Happy Birthday, R!

Another one coming in late, but a few weeks ago our sweet, funny, rambunctious, sassy, life of the party R turned FIVE! 

This kid, man. He keeps us on our toes. He knows how to push every single button and drive you to the brink of insanity and then turn around and do something so cute that you forgive him in a heartbeat. People love him and he loves people. He always rolls down the car windows to say goodbye to the crossing cards after school everyday, and he always has hugs for his friends.

He wants to be a big boy, and is constantly trying to keep up with L, L2 and their friends, and he usually succeeds. But he also will sometimes come and cuddle with me in the morning, and I love that. 

We love this little guy so much. He is a ball of energy that is sometimes hard to keep up with, but when he's around you know things will always be interesting! Happy Birthday, R!

Halloween 2018

So, it is November 16th, which means we are less thank a week away from Thanksgiving. But guess what this post is? Halloween! Life is so busy right now, that as much as I love this place and documenting our journey, I often find myself falling behind. So, you're going to get hit with a lot of pictures and not a lot of text!

But the bottom line is; our Halloween was awesome. We love our neighborhood, we love our friends and their sweet kids, and our kids had a blast!

And in big news, with the addition of little miss C, for the first time ever I was able to convince S to dress up in a family costume! (Peter pan, Tinkerbell, and a lost boy!)

Pumpkin carving with our pumpkins!

Nine months!

Our sweet Miss C is nine months!!! 

She is all mama's girl these days, and I don't mind one bit! She has two teeth and is a fan of biting, which I am not a fan of.  She is still not a fan of naps unless she is sleeping on someone and still pretty much refuses to sleep in her crib.

We are still nursing, and it's going great. She is still waking up one or two times a night, but that is just because she wants to comfort nurse and come in the bed with us. This is a habit I know we need to start breaking, but since she is most likely our last baby I am going enjoy it while I can!

She has mastered the art of the speed crawl and is pulling up and cruising on everything! She is super close to walking and loves to get into things. She is definitely a little spoiled and has a house full of older brothers that love nothing more than to hold her and play with her and make her laugh. And she finds them hilarious! She has also started waving and clapping, which is beyond adorable.

She still goes by the nickname Char-asorous because if she is cranky she will definitely let you know! But she is also the sweetest and cuddliest baby, and we love her so, so much!

L2 turns seven

Happy seventh birthday to our sweet L2!!!

We got to go over to L2's school to celebrate, and then we had his first friend party! It so amazing to watch this kid grow. Things haven't always been easy and we have struggled and overcome some hurdles over the years, but he is truly thriving right now. It's amazing to watch him speak in ASL, and also to hear how much clearer his spoken speech is coming. He is learning to read his sight words and  he puts so much effort into his spelling words and homework each week. He plays soccer and baseball, and even though he's not the best or most coordinated, he is always so happy to just be out there with his friends.

He is still fiercely stubborn, but is learning to take no for an answer and to get out of his comfort zone  more and more. He loves his brothers and little sister and he loves Jello (the new puppy!) He loves to sing and tell stories and act silly. He's all boy and is usually happiest out playing in the dirt.

We love him and we love watching him grow. Happy, Happy birthday my sweet L2!!!

Camping 2018

We had our annual friends camping trip a few weeks ago, and it was another successful one for the books! We usually try to do a trip as soon as the weather starts cooling down, but between sports and other obligations, we were quickly running out of time. But we made it work and headed up to the lake after three soccer games on a Saturday afternoon. 

Unfortunately, as it usually is in the fall, the lake was super low. Usually the campsites we stay at our right on the water, but this year you couldn't even see where the lake started! So we set up camp and then drove out to another area to let the kids swim and kayak. It was kind of a pain having to drive, but ultimately not a big deal and actually kind of nice checking out another area of the lake.

Our friends only stayed for the first night, but S took Monday off so we were able to stay a second night. The boys had a blast and little miss C did a great job! It definitely harder camping with a baby whose mobile enough to want to be down and explore, but not old enough to be trusted!

So until spring, Lake Pleasant!

School Pictures

School picture time! We have third grade, first grade, and preschool! My handsome guys!