Natalie is a year older....

Natalie turned 6 this month so we had a party with some friends and family. We just moved into the house too so it was nice to have a few people over. Natalie loved having her cousins over and opening presents was definitely a group effort.

Natalie is getting so big I can hardly believe it. I remember when she was a tiny baby and so dependent on me. Now she is girl with her own thoughts of the way things should be and reminds me constantly of how big she is. Birthdays are so fun with her now because she makes her list of what she would like to get and wants to have input on the decorations. I am learning to let go of the control and let her choose what she wants rather then what I would think would be cute. It is a lot of fun to sit down with her and go over things.

The funniest part of the evening was to watch Paul and a couple of our friends sit around the table and put all the toys together. They were so into it and had to make everything perfect. haha Natalie loved running around with her cousins and playing with her new toys. They got to stay awhile because the adults wanted to sit around and talk so I think fun was had by all. Thanks everyone for coming and I hope to get together again soon.

I tried punch for the first time and it turned out pretty good. I called someone and got a recipe and I think I will be using that one from now on. I actually crave it all the time now but I can't have punch around all the time....that would just be dumb.....right? haha We are having a bowling party at the beginning of Nov. and the rest of the family will be able to make it. Plus we will be celebrating about 4 birthdays at that party so more pics to come later.

Change really isn't that bad.....

When Paul and I decided to move to Richland, WA we had some reservations. We both knew the area and it defiantly wasn't our first choice of where to live but now that we are here I think we are really happy we made that choice. The weather is so different from the Portland area but I think we are going to enjoy it. We have longer summers which means more time outside and we can go on more camping trips. Woohoo!!! This is the first time we own a home in a neighborhood and we did this to help the kids (and me) adjust to a new area. Natalie is in school and has made a few friends there but she has also met a few kids in the neighborhood too. The kids also like that we don't have to go to far to find a local park. I am enjoying be able to go walking again. Living in the country and not having Paul home made that difficult for me.

We love that the home we have now is finished and we don't have to spend our weekends working on home projects. I don't think we have been this content with our life in a while. Things have really come together for us and I couldn't be happier. It is amazing how when some of the stresses of life go away things just seem to run smoother. This ended up being the best choice for me and my family.

Kate is loving having some alone time when Natalie goes to school. She is learning to be a little more independent because Natalie isn't always around to help her. She spends part of her day outside with the dogs. She loves to just sit out there and talk to Buster about anything. They have really become buds. I think she is also loving that it is October and we are still having 80 degree weather.

The girls are enjoying doing things that wasn't so easy to do before. They can ride their bikes to the park and with Paul able to get off work at a decent time we can all go together. Now that we live in the same town that Paul works in we have so much more family time and we are really enjoying it. There have been so many positives with this move that I don't want to forget to mention that we are so close to family. The girls love having their cousins close and we have already planned a sleepover. Paul's family loves our kids and wants to spend time with them so we get to have date nights more then we have had in a while. Now if I could just get my cousin Emily to move up here so I can have a shopping buddy. haha

I know this blog is kind of all over the place but the gist of it is.....we are happy!!!

Our new home!!!!

So this post is for the few people who keep bugging me about photos of the new home. I hope everyone can make it out for a visit sometime to see it in person. We love our new home and are having so much fun settling in and making it our own. A lot of the walls are still bare because we have only been in the house about two weeks and if I could I would buy all new stuff I would do that!! (one could dream) There are a lot of photos of the house so this post is a long one. This is a hall leads to a bathroom and the soon to be nursery, also a hall closet.

This is Paul's office. He is searching for the right desk and I said that he could decorate it. He asked me to buy him coat hooks so he could put them in the wall. Oh boy, this is going to be a mess and I will be hanging curtains on those doors.

That is the entry to the master bedroom off the living room. I don't have pictures of our bedroom because it is a mess with boxes everywhere.

This is the hallway from the front door into the living room. Lots of space that I need to decorate.

The dining room.

Our kitchen and the best pantry ever!!!

The living room and dining room.

The living room.

What I posted in our laundry room. Thanks Emily, I agree it is cute.

Our laundry room with a sink for Paul to wash up before he enters my clean house. haha

The girls' bathroom. They got to pick out the decor even though I wanted something else. Dad backed their discussion so I was the odd man out.

Underwater sea life is the theme.

Katelyn's bedroom.

Kate's room.

Natalie's room.

Natalie's room again.

Going private

I have been thinking about this the last couple of months but with everything that is going on I haven't had time to set it up. I will be setting my blog to private in the next couple of days. There are a lot of exciting things that have changed and are continuing to change in my life and I don't feel comfortable with the whole world seeing it anymore.