Hi! I missed you ;)

Ok, so it has been forever since I have updated! 

I keep having people ask why I stopped, and I don't really know. 

I was so very tired a lot of my 1st trimester, and with Mike deployed for part of it then the holidays  I just forgot about things like sewing, and blogging, and just extra stuff. 

But with things calming down and pregnancy being easy again  

I decided it is time to get back to Hobbies :)

Here is a recap of what has been going on for the Reece Family since my last post:

Michael came home just in time for Veterans Day, and we celebrated his college graduation the 1st week of December!

Which made for a great reason to have a weekend away alone just the 2 of us to celebrate! 

I grew huge with a my sweet Surro baby 

Link to Surrogacy Update!

 We spent a weekend in Boise for Mike's Squadron Christmas Party!

The kids got to go play with friends

then we went swimming, 

 Once they were ready for they got their 1st Christmas Gifts!

Then my handsome man and I got dressed up and went to the ball ;)

 It was so much fun catching up with RANS friends, and showing off my new cute accessory 

Some of my favorite Reece Boys build me a new entry way, and office for my Christmas gift!

It was so amazing to watch it come together over a few weeks,

 and lots of fun spending all the extra time with my in-laws!

Link to see my new construction, and other home updates!

 James learned that he loves snow!

As much as he loves the Aquarium! 

We had a super fun Christmas Break with lots of Shenanigans 

Like a trip to The Village to see Star Wars and go ice skating

Link to the Reece Family Christmas 2015 Post!

And we had a fun little vacation away in the snow

Link to vacation pictures!

We are super proud of our girl! 

She has been busy with Piano, Caravans (scouts), and Bible Quizzing. 

 She is also in basketball again lol

To make sure she knows how proud we are we spent a Saturday spoiling her

we ended the evening with Grandpa Scott at a BSU game! 

Last weekend Michael and I got away again to reset after such a busy few months!

Now we are ready to kick off my favorite month of the Year! 

Our New Home Part 2: January

Here is Part 1 if you missed it ;)

I am honestly amazed with how much can happen in 1 month! 

We got an email from the builder on 1/5 saying our plans had been approved, and they would break ground soon, and then things just started happening!

We live close by, so I take Jenna once a day to see the house

 so she can make a book when it is all done.

 Here are some of the pictures!

This was our "house" on January 5th 

And this is what our house looks like today 

January 31st :)

Our new home part 1: The story in a Nutshell :)

Well this is extremely delayed!

The story in a Nutshell :)

Our journey to a new house a long one coming. Mike and I decided a few years ago we wanted to move closer to family and Kade, but wanted to be debt free when we made the move. 

This October we had our AMAZING realtor Rex Tedeski start looking at homes with us. We couldn't find anything we were interested in, but were in no hurry. In November when we found out that Mike was going to deploy we decided we would put our house on the market asking way more than we wanted for it, so we could lower it when he got back... 

IT SOLD 4 DAYS LATER in a snow storm no less!!! 

We now needed to move out by the end of December, so we started looking a little more determined. We had a list of things that were really important to us though, and nothing quite met up to our demands. We decided one day to just look into building, and by the end of the next day were signing papers to buy a lot :)

All of the cards sort of fell into place for the sale and build, but we needed somewhere to live. That's when our sister Mandi played hero and let us stay in her spare rooms. I may just stay here when the house is finished ;)

Our amazing family really stepped up to help us move the weekend before Mike left! There really isn't words for how blessed we are with support!

The Nutshell had lots of steps though ;)

Just to sign with the builder:

• We had to pick out a lot. We found the perfect one in the school zone we wanted, in a cul-de-sac, that has a small island so Jenna is safer while playing basketball, and a big yard.  

• We had to pick the home design we wanted... then change it to meet our long list of wants. Like an extra room, a loft, an extended garage (2 car is too small and 3 car allows for too much stuff), and the downstairs bath location to name a few. 

• The fun part was going to pick out all the finishing touches like flooring, counters, and doors. 
• We decided to put away money for allot of thing like paint, lighting, molding, and kitchen/bath upgrade  so that we can build equity imminently instead of having the builder do the work. 
• There were things we wanted that can't be added later (as easy) like the best carpet pad, insulated bedrooms. and bigger windows. 

Then once the new house was waiting for approval by the city we had to:

• Tell big brother and big sister (James was along for the whole ride)

• Move our of our 1st home...so much harder than I thought! Mike and I picked this house out when we had been dating for a month! It was the 1st home for both of our older kids, it was where we brought our baby home to. Even just writing about it now makes me tear up and miss my husband more! 

• And now we wait...