Reese 8 months (almost)

This one is all about my little Reese, the forgotten one lately. No, we don't really completely forget about her and she gets plenty of attention, however, her siblings tend to require much more of my time and energy. I forget how good of a baby she is because she just goes with the flow. I hold her much of the time for her own safety, but mainly just because I like to hold her. Every time I pick her up she grabs my face with her chubby little hands and proceeds to give me lots of kisses. When she is scared or upset she simply touches my face. She loves to play with my hair and hold my hand. Who wouldn't want to hold her all day. I ma totally turning her into a momma's girl. Oh well.

After I put her newborn picture in a frame earlier this year, a small child broke it. It took me 2 months to buy a new one. I recently put out her 6 month picture. Somehow a sticky substance got into the frame and ruined her picture. I spent 30 minutes this morning peeling off her little body from the glass. It seemed so wrong. I will protect her next picture. I swear.

I love 8-month-olds. It is such a perfect age. They start exploring new things. They are a little more content playing by themselves and are just so innocent. Reese spends a lot of time chewing on toys, books, and paper. She crawls like an inchworm. She does not seem quite as eager to be mobile as my other 2 did. I am ok with that. She loves jumping in her jumper and watching her siblings play.

She recently dropped a feeding and takes a bottle 4 times a day. She loves baby cereal with cinnamon. Every morning I am surprised she continues to eat that stuff. She loves eating Gerber puffs and can now feed them to herself. I love the independence! She will eat baby food, but is not a huge fan of it. I'm not ready to actually have to prepare food for her.

As you can see, her hands are in her mouth much of the time. She is a very slow teether. Her bottom two teeth have been making their way through the skin for about 2 months. Guh. I also had to take a picture of her little rolls. We are all about chubby babies in this family!

Reese is a very inconsistent sleeper. And like the other two, she doesn't require as much sleep as most babies her age. She could drop her morning nap and it wouldn't affect her much. If she sleeps in the morning, it is usually only for 20-30 minutes. She takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. At night, she sleeps from about 8:00pm- 5:30am. I feed her a couple ounces and she will sleep until about 7:30. She wakes up in the middle of the night a couple nights a week for no apparent reason. When I put her to bed, she crawls up to the side of her crib, pulls the bumper down, and smiles as I walk out of the room. That little face peeking through the rails makes my heart melt every time.

I am so thankful for that sweet little girl. Our family just wouldn't be the same without her.

Destruction and fevers

Active, bossy, dramatic 3-year-old + active, aggressive, strong-willed 2-year-old + teething 7-month-old = crazy, loud family. Last night at dinner Mark made the comment that our lives would be so boring without them. So true. I'm thankful for that. We are sort of a boring couple.

I have always thought I was a patient, calm person... until I had 3 little munchkins. I don't even know who I am. I never use to yell. Now I do. I don't like it. I have been praying that God would calm my spirit. Therefore, you may find it funny that yesterday this happened.

8:30am- my kids are quiet. never good. I walk down the hall to find blue bath paint smeared on the bathroom cabinets, walls, hallway carpet, bedroom carpet, clothes and bedroom walls.
9:15am- walk into the kitchen to find an entire bottle of Italian dressing dumped in the fridge and the floor.
9:45am- found a 2-year-old at the top of our hallway closet trying to reach the nail polish. He climbed up 5 shelves. I thought I was smart putting the dangerous stuff on the top.
10:00am- maple syrup poured on kitchen floor.
11:30am- discovered feminine products stuck to the walls.

What is with the destruction? I tried so hard not to stay calm, but by lunch, my blood was boiling. Once Mark got home, I went to Target. All is well.

We have had an odd virus in our house. The other day, Riley had a fever on and off, but no other symptoms. It was gone in 24 hours. Today I noticed Quinn felt feverish. He had a temperature and I sent him to lay on the couch. Here he is.

Don't let that picture fool you. 10 minutes ago he ate lunch and a cupcake for dessert. After lunch, he was running around the house. It wasn't until I told him he had a fever that he calmed down. I thought to myself, "I'm going to milk this whole fever thing". Over the last hour I have said things like, "You are sick, you should rest on the couch. Do you need any books or water?", "Don't get up, I'll get that for you", "You shouldn't get near your sisters", "This medicine will help you sleep". He did not move for an hour and a half. Shocking for that boy. I guess fevers don't have to be all that bad.

I will leave you with some pictures of those crazy cuties...

We have been getting books on CD from the library. She loves being in charge of turning the pages.

Deers in headlights...

Quinn took a picture of himself. I just keep imagining him saying, "Does this picture make my face look fat?"

Irish twins. Same weight, same shoe size, and 1 inch difference in height.

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?

"Mom, what is wrong with this family?"

Love that happy girl!

Running- A Letter to my Children

I have come home hot, sweaty, and tired a few nights a week. You ask me, "Mommy, why are you so sweaty? Are you tired?". Yes babies, I'm tired. Very tired.

Running is not easy for me. I have never considered myself a runner. I do not enjoy it much. It's hard. Recently having 3 babies has made it even harder. I don't like the cramps and the aches that accompany it. I want to spit on the ground and quit. I get frustrated when I have a goal of running so much further, but can only make it a few miles.

I don't run because I like it, I run because its good for me. I run because I need to do the hard in order to be a stronger, healthier person. I run because God tends to teach us the most when we do things that are not comfortable. When I start running down that long road, I sometimes tell myself that I can't make it that far. God immediately speaks to me and reminds that I am right where He want me to be. So tired and sweaty I run further.

I want you to see me exhausted. I want you to watch me work hard for things that are good. I desire for you to wake up at 7:00am to a mommy that has spent time in the Word and has prayed for your little hearts. I will be tired because 5:00am can be hard, but it is good. I desire for you to watch me clean, wipe dirty faces, and give millions of hugs until 8:00pm, because it is good.  I desire for you to watch me and your daddy make obedient, difficult decisions for this family and still smile at the end of it day. That is good.

Our culture teaches us to be comfortable. Don't believe it. Hebrews 11 talks of some of the most influential people in the Bible. Read it. Study their lives. They worked hard. I am sure they came home tired and sweaty. I am sure God asked them to do things that seemed impossible. They obeyed and they received many eternal blessings.

Throughout my life, I have ran from the uncomfortable too many times. It gets tiring. However, when I do the hard, I receive peace and true joy. I will continue to run because I need to, not because I want to. I pray throughout your lives you will watch me work hard for what is good. I will make mistakes and I will want to quit, but life is like running down that impossibly long road. Its really not that far.