Update Time -- Two major life changes

Ok, update time! (Super duper long over due and I apologize for that.)

We moved!
Two weeks ago, in fact. (I know, I know -- how does that make up for eight months of hiatus? Well, it just does, ok?)
Love, love, LOVE our new house (new to us). We are renting and you know what they say: location, location, location. My parents (Katie's daycare) are only 20 minutes from our new home, roughly 25 from where I work. (Sadly, we are now 45 minutes from Jacob's job; and now HE'S the one who has to drive through "city" traffic. But he doesn't drive to work during rush hour, so I digress.)
MY TRIP TO ANYWHERE IS ALL FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. IT'S FREAKING FANTASTIC.
We have a bigger, flatter yard, which is great because not only do we love the outdoors, but our very generous landlords have allowed us to bring our furry kids with us. More shade trees (I am completely enchanted with the pine forest surrounding the house). A shop for Jacob's toys (YES PLEASE). Carpet AND hardwood floors. WINDOWS EVERYWHERE. ALL THE SUNSHINE. I now have a for-real front porch that I can brag about in conversation and decorate and sit on to catch the warm rays of the sun or rock my baby to sleep to the rhythm of the falling rain. Our neighbors are fantastic -- older couple with a cow farm owned for generations. They go to the church that I wanted to try across the road, so happy for a friendly face whenever we get the chance to pop on over. Their grandkids are our other closest neighbors and they're our age and are expecting a baby next month. (Hooray for young friends in our stage of life!)
And that brings me to the last perk I'll mention (for now): this house has three bedrooms, of which we are now in need because....

.... Baby #2 is coming in November!!
(No, we've never done this before; why do you ask?)
Due Date is November 13th -- Katie Jo's first birthday is November 19th. #ohdeer
Gender reveal ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday (6.20.2017) afternoon. We had an ultrasound done about a month ago to determine how far along I really was when we found out we were expecting again. Apparently far enough along for me to put my money on our first son. ;) Whenever I refer to Mason protesting his older sister's bedtime tantrums and dances on my tummy, Jacob sternly reminds me, "OR Madison." He's right -- we'll see on Tuesday that I was really right all along. As usual. ;)

Something else to note about the new house is that we have internet, and boy is it fast; thus I am hoping to get back into the blogosphere for real. I guess we'll see how that goes -- but I'm hoping for at least better than once a year for goodness' sake. I'm learning to try and slow down and take some breathing time, so maybe that will help.

If they're reading this: thank you to our generous land lords whom I have grown up with and are like another set of parents to me. To their kids who are still some of my best friends: Thank you, too. I hope it eases some of the pain of giving up your childhood home to know that my babies will learn to crawl and walk on the carpet in your bedrooms. Just this week Katie got up on her hands and knees and tried to take her first crawling step in your old room, Livy; and I wished you could have been there to see it. She was so proud. Who would have thought that my kids would play under those pine trees when they were massively tall, when we watched them get put in the ground while we were playing pioneers with our American Girl Dolls? Thank you for this blessing of an opportunity.

Ok, that's enough sap and enough update -- for now. Stay tuned for more posts in the (hopefully) near future!