sweet summertime, part 2

Just some everyday summertime moments...

Swim meets every Monday

6 years old!!

 My sweet Aedan.  Six!  How. In. The. World.??  How in the world have six years flown by?  I almost cannot remember life before you were in it.  You rocked my world when you made me a mama, and I loved you instantly.  I spent all day yesterday remembering the day of your birth, and then we were talking tonight about how 6 is 1/3 of the way to 19 and my mama heart just cannot handle that.  Aedan, you are pure joy.  You are full of fun, little man.  You light up our lives.  You make us laughg multiple times a day and have the most awesome little laugh when you find something funny, which is often!  You are a good brother and friend.  You are super observant and quick to compliment.  You love to hang out with friends, but also love home days--and better yet, pajama days in your spiderman jammies.  You like to have fun.  You love all things math and science.  You are an ideas man (like your Daddy!) and are always running those ideas past us (or sometimes, just trying them out on your own!).  You definitely keep us on our toes, but you are a good kid.  You are kind and have a sweet heart.  Sweet boy, we cannot imagine life without you in it.  Year seven (what????) is going to hold so many new and exciting adventures for you!!  We love you!

YES day, June

A few weeks ago, Landon sent me an article about a woman who had a "yes" day with her little girl.  Basically, within parameters, she said yes to what her daughter wanted to do all day long, and it was a fun day.  Since I read that, I've been wanting to do it, but it kinda overwhelmed me a little.  I put one a month on our summer bucket list though, so I decided to do our June yes day the day after Aedan's birthday.  It was a nice follow up. :)  I decided to ease into it, and kept it low key and a home day.  And basically, I just tried to say yes as much as I could.  It made me realize how often I say no, when I could easily say yes--it's just not as convenient or not my plan.  It was a good day!!

my sweet little helpers

Aedan and Austin are the sweetest little helpers.  Anytime I'm cooking or working in the kitchen, they want to help.  And pretty much anytime I'm feeding Adam, one or both are asking to feed him too.  The day before Aedan's birthday, they helped me make the icing for his cake, and together fed Adam all by themselves!  Love these 3 boys. :)  Life is crazy, but the blessing abound.

first family of 5 bike ride!

Aedan and Austin have been asking all day to go on a "family bike ride", so we did! So fun! It was Adam's first time in the bike seat, and I think he enjoyed it. :) He managed to get his helmet off and on the ground twice though, ha!

VBS

In years past, VBS has always been something that I looked forward to, as some good, fun one on one time with Aedan and his little friends.  It's always been a blast!  This year, I think he still had a blast, but it was a super stressful week for me, ha.

When I signed up to be a group leader for Aedan's group (Austin is still in the pre-k class and Adam is in the nursery), life wasn't crazy.  But, by the time VBS came around, Adam wasn't going to sleep as easily as he used to, just because he's older, and Austin was having a really hard time, with a touch of separation anxiety thrown in.  The first day, it took me 30 minutes to drop Austin off because he was so upset, and I still had to peel him off of me to leave.  After I was gone, he was fine, but it was still awful.  The other 3 days, Landon just kept him home with him until VBS started and then brought him up to his class, which worked perfectly.  I was so thankful for him that week--not sure what I would have done without him!!  And then, Adam had the hardest time falling asleep in his class.  His teacher, Jenny, was so sweet and kept me in the loop, but I think he cried so much, which makes me so sad.  The last day I finally just wore him, which worked out perfectly and he napped, so I was wishing I had just done that all week.  And Aedan was interesting this year too--every other year, he wanted to be with me most of the time and I was his buddy.  This time, he mostly hung out with his friends in the group, and came to see me some.  I guess he's growing up, but that was a different experience too. :)  So basically, it kinda just felt like survival.  But, our boys (at least, Austin and Aedan) had fun.  It was sweet to hear their little voices saying the memory verse.  And it was neat to hear Austin telling me the story of the man Jesus healed by putting mud on his eyes.  And I totally believe in VBS--it was just a lot for this season of life. :)

Oh, and just a funny/random side note.  Every time we told Austin we were going to VBS, he thought we were saying CVS, so he would correct us and say, "No, our not going to CVS, going to church!".  Love it.  And, I asked the Aedan what his favorite thing we did was, and he said our very first craft room, where they built things out of marshmallows and toothpicks.  Love that too.  It is so him.  They were both asking to go back on Friday.  We had a home day instead.:)

Father's Day!

This year, we celebrated Landon on the Saturday before Father's Day, and celebrated with my dad on Sunday, and Landon's dad on Tuesday.  

The boys and I woke up bright and early on Saturday and let Landon sleep in.  Aedan had a vision for making a smiley face eggs, so we did that. :)

a new swimming PR!

We're still chugging along with swim team every day and meets every Monday.  It's been fun and it's been SO good for Aedan to do before going to kindergarten.  In the beginning, he was goofing off a lot when it wasn't his turn and not listening to his teacher that well.  We've worked a lot with him and there have been some hard days, but he's grown so much with his behavior and focus and we're so proud of that.  And, his swimming has gotten so much better too!  Landon has taken him out a lot in the mornings to swim and he's really taught him how to swim.  He's such a good daddy.  He's been swimming way faster with Landon than at his meets, but this week, he swam about 10 seconds faster than he ever had!!  He kicked the whole way (what they've been working on!) and looked so good out there.  I was just blown away by how much he's grown over the last few months.  We wanted him to do swim team to really learn to swim and to meet some kids that will be at his school next year, and both have happened, so that's fun!

8 months!

My sweet boy, 8 months already!!  This has been a big month for  you--you're all of a sudden moving all over the place and sitting up like a champ!  You are so fun and happy and smiley and bring so much light and joy to our family.  You make this little noise and wave your arms all around whenever you want to go to them or want something (usually food!) and are just the sweetest thing.  On one hand, it feels like you've been a part of our family forever, but on the other hand, it seems completely unreal that 2/3 of a year have passed since your birth.  Happy 8 months to our army crawling (and just starting to "traditional crawl"), super smiley, on the move, steady sitting, toy playing, food eating, family loving, roly poly baby.  We sure do love you!

sweet summertime, part 1

This summer if flying by, but it's been full and fun so far.  Just a few everyday moments...

Adam trying to figure out how to crawl

Adam's crib

Adam and Austin both woke up from their naps on Thursday at the same time, and within minutes all ended up in Adam's crib--the first time of many, I'd imagine. I pray everyday that the three of them grow up to be best friends!

family of 5

Thank you, ASP photography, for so beautifully capturing this moment in time for our family! 11 years of marriage. 3 kids. Almost 6 (in 2 days!!). 3 1/4 years. 8 months. I've been dreaming of being a mama of 3 littles for a long time and it truly is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. And I've been looking forward to family pictures since before Adam was born!  This week (ok, last few weeks) has been hard. Really hard. God has been growing Landon and I as parents! But getting these pictures in my inbox yesterday was such a sweet reminder of how much I love this little family of mine, tantrums, tears, crazy schedules and all.

The boys and I have been working on memorizing scripture for the past few months, and the one we have hanging on our board right now is "I have learned to be content with whatever I have." I've always thought of it in a physical context, but over the last few weeks, when I feel like I'm about to lose my mind as I try to parent, I really feel like God has been reminding me to be content with this season of life. This lot in life. These circumstance. These children. All of it. To be content, no matter what, because it is what He has chosen for me. Each verse I write up on the board for us, I think is just going to help me shape their character, and God is so good to use it to continue to mold my heart too.

shadow play...

Just a little fun on the walk back to our car from swim team.  Life is never dull with you around, Aedan! :)

A Day In the Life, "school day" edition...

Sometimes I struggle with the fact that all of our days don't look the same, but I'm learning to be ok with that. :)  Just for memory's sake, here's a look at one of our days during the "school" year. 

First and Last day of Mommy School

Just for fun, a little walk down memory lane!  

Last day of Mommy School 2016-2017:

I'll Always Be Your Kid

A few days ago, Aedan and I were hanging out during quiet time, when both Adam and Austin were asleep, and we had the sweetest little conversation.  I just had to write it down, so I don't forget it!

We were outside hitting some balls, and came inside to wash our hands.  I reached out to turn on the water...

Aedan: It's ok, Mom.  I can reach the water.  (When did he start calling me Mom???  And refusing my kisses??? Wahhh...he's growing up too quickly!)
Mommy: You're getting so tall!
Aedan: I know.  I can reach your shoulder.
Mommy: I know!  That makes me sad.  You're getting so big.
Aedan: That makes you sad?
Mommy:  Yeah, kinda.  Sometimes.
Aedan: It's ok Mom. I'll always be your kid.
Mommy: I know, sweet boy.
Aedan: And when I move into my own house, I'll call you and tell you my number and tell you where I live.  You can always come visit me.  And I'll come visit you a lot too.
Mommy: You better! :)

Sweet boy! I just adore him.

an early birthday present...

We found an awesome deal on a kids Trek bike for Aedan for his birthday this year, because it was time for a bigger bike for our big boy. :)  He found it in our closet the next morning (we were on the fence about giving it to him early anyway, so it was ok) and he was so excited!  We immediately took it outside for him to ride! :)

Mommy Date

This past Sunday, we were supposed to have family pictures, but they got rained out.  Everyone was a little frustrated and grouchy, so Landon suggested we get out of the house.  We split the 2 bigger boys and did date nights.  Landon and Austin went to eat, and Aedan and I did the same.  We were headed to a little mexican restaurant by our house, but Aedan changed to pizza at the last minute.  When we got there, he pulled out his wallet and told me that he was buying our dinner.  Oh, sweet one.  Love him so much.  It was the cutest thing and totally melted my heart. They both totally prefer Daddy right now, so I'm thankful for a sweet night with my oldest little one.  (And, with this little guy, who slept for a good chunk of dinner!).

Aedan's first swim meet!

Proud mama moment...Aedan had his first swim meet tonight and I could not be more proud of him! He's worked really hard for the past couple of months and it was so cool to see him out there swimming. I got to be tent mom tonight too, which was fun because I got to see him hanging out with his new little buddies, and meet them all. Love this kid so much. Swim team is a whole new world to me, but it was so much fun! :)

Mommy School Celebration

Last year was the first time we did and "end of Mommy School" celebration and it was a lot of fun, so I decided to do it again this year!  This time, we headed to a new place out in Katy called Kingdom and Wheels.  Both boys (especially Austin!) were so excited (he kept asking "when de Mommy Tool celebration is?) and it was such a fun morning!  I'm so proud of them and all they've learned this year!

Z week!

As we started our last week of "Mommy School" this week, I had all the feels.  It just hit me that this was the last time it would ever be like this.  We have so many sweet memories at this little chalk painted table and in this room.  They've both learned SO much, which is SO fun!  We've had to figure things out this year, since it was the first year for Austin (he's grown so much in a year!), and a different kind of year for Aedan (the first time I didn't use a set preK curriculum), and then we had a baby, but it was such a sweet, sweet time.  It didn't really go how I had planned with Aedan, but I think it worked out ok.:)  I still cannot believe that my time with him at home with me is over.  While some things will inevitably get easier once he goes to school, I'm not ready for it!  I'm sure it will be fine, but I'm going to miss him like crazy.

everyday life

Just a few (real life, messy house) moments in time on a lazy afternoon...