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 House: update winter 2016

This was the dream

So my boys started building a wall, and rewiring the electricity 

Then adding drywall

and adding texture 

And Changing out the flooring

(James is now obsessed with building like grandpa, and even has his own tools that he spends his days fixing things with ;)

 This is so much better than the dream! 

Look what they made me :)

With the left over wood from the bench Michael built me a few other things I loved from Pintrest

A box for my mason jar flower pots 

 A key/wallet holder for next to the garage door seeing he likes to drop his keys on my counter

And a couch table for drinks that James can't hurt himself on like most coffee tables

This is my new office behind the wall they built me! 

The wall you can't see will soon be the home to a built in book shelf!

It took calling my mom to come help and a lot of focus, but I was finally able to get myself to do all the way up our stair case with family pictures! I love walking up the stairs now!

And lastly after years of not being able to decide what I wanted we got a new table!

I decided I wanted lower farmhouse style table, and miss matched chairs.... Mike looked at me when I was crazy, but when I finally found all the pieces I like he agreed it is perfect for our decor!

I finally feel like our new house is coming together to be my dream home. and I love that I get to spend my days here taking care of it with my little prince!

Mini McCall Vacation

When we 1st got into McCall we went exploring and took the big kids Ice Skating

Then we went to get hot chocolate then check into the hotel to warm up

Once we were settled in the kids got to open yet another gift

Grandma April and Grandpa Paul sent them a game and their own spending money for the trip!

Of course we had to have Pancake house for dinner!

Mike and Jenna had a race to finish, and Jenna won so Mike was her slave for the evening ;)

Next was swimming

In the morning after breakfast we got more hot chocolate and went 

on a Sleigh Ride to feed Elk!

Then we let the kids play in the snow until they were ready for lunch! 

After lunch we drove to see Grandma Angie and Grandpa Scott for a big New Years Party!

It was such a perfect end to 2015!

Our New Journey: Surrogacy Part 4- 20 week update

At 9 weeks I had my last ultrasound with Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine, and was transferred to my regular OBGYN. Because we had made it through the risky part of IVF pregnancy.

The next week I was able to ween off all my lovely shots!!! 

At 11 weeks I started showing enough to start tracking my bump growth

At 14 weeks I had my 1st appointment with my OB, and got to show my Intended Parents lots of pictures of their little miracle! 

That was also the week I started feeling movement which earned baby the nickname butterfly :)

 At 17 weeks my need for naps went away (which was like a Christmas Miracle)

I started craving Asian, so I think we went to PF Chang's like 4 times in a matter of weeks ;)

20 week bump!

At my 20 week appointment Mike and I were able to Facetime my IPs during the ultrasound, so they could find out they are getting a Princess!

Things are going very smoothly! 

I am now craving lots of fruit and my only real pregnancy symptom the last few weeks in very curable heartburn! I have had super energy lately so I am taking it out on my house! There is not a room that is not deep cleaned down to the floor boards, not a drop of laundry would need done if my family could just go a day without wearing more ;)

I feel less connection with baby butterfly than I did with my kids. I feel like that is a blessing, because even my heart knows I am not her mama! However I am just in love with my intended mother, and she is on my heart daily so I make sure her little girl is well taken care of!