It's been almost two week since I last blogged, but I do have a very good reason for that... We moved into our new home on the 3rd of June, our household goods arrived on June 9th, and we've since been organizing and getting everything squared away before Justin has to sign in from his PCS leave. I have to admit, that date is creeping up on us and I am so not looking forward to losing the normalcy we've had for well over a month now. I mean, I knew he'd have to go back to work eventually.. I'm just sad that our time seems to fly by so quickly when he has vacation time. Anywho, so let's see what we've been up to lately. Ava bug got her first big girl set delivered on the same day we moved in. She is in love. Her room theme is frozen.. her choice (we really thought she would pick Minnie Mouse), and it looks so fantastic. We also got our new family table delivered on the same day we moved in, so nostalgic for us! Justin's dad has the same type of six seater wooden table.. and it's just perfect for large families (or growing families in our case). 

We had to order our own refrigerator, but I'm so glad that we did! That arrived on June 6th, and then it seems as if the next week just flew right on by. We unpacked all of our things in less than 48 hours, we had the movers return to collect all the empty boxes and trash, and then we had the garbage company do another drive by our house to collect any excess trash that the moving company could not take. We've been spending our days trying to give the girls normalcy, but we have ventured out toward Dallas, Fort Worth, and other surrounding areas near our new home. Being on the road for almost a week didn't really do too much harm to Ava or her resiliency, but poor Livy bean has shown that being in the car is the last thing she wants to do. She's gotten so much better these past few days, but she still would very much prefer to be at home playing with her toys. Speaking of, Olivia has her nursery set up! I absolutely loved being able to have another baby nursery in our home. 

Her theme colors are coral, white, and mint. She has a faux lambskin rug to accent, and all of her furniture are cherry wood colored. I can't wait to watch my babies grow in this house..especially since we'll be here for the next three years. I can't believe it. I can't believe that we live in Texas... again! We are making this home an incredibly place already. I am so excited. Oh, Justin also got some fun new goodies for the new house as well. He gave his old grill to a former soldier so naturally he got himself a charcoal grill! He also got a weed wacker, A CAR, and a man cave complete with a brand new 55 inch television. Yes this man is well loved and taken care of. 

Here's a short video I put together since we got into our new home!

♥- Leilani

Super Bowl 50

These are the moments that I absolutely love being able to blog. Today was a special day in the Howland house... Why you ask? Our Denver Broncos made it to another Super Bowl and they WON! I can't really describe how incredible it felt as a fan to watch that magic happen. It's no secret that before I met my husband I was absolutely not an avid football fan. I would root for the Raiders because that is the team from the town I was born in. Other than that, I occasionally watched a game with my mom (She was the biggest football fan I knew before meeting my husband) and even then that wasn't very often. When I met Justin he had already established a love for the Denver Broncos, heck for football in general. He started playing football at the tender age of 8, and since then his love only grew. The one thing I love about Justin's passion for this game is the reasons behind it.

He sees football as a way of learning discipline, respect, team work, and being apart of something bigger than yourself. I never took a deep look in the seeds planted by a simple sport, but I have to admit, he was right. When we were dating I made the decision to embrace the Denver Broncos and learn everything that I could about them.I remember looking up rosters, franchise history, and trying to recite all that I learned to Justin (trying so hard to impress him). That was six years ago. It's crazy to think I've been an avid football fan for that long, but I wouldn't trade what the sport has brought to my life for anything. 

The past six years have been spent investing our money into memorabilia, jerseys, and all types of decor. We bought tickets to watch our team play in Atlanta (over three hours away from Justin's duty station in Georgia), the year Justin deployed and I can't even begin to describe how amazing of an experience that was. The year Ava was born the Broncos made it to the Super Bowl... only to be knocked out of the race (HARD) by their opponent. I guess the point of me writing this long winded post at 11pm is to document just how much we love this team.

Win or Lose it has always been the Broncos. Tonight, Ava bug, Livy Bean, Justin, and I were able to experience something that not all fans get to experience. We saw a victory. Ava was dancing up and down, clapping, and yelling, "BRONCOS!" all day long. Justin did his happy dances, his loud clap, and his handsome smile throughout the entire game. 


♥- Leilani

Christmas

Something tragic happened a couple weekends ago that truly rattled me to my core. I am so over the destructive world that has become the reality of our lives these days. In the mists of trying to comprehend what happened, and trying to prevent myself from entering this emotional funk of grief for those who were impacted... I decided I wanted to embrace all the good, love, and happy in my own life. That meant, putting up Christmas decor and the Christmas tree SUPER early this year! To my surprise, Justin was on board, as he too wanted to feel some good that this time of year always provides for my family. Let me just say, putting up Christmas stuff while almost 31 weeks pregnant was no easy chore. My feet hurt so much more quickly then ever before, and I definitely wasn't as much help as I normally am. I haven't been pregnant for the holidays in two years, and even when I was pregnant with Ava, Justin was deployed.. so that meant I didn't do nearly as much decorating or celebrating without my love home.

Ava bug was a HUGE help this year! She was a big help last year, but I definitely think she wanted to play with ornaments and candy canes last year, where is this year, she wanted everything on the tree... sometimes even before we were ready for it. She helped unpack the Christmas boxes, she watched her daddy untangle the inevitable mess of lights, and she jammed along with the Bing Crosby pandora station we had going. This was hands down my favorite party of decorating this year. Watching my 2.5 year old just bask in the glory that is family time and celebration is always a sight to see. Side note, I am so glad that we invested in Christmas decor throughout all the years we've been married. We have a surplus amount of decor, and I think it's safe to say we won't need to pick up anything major for a good, long while.

With pregnancy brain being live, we had to redo the Christmas lights on the tree on two different occasions. I forgot to connect the correct ends one time, and I totally spaced that we had more strings of light on the other. It was tedious, but Justin was such a trooper. Putting up our special ornaments after the lights and garland is my absolute favorite. Adding Olivia's ornament just made my heart soar entirely. We have so many handmade ornaments from Justin's grandmother, and each time we add a new member to this family she sends us another blue bird ornament. I can't wait to have Livy's on the tree next year. This year was my first year with a prime lens for my camera, so I immediately tried to take a shot of that special Christmas bokeh.. I have only attempted this twice, and both times were right before bed. I did achieve the bokeh, but I'm definitely going to try and clean it up a bit the next time I give it a go.

With Thanksgiving just days away, I am definitely soaking up the holiday spirit. I can already foresee tons of hot chocolate cuddles, all warm and toasty, watching classic holiday movies until Christmas arrives! This year has got me even more ancy, as the "high" from the holidays won't wind down until after Olivia arrives. That's like having 4 MAJOR holidays in one swoop! Take a look at some of the photos I managed to get with putting up the tree this year.

♥- Leilani