Kitty & Kevin

When we moved into our current home last year, we had an 11 month old ready to hit the ground running (or at least very close to walking!) Since we weren't originally shopping for a new home, everything relating to closing went very quickly and before we knew it we were settled in and living here a year, expecting our second child.

You may have seen our nursery reveal from earlier this month. We are getting very excited for Pepper's arrival in a few weeks! As such (along with some of my crazy pregnancy hormones) we are making a few safety changes to our home to welcome our new baby girl.

Something I haven't said yet, is Pepper's new room is in our basement. We have a ranch style home, and although we have 3 bedrooms upstairs, we've decided our new baby will be in the basement bedroom. Our 3rd bedroom upstairs is not only our photo studio, but also we love the idea of having the two girls a floor away from each other when they are young. Lorelai was on a different fl…

Dear Pepper,

This was a busy week! You received a number of Christmas gifts already, without you even being born. This week you enjoyed lots of Christmas sweets and family time. Lorelai's birthday party was this weekend, so it was hard not to be rushing around most of the weekend.

Its hard to believe next Christmas not only will you be here, but you will also be 10 months old by that time!! The holidays are helping the end of pregnancy go more quickly, but I know we still have a number of weeks left.

You're still bouncing around like crazy, but you aren't crowding me too much yet. I think you will be smaller than Lorelai, but it may also be that you are just sitting in a better position than she was.

We will get to see you again on an ultrasound soon, but for now I just like knowing you are there and moving around! Apart from getting up in the middle of the night more frequently than before, not too much else has changed with me this last week!

We hit a lot of our goals for 2018, but not all. Overall we it was a very successful year for us, we traveled, had fun and learned new things! Here is a look back at our 2018 goals, while setting new 2019 goals!

2018 Goals 
1. Lose the Pregnancy Weight. Yep, we are bringing this one back... let's do this!
Well CLEARLY this one was a no-go. Instead I put back on new pregnancy weight! 
2. Date night...once a month. I'm trying, really I am. 
January- Took a Calligraphy Class together
February- Tea pairing with chocolate & Anniversary date night
March- Failed. No date night this month. 
April- We took a trip to NYC together, so I'm counting that as one giant date 
May- Seeing Wicked together. 
June- Going to see Brian Regan 
July- Movie for Kevin's birthday
August- S'mores on the patio, because it was the last day of August and we couldn't get away. Star gazing and talking
September- Axe throwing event downtown and Dear Evan Hansen musical in Denver
October- this month I'…

Dear Pepper,

This week your grandfather came up to me and let me know how huge I was looking :) I like to think that is a complement on your growth (rather than mine). Things are going well overall. You still move like crazy....its like you are constantly swimming in there. I told Kevin I don't think you will like being swaddled later, because you love moving so much.

I went ahead and got my hospital bag all packed up. I kept it pretty simple this time around. We will pack a second small bag for photo equipment so I can take photos of you in the hospital. It's too early for that yet!

This week was also your sister's birthday, which really just got me thinking about labor and everything that we went through to have her....and are doing it all over again with you. Labor doesn't necessarily scare me, but it does make me a little nervous. So many unknowns, none of which I can control.

All in all, things are growing well!

A few times a year someone reaches out to me wanting to know how we did it...how did we pay off so much debt so quickly at the start of our marriage, and how are we paying off our mortgage so quickly?

We have a very simple process. We spend a lot less than we make, and we do what we can to make extra money and save on expenses.

We started our first ever budget in February of this year, and for example, you'll see that our restaurant budget is $100 a month, our clothing budget is $40/person (which usually is not spent) and you won't see a budget item for things like cable T.V, regular nail or hair appointments, a car lease, or other items people may find are "normal" in today's world. We live an abnormal life because we don't want to be normal...we want to be debt-free.

What you will see on our budget is our regular mortgage payment, with a budgeted $200 extra mortgage payment every month that comes out of my 2nd paycheck. You'll see a tithe to our church, …

We are always keeping our eye out for creative kid/toddler gifts that aren't toys and clothes. Things that the parents won't hate you for getting (lights and sound toys....those are the worst) but are still technically for the kid. I think this canvas growth chart is perfect for a 2 year old, because they still are more excited for the box than what is in the box...but Lorelai loves little things like this. They get to be measured, told how "big" they are-- and have something new to hang in their room.

If you've sewed a pillow, you can make this canvas grown chart. If you haven't you can still make it, no problem!

Here's what I love about this one, the portability and durability. I've seen large wood ones (where are you storing these??) I've seen paper or vinyl sticker ones which are screaming to be broken/torn. Growing up we measured our growth in the doorway of my closet, which is so cute, but of course had to paint over it when we moved from t…