more to love♥

from since i can remember, i've always wanted a big family. 4 kids, maybe 5, to be exact. i came from a family of 3, but being 10 years younger than my sister, and 12 younger than my brother, it was more like i was an only child with 2 sets of really cool parents. i was always asking friends over for play dates, always playing with my cousin who lived a mile away, and always hanging out with my best friend and her 3 siblings. i thought all the chaos and always having someone around was just so amazingly fabulous. then i met michael, and discovered he was one of 4. we've talked lots and lots about the number of children we'd like to have. our numbers don't seem to match up. that's ok. we'll figure it out as we go along. but in the meantime, harper has some news she'd like to share...



ahh. my ♥ is happy. and while constant, all-day nausea and staring at the toilet more times than i can count sometimes seems to take over my happy thoughts, inside, i'm all joy and roses and sunshine. i love that harper will have a sibling close in age. i love that we'll have new baby scents and itty bitty clothes in our house again. and although i know our sleeping will be significantly decreased, i also know the hustle and bustle in our home and busyness of our lives will be fun. oh boy (or girl), my hormones must be kicking in. i'm getting all sappy about spit up and crying and colic and washing bottles and nursing and pumping and lack of sleep and, and, and... i'll let you know about that sunshine and roses come april 1st on this baby's proposed arrival.

so, yes, we're on our way to our 2, 3, 4 or 5 kids. and we couldn't be happier. we've been down a tough road in terms of pregnancies, but things are looking on the up. i've made it past 12 weeks, and this baby keeps reminding me that it's doing just fine with the random cravings followed by the random sickness. and harper is doing a fabulous job taking care of her mama every time i run into the bathroom. her latest saying "mommy, don't get sick." oh, harper, if only i could stop it.

and because i've promised for a looooong while to post these photos, here is our kitchen, beginning to end. this kitchen has given me more to love, too. more counter space. more cabinet space. more openness between family room and kitchen. more love to my husband for his amazing handy-man abilities and confidence and willingness to give anything a try. on top of redoing this kitchen (which still needs some minor adjustments and finishing touches, but no one's complaining), he's back in school for his mba, he's working crazy hours, he's daddying harper a whole extra bunch, and he's allowing me some time for sleep and recovery. he's half the reason our little family exists, and he's my everything reason for love. ♥

beginning...

middle...

and end...