Hello Stranger and Some New Updates!

Hello!

I know it has been a REALLY long time since I put a new blog update on here. I have been so busy with the kids and just life that it hasn't even dawned on me that I haven't wrote a post in a while. 

So, what's new?? My babies have been growing up so fast! Our oldest is just a few months away from going into middle school- WHAT??- that is a super scary thought! The middle one is in his last year of preschool and the little one just turned 3 (not so little anymore.) The hubby has become super busy with work, he has so many different things going on right now it's crazy. He definitely works long hours but we are so very blessed to have the work right now. As for me, I have been working on finally getting all of the baby weight off. Since August last year I have lost 40 pounds!!!! It really didn't take as long I thought, all it took was some super dedication. I will have a post about all the details soon. I'm so excited! So, all-in-all life is good. God has blessed us so much!!

We have managed to do some updating around the house. We had a clothes dryer go out on us back in the fall so we ended up just getting a new pair, and so far I love them! For as much laundry as I do they are so worth how much money they cost! The washer can wash HUGE loads, which is what I needed. They are Kenmore Elite Top Loaders. We had looked at the front load washer/dryers but I just wasn't too impressed.  I just wasn't too excited about the kids being able to turn knobs and having to buy the pedestals in addition to the actual machines. They are super nice looking but it just wasn't my cup of tea. So here is our new laundry room/ washer & dryer. 

 I also organized and re did the wire shelving. When you first walk into the back door of our home you don't see this anymore:

Goodness, I can't believe it looked like that. And that was on a good day!! 

 We also landed a new microwave, dishwasher, and a stove from a house that my husband was flipping. He also got a fridge but it ended up being too small for our kitchen. So, we just have to buy a fridge to match the rest of the appliances. I am loving the stainless steel though, I think it's a much more modern, sleeker look to go with our dark cabinets. I still would love to do so much to our kitchen but that will just come with time. Here's a before with the white appliances:

 And here is what it looks like now:

We also bought a tv for our living room around Thanksgiving last year. We went for about a year without having a tv in our living room, some people would think that was crazy! But seriously, the only time I would miss having one was when company would come over. The living room stayed quiet and tidy for the most part while we didn't have one. Honestly though it is nice to have one again. I can see it while I am cooking dinner at night and that is awesome! I love how open our kitchen/ living room are that I am able to do that. Here is what our living room looked like before, with the giant clock over the mantel:

And now here's our new tv/ mantel:

We've also done some exterior updates to the house including these window/flower boxes:

My husband (and his guys) built us some new shutters out of cedar. I love them! 

The flower boxes were a lot of work to get up and going but I think they add some personality and color to a lot of the dark accents we have added. 

My daughters room has also got a makeover. This was her back wall before:

And here it is now with some built-ins my husband did:

She loves her shelves!!

There are still more updates to show you later. Hope you enjoy!