What we didn't share in 2016

First of all, can I just take a second to say how GOOD it is to be back in blogland???  Because, wow.  You guys.  The love!  Thanks for your emails and notes.  It is good to be back, especially when the welcome is warm.  

So thanks.

There was so much I wanted to share with you last year.  The kids grew by feet, not inches.  We homeschooled, we played, we traveled.  We got an Asian kid.  And knocked up.  We renovated the back of our house.  We started new schools and made new family traditions... it was busy!

Oh, how I would like to photo dump today, but I'll restrain myself (and don't laugh when you see what that actually looks like!  I missed like 2/3 of the year!) to just the "big" moments.

1. Summer

Summer was a pretty typical affair for us, major life changes aside. 

We played.

Jake joined our neighborhood swim team (another brand spankin' new item for his ever-growing firsts resume)

We had fun cheering him on.  Or, as many as ever have fun doing anything at the same time, anyway.

We took a road trip to south western Colorado and camped at Mesa Verde.

In August, we celebrated an adoption

and two birthdays

2. Starting School

Which - obviously - they all did.  

Holy crap.  We have a high schooler in the house!

And no, I'm not homeschooling him.  For so, soooo many reasons.

We have a proud second grader.

A preschooler.  Who can't stand still, as preschoolers are likely to do.

And of course this one, who just didn't want to be left out.

3. Gender: Revealed!

There were so many other awesome moments from the fall that I wish I had time to share.  Pumpkins, costumes, trips to the mountains, cute littles hard at work on their various projects.  But without doubt, the biggest moment of our fall was finding out about our little tie breaker. 

Initially, we weren't going to find out.  I think Casey felt cheated that, despite the fact we didn't find out with Olivia, I knew she was a girl deep in my bones.  And I wasn't shy about proclaiming it to the world.

The truth is, I absolutely adore knowing who's in my belly.  I find it to be such a bonding process; one that is just precious which I was hesitant to give up.  So I twisted his arm, and we decided that finding out this way would be a nice way to bookend our pregnancies.

It was 7 years - almost perfectly to the day - after we did this:

Seriously.  We were just babies!  WHO let those two have a kid???

...but OH how much has changed!

What hasn't changed - no, not even considering this is the 4th time around - is my own practically incoherent excitement.

And the fact that I still CAN'T STAND the suspense!!!

Oh my goodness.  A BOY!!!!

There were some very fat tears of joy (me), and some very bitter tears of disappointment (Leah).

But, she has since come around, and Casey and I are over the moon.  Logan needs a buddy, and is SO beyond thrilled to have a brother.  The only one who gets his own room in this house is Jacob, so it works out absolutely beautifully that we'll have two little girls and two little boys.  

So there we have it.  That's what you missed from 2016.  In a nutshell (biggest understatement ever).