I gotta say that blogging feels so strange to me again!  Does anybody else ever feel like they've been ruined for blogs by Instagram?  I remember years back when I loved to read blogs about peoples lives...about their families, their friends, social lives, recipes they liked, places they traveled to....now if anybody blogs it's all about their latest purchases and their "obsessions" and things they love.  

If I'm being honest I'll admit that it intimidates me to start blogging again because that just won't be me.  I'm a city-girl-turned-small-town-mama and the nearest Nordstrom is 3 hours away and I would die of embarrassment to ask a local photographer to take pictures of me around town in fancy clothes...not to mention that I'd likely see someone I know and die of embarrassment all over again :) 

So now that that's out of the way, I can get on with it all.  If you want links to Nordstrom and other fancy stores, you're at the wrong place!  But I'm happy to tell you all about my simple little life!  

GOODBYE WRINKLY EYES //

First things first - I'm 36 years old and I suddenly am looking at myself in the mirror like...."Hello, who are you, ya old lady?!?"  I have wrinkles and lines!  Ick.  Young girls...it WILL catch up to you so start now with your eye cream and nightly moisturizing!  So I did some browsing on Amazon and found a product that I've been using for about two weeks and I've been really pleased with the results!  This is it: 

I chose it because it is Retinol free, which is hard to find in many anti-aging skincare products.  I didn't want the Retinol in it because studies have shown Retinol to alter DNA and speed the growth of skin tumors.  

Here's my results, just two weeks apart!  Obviously there is no magic product that will completely get rid of fine lines and wrinkles (don't let those Rodan + Fields Before & After pics on FB fool you), but I've been impressed with how things have smoothed out a little.  Bonus, I've also been using it on my hands cause they were looking wrinkly too, and they've definitely improved!  

Here's the link to the product - Baebody Eye Gel 

NEW HAIR //

Here's the "before" shot - I've actually been using Monat (review for that coming soon!) while I don't think it looked terrible, I really wanted to brighten things up a little bit.  

And after!  The natural light outside makes it look a little brighter than it does indoors...I wish I would've went a little lighter on the ombre effect.  Maybe next time.  

STROLLERS, SNUGGLES + BABIES //

Last week we had a beautiful 40 degree day and I was able to get outside for a walk with Harper.  It was amazing.  It was also amazing cause she fell asleep and I wheeled her right into the house in the stroller.  As of this week she's now taking naps (ALL THE PRAISE HANDS!) thanks to a very rough week of cry-it-out.  It was tough but worth it for both of us.  

Snuggling with Daddy.  I took this pic cause seriously this girl fall asleep with anybody else but me.  For me, there ain't a chance of her falling asleep unless I'm feeding her.  But pretty much anyone else can snuggle her and she'll pass out.  It's totally unfair.

Last week I got to see a girlfriend's baby for the first time!  This friend and I go way back and it was so fun to meet her little man and have our babies play together.  He's exactly one month older than Harper and they were just so dang cute together.  She couldn't quite keep up with him...but she tried and it was adorable.

There ya go, my first dump in like two years!  Here's to many more!

Hello 2018!

Hard to believe it's been over two years since I wrote on my little blog here!  Even though blogging appears to have gone by the wayside, I always loved being able to document my daily life.  I can't tell you how many times I've gone back to my old blogs (yes, plural - I've had a few over the years!) to read about this or that - mostly looking back at my pregnancy and monthly stats with Hadley!

Jumping in, we've added a new member to our family!  Our second daughter, Harper, was born in May last year.  We had quite the journey - and story - to her joining our family, which I can't wait to share about.  Otherwise, everything is about the same as it was the last time I wrote, ha!  But I'll update anyway.

Brad is still working in the building industry.  He has developed such an amazing style and has a super sharp eye for design.  He's recently started building his first "spec" house (a house that we'll sell when it's done) and I can't wait to see it when it's all said and done.  It's pretty unique for the area we live in and I think it will sell quickly.  Speaking in faith :)

Hadley is 5 years old and Lord, is she something.  I've never met a sweeter child.  She started Kindergarten this year and even though she complains pretty often about going, she seems to like it alright once she's there!  She's smart as a whip and I'm amazed at how quickly things get pieced together in her mind.  She's still our girly girl that loves to play outside, rough house with her daddy, and now hold her sister (and occasionally boss her around, despite it falling on deaf ears, lol).

Harper just turned 7 months old, I've nicknamed her "bear cub" cause she's just a persistent, temperamental little sweetie pie :)  She's not as chunky as Hadley was (I'm breastfeeding Harper whereas Hadley was on formula), but she's still got some sweet chunk to her that makes her so fun to hold and squeeze.  She is a total - TOTAL - Mama's girl, hates taking naps and has about a 10 minute tolerance for any activity (besides being held by Mom).  Basically she's rocking my world but dang if I don't have this crazy amount of grace and love for her, anyway.

As for me....I'm totally "at home" with the girls now.  I am working a few times a month as a bookkeeper for a local business and am a consultant for Beautycounter, but otherwise my heart and attention is for my girls.  We're pretty involved in our church and I recently helped start our women's ministry, which I never thought I'd love doing but here I am.  They're the most amazing, supportive women and they've made my cold, church-disliking heart love them :)  I volunteer in Hadley's class once a week.  Harper and I visit a local nursing home once a week as well (seriously if you have a baby and time on your hands,  do it!  You would die at how it blesses them).  Otherwise, you can find me cleaning my house or nursing the baby, ha!

I have no clue where this little blog of mine will go, but at any rate, I hope you'll read along!