The last few days

Things have been busy around here! I had to be at a meeting for school on my actual birthday, so my mom offered to watch the kids the night before and Zach and I got out for a kid free meal! We really enjoyed having an hour or so to ourselves and to eat dinner out at a grown up restaurant!

We stopped and picked up a cupcake for each of us after and also brought home mini ones for the kids!

I had to be at work for a 7:00 a.m. meeting on my birthday so we got up extra early so i could help make sure the kids were ready before I left. We even had time for a quick photo! 

I had lunch plans on my birthday with Stephanie and Joanie, and Zach decided he wanted to come along. It’s so nice that he has a little flexibility with his new job!

Stephanie showed up with a box of cupcakes for me! They were delicious and lasted the whole week!

They also had these adorable cookies at work to celebrate all of the August birthdays!

It was a very good day! I feel extremely blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life who love me!

Is this boy seriously not so cute? He melts me day after day!

Reed and his BFF are in different classes this year but his teacher texted me one day to show me they had found each other on the playground!

We had a busy weekend! Friday night we had a birthday party for Ava’s twin friends! The kids had a great time and come home very tired – win/win for sure!

Even this boy was tired and he didn’t even swim! I’ll never tire of taking pictures of my sleeping babies!

Saturday morning we headed to Zach’s school for the annual tailgate party to kick off their football season. This year they had a fire truck there and the firemen were sooooo nice and let Reed look all around and climb in the truck! He was soooo happy!  

Can i also just talk about how dramatic our almost seven year old is? We were working on homework and she wrote one letter backward and I told her to fix it and she went into hysterics about how she is awful about her writing letters and numbers and shapes. Oh what fun we have ahead! 

We had another birthday party Saturday afternoon for our little friend Emmi! The kids were running around the whole time and I barely had a chance to get any pictures of them! They had a blast!

Saturday evening Ava was practicing her cheer dance and I looked over at Grant and he was watching her intently with the biggest grin on his face! He loves Ava so much!

We went to church Sunday morning and came home for the day. Ava got some unexpected toys in the mail last week and we let her keep two and put the rest of the pieces away. She was trying butter me up to get one yesterday. She went into the laundry room and saw the dryer had gone off and she said “The laundry is done. I’d be happy to fold it for you.” ha! She did a great job. Little does she know she may have earned herself that job more often! :)

Grant sits in his bouncy seat while we eat dinner and last night he was fussing as I was cleaning up. I went to grab him and he’d fallen alseep! He is such an easy angel baby!

Reed didn’t eat his dinner very well last night so we left it on the plate for him, knowing he’d inevitably ask for a snack. When he did, I told him all he could have was his dinner. I was in the living room and turned around and caught him trying to throw his green beans in the trash!

We had a wonderful weekend. We have a super busy week this week. We have something going on every single night with various meetings, activities, etc. I’ll be glad when this week is over and we get a three day weekend!

Be sure and check back in tomorrow for something fun I have in the works!

It’s been a month…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a month since we lost Leslie. I’ll never forget getting the call that morning. Zach had let me go back to sleep after feeding Grant and my phone rang while I was laying in bed. I saw that it was my mom and I just knew something wasn’t right because she usually didn’t call me quite THAT early in the morning.

I can say that this month without you, Leslie, has been the hardest one I think I’ve ever lived. Each day it seems like something new makes me miss you and the pain just doesn’t go away. I talk to Stephen and your beautiful girls on face time and my heart just aches looking at them. I know you know this, but Stephen is doing such a good job with them. I’m so glad he has them as I know that helps him through his pain.

Man, do I miss you. Something happened Tuesday and I just rolled my eyes and thought of how much I’d like to be able to text you. I can just imagine what your reaction would have been. I’ve had a thousand things I’ve wanted to tell you and share with you since you’ve been gone. I saw this yesterday and it made me think of you:

 

It wasn’t people necessarily that we loved to make fun of, but really anything and everything. I miss our chats about life and especially the things we made fun of together. I cannot even tell you how happy I am we got to do that one last time right before you left us. That will remain one of my most cherished memories forever.

Stephen sent me a birthday card and seeing his and the girls’ name without yours made me weep. The silliest little things are the ones that seem to hurt the most. I’ve read back through our text messages several times and I just miss your wit and humor and encouragement. Even in your pain and suffering, you always offered encouragement and support to me.

I know you’re happy, and you’re feeling good, and loving being in Heaven. You’ve had a month being with Jesus and walking the streets of paradise, and I know you are loving it.

But you sure are missed.

Thirty-two

Today is my 32nd birthday. I can honestly say that I never could have imagined all that transpired from last year’s birthday to this one.

2015 has been HARD for our family. Obviously, the most recent and probably hardest to date is losing Leslie. Back in February, we lost my 36 year old uncle suddenly. In the midst of his passing, my grandma (his mom) was struggling with heart issues and we watched her getting weaker and weaker and weaker. The weekend my uncle died was the weekend Leslie finally ended up in the hospital for the first time.

March 17th was probably one of the hardest and toughest days of my life. I was on the way to my doctor appointment for my three hour glucose test and my mom called me and told me that Leslie was not good and that she needed to be moved to Kansas City. She was very sick that day and we weren’t sure if she would get through it. I had some emotional texts with Leslie that day that included discussions about the future for the girls if something happened to her. Let me tell you, that’s not something you ever want to talk about.

In the mid-afternoon that day, we got confirmation from my dad that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It truly felt like the world was crumbling around us. My mom was moving to NWA for however long to take care of Caroline and Ainsley and my dad was going to be going through this huge medical ordeal. Fortunately, his prognosis was good, and he is expected to be cured, but cancer isn’t ever something you want to face, especially as you have another family member fighting for their life.

After all that, I got confirmation that I’d failed my three hour glucose test. That was just icing on the cake (ha!) for the day. That was obviously minor in the scheme of things, but it still concerned me because more than anything, I wanted Grant to avoid a NICU stay as I never wanted to experience that again. I closed my office door around 4:00 and spent the last hour of the day in tears. It was one of the moments where I felt like my world was falling apart. In the midst of all this, my grandma also underwent very serious heart surgery and it took a LONG time for her to recover. She is still working on getting back to normal, but we are thankful to still have her here with us.

I share all this because as I face another year, I’m truly aware of the fact that LIFE IS SHORT. We are never promised tomorrow and our lives can take a complete turn in an instant. I wish I could rewind a year and change some things. No matter what you say, or what you did, it seems as though when someone leaves your life, there’s always something more you wish you’d said or done.

I’ve decided in the time since Leslie passed that the new motto for my life is to “live and live well!”! We only get ONE life to focus on the things that matter. To be present in the moment. To be the people Jesus calls us to be. TO LIVE!

These people?

They are my life. I’m not sad I’m turning another year older. I’m grateful to be here with them to see another day, and Lord willing, another year. I am right where I want to be and I’m going to live this next year fully and wholly and not take one day for granted!

Weekend wrap up

Friday afternoon I picked Reed up from school. His shoes were on the wrong feet and I told him that and he said “I wanted them that way”. ha! He also has this thing lately where he doesn’t want to smile when it’s sunny outside. It drives me crazy.

We had to turn in many different ways where the sun wasn’t shining and we finally got a smile!

I had a hard day Friday. Drop off was hard because Reed forgot his lunchbox and had a melt down. I was missing Leslie. And work was hard that day. I got home and Zach told me to sit down with this precious angel and he worked on getting the house picked up. I’m a lucky girl!

Also, can someone tell me how this girl is looking so grown up? She lost a tooth Saturday night while she was sleeping. She came in Sunday morning and said it fell out in her sleep. She thought she swallowed it but felt something stuck to her leg and it was her tooth! :)    

We went to a first birthday party for my little cousin Friday night and all three kids fell asleep on the way there!

Reed didn’t want to stop long enough to take a picture! ha!

I got some cute pictures Sunday morning before church. It was windy out a big thunderstorm was about to roll in but thankfully the kids were happy to cooperate!

I got Ava this dress earlier in the spring and it matched one I got last year but I never wore it while I was pregnant. She’s been begging me to match her so we did that today!

We had some family birthday parties this afternoon and my mom and dad were in town on their way home from being with Stephen and the girls. My dad wasn’t able to hold Grant for the first couple months of his life due to his cancer treatment so it’s nice to be able to take a photo of him holding Grant!

At the birthday party, Grant obviously got a lot of love from many others. Right before we left, he was sitting in my lap cooing to my grandma. She held him for just a minute and it was so sweet. It wasn’t too many weeks ago when she was so weak she didn’t even have the energy to hold him when he was teeny. We’re so thankful she’s feeling so much better.

It was a good weekend. We have a fairly busy week ahead including a busy next weekend. That’s life when school starts back up! :)

Three months old

Grant, you are three months old today! Time is just flying by and you are getting so big! I can’t believe we’ve had you for three months. It feels like just yesterday we were waiting on you to arrive, yet it feels like you’ve been in our family forever.

Let’s see what life is like for you at three months old:

• I have put you in some 6 month clothes and you are almost too long for them! You have limited time in your three month clothes.
• You’ve grown a lot this past month, but I have no idea how much you weigh.
• You still wear size 1 diapers but will probably be in size 2 very soon.
• You rolled from your tummy to your back this month. Ava and I got to see you do it and we recorded it and cheered you on and then sent the video to Daddy.
• You nurse in the morning when you wake up and have three 3-4 oz bottles while you are at school and then nurse again at bedtime.
• You like to go to sleep around 8:00 and then you wake up around 6:00. To go to sleep, you like to just lay down in your bed and go to sleep some nights, but you also let mommy or daddy rock you some nights.
• You follow things with your eyes very well and love to look all around.
• You have become obsessed with sucking on your hands. As soon as I unswaddle you in the morning, you immediately put your hands in your mouth. Sometimes when you are laying somewhere and we are doing things around the house, we hear a LOUD sucking sound and it is you eating those hands!
• You are talking and cooing.
• You LOVE your sister! She loves you too! (And so does Reed, but he doesn’t show it as much). They both have to kiss you goodbye every morning before you leave!
• You obviously started daycare this month. You seem to like it there and hopefully will get fully adjusted soon.
• You scream in the car when we are sitting still waiting to turn or at a stoplight.
• You are a smiley boy!
• You have a spot on your forehead that seems to be ticklish and you smile when daddy touches it.
• You are the sweetest, cuddliest little boy.
• You are still such a good baby. People ask me all the time if you ever cry. (The answer is yes)

Grant, you are such an absolute dream baby. You are the most precious little boy and I seriously cannot imagine life without you. You just fit in our family so perfectly and I’m so proud to be your momma. My heart bursts with pride over you and I am so thankful for you. I cannot wait to watch you continue to grow and look forward to what the next month brings us. I hope you always know how much I love you, my sweet little guy.

First day of school 2015

Monday was the first day of school for Zach, Ava, and Reed! It was a big day for each of them! We worked hard to get everything set the night before so that we’d have a smooth morning and thankfully it worked out. Everyone got ready easily and on time and everyone took great photos! That’s RARE so not taken for granted! :)

We got the kids into bed and asleep relatively early, considering we’d been pretty lax with bedtimes over the summer.

Ava woke up earlier than she had to and came running into our room and said loudly “IT’S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!” She was very excited. Reed was pretty excited, too. Reed is going through this phase where he says he can’t smile if the sun is out at all because it’s too bright, regardless of if he is in the shade or in the sun. I told him we had to hurry up and get outside for our pictures before the sun came up! Thank goodness it worked! :)  

I make Zach take a first day photo every year. I know he probably hates it, but oh well. He obliges. And of course we had to document his first day in his new position.

Since Zach had to be at school early, I had to drop off all three kids. Thankfully Grant got into a daycare that’s close to everything – Zach’s school, the kids’ school, and my work. I dropped Grant off and then took the big kids. They were pretty excited! We didn’t have any tears and if you know Reed at all, you know this is HUGE!

I saw this picture on the school facebook page yesterday. I’m so thankful for a school where they keep us updated on the kids’ progress through the day!

Reed’s sweet teacher sent me this photo of him sleeping that day. That was probably his first nap in months! ha! Too bad it made him stay up until almost 10:00 Monday night! :)

Everyone had a great first day. The kids came home all bubbly and talking happily about their days. They were ready to head back for a second day!

And this little guy…. he’s having some trouble sleeping and taking good naps at daycare! It’s been hard because he comes home and goes to sleep and we don’t get to see him awake.

Thankfully, he slept much better yesterday. He had about three hours worth of naps instead of just one. He was a happy boy and I was so happy to see him awake for a while!    

I mean, really. Is he not just the cutest little thing??!!!!

I’m hoping that the kids’ and Zach’s years are wonderful and fruitful. I’m also hopeful Grant continues sleeping at daycare and thrives there!