Thanksgiving 2018

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is probably my second favorite holiday, because what is better than a holiday where you eat and drink all day, and it kicks off the Christmas Season! This year we had my parents join us, so we went a little crazy on the appetizers and even brined a turkey!

We had a wonderful day of snacking and hanging out and meeting up with friends, followed of course by a delicious dinner that my kids even ate SOME off!

And at the end of the night, our tradition of our elf, Frosty, showing up with a letter and Christmas jammies for the whole family!

I didn't get a picture of C in hers, but they match, and trust me they are adorable!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stella

This post has taken me several weeks to be able to write, because it's pretty devastating. A few weeks ago, our sweet beagle, our Stella, slipped out through a door and was hit by a car that chose not to stop, and she passed away.

Aah, that is so hard to write. I am thankful for the group of teenagers who stopped and found an adult and called me and comforted Stella. I'm grateful for the woman that gave her sips of water until she passed and then hugged me so tight as I collapsed on the sidewalk sobbing. I'm grateful for the friends and neighbors that dropped everything to help me with the kids. I'm grateful, but I'm so, so, so sad.

We got Stella 13 years ago, about 6 months after we adopted Charlie. We did not adopt Stella, we spent way to much money on her, but she was the cutest little puppy you ever saw and at the time we were dumb college kids with disposable income. Stella was a mischief maker. She was a notorious food thief who had no qualms about getting on the table or counter, pulling over the trashcan, and one time eating an entire box of (wrapped) liquor filled chocolates from under the Christmas tree. (Poor Charlie got lead astray in that one, and while thankfully both dogs were fine, it was a long, gross night with too very sick and fairly drunk dogs!)

Stella loved going on adventures. If an opportunity presented itself for her to sneak out of the house, she took it. One time when she was a puppy she tried to sneak out through a hole in a brick fence and had to be rescued by the fire department. She loved to go out and meet people. Most of our neighborhood knew her and would just bring her right back to our door, but they would often tell me about how she wandered into their garage, or right into their house, and sometimes would even jump in their car. She loved people, and as awful as this whole thing is, I know she died doing what she loved and that she was surrounded by people at the end. 

We are grieving and will be for a while. To loose both our first fur babies in one year has been awful. We are pouring a lot of love into our Jello pup right now, and remembering the good, long years we had with both Charlie and Stella. 

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!!!