Little Mommas

Chris was the MOST excited when we found out that we were expecting a "brother"!! He wasn't going to be as outnumbered!! LOL!!

But my daughters have transformed into Nate's "little mommas". He makes a noise and they are right there mothering him or coming to find me to ask if they can hold him.

Now that Nate has more head control, Anna has been allowed to hold Nate while standing with our permission. I love this pic of Nate and Anna looking at each other;)


Here's Anna getting in a snuggle while I was attempting to get more Nate pics;) Got a good one to share sometime soon:)


Lydia is right there with Anna on getting "holding time". Nate looks soo BIG in her lap!!


I"m sure there is coming a time when Nate won't want to be snuggled by his sisters. But for now, he loves it;) And them! It delights this Big Momma's heart to see Nate's face light up when his sisters and brother comes to talk to him.

Still a SnuggyBaby

Just wanted to share about a great giveaway!! I have been using a beautiful ring sling with Nate since he was just weeks old! He's been getting heavier and heavier and more and more independent......


but he's still a Snuggy Baby!


The giveaway is for a linen ring sling... which should be a little cooler in the summer! The giveaway ends July 31st!

Been meaning to give a 3 month update on Nate..... but we had a surprise this week. My mom held him and said that she thought he had put on some pound-age since she last held him like 2 weeks ago.

We did the "Momma weigh" and sure enough he had gained 2 pounds since even his doctors appt. on july 16th. At that appt he weighed in at 14.5 pounds. But when we weighed him on Tuesday he weighed 16.5!!!

So this is the funny part! During VBS last week, the mission team joked about gaining weight with all the snacks, lunches (our church members provided), eating out and breakfast at the hotel... even Brian thought he had put on some weight.

Pic is of Nate hanging out with the snack ladies, getting some Miss Lucille attention;)

But when I weighed in, I had LOST weight! All the "extra" weight I would have gained went to my little boy... LOL!! I thought he had nursed a lot during the VBS week... I thought it was just because he was off of schedule! And I"m just 1.5 pounds shy of my target "normal" weight... which is kind of cool because I don't try to loose weight while nursing.

Don't read this and think I am "in shape"..... I am sooo far from feeling and being "in shape"!! It's hard to work some solid workout time for Momma especially since Anna and I have been working through history during naptime.... i'm hoping walks with Nate in a carrier counts as something:)

WW: Real Attempts at Kid Pictures

I've been wanting to get a picture of just the kids all together for some time now.

SO I tried!!

But everyone was a little distracted... found some cute moments (although they weren't what I was looking for)!!

Then they asked to do some "crazy" shots! Somehow those always come out CRAZY!
And Chris is the KING of Crazy Pics!!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!
I've gone wordless with Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, and Go Graham Go!

WFMW: Storing Blueberries;)

We took the family on a late afternoon blueberry "picking adventure" tonight!! Phew!! So now we're ready to store them!

My first year picking and freezing I called around to my "experts" and they were mixed....

Don't wash.

Wash, but dry.

So what have I done????

Well, I know how I am in the midst of preparing a meal or dessert.... usually RUSHED! So it's super nice to have the ingredients "ready to go"!

So I wash!! Well rinse really in a strainer.

And then I lay them out on a baking sheet (with sides) lined with a towel. By spreading them out to dry, I can pick through them getting out the rest of the leaves, stems and overripe berries.

I leave them to dry for a little while and moved them around to completely dry. And then I pack them into gallon bags.

The berries are right there ready to be quickly scooped out for any recipe I need them for. And in most of my recipes I can use them frozen:)

Good for my crew.... who are glad to share a patch of blueberry muffins at anytime;)

You can learn all sorts of simple and fun tricks at Works for me Wednesday at We Are that Family:)

Tiny Talk Tuesday - VBS Edition

Sorry I missed a few weeks.... honestly, my brain has been not much more than mush -with a baby, still not enjoying a full night sleep, late nights, VBS and preparing our homeschool! My kids have said some of the funniest and great things.... I have not written them down and then I forget them...

so since last week I have really tried to write some down:)

One of the cutest songs the kids learned at VBS was called "Every Ounce of Me".

Anna told me that her class was going to sing it on the stage at family night. Except Anna told me the name of the song was called "Every house of Me"!! LOL!!

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Chris and Lydia like the "Yes to VBS!" song.

But when you hear them sing it they are a little off;) They'll sing, "ya,ya,ya, ya, yes to B,B,B,B,V,S!" too cute... especially with Chris' "break dancing".

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Sometime during the week, Anna was getting some juice for Lydia. AS I walked into the kitchen I thanked Anna for helping her sister. And I offered to open the frig door so Anna could put the bulky juice container back.

Anna looked up at me and said,"Mommy by helping me, you are showing Christ's love to me."

Go, VBS!! A tender little heart was listening!
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And as we packed/cleaned up and headed home (like 20 steps!!) after VBS Friday night, Anna asks, "So, what are we doing next week???"

LOL.... don't think she saw me dragging myself home:)


We had a great week of VBS!!! We got to meet a few more families from our little town! And got to hang out with some of the kids we've gotten to know through VBS too:) We had 3 kids make decisions!

I am soo thankful that the group from VA came down to run our VBS. The Young at Heart group was such a JOY to work with and such a blessing to our family, our church and the VBS crowd!!!


Friday night we had our annual Family Friday night Finale.... a team came from the Young at Heart's church to set up a block party:) Games, Inflatables, Races and Prizes;)
Then families, VBS staff, block party crew, VBS-ers and church members piled into our fellowship hall and ate some hot dogs. The kids gladly did all of the songs from the week and the older kids shared the puppet show they had been working on all week (they did a super job... soo funny!!).

An added blessing was to meet a very like-minded sister in Christ from the mission team!!! And she's a fellow blogger, too:) I look forward to keeping up with her and her family and possibly meeting up with them again b/c they were THAT sweet:)

A great week indeed! Now the challenge of following up and keeping up with the kids and families that we were able to meet!

What Nate does during VBS...

He's also loving the extra attention from the Young at Heart group leading VBS and the kids. He'll call out once and have a crowd around him ready to hold and snuggle with him....

Let's just say, he's got it good!

Is Friday already here???

We'll be with the VBS crowd all morning and most of the afternoon preparing for our BIG Friday Family night Finale!!! Maybe some fun pictures will be taken and shared:)

Another Reason to LOVE VBS...

The Friendships!!!

This week at You Capture the theme is B&W.

When you start with a lot....

you've got a lot to LOSE!

Nate's little head looks more and more bald as each day passes!

I've never noticed the others thinning out this much... Anna had the "bald ring" but that's all I remember. And then I started wondering if it was because Nate started out with soo much more hair than the others;)

At his check-up last week, the nurse pointed out that his eyebrows are tinted with a light shade of red. Could his hair come back with a hint of red, like his brother??? That would be soo fun especially since they look so much alike already.

BTW.... isn't it amazing how much he has changed in 11.5 weeks???

And he'll be 3 MONTHS this weekend... where did these baby days go???

**First pic was taken by Andrea:)

Going "Wordless" at Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go!!

I Really Want to Blog....

But it's impossible to share all I want to right now. So I'll give you the run down of what's keeping me from blogging right now:)

The biggest thing is VBS!! I LOVE VBS!!! It's just an awesome way for our church to minister to the children and families in our community. We've had the privilege through VBS of watching soo many of the children of our town "grow up" these last 5 years!


This year is even more amazing!! A senior adult team from Virginia has come to basically run our VBS! Oh, they had perfect timing in asking us and their being in our church and town is soo encouraging to me.

Monday was our first day and we enjoyed the 30+ children that came into our "ranch"! I can't wait to see what the week holds!!!


Nate's schedule has changed on me again!! When he sleeps longer than 40 minutes he sleeps hard, otherwise it seems like he is trying to get down to 2 naps already with cat naps between. The good news is that he is starting to be more content watching us and looking at toys so he's not needing to be held constantly (although I'm trying to get in all the snuggle time i can!)



And yes.... that is a cloth diaper on his bottom!

I have used cloth for a day or so... there are some pros and cons!! I've always wanted to try cloth diapers for economic and environmental reasons. So I'm glad to have this chance.

I really want to share.... the good, the bad and the gross!! LOL!! But I'll save that for another time that I DON"T need my whole family out the door the next morning by 8:45am so we can "VBS" with 40+ people all morning;)

And we can't overlook continuing to prepare for school starting sometime next month, keeping the house in order, meals and our normal outings.... it's enough to keep this girl busy:) And keep the blog simple this week!

Are We Having Any More???

A question I hear OFTEN!!


Sometimes from family members, from random strangers at the grocery store (as my kids are licking sugar off the shelves as I chat with another mom or read ingredient labels in search of "safe" mix), some times from people who are disgusted I have 4 kids (I can hear it in their tone!) and sometimes from friends who are asking or wondering themselves.

Right now I'm not sure what the answer is!! And I'm not convinced this is the right time to make that decision!

• I have a hip baby that is carried for 80%+ when he's awake!
• I sleep in 4 or 5 hours blocks at night!!
• My house is in constant need of attention!!!
• My older kids are needing some attention as well.
• Brian is still vacuuming the house some days!
• Many meals I eat after the family to tend to/feed Nate!
• And our homeschooling prep has begun (I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of schooling 3 kids and keeping Nate.... sounds impossible right now!)

As crazy, loud, and cluttered my house is...

I know I am blessed!!

I am soo thankful for each child and they bring soo much life and giggles to our home!

And I've really attempted to ENJOY these days.... even when everything seems soo demanding. I actually haved enjoyed caring for Nate late at night - listening to his contentment nursing, hearing his breathing next to me and waking to his smiles!

So for now that is my focus! While I know we need to have a plan...

right now I need to enjoy (and survive) the day-to-day.

Matthew 6:34 (Contemporary English Version)
Don't worry about tomorrow.
It will take care of itself.
You have enough to worry about today.

WW: Stray or Stay

We've had a visitor the last month or so... a little "stray" dog that occasionally visits and then disappears only to return a few days later.

Chris has determined that this dog is his dog, his pet.

But this picture clearly shows the debate. A Daddy protecting his son from an unknown dog and a son very willing to make friends!


Chris even smiled for a picture with his dog, Rover (I think that was the last name they had chosen for her).


Oh, a dog!! Some days I wonder how we will get the house in decent shape....

and my son is wanting to add another chore to our list... yes, I'll use the word OUR because I know I'd have to help him, since he is only 4! This really isn't the right time for us to be adding again to the family.

But then I hear a whimper and look down at this face...


And look a these faces... too "scared" to come outside with the dog, but not wanting to miss a moment!


And there is my son bestowing the highest level of affection onto the dog...

showing her his favorite toy gun!!

This dog isn't going to be our dog! She ran when Chris started pulling out balls to show her (smart dog... LOL!!) She's not the type of dog that would play with him... he tried "fetch", too!! She really just wants to be pet.

But I"m thankful my kids are wanting to care for her. We're praying our little wanderer finds her way home soon.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

One night last week I heard Chris (4 yrs old) jump out of bed in the middle of the night and come charging into our bedroom. He ran to Brian's side of the bed and started asking him if he Brian was ok. "Daddy are your eyes ok?", he asked.

Brian asked him why he was asking and Chris told us he had dreamt about "wolves that were chasing us and they grabbed you Daddy and took your eyes out." gruesome!!

Anyway, Brian comforted him and lead him back in bed. He gave Chris a little pep-talk about finding a good dream to think about before he fell back asleep, "Chris, think of a good dream."

Chris responded excitedly," I'm going to dream about having three more baby brothers!"

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Chris was listening to Brian's sermon on Sunday night. Brian shared tha he wanted to "chase a rabbit" with the congregation during the sermon.

Chris looks up at me and kept asking,"Mommy, where is the rabbit??" LOL!! Took me a minute to realize WHY he was asking about a rabbit:)

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Lydia (3 yrs) to me: "Mommy, where is my fling ring?"

Translatation: "Where is my ring sling??"

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Nate's expressions say a lot!! There is nothing sweeter than his BIG smiles... especially during the "tough" times.

After a major blowout, Nate was all smiles as I told him,"Nate thats soo gross" in my "talking to Nate" voice. He thinks the word "gross" is soo funny. What a silly little boy!!!

10 Weeks and GQ Daddy

I missed posting some "updates" on Nate last week... I thought I'd only post months now. But I actually "missed" not posting and recording some of his changes!

Nate actually did well traveling both our southern trip and our quick semi-northern weekend trip! Sure, his schedule was off during portions of BOTH trips, but he always manages to keep his nightly sleeping routine. So we got sleep... well blocks of 4-5 hour sleep:)

Something he has started to do the last few weeks is to really fuss more while nursing. I have attributed it to sleepiness, gas pains and being off-schedule. But since it's still happening after a couple of weeks now I'm starting to wonder if there is something going on.

Maybe reflux?? Or maybe he's just a verbally-opininated little guy:) Who likes 30 minute cat naps!!!

He does spit up pretty frequently...


Anyway, I've read through some acid reflux symptom lists and i'm not convinced that he matches many of the symptoms. Just glad we have a late 2 month appointment later this week.

We've also noticed how much he likes to be held vertically versus horizontally. He likes to be held sitting up and facing out, so he can see what is going on;)

I found a Bumbo seat on Craigslist this weekend and picked it up... used once and set aside!


Nate's still a little young for it:) But he has loved the few times we've put him in it;)


While away Nate giggled for the 1st time. I was attempting to nurse him but he just wanted to "talk"... anyway, I tickled him and he did a little giggle in response.... it was soo sweet!! And it confirms my thought that he was ticklish... way more than any of the other kiddos!!


Nate's stage can be sooo much fun!! They are just soo sweet and seem to learn and change so quickly! But it's also super challenging.... more laundry, fussy baby, late/quick and/or cold dinner (at least when I finally get to the table to eat), etc!!!

There have been times these last 2 weeks when I've wished these baby days to pass more quickly. But then Nate will coo and smile....

.... and I'm refreshed and reminded what a sweet age he's in! And how quickly time is passing!

While on vacation last week Brian picked up a new suit;) He wanted to get a picture to send to his parents to show them the suit...

What do you think??? And noticed what has returned!

Favorite Pics from our July 4th Vacay

We had a great trip to Grandma and Grandaddy's house last Thursday until Tuesday!!

While traveling with Nate we really didn't do any big day trips... just spent time together - some swimming, eating, trips to Ritas, a little shopping and visiting with Gran-Grandma:)

Here are some of my favorite pictures;)









The theme for You Capture is AMERICA:)

On the 4th we headed over to a local firework display... it was much more crowded than we expected... but they lived in a "military area" so we really shouldn't have been surprised!!

So while the 4th of July is about American Independence... I am always reminded of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and the price of those freedoms.

But America is also about people from different walks of life being able to mingle and share moments together. On a very small scale, like our time in the football field waiting for the firework display....

there are my kids running around with all sorts of kids from all sorts of ethnic and economic backgrounds....


And after some "hard" playing and some waiting we heard and saw the booming of the fireworks. The celebration of our country....



** i was soo excited that the firework pictures came out;) Last year I constantly messed with my camera... this year:) WOW!! They came out much better than I expected since I didn't Andrea to ask about the settings;)

A HUGE thank you to Grandma and Grandaddy for allowing us to visit and terrorize their usually extremely tidy and clean house... I'm sure they will be finding evidence of kids for a couple of days!! We just always feel soo welcomed and are thankful for their graciousness and patience with ALL of us... yes, even the hyper rascals, fuss infant and tired Momma;)