SO MUCH CHANGE!!!

The title says it all! We have had so much change in the last year and then even more changes in our lives have happened in the last couple of months! 

First, learning how to parent a toddler is challenging, wonderful, and of course exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

My daughter is now 2 1/2 and she is so full of joy and love that all of that makes the hard days seem easier (even though I have days I feel like pulling my hair out!). We had some really tough times earlier this year and it brought our family incredibly that much closer together. I'm taking extra time in my life to appreciate every single day as such a wonderful gift. In just a couple of weeks, give or take, my little toddler is going to be a Big Sister:

We are super excited as a family but also a little nervous as we have no idea what to expect having two kids. It will be just be another chapter in our adventure of life. Adding on to that adventure, we made another huge life decision and decided to move to another state, again. Two and half years ago we moved from Sacramento to Colorado for my husband's job. Taking lots in to consideration, my husband applied for a new job outside of his corporate one and was offered and accepted a job back in California. One of the most exciting things is the new job is in a place we have always wanted to live:

Wine country, craft beer, amazing food, fresh year round produce, close to the beach......I could go on & on! We have been here about 2 months but already the amount of amazing things and opportunities this place offers is pretty special. We have lived in 3 different furnished temporary houses here so far because one thing we didn't realize was how incredibly crazy and competitive the housing market is here. We wanted to buy a house because this is somewhere where we are ready to set down our family roots but we kept getting out bid on houses we put offers on, etc. We finally found a house, however the closing date is on my due date! Yes, the logistics of our move didn't quite work out as planned but it is what it is, and we have tried to be as flexible as possible because this was a move we chose and wanted. Since the housing is more expensive here and I'm currently choosing to stay at home with my kids, we definitely have a much tighter budget than ever before. So I'm learning to create and cook some budget friendly meals that I will have to blog about as we go along this journey! 

We did receive an Instant Pot from my parents for Christmas and since I jumped in on that popular craze I will have to share some of the great recipes I've been making with it! We made sure to bring it with us and not pack it and it has been the perfect "travel" appliance for all of our temporary rentals! Stay tuned for more on living in wine country and becoming a family of four......