Currently

I would be lying if I said that life has been easy lately. Moving our family of five into a new home, celebrating two birthdays, updating our new home and experiencing day to day life has been challenging for the past couple of months. Without my amazing husband and our incredibly helpful and loving parents, I would be a complete wreck. Thankfully I am beyond blessed with an amazing support system and my kids are pretty much the best kids on the planet. ;) 

Here is a Currently post to update everyone on our busy lives.

Working on...a million things at once. The basement is under construction right now. We found an awesome guy who is finishing the walls, ceilings, steps and installing doors. Once he's done, Jonathan and I are installing new flooring and then we'll furnish it for our family room/super awesome kids space. I'm also painting Noah's room, as well as the girls' room and arranging furniture and organizing toys in both of the rooms. We still need to install the range fan in our kitchen as well as paint the trim and finishing decorating the walls. The office is still mostly packed up and there are several boxes full of frames and other home decor in our master. It's slow going, but I'm working on the house daily. I can't wait to start photographing each room and posting our progress on the blog.

I'm also working on my Etsy shop a ton. I'm going to be participating in the local farmers market this summer, so I'll need to make a lot of inventory and get my booth planned out. My shop is doing great, I reopened halfway through May and am blown away at the orders. I have given God my business and am doing my best to be obedient to Him and allow Him to grow my business where He sees fit. My main goal right now is to make enough money to send Annabella to preschool at our church. I have absolute faith that God will make that happen.

Reading...Jonathan bought me a new Bible (for the busy mom) for Mother's Day. It has so many quick devotionals throughout and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also doing a couple of devotionals through an app on my phone. Before the move I was reading Beautiful in God's Eyes and I hope to get back to reading it very soon. 

Preparing For...Madelynn to go to school! She's all signed up for kindergarten, so now all we can do is wait for Open House in August. She's thrilled and talks about it all of the time. I am a nervous wreck and am praying that I handle it better when it's time for her to go. I'll also be sending Annabella to preschool for two days a week. It'll be good for her to be around other children without her sister and I'm so excited to see both of my girls flourish and make new friends. Noah and I aren't going to know what to do with ourselves!

Thankful For...Every single second I get to be a wife and mommy. It took a while for me to embrace this role after being an independent working woman for so long. When I had Annabella and became a stay at home mom, I was over the moon excited, but not quite sure what to do with myself or who I was. It's been three years and I am 100% confident in my abilities to love and care for my family. I am beyond grateful to God for blessing me with this life and I know without a doubt that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Raising these babies and teaching them about their Savior, managing our home, earning money and expressing my creativity through my shop and supporting and encouraging my amazing husband throughout his endeavors. Thank you God that I finally know who I am. I am Yours.

Reminiscing About...Our long weekend at the lake last weekend. We took the kids Friday after Jonathan got off of work and spent Memorial Day weekend with his family. We had Friday and Saturday morning to ourselves and then the rest of the family arrived after lunch on Saturday. The kids had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to relax and not even think about my never ending to do list. We even got to take naps in the afternoon! It was so much fun and much needed. 

Here are some super precious photos from our weekend at the lake to wrap up the post!

Front Porch Playin'

When Jonathan and I were house hunting for our very first house, we each had one "must have". He wanted a basement and I wanted a front porch. When we walked into the house we ended up buying, we were blinded by the high ceilings, gigantic master, and incredibly low price so we bought it. I never regretted buying that house and it was the perfect house for our growing family, but it was always missing the two things that we wanted most. This time when we went house hunting, we knew we definitely wanted a basement and I thought I could live without a front porch. Boy would I have been wrong! Our home has the biggest front porch I've seen and we use it DAILY. Almost every night we take the kids out, listen to music, watch the birds, and wind down for the evening. It fulfills the kids craving to be outside, but it keeps them clean before going to bed. We had Madelynn's birthday party in the front yard just so we could decorate and use the front porch. I may sound crazy, but I LOVE the porch!! 

Today I took the kids out with me so we could take down M's party decorations. I put the baby gate up so the dog and baby can't escape and everyone runs around and has so much fun. I couldn't help but take some photos of my precious littles having a blast on the porch, listening to worship music and enjoying our new front yard. I'm still in disbelief that our yard and home are truly ours. It's such a blessing.

I have this blog so I can remember the kids just the way they are on a particular day. What I want to remember today is how the girls argued with each other the entire time they were sitting side by side at the end of the porch, but 5 minutes later when Annabella sat in the chair, Madelynn wanted to sit in the chair with her. I want to remember how obsessed with tiny things Annabella is-particularly the $1 store jungle animals that we bought her for her birthday. She never lets them out of her sight. Even though Noah had his tractors outside, he mostly played with a princess flashlight and a Frozen cell phone. He snatches up his sisters' princess toys in a second and plays with them as fast as he can before they find out and take them away. I want to remember how Madelynn wants so badly to be like mommy and how she helped me take down her birthday decorations without me asking. She pretended to talk on her phone and like daddy talks to Google, she said, "Ok phone. Call daddy. Do it, ok?" 

These kids are my world and these days are making memories faster than I can keep up with. This is our last summer with Madelynn before she goes to school. Annabella, Noah, and my days are going to be so very different without sweet Madsy at home with us. It's going to be a huge change for Annabella especially, since she's her best friend in the whole world. My hope is that it will bring her and Noah closer together. I'm about to cry just thinking about it.

Thank you God for sweet spring days, healthy children and my new front porch!

284ab2fce0acb65be5668c6d7380f6017ca649e3daf0841134

Madelynn is FIVE!!

Our big girl turned FIVE yesterday. 

We had a rainbow themed birthday party on Sunday. Our amazing friends and family joined us for bouncy house fun, water fights and sunshine. There was so much love in our new house, it was overwhelming. We hadn't even been at the house for three weeks, but I was determined to have her party at our house. It was the BEST way to start our new lives here. Turns out the house is excellent for entertaining and the yard is perfect for the kids! Madelynn had the MOST fun! 

On her actual birthday mom took the kids and me out to lunch. We went to "Mexicans" per her request. (After we talked her out of the "House Restaurant" aka Arbys) She got to wear the sombrero and eat a special sopapilla. When Jonathan got home we opened presents, ate watermelon and pizza and had family movie night. She had several cupcakes left over, so we relit the candles and sang to her one more time. They got to stay up a little late and we had so much fun celebrating our FIVE year old!

Happy birthday, sweet girl. I pray that you always keep your sassy attitude, that you continue to be the leader and that you always love with all of your heart. You are so precious to us and you're becoming a young lady right before our eyes. We could never describe how proud of you we are. We love you Baby Bear, Madsy Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Madelynn Ann. 

**NEW** Items in the shop! Specialty banners!

It's no secret that I love everything fabric-especially when it's mixed patterns with some shabby charm. These banners are just like my tutus, only they're strung on durable, stylish jute. The banners are 5 feet long, with 3 feet of fabric and one foot on each side to hang. The fabric is about 9 inches long. These can be used all over your house for seasonal decor, photo props, and party backgrounds. This one in particular is perfect for spring and summer barbeques, birthday parties, and seasonal decor. Use it in your kitchen window, on your mantle, across your headboard-the uses are endless! 

Tutus and banners can be made in matching or corresponding fabrics for birthday parties or photo shoots, so contact me if you'd like a custom order. This particular banner is premade and ready for shipping, but more are to come or you can place a custom order with a particular color palette and I'll make it just for you!

I do my best to add a combination of vintage and modern fabrics and prints. The white and pink floral fabric in this banner is fabric from one of my great grandmother's dresses! 

Click here to purchase the banner. There's only one, so order while it's still available!!!

Red, white, blue and BURLAP!

Patriotic tutus are back in the shop this year and they're cuter than ever!! The fabrics are a higher quality and did I mention just how ADORABLE they are?! Newborn-12 months $20, 18 months-5T $25. At that price, you could get one for all of the little girls in your family! As usual, they're carefully handcrafted by myself with love for the special little girl in your life. I can also do bow ties, hair bows, or barefoot sandals in the same prints. 

Visit my shop to place your custom order!!

Fabric Covered Button Earrings for Spring and Summer!

I don't think there are too many accessories more adorable than fabric covered button earrings! My mission this year is to expand the items that Madsy Bella Boutique offers and these earrings seemed like a great place to start! The fabric choices will change with the seasons and are available in limited quantities, so order quickly! The best part is they're only $5 a pair! Wear them to church, date night, running errands, even to lay out by the pool. They're so adorable and add a little touch of vintage to your everyday look!

They're very comfortable and aren't going anywhere with the comfortable plastic safety back. Also, they're nickel free, so pretty much anyone can wear them.

Visit my shop to place an order! These ship quickly, so you'll be wearing your earrings before you know it!! Happy ordering!

Our NEW Home!

The past few weeks have been a BLUR! We closed on our house Wednesday, April 29th. (Exactly two weeks ago) We went to closing with a packed vehicle, so we were ready to go straight to the house and unpack a load. My parents had the kids from Wednesday to Sunday so we could move and go to Cherie's wedding. I missed them terribly, but it was so nice to be able to get in and out without having to worry about their safety or entertainment. 

We immediately scheduled appointments with contractors to plan the changes that we want to make to the house. We'd rather get it over with sooner than later, so we had no time to waste. Once we met with them, we got started on the kitchen right away. For the past week we've been cleaning, painting walls, painting cabinets, ordering granite, ordering new appliances and installing our new farmhouse sink. The kitchen is going to be GORGEOUS! I've been working on the kitchen in sections so I can still unpack and decorate the rest of the house, but we're seeing the end of the tunnel. On Friday, they're installing our counters so we should be completely finished with it by this weekend. I can't WAIT to photograph it and compare it to our before photos!

The following are the photos I took from the day that we closed on the house.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the BEST photo of the outside of the house. I was in the car and apparently not paying attention to the giant tree right in the middle of the screen.

Here is the kitchen. No refrigerator, brown island, dark red walls, black appliances. It's dull and dark. The best thing it has going for it are the hardwood floors. The kitchen is not even complete, and it already looks eons better than this before photo!

I failed to take a photo of the dining portion of the kitchen, but you can see some of it from here. The same red on the top and white below the chair rail. This photo is the family room, from the fireplace.

This is the family room from the opening to the kitchen. 

The master bedroom. 

Here is the basement. We are planning to finish this room and make it a family/play/art room for the family.

Here is the kids' bathroom.

Mine and Jonathan's shared office.

Noah's room.

This is the hall going from Noah's room to the girls' room. I have big plans to make this fun for them.

This photo is also lacking, but this is the girls' HUGE shared room. It's so big and they're going to have so much fun growing into this room together.

I didn't realize until now that I didn't get photos of the master bath or the hall bath. I've already done a mini update on both of those rooms, so I'll post quick photos of them soon. 

Before we moved out of our old home, I took a couple of photos. My favorite part of the day was when I'd take Dexter out to potty first thing in the morning. The sunlight was always absolutely gorgeous and the neighborhood was silent, except for the beautiful chirping of the birds. When I think about our old house, this is how I remember it.

And then once I came inside, I found these three babies all playing happily together.