Oh, hi there! Remember me? That mom/wife/nurse who consistently forgets she owns and operates a blog? Yeah, that’s me! I’m back; or should I say I never really left but got boggled down with life and everything that comes along with being a working mom. I don’t mean to use that as an excuse because it’s not. Sometimes, I just get so busy trying to do everything that I forget there are people out there that are probably wondering where I went. Well, if you’re still following me I can’t promise I won’t slip up again, and forget to update the mommy blogger world but I can promise that I’ll always come back!

So what’s been going on with us lately? Well, let’s see… first off, WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE! Yes, that’s right we’re moving! I’m really excited for this new chapter in our lives. We currently live in a 3 bed 2.5 bath 1,700 square foot house. We’ve been here about four and a half years but unfortunately, after having Nate it seems like we’re slowly outgrowing our home. I swear Nate’s toys are taking up every corner of this house and as much as we love the kid, Kurt and I need some space back for us. The house we bought is a new build which makes it even more exciting because we got to pick out everything for it; from the kitchen counters to the bathroom tiles to the flooring; I’m dying to see what it’ll look like when it all comes together. It’s a bit further out than I think Kurt and I were originally thinking but we really couldn’t pass up the price of this house. I think we got it for a steal to be honest. When it’s all completed it’ll be roughly 2,500 square feet with 4 large bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. We’re also gaining a massive upstairs loft space that we’re going to turn into Nate’s playroom. You should see my Pinterest board! I swear every day I’ve added another 10-20 pins to them. I’ve been going NUTS browsing through ideas on what cool play areas I can create for him. The best part is the room will be so large that he’ll be able to have several small ‘play stations’ throughout it plus have a tv area. We’ll also still have a living room on the main floor that can be solely used for us and honestly, I cannot wait to not feel the need to clean up toys every night after Nate goes to sleep because they’ll be outta sight and outta mind! Nate’s new bedroom will be slightly larger than what he has now with a small area that I’m going to create into a ‘reading nook’. Seriously, since we purchased the house [back in February] I’ve been going non-stop on how I can create our ‘dream home’. I think what I’m most looking forward to (other then gaining our own ‘adult space’ back) would have to be the kitchen. Kurt was really generous in allowing me to use a good chunk of our upgrade budget on creating a kitchen that I’m actually going to want to cook in. The only real downside to this house besides being further away from our family/friends/jobs is the fact that we’re losing outdoors space. With our current house we have a massive front and backyard so knowing we’re down sizing in that area is a little upsetting but I keep telling myself, for this house, it’s so worth it. The market is just too crazy right now to even try to compete with buying a re-sale. It’s unbelievable the prices that houses are being sold for. I just hope when the time comes that we’ll be able to make a good penny on our current home.

Anyways, enough gushing over the house! Once more progress has been made I’ll do an entire post dedicated to it but until then here’s some snap shots from mine and Nate’s nature walk we did last week. I think this is my favourite age right now. I know I keep saying that with every milestone he hits. But honestly, this is really my favourite. Nate is big enough now that when we go out he can walk almost the entire time and he’s just so curious about everything he sees. It’s great watching him interacting with other people, learning new things, and just becoming a little boy. There’s so much wonder in his eyes when we go out places that it just warms my heart. He absolutely adores birds and watching him get so excited about something so small is one of my most treasured memories. There’s been so many moments lately that I’ll just stop and think to myself, don’t try to take the ‘perfect picture’ of this moment, just watch it unfold. I might not have as many documented milestones from 18 months until now but I’m leaning that just being present with him is all the really matters.

I took him down to the trail that runs through our little town and let him walk around while I snapped pictures of trees or flowers or birds and he really seemed to enjoy himself. I’m trying to get back into shape by being more active and eating healthier so I really love that Nate’s at this age where he can walk places and wants to be outdoors exploring. I think my favourite moment of our walk was when he decided to jump in some puddles. I thought about stopping him because he only had his runners on and I knew he’d soak his socks and feet but when I remembered how much I love the “Let Them Be Little” hash tag that’s gone around Instagram and I decided just to let him go for it. Of course, within the next 15-20 minutes he was definitely done with our walk and only wanted me to carry him because his feet were cold and wet but the mischievous look and coy smile on his lips right before he jumped in was totally worth it.

Apparently, I didn’t notice the smudge on the lens at this time. Oh well, I’ve never claimed to be a very good photographer!

Now perhaps you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, the title there says Nature Walk with Nate and Bob the Grizzly Bear; who’s that? Well dear readers, Bob the Grizzly Bear is one of the magical creations from The Wild Kids Apparel. I’ve gushed over this clothing line so many times that I swear people must probably roll their eyes when they hear me utter the words “have I ever told you about The Wild?”. But honestly, I cannot get enough of this brand! I’m constantly buying clothes from Adriane because it kills me when Nate starts outgrowing the outfits he already has. He’s literally got four raglan shirts with different characters hanging in his closet right now! I thought he’d look super cute wearing his Bob the Grizzly Bear raglan while we were out in the forest. And just a little FYI, he’s also got Finn the Fox, Rocky the Raccoon, and The Woods in his never ending wardrobe.

I was so excited when we got to this small little pond because there was a momma duck and her ducklings paddling around in the water! The papa duck was perched on a rock in the middle of the pond watching out for them and it was so flippin’ cute. Unfortunately, you can’t really see them in these pictures because we were so far away and they blend into their surroundings so well. I’m really not even sure Nate fully saw them because he wasn’t nearly as excited as I thought he’d be. We’d been told from a couple out for a jog that there were ducks in the pond and I was getting Nate all ready to see them by telling him that his favourite “birds” were coming up. He loves his rubber duckies in the tub so I assumed he’d be all giddy to see ducks up close but he just kind of stood there and pointed once or twice. Like I said, even I was having trouble spotting them plus they move fast for being so teeny tiny. All and all, it was a really nice walk outdoors. I can’t wait to start taking Nate on more and more outdoor adventures. Nate and Mommy time is just the greatest blessing.