Life Lately (summer 2024)

We have had a blast so far this summer. We have been busy doing things to finish the house. We got a driveway, our yard leveled (we won't be planting grass until fall) and just getting rooms situated still. With all the things going on around the house, we really weren't sure if doing a vacation was going to be a great idea this year. Anthony has just been so busy with work and in his spare time, we are constantly getting things done around the house. 

As if he isn't busy enough, Anthony applied for a local high schools head soccer coach position and got it! He has coached lots of ages of kids over the years and when we lived in Maryland, he was the assistant coach for a high school there as well and loved it. It was fun to see him in that role with the kids and when we moved back to Ohio, that was something he really wanted to do. 

I didn't really feel like this was the right time to take on a task like being the head coach as it requires so much time that he doesn't seem to have but life is funny that way. It can be really difficult to plan things out for the "right moment". 😂

As we have come to know, life's best surprises come when we least expect it. We have been fortunate enough to not struggle too much when it comes to having babies. We got pregnant fairly quickly with both Ellie and Sophia, so when we found out we were pregnant in February after just a couple weeks we weren't really all that surprised. Life decided to take a turn when we lost that baby and we really didn't think that would happen to us. 

We had been so excited to tell everyone, we always wanted everyone to be praying for us and our babies from the very beginning so we didn't see the need to wait to tell. Ellie was so excited, she would tell every single person we had come in contact with that I was pregnant. I didn't realize how hard it would be to have to tell her we lost the baby. That is a very difficult conversation to have with a 5 year old. If you are going through that hard journey, just know we are here for you and we know how hard it is to walk that path. 

I'm so thankful that we have been able to have two healthy girls and now a very special rainbow baby with us. The girls are soooo excited to be big sisters. We are so blessed! 💕

Summer is coming to an end and I am not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, we are desperate for a real schedule here. It's starting to feel like Groundhog Day, mostly my fault because I purposely hate having a schedule in the summer. 

There's just something about being able to pick up with a moments notice and go to the pool if it's a nice day, or shopping and lunch if it's gloomy. Ohio can be very unpredictable so I like a clear open schedule to be free to do anything we want. Only now that July is coming to an end, I'm not really ready for Ellie to start kindergarten and Sophia to start preschool next month.

The girls couldn't be more excited for school to start though. We went shopping for school supplies last week and now they are in full blown "school mode". They are playing "school" with their dolls, packing their lunch boxes and backpacks every day, and breaking in all their new school clothes. I remember as a kid, going school shopping and my mom making us promise not to wear our school stuff until school started. Here I am having the same conversations with my girls, who are dressed in their first day of school outfits every single day. 

*full circle moment*