Three weeks ago today, we added a new little person to our family. Her name is Kate Louise.

She's snuggly, a tad bit fiesty when she's mad, and likes sleeping in our arms. Also, she's super cute. Louise is after my sweet (yet also kinda fiesty) grandma, who passed away 12 years ago and would have just celebrated her birthday. She had the best laugh ever and her eyes made you feel loved.

my grandma holding her niece, 1952.

I've sat down a few times to my laptop to post to my facebook page, write a blog post, share some pictures. Then I got distracted: a baby cried, I realized I should order toilet paper on amazon, or someone seemed like they needed some mom time. (Or like right now, someone emptied the contents of a dresser.) So I tuck away the laptop and let it collect some more dust. And looking back, I'm pretty darn happy with that decision. I've enjoyed being able to step back, let blog stuff get quiet, and let my stats play a game of limbo. How LOW can you go? WOO! 

It's been really refreshing stepping away and focusing on us and our family.

Things went well this time around. If I had wrote this three weeks ago, I'd have said it was the hardest thing ever. But no complications, nothing too out of the ordinary. Which makes me feel silly for even complaining about it being hard. I'm so grateful. Grateful we're healthy and that she's here.

We're still transitioning, but so far so good.

When we went from three kids to four, I felt like I was running a marathon a few weeks behind everyone else in the race. This time around, I feel like it's been the exact opposite. So much so that it sounds as if I'm sugar coating things.

Doug and the kids, especially the older two, have been amazing. We've had help and meals from family and sweet friends. I am still taking it easy and not demanding as much of myself. Her whole pregnancy we've been going through a host of changes: moving, adjusting, renovation. And now things are falling into place. It feels really good. 🙂

Our older four kids have done well with the changes. Kate squawks and seconds later I have an almost 2 year old yelling "BABY CRYING! BABY NEEDS MOM!", a 6 year old checking her diaper, a 3.5 year old petting her head and rubbing his face on her head, and a 5 year old matter-of-factly saying it's about time to feed her and he'll get me a cup of water. Everyone asks if Lily (our oldest) is thrilled to finally have a sister, and she is, but they all seem to be smitten.

I've noticed that some of the kids seem to need me a little more than normal. Maybe now that we've slowed down, I'm noticing it more. Or maybe now that I'm taking the time to do it, I'm realizing how much they need me to just be here as their mom.

So we've had all that, graduated kindergarten, started summer vacation, had soccer games, library class, and gone on trips to Target that I later regretted. Which were followed by trips to Starbucks #smoresfraptakemeaway... Coffee has been a big help with all the changes. And it's also been nice to have a glass of something adulty once again.

I also have some stuff upcoming that I can't wait to share with you here on the blog.

We have quite a few projects that are done and waiting to be shared. We finished the laundry room remodel, hung shutters on our house, created an office/nursery, and decluttered. A lot. And when I say "we" I mean mostly Doug with a little bit of me telling him what to do.

I also had some fun with creating a colorful outdoor living space (inspired by a garage sale find) and I can't WAIT to share that with you tomorrow. Here's a sneak peek...

I still haven't written a house tour for our new house and would like to do that soon. Rooms are falling into place too and I'm excited to share those with you. Not full blown, diy-filled, everything's awesome room reveals. More like, hey, this room still has a long way to go but was just vacuumed and the kids picked up the crap, so YAY! here's some pictures of what things look like.

I'd like to talk more about organization and simple decluttering tips now that we're figuring out our systems in this new-to-us space. I'd like to show more little snippets of life here to make you (and me) feel slightly more normal. And if there's anything you'd like to hear more about, please, let me know so I can get on that.

But at the same time, I'm not going to over do or put pressure on myself like I have in the past. These people need me and I'm going to be here for them. And if it means not sharing cookie decorating videos to the facebook page or churning out content, well then, so be it. 🙂

Thanks again for being here, reading, and sharing.

I started writing here in October 2009 sharing little bits of our home journey. Since then we've gone from a family of three to a family of seven, completely renovated one house, sold that house, bought another, spray painted lots of stuff, posted way too many pictures, filled lots of garbage bags, and met all of you. It's weird to admit that it's become a career or that it can help to support our family. Because it feels like I'm just on here having fun. Talking with friends, taking pictures, sharing stuff I find interesting.

But it's awesome and I want to thank you for listening. 🙂