2016

i'm already off to a bang with my new year's resolution.  it's already 11 days into the new year and this is the first post i'm writing.  every christmas my mom prints my blog from the past year and has it put into a book.  as i was putting the latest edition on the shelf i realized they have gotten skinnier and skinnier over the years.  the last few are super model skinny.  and that's not good.  i realize that not that many people read this much anymore and that's ok.  some of you check in from time to time and that's great.  every once in a while i'll post it to good old facebook and it'll get seen by more than usual.  but the reason i keep this blog going is not for everyone who reads it, it's for me and one day my kids.  i was a bad mom and never started any kind of baby book for any of my kids.  and let's face it, a few of mine have had more than just the usual baby's first crawl, walk, word kind of life.  i did a good job way back then keeping up with everything but as things usually happen, i've dropped the ball on keeping up with what's been going on with the hess family.  so here's hoping i can keep this new year's resolution going all year long so that my printed version isn't so sad looking! 

2015 was the year of all good things.  january started with a trip to texas for carson to get his spml surgery.  all i can say is, wow.  what a difference a year makes.  this kid has made such great strides (literally) with his walking and flexibility.  it's just amazing to see the difference and improvements he has made.  not for lack of hard work though,  he has worked very hard with his therapists and at home.  we are so proud of him and love seeing him just be himself!

words to live by

february-april brought lots of change as we sold our first house, the only one we have ever known, and made the decision to build our new home in the school district we wanted our kids to grow up in.  best.  decision.  ever.  hands down.  i'm not sure where we would be if we hadn't decided to sell our house and have it ready in one week to put on the market.  it was sad to say goodbye to our first house but we knew all good things were coming our way.

our last family picture on the front steps.  pretty much sums up the moving process.  looks fun, doesn't it? 

1697 deerhaven

 april-august flew by.  with selling the house but building our new one we were kind of homeless.  so, we (and by we, i mean all 5 of us and our 80 lb dog) moved in with my parents.  as crowded as we were it went by fast and we are forever grateful to have had a place to stay with 1/3 of our stuff.  don't worry mom and dad, i won't post pictures of what it looked like.  let's just say we have a lot of stuff.  it was everywhere.  but the kids got to experience what it was like to grow up in good old cedar creek.  one of the best neighborhoods ever.  

this hill was the best

so also from april-august (which actually turned into april-october, because building a house never happens on schedule) we built our new home.  which will be our forever home because i am never doing that again!  it was really cool to come out and see the progress and watch it all come together.  and on october 9th she was all ours.  

stairs!

we finally made it to getting some brick!  we thought this day would never happen.

hard to believe this is my kitchen.  i wasn't very good at visualizing where everything would go but fortunaltey there are professionals for that.

family room

cabinets!

my bathroom.  i love my bathroom.

and andrew's favorite place...the back porch.

had to put our mark in the concrete to make it ours

this driveway is already filled with lots of new neighborhood buddies.  we love it!

getting closer.  i think from this point on it felt like things were moving in slow motion.  especailly since i was driving the boys to and from school 45 minutes away.  it felt like we would never be done building but now it seems to have gone so fast. 

just a few more final touches and then we were given the keys!

just in time to take pictures for our christmas cards.  bo even made it into the shot.

i'd love to say that i have everything unpacked and put in the perfect spot but let's be real.  we still have boxes that we haven't opened yet.  life slows down for no one and the last few boxes have been pushed to the side to be dealt with later.  we had a wonderful first thanksgiving and christmas and before i knew it, it was 2016.  the boys are back to school (and work for andrew) and shelbs and i are back to our daily routine, whatever that may be.  so when thinking of what i could do this year as far as resolutions i decided that that usual of working out more (ha!) or staying organized (it's impossible) weren't going to happen.  but, i can make an effort to keep up with life more.  my goal is to at least make the 2016 edition of our blog a little heftier than the last few years.  goodbye 2015 ( a few weeks ago, but you know what i mean) and all good things and hello to 2016 to even better things!