ALL the cousins

Bella, my niece, graduated from kindergarten this past week and it gave us an opportunity to get a picture of all of the cousins together. This is a first since the 3 new babies were born. We are ALL saying that are families are complete. We will see. (I am not hinting at ANYTHING. As for me and Jared, OUR family IS complete.)

Anyways, Bella sang and made me cry. She is precious and has such a sweet heart. Last summer she came to my hospital room with Molly and said she wanted to sing and dance for me. She did. It was so cute. It was also a deeply spiritual hymn since her Dad leads the music for our church....OR... it wasn't. I plan to keep you guessing. :)

The proud parents with the rest of their family. Aren't they pretty???

Sweet Bella Girl

It was so nice to have ALL of us together. I am still amazed at how many there are.

Eli the talker

The past couple of days here have been PERFECT napping days. Typically I don't nap when the kids nap. Since Addie I have gotten over the guilt of it and try it from time to time. I tend to get frustrated when the boys seem to not sleep on the days that I decided to rest. Anyways, Eli, my sweet son doesn't turn off the talking during rest time. He goes on and on and on. Today while feeling a bit frustrated with my child who doesn't understand the word QUIET I also thought of all of his sweet little boy qualities that I love.

The boy LOVES a good book...

almost as much as he loves is Teddy bear....

almost as much as he loves a good kitchen dance party and his brother and sister...

and then of course there is the dirt that he refers to as his garden.

He loves Winnie the Pooh and Rabbit gardens therefore Eli gardens. His favorite character though is T I double G RRRRRRRRR, as he says.

I love this guy chattiness and all. What I do not love are how long and lanky those legs are getting. He is growing up SO fast.

Addie

Whether sassy or serious this girl is fun to photograph.

Jared smiles at the fun I have dressing her.

Yesterday he asked "Do you want these sandals on?"

"Yes."

He then asked (while poking fun at me) "If the reason for the hat is to block the sun then why does she need it under the stroller shade?"

"Because she does."

He gets it but that doesn't mean he can't have fun with it. The bottom line was the sandals and the hat completed her outfit. :)

Despite my extreme love for boys and all things boy, this little girl thing is a blast.

Love ya Adds and dressing you for Summer is A LOT of fun!

Random

amazing weekend

Jared went and got the boy's swingset from our old house

they were pretty pumped

Jared makes this EXACT same face when he is working on a project

YO Adrienne!!!!

(Sorry, I grew up on Rocky Movies)

So I'm wondering would it be wrong to ask that these kids NEVER grow up?

Like, could she always be small enough to bathe in the sink?

And could he always fit on Daddy's shoulders and think that, that is the. best. place. on earth?

And could he always eat ice cream with such abandon??

Ok, maybe not that last one. The poor kid would NEVER get a date. :)

Yeah, I am pretty sure I have no choice but to let them grow up. Sob.

I told you it was random.

The Things That Are Making Us Happy

The weather is quite nice today and we are thankful. That makes us {happy}.

My sister is have her kitchen remodeled. That makes her {happy}. She and her husband and 3 kids are staying with us. That makes the kids and my sister and I {happy}. The husbands are coping. :)

We keep laughing and calling each other "sister wives" because it has come in really handy to have her prepping meals or loading the dishwasher. Me wiping faces and throwing in laundry. It has its perks let me tell you. :)

The adults have been staying up and playing cards. Euchre, to be exact. My sister and I beat them. Ha! I came out of retirement (seriously had forgotten how to play. It had been YEARS.) and we won. It was AWESOME. They beat us last night though which makes them {happy}.

Here is a rundown of the kids that are currently ALL at our house.

Addie and Ryan are 3 months apart.

Kayla is 2. I was on the phone with Jared for 5 minutes and I said "I've gotta go, I don't see Kayla". I found her in my bedroom eating TUMS. Thankfully, she is fine. You can't take your eyes off of her.

The 3 musketeers are 2 months apart. Alli, Alex and Eli.

Could she be any cuter?

So that is what we are up to. My sister and her family all go home tomorrow. My house is going to feel really quiet and I will miss my sister cooking meals and hanging out with me. The boys are going to be SO bummed that the girls are leaving. But it's always nice to get back to normal. Normal makes me {happy}.

Funny

This week I didn't get it together to link up to {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} but I was just looking through my photos and found some funny moments from this week that I thought I'd share.

Alex explained to me that he had to take the wipes out of the case because Robin needed a bed. But of course.

(If you look carefully you can see his dirty fingerprints on the wipes. Gross.)

I thought it was sweet and funny how proud Alex was of his new idea for car storage.

Eli looking into my camera lens and wondering why he can't see my eye.

(Notice the dirty face and fat lip. These boys play outside 24/7 and get filthy.)

And HERE is proof that Eli has, in fact, been asking to hold his sister.

What's funny about that you may ask. Nothing, it is sweet actually.

The funny came when I took Addie and thought I'd snap a pic of the boys.

THIS is what I captured.

Yep, a child yanking another's hair. So to those who tell me how well-behaved my children are, here is proof otherwise. Boys will be boys.

Moths to a flame

I have to laugh at the boys and their reaction to Jared's phone. He has had it for almost a year now and they have their favorite "apps". They are big fans of angry birds and cut the rope. They BEG Jared to play games on it. Poor guy. :)

After a year he is definitely still loving it, although I haven't had to refer to it as his mistress in a while which means some of the newness has wore off. Thank goodness.

I love Alex's eyes in the pic below.

I also love that I caught an example of what it is like to read a book to twins. You have to constantly remind them that you cannot see through their heads. :)

And while these picture are really cute we have MUCH bigger news in our household.

Bigger than the iphone you ask.........

YES

Addie is sitting for long periods of time with control ALL BY HERSELF! Yay!

Still no hair but the girl ROCKS the bald look. In her Mom's opinion anyway. :)

10 months old

Addie is going to be a year old soon. I cannot believe it. She weighed 15 lbs. 4 oz. at her last check up and is doing well developmentally thus far. She is behind a bit but there are no concerns at this point.

We are currently working on sitting. She still doesn't sit with control but part of this is due to me avoiding tummy time because I was afraid she may be trampled by her sweet brothers. I have definitely given her much more since her developmental assessment a few months ago so I am sure she will be doing it soon.

Her brothers continue to be in love with her but one a bit more than the other. I am not mentioning any names though. :) The "other" brother has shown a LOT more interest as of late and has even asked to hold her twice. BIG improvement.

Mother's Day

Mother's day in a nutshell w/ lots of pictures.

Church. Baby Dedication. Brunch with 1 side of the fam. Sister get-together with the other. Too much food. Tree climbing, cousins. Sweet smiles. 4 sisters, 4 husbands, 13 children and a partridge in a pear tree. Chaos, but lots of fun. Basketball. Sidewalk Chalk. Baby-feeding. Laughs. Realizing it is inevitable that you become the generation before you. Old-school music discussions. Flowers. Hugs. It was a good day.

I somehow managed to miss 1/2 the cousins and all the husbands in these pictures. Oops, I guess I was enjoying the company too much to take all the pictures I could have. That is a good thing, right?

Being a Mom

This morning as I ironed our clothes for church tomorrow. I remembered when I ironed the boy's outfits for baby dedication 3 years ago. My first Mother's Day was a bit rough. The boys were both a few weeks old and in the NICU. The 2nd year I was so thrilled to have them home with us. And now this year I prepare yet another child's clothes for the dedication. A GIRL, no less. Crazy.

It really got me thinking about "officially" dedicating Addie tomorrow. With the boys I was VERY anxious. I had just come through hell with them. I was happy they were alive and I wasn't sure I wanted to lose "control" by giving them over. It is laughable, really. We are NEVER in control, even though, as Mommies, we all wish we could be.

With Addie it is much different. It is truly just a public admission of what was decided previously. Not to lessen the meaning of it or what it means to dedicate your child publicly but because I gave Addie to God in the womb. I've NEVER felt like I had control over this one. She is His, as are the boys.

In my four years being a Mom I have learned so much and yet I know there are volumes of knowledge ahead of me.

I took a walk with the kids while Jared was at work. During the course of the bike ride Eli's peddle fell off his bike. I fixed it despite struggling a bit and felt a bit triumphant. We proceeded and Alex had to stop and chat with each neighbor we passed. "Are they our neighbors, Mama?" "Yes, Alex, now how 'bout we let them enjoy the day." He charmed many a neighbor let me tell you.

On the way back as I yelled "Alex, stop at the end of the street.", several times. He didn't. I gave him the look and assured myself that he'd gotten the message. Until, that is, he looked at me and said "I am coming back over". He proceeded to cross the street AGAIN.

We entered the house and they were thirsty I poured the milk in their glasses and before I could hand them to them Eli grabbed his and spilled it onto the floor and it splashed and hit the clean, ironed clothes that I had spent time ironing this morning.

This IS motherhood. I was walking and enjoying the sunshine and thinking it was such a charmed life I led. Within an hour I was snapping at the kids and my husband feeling overwhelmed. It has it's ups and downs but I admit to loving it.

SO......

to Alex, Eli and Addison, I love each of your MESSY little FACES!

Thanks for putting up with my flaws as I navigate through this unknown territory that is Motherhood.

While I am talking about "putting up with my flaws"...thanks to Jared for making me a Mommy and for buying me flowers and the sweetest card, despite my crankiness.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

This week I am linking up to "Like Mother, Like Daughter"

{pretty}

It has rained (or snowed) for the past month so a sky like this is greatly appreciated.

{happy}

Eli had a window of opportunity to play a game on the computer before Alex woke up. When you are a twin this time is precious. He was thrilled.

{funny}

Eli "hiding" during hide and seek. (Bet ya can't find him).

{real}

Alex fresh from his bedroom in the morning with his "blank" and pillow pet. The unfolded clothes in the corner are a very "real" part of our day also.

A teething, crabby, Addison is also a current reality. Poor baby.