Worn out!

Some times he just goes until he can't go anymore and even taking off his slippers to take a nap is too much work. Yesterday was that kind of day.

Nana

Somehow I didn't share the pictures from the last time mom visited.... It was forever ago, but I love the pictures so I needed to share them Nothing tops a Nana.

When I'm not looking......

Funny things always seem to happen when I'm not looking....

Yep....Our neighbors know us as the family with the streaking boys. We are just lucky we don't have neighbors behind us as well as next to us.

I think he was pretty bummed he got caught.

Right back to playing and climbing.

There are few things cuter than little boys showing their muscles...Unless they are showing their muscles while where underoos with characters on their toosh.

8 Months

Not a whole lot has changed as far as the size of our sweet bitty girl, but she has had A LOT of new adventures this month. The first new adventure was perfecting crawling with her belly off the ground. Once she got that figured out she decided she would just keep learning and has mastered the art of pulling herself up on the furniture and anything that is at her little level. By the end of the month she has been pulling herself up and started pushing whatever she is holding in hopes that it will move. I feel like this phase just went so quickly once she mastered the crawling. She loves to walk holding our hands and it's pretty funny seeing such a little bitty trying so hard to walk. She loves to walk and tends to get so excited she just starts jumping mid step and can't control herself. Some day she'll be my little running buddy. I can feel it. :-)
This month Natalie also took her first airplane ride with Nana, Papa, Brian, and Tracy to California for a family wedding.  I wasn't so sure how she would travel, but true to her nature she was just a trouper. She did well on the plane and totally took all the sight seeing in stride. As soon as we got back to MN she TOTALLY surprised us and popped her first tooth!! This was shocking to me because Myles and Ty didn't get their first tooth until almost 12 months AND she wasn't even fussy!! I had NO IDEA. The second one just popped through yesterday as well. This one seemed to bother her a bit more, but nothing severe. Seriously people, this little girl rocks.

8 Month Stats! (Not too much has changed since last month on the stats).
Weight -14.9 lbs (up 2 OUNCES....What can you do?)
Diaper Size - 2 (Still)
Clothing Size - 3-6 Month (Still)
Sleeping - Bed at 9:00 pm and wake around 8:00am
Naps- One nap from 10:30-11 and a second from 2-4

We are continuing to do monthly Dr. visits to check her weight. The doctor did reassure me he doesn't think she has an kind of disorder but would want to check with an allergist if her weight were to drop. I think she will gain weight when she's suppose to and I'm not going to worry about it anymore. She's just our bitty girl.

This picture isn't so hot, but it counts as her monthly pic. I LOVED some of the ones from Cali so I wasn't too worked up about it.

This was on top of a wine barrell at a vineyard in Napa Valley. She may be a wino like her Daddy and Nana. Look how happy she is!

These were the table decorations at my cousin Matthew's wedding. I think she was the perfect centerpiece.

Last Day of School

Myles' first year of school is already done...If I had known how much he would learned in one year I would have signed him up last year. We LOVE the program he was in and I am very excited that I got hired on to work there next year. This means that all 3 kiddos will be able to go...FOR FREE!!! I am super excited about getting some adult time during the week as well as being able to send all of the kids.

The boys loved a little Last Day of School Breakfast with a side of birthday cupcake thanks to our neighbor Elizabeth!! Pulling out all the stops for the last day of school!

I am still AMAZED at how much Myles has changed in 9 months. He has almost totally lost his "little boyness". I feel like he is just growing WAY TOO FAST!!!

              AUGUST                                                                          MAY

This is his "Yay for summer vacation" pose!

Far from Perfect

I really wanted to get some good pictures of the kids because they are all kind of at the "half age" marks. 4.5, 2.5 and .5(ish). I think that I have officially reached the point where I need someone else to help me just to get them "focused". I took all these pics on our front step and didn't think much of it until I chatted with one of our neighbors that night. He informed me that he and his wife got extreme enjoyment out of sitting in the window watching me from across the street. (Apparently the duck call I was using to get Natalie to smile drew his attention to the window in the first place. I will do anything for a good smile). He went on to tell me how funny I looked and how much fun they had watching me. Glad SOMEONE found me entertaining because my kids obviously don't. I really didn't get any AMAZING pictures that day and I was bummed, but I did get a few that are funny and really the pictures do capture EXACTLY where we are in life right now. We are FAR from perfect and we are RARELY focused so WHY do I think my pictures will be that way....Wishful thinking I guess. Either way, the pictures are FAR from perfect but the kids in them are the best thing I have ever done in my life. Thank you God for giving me them and for the craziness of every day. 

 "Mom...How do you expect me to focus on anything except this massive pom pom you put on my head?"

 "Heck NO I won't smile AND look at the camera at the same time."

 "Just a minute mom, I need to get the pb&j out of my teeth."

 "No, this pose feels totally natural mom. Can't you see how happy I am."

 "Where am I suppose to look again?"

 "I'm just so excited I can't even stand it!!"

 LOVE THIS PICTURE. Another spontaneous kiss from Ty. TOTALLY worth him "messing up" the shot. Far better picture than I could have asked for.

 "Please God get this crazy woman to stop trying to make me smile. PLEASE."

 "OK...No more Miss Nice Girl...I....AM......DONE!!"

 Myles Jacob 

4.5 Years Old

 

Tyler James

2.5 Years Old

Natalie Faith

7 Months Old

Why I've Been Absent

I am totally aware that I have been slacking on my blogging lately, but I have a very good reason beyond just being busy with 3 kiddos.... I was busy with FOUR kiddos. :-)We had the opportunity to help out some friends of ours who also do foster care. They got the call asking if they could take a newborn in. They have 2 biological kids and 1 foster daughter whom they have had for a year now. Because both parents work they need someone to do daycare for them since a newborn can't go to daycare until they have had their first round of shots at about 6 weeks. So I said yes and figured it was a good chance to see if we can handle a newborn if we were asked to when we open up our home in July. We will call her baby Sophie because that is the name I think would fit her. It obviously isn't her name and just for privacy reasons I won't ever use a foster child's real name. Well baby Sophie fit right in and did very well. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy, but I learned it was totally doable as long as there was some major planning. I had to make sure to feed one baby before the other one got too hungry or there would be some MAJOR crying going on. It also showed me that there was almost NO TIME....I mean NONE for "extra" stuff like blogging or facebook. It was all worth it though and we love that we have great friends who can help us out when we start our foster care journey.
After having Sophie for a week we got ready and headed to MN for 2 weeks which was WONDERFUL as always. Natalie and I even got to sneak a trip in to California with a lot of my family. Now we are back home and will have Sophie full time for 10 days while her foster family is on vacation. I will work on updating my blog as much as possible. There are so many fun things to share!!

Natalie and her new best friend!