3 for 3

Sweet Jack has gotten the chance to eat solid foods from an early age because I don't have time to spoon feed him . Thankfully, he seems to prefer to pick up and feed himself solids. He's eaten Chick-fil-a chicken, grilled chicken, pulled pork bbq, black beans, baked beans, avacado, guacamole, green beans, squash casserole, (and thus, cheese) rice, cucumber, (dill) pickles, macaroni and cheese, bread, biscuit, tomato, chunky homemade applesauce, pieces of banana, puffs, cheerios (and, of course, the pureed: squash, peas, beans, prunes).

I do believe that his all-time favorite is black beans, avacado and Mexican rice. He was in heaven last night!



(No, he doesn't have any teeth yet.)

(And no, he isn't 7 months old yet. Poor guy.)

I love fall!

We have been enjoying the wonderful fall weather by spending lots of time outdoors. My kids are sleeping well with all the running around and fresh air--glorious all around. :)

Yesterday we were playing out front and they were all being so sweet and cuddly with each other I desperately wanted to capture it. Alas, that didn't happen-but the pictures are cute nonetheless. (This is how Ryan looks in every.single.picture--what does it take to make a 2 year old boy smile--for real--in a picture??? Geesh.)



***

This morning I hit Old Navy at 7:30 (it was freezing and shopping that early always makes me think it's Black Friday, but whatever). Anyway, from 7-10 am their sweaters were $10 and their clearance was 50% off lowest marked price--score! I had to go so early so I could get to the ball field at 8:30 to volunteer in the concession stand. (Insert rolled eyes that three of us were there for two hours to handle the four customers we had.)Anyway, at least Leigh-Ann and I signed up together (and God bless her, up all night with 3 sick kids and still came!). My mom came up to help Chris with the kids and cheer Anna-Kate on since I couldn't be at the actual game. The kids were so surprised and excited to see her (and more than once commented that they sure missed their Poppy!). We had lunch afterwards, Chris took the boys home and Anna-Kate and I knocked out the majority of my Christmas shopping. Only have Chris and a couple of things for the kids to buy still. :) Yay, I love being done with gifts wrapped in November so I can enjoy December. We spent the rest of the day outside enjoying the weather--chatting with neighbors, playing, grilling and eating outside. Lovely.

Fair, take two

We went to visit my parents and see my grandparents last weekend. My grandpa is in an inpatient rehab facility, so we wanted to visit and encourage him, and I was dying to see Mana and their new home!

My dad, Mana and the kids:



Papa, with his namesake:



While we were there, we went to the national fair happening near their home. My kids talked about it incessantly. :)

We scored an a-maz-ing parking spot (closer than handicap, under a tree!). The weather started nice, but rose to a toasty 91 that afternoon-blech. We saw a miniature horse show, cows, (and were given free chocolate milk!) Anna-Kate rode a pony, we saw a 1 week old miniature donkey, visited the "exotic" pets, bounced like kangaroos, and Jack and I visited the nursing station they had set up (with piped in AC!!) while my parents took the kids to ride a couple of rides. SUCH a fun time! :)

Nana, Poppy and the grandbabies:



Ryan really was happy. Sadly, this is the best I can do for pictures with him lately.



We spent a loooong time trying out every.single.tractor.



Anna-Kate's first pony ride (well, technically, I put her on a pony last year, but her hysteric tears and death grip persuaded me to take her off after about 3.1 seconds.). So, her first successful pony ride--she loved it, and asked when she could ride another one! Yay!!





Checking out the "exotic" animals--giraffe, (named Jack) toucans, camels, zebras, baboons, various sheep from around the world, goats, (not so exotic, but whatever) some longhorn looking animal (seriously, its horns were wider than my kids are tall!).



I was SO mad. I tried (and clearly failed) to get a good picture of the giraffe and Ryan. He was crazy about it, and he was so close! I had one great shot where Ryan, Dad and the giraffe were looking and smiling, pushed click, and realized my photo card was full. Of course it was. Sigh.



Jack and the llama



Ryan and the goat (not a fan of petting the animals, surprisingly)



Love how prissy she looks in this picture--ha.



She loved petting all of the different animals, but, in typical first-born fashion, asked permission before touching each of them (every single time).



Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a fun day! My kids loved it, and I so appreciate the sweet memories. :)

Oh blog, you have failed me

This is the third time (in my 3 1/2 years!!!) of blogging that my blog has failed me. I love the therapeutic release of writing down my thoughts and the love and encouragement I receive from comments (well, when I get them...). Unfortunately, I can't quite articulate the emotions and thoughts I'm having. And, even if I could, the public-ness of the blog-o-sphere means I can't share words that are not mine to share.

We went to visit my parents and see my grandparents' new home this weekend (and visit my Papa in his inpatient rehab facility). It was nice to see family, but hard--I feel beaten down emotionally. I'll just say, my family is truly relying on the Lord's promise of peace and rest when we trust in Him.

Pictures of the fun times of the weekend are forth-coming.

A tease

Life has (yet again) gotten away from me (though, a good bit of that is out of my control--well, techinically, I believe all of life is out of my control, but I digress...). Any-who. I'm taking my kids to my parents' house to celebrate my dads' brithday (late) and visit Papa, who's recovering from knee replacement surgery. We continued our annual tradition of going to the pumpkin patch with our friends, (Leigh-Ann, Jonathan and their kids) but this picture is all I have time for right now.

Enjoy the sibling sweetnes:



Oh, and please be praying for Papa's recovery--it's been a long week and he isn't doing really well right now.

AND, he's off

Jack has been rolling, scootching, and doing individual "crawls" for a few weeks now. However, today was the day he decided to make it official and crawl away. I put him on a quilt on the floor and when I came back a few minutes later he was on the exact opposite side of it. Crossing my fingers thinking it was a fluke, we tried again (I'm such a thorough scientist afterall). Ya, no dice, he's crawling. He is absolutely tickled with himself. As much as I dread mobility, it is so fun to see them so proud of themselves and seeing the process of self-sufficiency begin.

So, yay Jack! You did it buddy and I'm proud of you. :)

"Mommy"

The word mommy brings to mind many things.

The sweet: comfort, hugs and kisses, cuddles, love, encourager, cheerleader, smiles, warmth, story teller, nurturer,

The way it is: taxi driver, (in a boat, otherwise known as a van) cook, snack maker, (this would be different from cook as "snack" often requires creativity--make cookies and pipe "H" and "h" on them for school...like this morning at 7 am) cleaner of spills and accidents, disciplinarian, organizer, planner, social directer, wiper of bottoms, tired (as newborns with feedings, and when they are older worrying about them when sick, praying for their futures etc).

The "how did this find it's way in to my job description": carry-all, (or at least asked to carry everything) receiver of boogers, (just this morning Ryan handed me a booger and said, "see Mama, it's yuck". Ya, I know.) receiver of various bodily fluids (I dare you to find a mom out there that hasn't been thrown up on at least once).

At the end of the day, the good far outweighs the bad and I certainly wouldn't have my life any other way. I am so extremely thankful for the 3 littles that call me Mommy.

Clearly, this list isn't comprehensive, what would you add?