Project 365: {Days 167-173}

Day 167: Carly & I got photo bombed...

Day 168: Trey, Tiff & Luke arrived at 3:30am due to a 6 hour flight delay & my husband decided to pull an all-nighter playing video games so he could be the one to pick them up since they are too young to rent a car & a taxi was way expensive.  We let them sleep a bit that morning but we couldn't wait much past 10 to wake them!  I had to work so once Brian got home they ventured to see me.  It was so great to have them here!

Day 169: Of their three days here, this was probably my favorite.  We went to EPCOT in the morning and then left the big boys home while Carly took her nap & Tiff, baby Luke & I went shopping!! I never get to go shopping so it was a treat!  I scored big on new work stuff, some casual stuff, a new swim suit to fit a bigger body & some other pieces.  I really enjoyed shopping with Tiff! We were gone about 4 hours but could have stayed out all day! The boys took C to the pool when she woke up & we grilled burgers & played cards that evening & into the night.

Day 170: Beach Day! There were storms on the Cocoa coast, so we had to travel twice the distance to Clearwater but it was totally worth it! I have a lot of fun pictures from this day of us swimming, building sandcastles, making me into a mermaid, Brian walking the shore with a sleeping babe & Tiff & I working on our tan (I was just resting...I could care less about the color of my skin at my old age).  After the beach we took them to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company...a favorite for us & a restaurant featured on Food Networks, "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives"!  4 of the 5 of us got their staple, the Bomb...which is a burger baked to perfection inside pizza dough.  SO GOOD!  We stayed up late playing cards again that night...so needless to say Brian & I were quite tired from the week! ;)

Day 171: We said goodbye to the clan mid-morning and after I got off work we attended our church carnival to wrap up their week of VBS.  They really went all out and the church was decorated to perfection!

Day 172: The text I sent Brian letting him know of my exhaustion from getting up super early with this babe after staying up past midnight every night that week and explaining that after closing the next two nights I may not be among the living.  He just told me to drink more coffee. ;)

"How Deep The Father's Love For Us"

1 John 3:1-2:  See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

I am thankful for a Heavenly Father, an Earthly Father, a Father-in-law, a Grandfather I miss dearly & the Father of my children who I love more than any other person on the face of the Earth.  I married a man quite similar to my own father and have been blessed by their unconditional love, loyalty, encouragement, direction & honesty.

I interviewed Carly to see if I could capture her thoughts on her daddy.  She refused to have focused answers, but they are sweet & funny nonetheless.   I have 3 really cute clips of the below questions but I can't get it to upload so I'll have to put them on Facebook or something...

Who does Daddy love? Mommy
Who is Daddy's daughter? Mommy
What does daddy like to watch on TV? Mickey Mouse
What does daddy do at work? Eat Pizza
What is daddy's favorite food? Pizza
What do you like to do with daddy in your chair? Read Books
What does daddy do when he gets home from work? Watch Mickey Mouse
Whose turn is it to put you to bed? Daddy's turn (she always yells that at the top of her lungs so I asked that question hoping I would get the typical answer but she was too shy to do so)

Our Father's Day gift to Daddy was to tag along on a round of golf, which is exactly what we did. Luke was perfect as per usual & Carly did really really well through about 10 holes.  We all enjoyed riding in the cart and pulling the pin once we reached the putting green.  Brian was really grateful and is hoping that particular gift will make an appearance again. ;)

Brian, thank you for loving and leading us.  When I look at you I see strength, confidence, humility, kindness & generosity.  I also see someone who wrestles with sin, admits failure and accepts his weaknesses only pointing us to the fact that without Christ as the center of our home we cannot have a clear life perspective.  Our children adore you & it makes my heart so happy to see you be so successful when you are flying solo!  I knew long ago our life would be good but I could have never written the story that's developed.  Happy 4th Father's Day!

"Let's Hear it For the Boy" {Luke 5 Months}

I just haven't had time to crank this out...so it'll be pretty short since I'm already 10 days late posting about my boy at 5 months.

•  Luke is all about food.  He doesn't have much interest in nursing but each time we sit down at the table he whines until we put something in his mouth.  Folks I really didn't want to start solids before 6 months but I just couldn't keep it from him any longer.  Still just oatmeal and sucking on fruit...
• Always needs something in this mouth!
• Pushes up with his palms on the ground and can spin in circles
• Has no interest in rolling but is sitting & standing quite frequently
• Loves his jumper-roo
• Reaches for toys and can entertain himself with something in his hand
• Goes to sleep no problem (no CIO here which has been really great) but continues to wake after 45 minutes most naps
• Eats about 5 times/day, has oatmeal at dinner & nurses twice in the night
• His night time sleep is usually 11 hours compared to Carly's 9.5 so that gives me really great time to spend with C each morning since we put them to bed at the same time at night
• Doesn't offer random smiles but a smile is a guarantee if you flash one at him first
• He still needs to be held the majority of the day and will enter "I'm going to scream my head off" mode if everyone leaves the room & he's left alone!
• 18 pounds and who knows how many inches...wearing mostly 9 month clothes and size 2 diapers only because we are trying to get through what we have.  
• Because he's not sleep trained like his sissy he wakes up frequently in the night.  Some nights its 5-6 times.  So we've been pretty tired and if he doesn't shape up soon we will reach our capacity and make him CIO but until then we get up and go into his room for comforting.

 Luke gave me all 5 of his facial expressions we see (he's not nearly as expressive as his sis) during his photo shoot this month. This first photo is what I think of when I picture Luke & the expression he wears most often; complete with drool dripping off his lip.  The next few show a smirk, a laugh, a daze and a straight-face. They probably all look the same to you but of course they all look pretty different to me. ;-)

Project 365: {Days 160-166}

Day 160: I was braiding my hair & Carly said, "Braid my hair!" so of course I leaped at that opportunity!!  She loved it and asked to go to the Mickey Park to show Mickey.

Day 161: Carly has recently developed a new comfort-ability with Luke...which means she has the confidence to roll him over, hug him, pick him up (she doesn't succeed), and even tickle him with her feet like I tickle her.  He likes all touch from Carly.  Seriously.  She can accidentally smack him & he has absolutely no problem with it.

Day 162: Luke & Anya having a nap date at the pool

Day 163: Carly is swimming SO well! She has gained all confidence and more back from last summer and scared an entire group of people when she ran from me, stood at the edge of the pool and shouted, "Ook Mommy!!" and proceeded to canon ball into the pool.  She had her floaties on and can swim no problem with them so of course I wasn't scared but it was pretty funny the gasps I heard!  Each pool day we spend 15 minutes swimming without the floaties and the rest of the time she gets to choose whether they are on or off.  She really can swim laps from one end of the pool to the other when they are on.  Pretty fun!

Day 164: Carly loves this game she created of setting the camera on a timer, pressing the button and running to the other side to say "CHEESE!"...followed by viewing the photos to see if she liked them.  This photo a day thing has really taught my kids how to look at a camera and smile...lol.  At any rate...this photo is a product of playing that game.

Day 165:  I love this picture for many reasons, but I have to notate the story of picking these "flowers."  It was a Saturday morning that I was closing...so those mornings we generally lay low.  We took a walk and stumbled upon a field of weeds growing.  Carly began picking them while I swayed back & forth getting my babe to sleep.  She looked up at me and said, "Join me, Mommy, join me!"  That alone melted my heart but as soon as I picked my first "flower" she excitedly exclaimed with a smile on her face, "Great job, Mommy!!!"  She picked so many flowers that she actually developed a stem burn (is that a thing?) on her right pinky.  She was pretty upset this had happened so I carried both her & Luke home while she said over & over, "get home daddy kiss it get band-aid..." So here you can see she is modeling her flowers while holding out her pinky with the band-aid on it.  She is the most precious thing on the face of the Earth. ;-)

Day 166: Happy Father's Day!  This day will get a post of its own!

Project 365: {Days153-159}

Day 153: Luke meets Grammy! Only 83 years a part :)

Day 154: She's so talented!  I actually spent the day at work while the kiddos were home with their grandmas (the timing of their trip; which happened to be for the funeral of my Grammy's brother; couldn't have been better as it was my last week of pulling full-time hours & also the week of opening for my team).  I did allow Carly to show off her painting skills to Nana & Grammy upon arrival home that day. ;)

Day 155: Dinner at Boma...best restaurant on property in my opinion!

Day 156: Look who I bumped into trying on necklaces in Tren-D!

Day 157:  A very, very happy group of people on opening day of the Marketplace Co-Op.

Day 158: Luke was practically diving out of his bumbo for our food so I let him lick some watermelon.  Super bad idea as he YELLED for more every time I took it away.  It's so interesting to me that he began showing signs of wanting food so early vs. Carly still wasn't showing signs at 6 months.  I finally decided that if the kid is standing & sitting up, he deserves to have some food, too.  And he's quite happy with the variety. :)  You can view nearly the exact same photo of Carly when she was 6 months old.

Day 159: Carly was quite happy to find a package of melted gummies that daddy had left in the car from their grocery run the other day (I'm so fortunate he's brave enough & willing to take them to the store!).

Project 365: {Days 146-152}

Day 146: Reading books before bed...with jammies & shoes on, of course.

Day 147: Carly decided to share her "boohick" with her "bubber"

Day 148: We spent the evening in EPCOT..and tried to get a good pic....

Day 149: Realized our 4-month old can stand on his own!

Day 150:  This happened.

Day 151: Anna (whose name shall hereforth be pronounced "Anna" from Frozen) came to spend the weekend with our family.  This girl never ceases to amaze me.  I had to run into work for a mere 4 hours & she managed to love on our kiddos and have dinner on the table with a clean kitchen when we arrived home.  She's super mom & hasn't even bore her own children yet!

Day 152:  We had a lovely day spent on The BoardWalk...complete with breakfast at Kouzzina, a photo shoot with some rose petals left by a wedding, time in the sand & running through a rain storm. :-)