HELLO!!!



I found the inspiration to get things going again on our blog!  I didn't think it would happen, but here I am!  Like the picture?  It pretty much sums things up right now ;) 

I changed the title of the blog from our family name to something a little more anonymous.  Why "The Lemon Bee"?  Well, most of you know that I had an etsy shop (lemon bee studio) open for a about a year or so.  I closed it in the fall before the birth of our second daughter, Emma.  It was a really great creative outlet for me but quite time consuming.  So, I thought I would stick with the name, Lemon Bee, since this blog is another form of a creative outlet for me! 

It's a fun way for me to reflect on the journey of making memories with our family, and be able to share it with out friends and family too!

 

 

 

UPDATES

For some odd reason I actually got inspired to write a post this morning!  I started a real, live scrapbook in the spring to document our lives.  Which leaves me not feeling like I really need to post a bunch of pictures/updates on the blog anymore.  We will see what happens.  There is a lot going on as you will see...

1.  I am 25ish weeks pregnant.  I am not totally sure.  Need to check my phone.  This pregnancy is so different from the first time.  This baby kicks and moves like crazy.  My desire to nest and have energy came to me much later this time.  And, I have done NOTHING in preparation for this sweet girl.  Anybody have a crib they want to sell?  Doesn't look like Quinn is going to giver hers up anytime soon.

2.  We bought a house!  This happened in August, but it has been a whirlwind every since.  Living in a house has been such a blessing and has really helped with my sanity.  I am so grateful.  We are loving our neighborhood.  I wasn't expecting to love being in a neighborhood as much as I do.  There are a lot of little kids and young families.  The families are super friendly and that gives me a lot of peace of mind. 

3.  Quinn is becoming such a big girl.  She is incredibly smart and picks up on things so quickly.  I could go on and on because she is so busy these days.  We had a blast on Halloween.  She was a black kitty...a very, very cute one.  She loved passing out candy and insisted on walking and carrying her own candy bucket throughout the neighborhood.  "Quinn, you want me to carry you?"--as we walk at a snail's pace--"No!"  She is Miss Independent.

4.   I decided to close/take a break from Lemon Bee Studio.  It practically closed itself as I have barely done anything but fill orders since being pregnant.  A part of me kept thinking I would snap back into it.  After praying about it, it became apparent that this is just the beginning of a new season.  Part of this new season means learning when to say "not now."  It's a hard discipline for me to learn but I am finding a lot of freedom in it.  I am excited for what the Lord will do as I open myself up to the new things He wants to do through me.  I just bought "The Best Yes" by Lysa TerKeurst.  A girl from my BSF class said she is really enjoying it.

Well there ya have it!  In a nut shell :)

18 months

Well summer came and went, and I didn't post even once!  I'm not sure if I'll try to catch up a little with a summer post or not.  But, I did want to post about what Quinn has been up to lately.  She reached her 18 month milestone this summer and I don't want to forget all of th fun things she is doing at this stage!

Favorite foods: bananas, grapes, clementines, pasta, pizza, black beans, corn, anything with cheese, pb&j, waffles

Favorite words: banana ("nana"), kitty, no, yeah, shoe, uhh-oh, mommy, "woooooowwww!", snack

Favorite activities: sweeping with her broom, reading books, pushing her mini stroller, going through wallets, "snuggling" with Beacon (she is getting better at being gentle!), being silly and walking around with a blanket on her head, opening and closing doors (waiting to pop out and say "Hiiii!!"), giving hugs and kisses, watching Mickey Mouse or "shows"

Least favorite activities: stopping something fun=50% chance of a tantrum depending on the circumstances, road trips (hah), doctor visits, four teeth have been pushing their way through allll summer---they are all just about broken through now! Yay!!!!

We also left Quinn with my parents for 5 days and I was a mess.  It was so nice to have a break and Quinn did great with them.  But, it was so weird not to have her with us!  She has such a presence in our family and her personality is so defined now that she is getting bigger.  It can be a tiring job but they sure are cute at this age!

Quinn had surgery to get tubes in her ears in August.
It was a rough morning on surgery day but the recovery has gone really well!

Easter 2014

 I'm a little behind here with the blog.  Better late than never, I guess!  Blogging feels like somewhat of a chore right now.  I have been really into making things for Lemon Bee and enjoying the nice weather outside.  Doesn't really leave much motivation for blogging!  Anyway, we had some lovely company over for Easter weekend.  Ben and Kelsey drove up from Charlotte, Topher from Chicago, and Polly from Buffalo.  We are the lucky ones who happen to be a pretty central meeting point! 

 It was SO FUN to watch Quinn get into her Easter Hunt this year!  Last year she was just a tiny baby.  It feels like forever ago!

 Napping definitely made it on the agenda for the weekend ;)

 So, did dirt pudding :)

Matt and I were able to sneak in a nice little walk on Sunday afternoon.  Polly was able to stick around after everyone left, and gave us the gift of free babysitting :)