Miami

While Mike was away at Chaplain training this year, the kids and I took a road trip down to Miami!  12 hour trip in the car with just me and the kids?  No problem! (ha!!)  

We actually had a really easy day 1 from NC to Jacksonville where we visited with friends.  The second day was mis. er. a. ble.  Brody is not one for lengthy car trips and when he realized we still had 5-6 hours to go he made it clear that he was not pleased.  We had to stop about every hour to avoid meltdowns.  But, we made it!  And immediately hopped in the pool.

The kids don't need a whole lot of toys down there because they spend 90% of their time in the water!

Or by the water.

We got LOTS of snuggles from Tita who got to meet great grandchild #5.  What an amazing thing to be able to say!

I enjoyed spending many afternoons in the water with the kids.  The sun was brutal, but the memories and playtime together made it so worth it.

Logan went from needing floaties when we arrived to swimming like a fish in a matter of days!  It was so fun to watch her blossom into a swimmer.

It took Brody a good minute, but he really enjoyed himself once he was convinced he wasn't going to sink by stepping off of the stairs.

A trip to Miami isn't complete without a visit to the American Girl Store for lunch.  We walked the store over and over again looking for Christmas ideas and just enjoying the pink.

We also enjoyed looking at every single Isabelle item in the store (2 or 3 times over).

The kids enjoyed some time at Tita's house.  It was fun to hang out with them there knowing that I spent so many a summer in that very house doing many of the things that they did!

It was like they had seen Mickey Mouse when the fruit and vegetable truck pulled up to the house.  Everyone had to go see and pick something out!

We rounded off the trip with a visit to a local market where we had coconut milk straight out of the coconut!  

We are so thankful for such a fun place to visit and for grandparents who are so helpful when daddy is away and allow for me to come and get some relief from single parenting!  It's always an adventure and we look forward to many more visits in the future.

Things That I Want To Remember

Mike's birthday this year was full of cards and cash.  Logan didn't want to be outdone.

So, she made him a card with $200,000 dollars in it.

She spares no expense when it comes to her daddy.

Life With 3

I love having three kids.

I love my oldest.  I love that she's a girl and we get to do girly things together.  We paint our nails, do our hair, giggle and read American Girl books.  She's so special and is so helpful and I don't know what life would be without her.

I love watching my three kids play.  There's something different about three.  It brings so much more joy to my heart to see three of them playing cooperatively.  Maybe it's because when there's two, you have no choice but to play with the one playmate you've got....but when there's three, you have a choice and when you choose to include everyone it's a bigger deal.  I love walking into the living room and seeing scenes like this.  They actually happen more frequently than people might imagine.

I love having two boys.  It's a dynamic I've never been around.  I only had one brother, my cousins all only had one sibling, my mom only had one brother and my dad had two brothers.  All different dynamics.  It's been an adjustment because I've had to learn to allow them to play rough and tackle and grunt, but I've come to enjoy the sword fights and ninja moves.  I know it'll only get rougher and tougher, but I pray that they'll be best friends one day.

We find that most places are built for two kids.  Grocery stores?  Not prepared for three littles.  We make due.  :)

It helps when number three is easy going, smily and rarely upset.  Even on his bad days he's pretty easy.

I'm learning that little middle needs extra attention.  When your older sibling is getting a lot of attention because she's officially school aged and your younger brother is just a big ball of snuggle, sometimes you just demand your own time and space with momma.  And that's ok by me.  There have been a few nights where I've gotten him out of bed after big and little have gone down and we just snuggle and laugh.  These years go by too fast to not get that sweet time together.  I'm also trying to get better about being IN pictures with my kids.  It's so easy to be trapped  behind the camera trying to capture sweet moments, but I know one day it'll be important for them to SEE momma with them.

Gotta go back to my oldest.  Three would be miserable without her maturity.  Her ability to take care of her baby brother while I shower, or change a diaper if I'm in a pinch, or grab this or that....or fold an ENTIRE load of laundry while I'm putting babies to bed.  She amazes me.  I'm so glad she's ours.

I'm so glad the Lord has chosen to bless our home with three littles.  We hope that there are more along the way, but we are surely enjoying the blessings God has lent to us for the time.  We pray that they grow to know the Lord and that they have hearts like His.  

Baby Food Round 3

Lincoln started eating solids soon after he turned 7 months.  I'm not really big on purees, I prefer for the kids to learn to eat little bits of food so that they learn to chew and not just swallow, but I do start them with a little bit of purees to get their pallets used to new tastes.  

This go around, I had the bigs participate!  Logan and Brody diced and sliced some soft fruits (with plastic knives), helped throw some veggies in to steam and then chopped them up with our food processor.

It took a better part of the afternoon and we had so much fun!!

His favorite was our avocado, banana and pineapple combination.

During nap time, Logan helped split the purees up into ice cube trays.  It's been so fun this time around to have extra help.

This was about the only big food making experience we had.  After about a month Linc switched and just started eating whatever we were eating cut up into small pieces.  

Toothless

At the end of May, the kids and I went strawberry picking with our MOPS group.  This is an annual event and we look forward to the fresh strawberries all year long!  It was an unusually warm day, but we had a fantastic time.

Brody probably enjoyed more strawberries in the field than he did at home.  We are thankful for the great family owned farm we pick at because they don't mind that we have little ones who eat as we go.

Lincoln hung out in the ergo.  

We got home, and Logan and I washed these pretties up.  She took one bite.....

.....and out popped her first little tooth!  She was so excited, but it was hard for me.  It really changed her little girl smile quite a bit.

Logan knows that the tooth fairy isn't real, but asked if we could pretend.  We're all about pretending and had a great time coming up with fun ways to surprise her!  She got a tooth certificate, a tooth chart and a sparkly dollar in exchange for her first tooth.  A month later, to the date, she lost her second.

The next day her brothers and I took her out for a special toothless treat!

Papa's Reception

We went up to Ohio in early November to surprise Papa so we could attend his wedding reception!  We were really excited to get to spend some extra time with him and to get to know his new wife, Deb a little better.  It was such a great time!!  Lincoln even took a couple of steps while we were there.

The reception was so much fun.  We got to spend time with cousins, and dance, and enjoy being together.  These boys really bonded well this trip!

Logan, of course, had a fantastic time talking to people and dancing for everyone.

And this boy, he was just so precious.

It was so nice to get away and enjoy time with family.