Mother's Day Was Fabulous!

I love eating out, but I hate navigating busy restaurants and waiting forever, just because you want to eat out on a holiday. (This is when you need the hashtag #firstworldproblems.)

 

This year for Mother's Day, I just wanted us all to be together. And I was really hoping to be able to enjoy the outdoors. The day turned out just like I'd hoped!

 

We started out with pictures before church.

(These are all taken with Instagram filters, because I like looking pretty on Mother's Day.)

 

 

 

 

After church, we grabbed a bunch of picnic food from Publix, and headed downtown, to Piedmont Park. It was warm, but beautiful! We sat and relaxed, watched a amateur rugby match, and ran around in the grass.

 

 

It was a great day, and I love being a Mama to these three!



Henry's 6 Month Pictures

How has it been half a year?!? This little man is such a joy to us! He's mild mannered and so much fun. He loves to just sit on my lap, or play with Bella and Evelyn. At six months old, he doesn't have any teeth yet, and he's just starting to scoot around when he's wiggling on the floor.

 

P.S. There's a "boobie" picture in this post...I warned you...

 

 

Learning to sleep, even when he flips over onto his tummy. It took him awhile not to wake up and cry every time he rolled over.

 

Starting to eat little snacks. Such a "Steve" thing that makes me laugh...Henry loves Cheerios, but won't eat the generic brand from Aldi. No clue how he knows, but he's all about the name brand!

 

He is still eating every two hours. I'm sure it's my own fault for letting him, but Every. Two. Hours. I sent this picture to Steve with the caption, "It feels like he's been here all day!"

 

I love nursing, especially since we think this is our last baby, but real life is real life, and sometimes, I just want my body back.

 

Our little, official six month picture. So far, I've done a pretty decent job of sticking with this! A little proud of myself! And yes, he really is this happy...all the time!

 

Henry is such a snuggler. Even at night, he's still waking up every two hours to nurse, and usually falls asleep next to me. I know I'm probably teaching him bad sleep habits, but I love having him next to me.

Evelyn's Birthday Party

Evelyn asked for a "Belle" party, and it was so much fun! After the crazy, total chaos that was Bella's unicorn party (TWELVE six-year olds!), we were looking forward to a much more low-key party. Welcome to being the middle child, kid.

 

 

Evelyn's birthday fell on a school day, so we got to bring in popsicles for her classmates.

 

Daddy went into work late, so that he could be there, too!

 

Making her princess cake was a definite learning experience! Making their cakes each year is one of my favorite things to do. I'm fine if there comes a time when I decide to order one, but it's been fun so far.

 

Modeling her new jewelry from Mommy and Daddy

 

The finished Bella cake! Let's just say, there is a LOT of icing, covering all of the imperfections!

 

Bella made a birthday sign for Evelyn to enjoy, and to welcome our guests!

 

Blowing out her candle in her ice cream! For her family birthday dinner, Evelyn requested pizza, pickles, and ice cream cones!

 

I just love her face here!

 

Playing with her friends

 

 

Blowing out her candles with her friends!

 

It was a really fun event, and it was fun to spoil Evelyn and give her a special day after she had seen so much "hoopla" around Bella's birthday!

 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweetie Pie!

 



Coming Back Online

It has been a great Summer!

 

If I had thought ahead, I would have intentionally taken the summer off from blogging instead of feeling guilty about it for these last 3 months. But, let's just say I did it on purpose, and now I'm ready to catch up on the blog. It really has been an awesome summer for us - I'm calling it the Summer of Adventure! We've traveled all over, spent time with family, bought fish, killed fish, moved Mel in, gone to the library, bickered with sisters, painted, and watched movies!

 

I'll do my best to catch us up in order...Mother's Day, Father's Day, Henry's updates, and all that jazz.

 

Here are some random pictures from our Summer. Oh, and I haven't figured out how to arrange them in a collage, so this is a wicked long post!

 

 

Waiting for the doctor during our yearly check-up...these are their "kissing faces". (YES!!!)

 

Playing Mommy with dolls

 

Figuring out that they fit inside of the washer and dryer!

 

Barely surviving the slide at the playground

 

Thug life is hard.

 

Bella's Spring picture...yep, solid proof that we have a legit Drama Queen.

 

Sick and snuggly...

 

 

Baking with Daddy while Bella's at a playdate

 

Love her abandon!

 

Fun with Papa and Mimi on the carousel!

 

Super pumped about his Cheerios!



 

Picking flowers on our roadtrip

 

Losing her first top tooth!

 

The tooth fairy upped her ante and gave Bella a dollar

 

I just love this picture because she looks pretty stunning.



Dear Evelyn...

My sweet little girl,

         You are such a complete and utter joy to your Daddy and me. You are full of fun and laughter. You are silly and sarcastic, and you have an incredible sense of humor. Baby girl, you are so charming, and boy, do you know it! When you want something, or just want to be extra sweet, you tilt your head to the side and smile up at us with your big, brown eyes. Sometimes, just to make sure you're getting your point across, you lay your hand on my cheek. I'm pretty sure Daddy melts every time.

         You love dress up and being fancy. You love princesses and baby dolls and playing Mommy. You're always walking around the house carrying Sarah Jane or Ariel (your names for your baby dolls). Sometimes, you try to feed them "like Mommy feeds Henry". You sing to them, rock them, take them to the grocery store with you, and even spank them. (We're working on that one, though.) And speaking of Henry, man, do you love your little brother! You want to touch him and snuggle with him constantly! We're a little worried you may squish him on accident. When you're tired, you just want to lay down next to him, suck your thumb, and use him as your human lovey.

       Evelyn, you love your Bella, too! You want to be just like her, and you spend most of your day following her around. Bella likes her alone time, so you can drive her crazy after a little while, but it all comes from this place of crazy love (and a little bit of mischief) deep in your heart. You copy Bella, give in to Bella, whine to Bella, demand that she listen to you, laugh at Bella's jokes - your day is so wrapped up in your big sister!

      My favorite thing about you right now, is how much joy you take in little moments. You are so easily thrilled, so easily happy. And you are so sweet in the way that you show us; your eyes will get big, you'll suck in this big, dramatic gasp, and you'll say, "Thank you, Mommy for _______!" It's so wonderful to be on the receiving end of that "thank you" and hug! You are the best hugger! One day, when you're older, we'll tell you all about "Anaconda.....eh-Squeeeeeeeze". You'll love the story!

I love you so much, middle child!

Love,

Your Mommy

       

Everybody Wants A Piece

Feeding Henry has been a new adventure! Thankfully, he's still at the age where nursing is his main source of food, because I've forgotten to give him sold food as many times as I've remembered! Just about everyone has gotten in on the fun, and here are some pictures...

 

 

We started basic and just grabbed some bananas. I love those pouches! For both of the girls, I made my own and froze it, and I'll probably do that again once Henry starts eating all of the time, but it's been really nice to start out with some convenient choices.