So much has happened. An unbelievable amount of life has been smashed in the seven months between that last post and this one.
First, my second son was born. My sweet little Clark Arthur who is already growing too long for all the newborn clothes.
He's not as fat as Bradley was (at least in appearance), but he looks similar. While they look similar, they are opposites in every other way. Clark is satisfied all the time and only cries when he needs something. His top needs: being held, being changed and being fed. In that order. This baby wants to be held more than any I've ever met. He's adorable, and I just love him.
We bought a house. Yes. That American Dream moment. We had been saving since we moved here, living in a small two bedroom apartment, driving just one car and cutting back on spending. We were about a year and a half from having enough of a down payment for a house. We had plans to put little Clark in our room until June or July 2015.
But, thanks to Bryan's sweet mom, we inherited exactly the amount we needed in September. Fueled by pregnancy hormones and a fuller savings account, we went house shopping. We saw five houses, fell in love with the first house and put in an offer that day.
Our sweet house is really perfect for us. Being stuck at home with this freezing Illinois winter has been pretty great because we are still in the honeymoon phase of our new home. The boys have their own bedrooms and we moved in just three weeks before Clark was born. So we had enough time to paint, in pack, decorate (ish) and do all the moving paperwork before we had Clark and settled.
Bryan finished his first year at his new university and in the fall, taught three large sections of two different courses, the semester load he was hired originally a year ago to do. He has worked harder than I've ever seen him work, done better than I've ever seen him do and been the most happy about his job that I've seen him be. It has truly been an exceptional career year for Bryan, and I'm so proud of him. And grateful for this position because it has given me the opportunity to be with the boys while they are so young, lovable and sponge-y.
Lastly, and the one thing I can't really write well about nor do I want to publicly. Bryan's mom passed. It was awful. It is awful. It will continue to be awful. She was the best mother in law I could've wished for, and I miss her. We all miss her.
So I'm back. I'm ready to blog again. When I stopped, I had to refocus. I had to be with my family. I had to process. I had a lot going on. So I took my time and now I'm ready to share stories of my boys, of my cooking, of my travels and of my thoughts. Anything splattered around in my lady brain. 
