first love

my heart beats a little faster, my tummy feels queasy and water wells up in my eyes when i reflect on moving away from the kinsley and mason friendship.

who could have guessed that a little boy and a little girl could grow up together and remain buddies despite his "all boy" and her "all girl" passions.

maybe it's because i adore his mom and we created playdates so that we could spend time together.

maybe it's because the dads have an awesome friendship and text more often than ben and i do.

or maybe, just maybe, it's because they have a rare bond that is all their own.

they were in diapers together. diapers. 

mason has always been kinsley's protector.  

we were in the mountains a few weeks ago and one morning ben walked in their room and witnessed kinsley standing on her tippy toes while mason hung down from the top bunk.  they were sharing a good-morning kiss.  it wasn't the first.

these pictures don't even scratch the surface of all the memories and fun they have had.  what a complete joy it has been.  we are totally teaching them to skype. 

displaced

in the last 7 days the girls and i have stayed in 4 different homes. we are waiting for our house to sell and i am a better mom when i do not have the stress of keeping the house spotless and staged. we have practically been living out of a suitcase and sometimes don't know what house we will be at each night.

the girls have been so amazing. probably because they have been with friends, cousins and grandparents and get to wake up with this view out the backdoor:

i have missed keeping up with the blog. i usually let pictures tell our story but my camera is super broken and had to be sent away for 8 weeks. 8 weeks. oh my, that is hard to grasp. please, lord, let it be ready by our disney trip. so, since pictures have been lacking so has my blogging.

however. my sweet little caroline is getting dedicated on sunday and i needed to get a picture of her for the occasion. i used another camera and filled the memory card up with this precious 6 month old beauty:

a new southern living subscriber

february has been full. full of change, fun things, to-do lists, and now sicknesses(is there a sadder sound than a baby coughing?). before i get to the big news, which all who are reading this probably already know about, i need to share pics of the daddy daughter ball.

i tend to feel that if i don't get a chance to blog about something, it is as if it never happened. it was weeks ago, but still a sweet memory. ben came home with dresses for the girls that he picked out himself. they were thrilled. they all got fancied up and headed out for some food and dancing.

the fact that i am now blogging about this must mean it is really going to happen. drumroll...

we have a peace and excitement about this big move. thankfully, it hasn't been an emotional roller coaster......yet. i do envision a FLOOD of tears when the goodbyes begin. i can't even do justice in describing the bond i have with my friends. and their kids. deep breath. and my family. oh, it will be so, so hard. but, i can do it. for now, i choose to rest in the adventure piece and am buckling my seatbelt for the ride. i am sure there will be a stream of upcoming sentimental posts. we all should buckle our seatbelts for those.
and now for my all time favorite pic of my girls:

before it was below zero

just a few days ago we were outside in the warm sunshine. we spent the day up at sarah's house but mostly in her backyard. fun fun times.

i am in love with this pic of ben and caroline.

sarah is due with their baby in may. apparently getting some early practice with an american girl doll.

my dad is always. always. always. taking pictures of his grandkids.

we topped off the day with face paint and a silly string war.

crafting

goodbye little winter wreath. with the help of my pinecone collectors, you cost me 3 dollars to make.

hello there, valentine wreath. with the help of a wire hanger and old fabric scraps you are a free addition to our decor. better yet, the girl's bedroom is red and white so you can hang there year round.

Victory!

the journey has been tough. extreme. for well over a year, little hallie has had major difficulty going potty. at times, she spent hours sobbing and clenched. we had tried everything and were one step away from seeing a specialist when we decided to give potty training one last go.

this last week, many days were spent like this:

and.....in less than a week--the kiddo is potty trained! the psychological barrier has broken and she is officially a "big girl". she picked out brand new panties and has had her eye on this little robot for around 6 months. after being successful with a potty reward system, she marched down those aisles in Target and brought it home. meet our new robot, alphie.

New Toys