Perfectly Two!

Oh this baby!

People make comments about her all of the time. 

She's cute, she's funny, she's wild, she's sweet, she's this, she's that.

My comment is always, " well...she's 2! That's about all I can say".

I also tell people that having 5 children isn't the hard part, it's her! She needs a full time nanny!

She's absolutely non-stop.  From the moment she wakes up until the time her mouth finally stops moving in her bed (about an hour after we put her in).

She's past the stage where dumping toys and dishes on the floor is fun.  She's actually stopped dumping the contents of the pantry and bathroom drawers on the floor to watch them fall (now I only have 1 doing that!).

But, this baby is my future hoarder/bag lady.  

She bags up everything from every room in the house and stuffs the items in every bag, purse, or box she can find.  That's all fine until she wants new stuff and she empties that bag on the couch and proceeds to find more.  

She's the little mother of the house.  Cooking, cleaning, bathing (literally) everyone.  

She sings all day long (99% of the time it's The Wheels on the Bus!!!)

She loves getting into purses and chewing people's gum and wearing other people's lipstick.  

She can fix herself any snack and get herself a big glass of water.  She might spill the whole glass as she's walking to the table. She loves to be outside and is just the right height to let herself out at any times she feels the need.  She can navigate the IPhone as well as any adult.  

My list could go on and on and on!

She's absolutely the funniest person we know!

Bad (with a capital B) but so funny that it's really hard to discipline her (unless it's the 15th time you've told her no, she can not in fact play on the computer or take pictures with my phone).

She's perfectly 2! My very favorite of all ages!!!

 

 But, do pray for me.

2 year olds, well, they grow up!

The fits that she throws on the floor- I'm sure those will look much the same at 13.

She's the 3rd child, the middle child, and apparently, she acts like her mother!

Pray for me!

  ~This wild haired baby is perfectly 2, and I wish I could keep her like this forever~

Bedtime Giggles

 Bedtime around our house is more like a 3-ring circus!!!

No one can find their toothbrush (the one they said they used that morning), all are thirsty, hungry(starving), starting to have leg pains, crying because they wouldn't nap in the afternoon but somehow are "not tired", everyone wants to play a few more minutes, someone wants the hall light on, the other does not, one wants milk, the other wants her lovie.  Bedtime stories, well, that's at least a 10 minute meltdown because no matter who's turn it is to pick out the story, the other person thinks it's their turn and can't stand the book that was chosen.  I tell you, it's quite peaceful all around.  Add a fussy newborn who's ready to eat.  It's joyful!

 

But, somehow in the midst of it all (or after everyone's finally asleep), we look at each other and remind ourselves that one day, no one's going to ask us to read just one more Bible story.

 One day, no one is going to ask us to please stay in their beds until they fall safely asleep.  

One day, the giggles that somehow start when they climb under the covers won't be heard.

 So for now, I pray that I can remember that even though we are tired and weary and tired and impatient and tired and busy,  I want to cherish the bedtime giggles and snuggles forever!

The Duties of a Big Sister

 

 This big sister thinks she's Violet's mama.  This was one of those situations where I could have screamed, laughed, or smiled and grabbed the camera.  Rosemary literally takes care of her baby dolls all.day.long! Today, Violet was better than a baby doll.  And, today is the last day Violet will go unclothed with her new cloth diaper on.  This play mat is another one of those baby items that worked great with the first child, sometimes with the second, wonderfully with the third, and not a safe alternative with the fourth child.  I'm just glad the diaper was practically fresh and I walked in when I did.    

Side note:  I noticed when I was posting this that there were feet in the background of the picture.  That means that a big brother or big sister probably saw this all going down and  a) didn't notice or b) didn't care! 

Baby Love

 We love our youngest baby so much...

 that she opted out of her photo shoot for the day!

And this one....well....this is no joke!!!

Violet-4 Months

This is Violet's permanent face. I took about 15 pictures, and in every single one she's making the exact same face.  She's at the stage where if she sees your face...she lights up.

  I love when she makes this face at me :)!

Violet-3 months

My sweet Violet is certainly growing every day!  I'm not really sure how she got to be 3 months, or how I turned into this mom who has to stop and think every time someone asks me how old my baby is.  I used to keep up with my pregnancies to the day.  Then the week.  Then the month.  I used to keep up with my baby's age by day, week, month, and now I'm practically rounding up to the year.  I just hope my children won't be sad one day when they ask me to see their baby book.  They have none. NONE!  I couldn't even pull it off with the 1st one.  How sad is that?! Anyway, little Violet is turning into such a fun baby!

She's smiling and cooing and laughing out loud. It is SO precious.  It's amazing how quickly you forget the little sounds that babies make.  She's still sleeping through the night and even taking naps in her room with Rosemary.  She and Rosemary are hilarious together now.  Rosemary is not sure what to think now that Violet is smiling and talking to her. She does NOT like it when Violet accidentally pulls her hair.  Maybe she shouldn't get so close!  The big kids love her to death and still beg to hold her.  Violet is now into a SIZE 3 DIAPER! 3!  Emma-Kate was potty trained in a size 3! I believe she weighs about 15 pounds (according to her weighing with me).  She's perfectly squishy!!

 

 

Ahhh, this makes my heart melt!

        

Some Days More Than Others

Some days more than others...I miss Joel.  

I think of him every single day.  I see his picture in my kitchen all day.  

But, the reality of him not being with us is different some days.

I'm the gooby, , emotional, sentimental of the bunch.  Nobody likes to take pictures. 

Nobody who had a baby 3 months ago likes to take pictures (BOTH of us!).  But, I know how much I cherish the only 2 pictures we have of the 5 of us, and I wanted us to take a recent picture.  

I guess I shouldn't have picked the end of the longest 4th of July celebration.  

Perhaps, we might have all looked a few years younger and a little skinnier!   

It wasn't until I was downloading my pictures to the computer that I truly noticed Joel missing.  

I guess because we haven't had a picture together without him.

In the sad times, though, I have to remember how much God has blessed our family.  

He has blessed me with 3 wonderful brothers and a sister. 

When we all get together we are a HOUSE FULL!

We continue to build memories.   

We continue to remember all of the memories we made with Joel.  

Violet-10 weeks

My baby girl is getting so big!

At her 2 month check-up she was 12 pounds, 14 ounces!!

She was 90% in weight and 50% in height.

She is starting to have such a cute personality.  I'm afriad happy to say, she's already acting like the rest of them!  Violet's coos are loud already.  She smiles at us constantly and she loves when the children get RIGHT IN HER FACE AND TALK TO HER! 

No, really she does!

By the grace of God, this precious thing is sleeping through the night and has been since about 6 weeks.  Now, I just need the rest of the crew to stop having leg cramps, potty breaks, and pacifier hunts in the middle of the night!

We're not sure who Violet looks like yet.  She has her daddy's skin and brown eyes.  

She has the biggest smile!

For now, she looks like the other children at this age...with the biggest cheeks in town!  

I promise to post more pictures of this baby!

I do take them, just on my phone.  Sadly, she's usually asleep in her crib or in my arms while I'm taking pictures of the other children.

The big kids can't wait for her to get up each morning, and they still fight over who gets to hold her first.  Even Rosemary wants a turn. 

Oh, this sweet age!

Don't zoom in on our farm pictures! I didn't realize the poor child had the greenest, runniest nose! Gross!!!

 

 Peek-a-boo!

This was taken about a month ago. Look how much she's changed! 

She spends all day taking care of her baby.  She always has some sort of washcloth or burp cloth in hand. 



 

Oh, this sweet age.  I love, love the newborn stage.  I could hold a sleeping newborn for hours on end just taking in the sweet smell.  But I tell you, Rosemary's age is my all-time favorite.  

She is PERFECTLY PRECIOUS!

She is so bad, so curious, so bad, so smart, so busy, so bad, so sweet, so bad, and SO CUTE! 

She is forever turning the bathtub on and wetting washcloths.  She walks around the house with them hanging out of her mouth.  Strange, but true.  She is forever carrying around dry washcloths or burp cloths for her baby.  She puts diapers on her baby, rocks and sings to her baby, puts her baby in Violet's cradle.  She's bad! Did I mention that?!  She loves to play in the potty and can now lift the lid on her own!  She can empty out a drawer or cabinet in 5 seconds flat!  She loves, loves, loves to be outside.  She loves any and all men! She's "talking" non-stop.  It comes out more like Chinese, but we're dreading waiting for the day when the real words just come flying out. But, honestly, she's perfectly content 90% of every day.  She's perfectly happy 90% of every day. 

Oh, this sweet age!
     

Pure Joy

(   she was playing in a fan by the way :)! )

4 carseats, bunk beds, and a typical night sleep

The reality and excitement of our 4th baby is coming quickly! In 9 days our van will have 4 carseats, not 4 children, but carseats! 4! I know millions of people have 4 carseats in their cars, but 4, that just seems crazy to me! 

In preparation for our 4th baby in our 3 bedroom home, my sweetest most talented grandfather, offered to build the big kids bunk beds! They are beyond thrilled at the idea of it, and can't wait to lay eyes on it!

Again, the reality of adding another baby to our family is hitting me this morning.  

This is a typical nights sleep around here these days, and this is no lie! 

                Against my norm, I have been getting in bed early because I'm pretty much up every 30 minutes with typical last few weeks of pregnancy uncomfortableness.  So, last night, I'm trying to go to sleep and here comes Noble.  He wanted to sleep with his mama.  He snuggled with me until Brandon came to bed, and he carried Noble back to his bed.  Some time later, Emma-Kate had a bad dream and needed to sleep with her mama.  Not long after that, Rosemary started crying.  Brandon brought her to our bed and soon she snuggled in.  No lie...20 minutes later...here comes Noble saying, "Mommy, I want to sleep with you."!  Keep in mind that my body is taking up a good 2 feet extra in the bed in every direction! This is no lie! So, where will the new baby fit into this insane nightly party we have going on...I'm really not sure...maybe we should get a bigger bed :).  But for today, 5:15am seemed like the perfect time to make a HUGE POT OF COFFEE! 

Have a good morning and I hope you got a better nights sleep than we did :)!  

Our Nickname Baby

I am not a big fan of nicknames.  Not sure why, I'm just not.  Well, somehow in the last year, little Rosemary has developed quite the list of nicknames.  At home, we actually rarely call her Rosemary.  With every baby we name, I name them to make sure that a nickname can NOT arise out of their name.  Hopefully, as Rosemary gets older our family will stop calling her these insane names, but for now, we refer to her as: Rosie, Roo Roo, Roo, Pea Pie, P Boo, Moo, Moo Moo, Rose, Ms. Rose, Rosie Roo, Me Moo,  Ro, Ro Ro, and our list can go on and on!  I think it's just because she's so cute that something new comes out everyday. I will say that the boys, especially Noble, use these names the most.

Oh, These Two...