the peonies that just wouldn't quit.

these were the prettiest blooms in history.
history people.
this post of only these photos has been sitting in my drafts folder since may of LAST YEAR, when said blooms were given to me by my most wonderful husband... well, now felt like a great time to go ahead + share it because well, peonies foreverrrrrrr.

our weekend in little squares

we had the happiest little weekend here. probably the last one of only the four of us... riiiiight baby? weekends are for breakfast, always... + this weekend consisted of all fun, no work + lots of fellowship. we spent majority of every day out in the sunshine, every night on a patio grilling, whether it was ours or someone else's, stayed thirty minutes after church talking with new friends, and the only house work that was done was mowing + mopping, and those two things happened simultaneously on saturday while the kids napped. hooray for weekends. 
^^^how happy am i for little friends?! + if their parents are wonderful too, that is an even bigger win.
 ^^^abel requests "just mommy + abel time" lately, and it's the sweetest thing. i hope i can have one on one time with all of my kiddos all the time, even if it's only for short little time slots.
^^^finished the weekend off at the splash pad. oh how i love little todd bods in swimsuits + those smiles. forever + ever, amen.

b a c k y a r d

for the past three months, every waking hour that chris has been home has mostly been spent in our back yard. during our build, we had no sprinklers so we lost what little grass we had back there + so the whole thing has basically been a dirt field + terrible on my floors + laundry duties + so on. the kids don't mind it a bit, and kids are supposed to play in the dirt, so we have. not to mention, if we wanted to see chris... that's where he'd be! BLESS HIM. he has learned how to do SO many things since being a home owner + i am so proud of + thankful for all the work he (+ brother in laws!) have put in! ALSO, i am SO happy to report, that after rock removal, and tilling, and sod laying, and sprinkler system putting in + reputting in, and deck building, + swingset placing, and on and on and on... the other night, we hung our cantina lights + porch swing, and are officially DONE working in the backyard for a while. as homeowners, and creative people, there will always be new ideas + things to be done, but we set a stopping point for ourselves + decided that it was time to just enjoy + sit for a while, and we are SO excited! i plan to "camp" as abel says, AKA roast + eat s'mores as many nights as we can, chase my kiddos around in the beautiful new grass, enjoy nights with chris on the porch + praise the Lord for the continued blessings in our lives!
UPDATED:
Before + After Pics!

block party.

last week chris had his family block party at work + the kids had the best time ever.
we shared ice cream + they had their faces painted (by someone other than me or themselves) for the very first time + bounced the bounce house until we had to go in and physically retrieve them (the last two kids in there) so that they could be deflated. it was so good.
i love nights like that. easy + wonderful, and a whole lot of my little family.
^^^never knowing when our last photo as a family of only FOUR will be, i'd surely take this one as it. so sweet, i could cry looking at it! 

slow mornings, jammies + things

i'm just going to go ahead and confess that we stay in jammies a lot. probably too much. maybe it's because once upon a time i taught dance every day and loungewear was work wear + it never seemed like that big of a deal to me to basically live in it. i'm trying to make it more of a regular thing to get us all dressed for the day earlier than say 1pm, but pregnant + slow mornings with these two... my confession stands. we love jammies + especially these cute l'oved baby ones. we love waking up + taking it easy around here... breakfast + outside + popsicles by noon... summer days are it right now + with the clock ticking to baby number three's arrival, i am trying to savor it the best i can, while also wishing to meet her sweet face like yesterday! 
i can't believe that we are only a few short days away from our due date + that life as we know it will change. there's really no way to prep for that sort of thing, i've always found it better to just charge through when it happens + see where you end up. so far that's worked for us! these two are my best little company + the way they love and interact with eachother is everythinggggg. i truly am so so excited to see them love another + to have one more sweet member added to our morning crew. amen!

summer nights

we went to the food truck rally last night + it felt just how every summer night should feel in my opinion. family, food, kids playing in the grass... slow + easy. I took a million pictures + am posting most of them because me and the narrowing...
^^^abel is a dream
^^^can someone please pick my heart up off the floor for me?!
^^^that chris... he sure is a good one! & look how good he looks with three!