Spring has Finally Sprung!

After what felt like the longest winter ever......and then forty days and forty nights of rain.......we finally got lucky!! Spring is here! We've been cooped up in our new house for way too long and it's time to get outside.
Everything is blossoming! Well.........not at our house. We still don't have landscaping at the build yet. We still have to put in a retaining wall near the lower level garage and then we can finally get some hydroseed in!

 Just had to take a few pictures of the tree that was planted at my parents house after my grandfather passed away. It's just beautiful this time of year!

Ava is enjoying outside just as much as Austin. Everyday she comes home from daycare with the dirtiest knees on the planet. This poor girl wants to walk but at the same time just won't do it yet. Stubborn like her mother I guess. Once she gets to walking....I am sure she will be on the go and I will be wondering why I ever wished this phase away.

 At 14 months, she is the biggest eater. Loves pretty much everything and anything. And she never stops eating. A lot of times I have to hide food just so she can't see it.......because once she sees it, it's all over. I also have to stop feeding her at one point during meal times because she gives us no sense of 'fullness' EVER.
She was recently deemed a bully at daycare. Hard to believe, but she was pushing kids and stealing toys and having quite the temper. I can already tell that Austin and her have the same temperament. At least I know how to handle it now after having Austin, but just not looking forward to those "teen" months that I despise so much. I know more teeth are bound to come.....biting is probably in our future again......and I can't imagine that my 'carrying a child out of daycare like a football' days are over. Good thing she is so darn cute!

Austin on the other hand couldn't be more picky. Frustrating when you have one that can't stop eating and one that never eats. Although you can't really tell in the pictures below.....look at that belly! Austin is 2 1/2 years old now and talks, talks, talks! I love to hear the new things that come out of his mouth. One morning while getting ready for school, I was helping him brush his teeth while I was brushing mine. He asked for me to turn on the water and I must have taking too long because he said...'I'm waiiiiiiiiiting." I'm also always surprised by the larger words he says like, frustrated or dangerous. Many sentences lately end with, "I guess so." And a lot of times that little phrase just tacks itself on to the end with no pause, for example..."We are going to go home now I guess so."

So far, living on the water has been nothing short of amazing. Tons of wildlife for Austin to see and learn about. Geese, ducks, herons,  snowy egrets, killdeer, swans, the list goes on. Gackum even brought his binoculars over for Austin so he could check out all the different kinds of animals.

We have yet to buy patio furniture but finally got some of those infamous adirondack chairs for the beach. I say it that way, because that was the very detail that reeled me in to the neighborhood. I remember the day perfectly. We were out looking in Byron Center at places to buy a home or build, and when we stumbled upon Providence Lake, I thought that we would never get an opportunity to live there. It looked and felt like something we couldn't accomplish until we were much older. Or at least that's how it played out in my head. While Jason was taking photos of a  new build inside, I was out in the backyard on the beach, just staring at all the beautiful adirondack chairs on everyone's beach. It looked surreal. I kept thinking, "if I could build anywhere, it would be right here". Little did I know that it was to become reality. One crazy, dramatic, hair-pulling, stressful but rememberable year later, we are finally living here. And it couldn't feel better.