time for myself to scrapbook/blog (my scrapbooking weekends are amazing, even if I have my baby with me). These moments are enough because at the end of the day I am NEVER upset that I didn't get to relax and read my book, but I do get upset if I feel I didn't have enough time with my kids that day. Perspective!

Sorry for my ramblings, and with all of that being said, I can't guarantee or promise anything about keeping up with my blog. I hope to, and I will strive to, but ultimately at the end of my day it is the last thing on my list of to do's, because even after the kids are in bed, I need me some hubby time and again, blogging is just not worth giving up quality time with my man!!

August Goings

Luckily August wasn't as busy and we were able to relax and just do what we want most of the month. We did have my friend Amy's wedding to go to, our 4 year anniversary, and my sisters visiting one weekend, but that was it! It was such a nice relaxing month with my family!! 

I didn't get any pictures of us on our anniversary this year, but that is ok. I need to remember to do that from now on though...Maybe lol!! 

With our fourth year of marriage came with many many changes. It started off with us moving to a new town, me becoming a stay at home mom, Nick working a full-time night job AND going to school 17 credit hours. We hardly saw each other and at times I felt like a single parent, well one who gets to stay home with her kid. It was an extremely difficult 4 months, but somehow Nick did it and made it to Graduation!! He got his degree in Supply Chain Management and immediately found a job! Now with no more school, we were able to spend more time together as a couple and as a family. Even though his job was in Ixonia, and therefore he had to drive 50 minutes to work every day, it was still way more time than we were getting! We then settled into a routine as a couple and family. While it was difficult getting Nick back into the swing of helping around the home more since I didn’t have him do anything when he was in school, we felt very relaxed and happy where we were. Our home felt at peace, like it was exactly as it should be. Our relationship, while had its moments, grew and flourished even more! We even decided it was time to expand our little family! Although, the actual trying part was a little rough on our relationship since it seemed like it was a job, but luckily we only had try for one month since we got pregnant first time! We found out we were expecting a month before our anniversary! Our soon small little family of three will be a family of four! Overall, while year number 4 had a lot of new experiences and we were busy, our relationship was steady and comforting. Knowing we have each other no matter what, and enjoying those peaceful moments together! For our four year anniversary we dropped Owen off at Nick’s parents and went to Fishbone’s Restaurant in Delevan. It kind of looked a little run down; right on a lake, but it was really nice inside and absolutely DELICIOUS!! We enjoyed being alone for the first time in a while; really appreciating each others company since we had uninterrupted time and nothing important to talk about. It seemed like the beginning of our relationship, where we talked about random nonsense that didn’t really have any significance except entertainment and each others company! It was an amazing night and we were still in love…

So, I went back to find a favorite picture of us in the last year and there are a total of...3...that is it. Three pictures of just me and Nick. Well, one was in the last post of my birthday, and these are the other two...

I guess I would say this is my favorite one since Nick is smiling and in the one below he is angry I was taking a selfie while we were driving to IL for Easter!! This year my goal is to take more pictures of just me and Nick!

Amy and Jake's Wedding

Amy was a beautiful bride! We had so much fun that night, seeing a lot of our old high school friends and catching up! It was the latest Nick and I had stayed out since having Owen! Thanks to my parents for watching him for us :)

Nick being Nick :)

This might be my favorite picture of us for our 5 year anniversary lol...This was taken 2 days after our anniversary!

Waterman Grade School/Middle School Friends!!! Love these girls!

My friend Liz who moved to Florida our Sophomore year of High School. It was so nice to catch up! She has two boys of her own and next time she is home we are going to try to get them all together :)

Me and Amy went on to play Volleyball together at Waubonsee Community College with these two girls! We became such good friends during those two years!! We were inseparable :) Blurry pictures, but its the only one I have. I tried to fix it up and turned it black and white which helped, but not too much. Oh well...its the memories right!!

Announcing we are Pregnant!!!

Shortly after Amy's wedding we finally announced we are expecting Baby Kiederlen #2! After many people asked if/when we were having another at our weddings over the summer, we were finally able to "tell the truth" lol. It is very hard to keep it quiet sometimes, but it is important to me to wait until after the first trimester before announcing just in case. It would be way too sad to have to then go and share with the world we lost the baby if we were to have a miscarriage. Anyways, trying to find cute ways of telling Nick, I made this shirt for Owen for Nick to see when he got home from work. To announce to everyone via social media, I took pictures and posted them along with a picture from our first ultrasound. I don't have those pictures at the moment, so I will just post them later with our 20 week ultrasound.

His reaction during these pictures was priceless!! While it was just him not wanting me to take any pictures (he is like his dad in that way!) It looks like he is saying Noooo I don't want a baby sibling :) Too funny!!

 

The Library had an end of summer party in August, so we went with our neighbors. The kids really loved it!! The pools with the balls, a sprinkler, bubbles, finger painting, and Popsicles!!

Aubree got so messy and didn't care, Owen tried so hard to keep clean...

Just a tiny spot of paint on his hand and he needed it cleaned off immediately lol

My sister Ko came up one weekend and we finally were able to go to the pool with Nick and Ko!! Again Owen loved it, and he loved playing with his dad :)

 

We then had dinner and my other sister Kaylee drove from Madison to meet us. We went to the park afterwards to play! So nice to spend some quality time with my sisters :)

August Randoms

What a goon...wearing my boots :)

Kisses for Daddy!! Owen is such a loving little boy, we get so many hugs and kisses ALL THE TIME!! It is absolutely wonderful :)

Oh what faces :)

 

Still Obsessed with Toy Story :)

July Buisiness

The month of July was extremely busy, again every weekend being taken up by some kind of activity. The first of the month we found out we are expecting baby #2!!!! After only one month of trying we got pregnant! Since the same thing happened with Owen, getting pregnant the first try, we realized that we really have to be careful ;) 

Even though July was extremely busy, we really enjoyed every minute of it having the 4th of July, a wedding, my birthday, time with our neighbors, and just enjoying the beautiful summer weather!

About once a week or so, I would watch our little neighbor girl Aubree in the afternoon. Owen and Aubree just love each other and always want to go play together. It really is adorable! I also love her mom and really get along with her too. So nice to have neighbors we can spend a bunch of time with!!!

 

 

After a very messy dinner these two definitely needed a bath!! They were just too cute playing in the bath, I had to capture a few pics :)

 

Drying off afterwards!

I love these two stinkers!!!

Fireworks for the 4th of July!!

Owen fell asleep during them...again :)

 

On our way to the 4th of July Parade in Whitewater!

Owen with his Aunts and Cousins!

He became very bold, going in front of other people to get candy!!!

 

Mr. Independent! I love his festive sunglasses and shirt :)

Nick was a groomsman in his best friend since grade schools wedding this summer! Kale and Jen are some of our very close friends and we are so excited for them! Even though we brought Owen to the wedding (which for me was pretty rough since it was outside and he just wanted to run around like crazy), it was a lot of fun and beautiful!!

Owen dancing with the Bride!!

Bella dancing with the Groom!!

Already stealing girls hearts ;) He was out on the dance floor all night long!! He loves music and dancing so much, even went in the middle of a circle at one point! My little stud muffin <3 br="">

Wow does he look like his grandpa!!!

In our town, they just opened a community pool! One Saturday we went with our neighbors to check it out! It was extremely nice and Owen just loved it!!!

I am pretty sure Owen and Aubree when down this slide at least 20 times!!

I just love this picture!! He is such a ham :)

 

Nick surprised me for my birthday with a great date!! We went mini golfing (no idea the last time we did that!) and then he took me to The Melting Pot!! Yummy :)

He even got a date night special with flowers and chocolate covered strawberries!

A great way to turn 26!!! Time with my hubby :)

What I wanted to do for my birthday before Nick surprised me was go with my little family to the pool! We had so much fun last time I wanted Nick to go too. Since we didn't get to go on my birthday we tried the following weekend, but it was crazy busy, so we decided to forgo going and get McDonalds Ice Cream cones instead and I made Owen a little makeshift pool at home :)

 

He did so well eating the cone by himself!

Surprising this was it for the mess!!!

The little pool I made for Owen! I ended up doing this for him a couple more times that summer!

 

He dumped his kitchen over and climbed in the fridge...what a weirdo...

 

Apparently climbing into smaller spaces was his thing this month lol

Cuddling with dad's legs!!

He is getting so big, it makes me kind of sad. I am treasuring every moment since in a short 8 months I will have another little one demanding my attention too and I wont get these moments anymore. I love this little guy and the fact he made me a mom. He is the most wonderful thing and I am so very blessed for his spirited little self!