Marky Mark

WE visited with Mark on Memorial Day weekend...yeah, I'm a little behind:)  It was a long day..driving 3 hours..playing in the full sun for 3 hours and then driving home for 3 hours....YIKES!  We left Harper with my mom and just had the two boys and that was more then enough fun for the day!!

Charlie, Easton and Mark's oldest son.

My baby boy....this kid rocks:)  I love him so much..that's all:)

Pictures like this make me so happy for Charlie..he has the best of both worlds...2 Daddy's that love him so much.  I sometimes find myself sad for Easton and Harper that they wont have that, but they have their 2 Mamas that love them so much.  Weather its a mom or a dad, each kiddo is super luck to have one really involved bio parent/first parent..and for that I am so blessed.

This was our first time meeting Marks dad's side of the family.  Everyone was super nice to all of us....and I was so relieved that Charlie did great for all the many pictures:)

My satin loving boy was tired and exhausted and just wanted to sleep..but you know he needs satin to fall asleep right..the tag to my dress was the best I had to offer and it did not cut it!!

Mama had to make her way to the back seat to keep this sweet boy happy...we were all so happy to get home and shower and go straight to bed!!

some favorites

I often get asked if Harper and Easton look alike.   I have no idea.  Unless it is glaringly obvious, I cannot tell who got moms eyes or dads nose..its just not one of my gifts:)  I think the general consensus is yes, but you judge for yourself!

Easton makes me smile here!

Went to check on Harper before bed and she was like this..don't judge, I left her like this.  Never wake a sleeping baby is my motto...maybe I should add and addendum..unless its a suffocation hazard:)

Allene wanted to get some pictures of the three littlest grand kids together one day while the two big kids were gone and I loved this one of Easton and Harper.

I love this picture..but I feel bad since Charlie isn't in it..anyone else??

I came outside and saw that Bradley had hooked this thing up to charlies old tricycle..child labor laws anyone?!! 

The kids and I were at the zoo with Laura and Libby recently and when we passed this thing Charlie ran ahead of it and squatted down and yelled back to us, "I'm going to be the horse!"

Baseball was a hit! I was just happy to have a sport that he liked and was happy to go to:)

I have since started putting Harper in the pool with bows on....this cute swim suite was not done justice by this fuzzy bald head!!!

Goodness, this smile NEVER gets old!!!!

June photos

Every month I upload my photos to shutterfly and work on my yearly book that I do for my family..between the phone pictures and my actual camera there are usually 200-250per month.  In June I took 70 photos..SLACKER!!  Way to preserve memories!!!  I have already improved this month, but sometimes I  feel to busy to even pull out the camera...that is a shameful statement!!  So, out of the 70 pictures..only 14 were deemed cute enough to go on the blog...even worse, majority of my 70 pictures sucked!!!

Easton and my mom at VBS..the light up glasses were a hit!  I was also really impressed with how well Easton did when the singing turned into who can "sing" louder..it was WAY , WAY loud and he didn't freak out..huge people, this is huge!

My little anchor..that is Eastons nick name since he LOVES the water and has no fear of it.  He is that kid that you let sink for a sec when you are right there so that he will get scared and be a bit more timed..and not try to just walk in when he pleases........only problem...when you watch him under water with goggles on..he is smiling the whole time as he sinks lower and lower.  Swim lessons cannot come fast enough next year!!  Also, anytime Easton is in a pool or bathtub or any body of water..his mouth is constantly open and he is constantly drinking water.  So much so that he will sometimes throw up and have nasty diapers.  Anyone else ever have issues with this??  Any suggestions?

Suffice to say that someone else loves the water too!!

Charlie has always been my most challenging kid, mainly because he is my oldest, but also because he is such a smart, deep thinking kid.  I love when he gets creative and comes up with things like this...he is a race car driver in the above picture..notice the bib.  He turned it inside out and wrote his race car number on it later that day:)  This kid....he.wears.me.out.  Everyday.  But he also brings me joy unlike nothing else.  He is one of a kind..and I am real glad he is mine:)!!

Funny story from yesterday..he was doing something and had been told to stop plenty of times and so he got a spanking...followed by a "Charlie , you have been asked to stop, please stop."  But he was spanked before he was told..again..to stop what he was doing.  As soon as he was spanked he looked up at his Daddy and said "you are supposed to use your words, not your hands daddy."  We explained that we did and he informed us that it was not in the right order.  Like I have said before..its a good thing he is cute:)

Speaking of cute..OMGoodness!!!  Look at those cheeks!! Love my squishy, rolley baby!

Harper goes with the flow so well and can do whatever we can do!  I love how easily adaptable she is!!  Good makings of a third child:)

This was at a splash park..it took Easton right at an hour before he would go anywhere near it...this kid is so cautious:)  I'm sure it will serve him well in plenty of cases, but sometimes I just wished he would trust me and go have fun!  Once he got in, it wasn't to long before we were all ready to go, but he was not..go figure!! 

This was from June..when he would still let me take his picture:) 

There is nothing like summer and playing outside in the water and munching on some watermelon!

I walked away for 5 min and come back to find that Easton had crawled into the pack-n-play with Harper..luckily everyone was still smiling:)

Big enough bow?  I still love the ginormous bows, but often settle for smaller one since she messes with them less!

 I cannot remember what Charlie had shoved into his mouth, but this face cracked me up!

Sunscreen makes the best gel for mowhawks!  With Eastons fair hair and paleish skin I always put sunscreen in his hair/on his scalp and I have noticed what an awesome gel medium it is..I guess it can be a back up if needed some day!

This is actually from July, but it somehow got in a June folder..either way, love this one of the kiddos!

Charlie and Daddy went to a Ranger game together..just the two of them!  Bradley sent me this picture and I just loved it!  You can tell this was not one of his "mom asked me to smile pictures", but rather a "oh my word, I am loving life right now pictures!"

I didnt actually intend to post this, but I was cleaning up post that I had saved as drafts and never did anything with..I wanted to watch the video to see what it was and posting it was the only way to do it.  I can hardly even remember Charlie this small and I cannot even remember why I loved dogs so much:)  Super parenting in the video as we let Charlie almost lose a hand to Luke:)

Harper Jane is ?? months!

The title...I can never remember Harper's age!  When people ask me how old she is, I  blank!  Someone ask me recently and I could not remember her age for the life of me..luckily, Addison, my 12 yr old niece was there to step up and answer " 8 months"!  I tell my self that I am just wanting to keep my last baby a baby as long as possible so that's why I refuse to let her age!!

Harper finally got a tooth.at 8 months!  She got her second tooth the next day.  I know that I am ruining my luck by saying this out loud..or typing it???, but none of my kids have ever really given me any probs when they get teeth.  Most of the time the tooth pops up without any forewarning and they move on!  Now that I have said that..Harper will be miserable with her remaining teeth!

Um, playing dress up is fun:) 

 After my last post about there never being "extra" time anymore..I have been waking up at 5am or 6am and have been unable to go back to sleep.  So I go ahead and get up..and it amazing how much I can get done before the kids wake up!!  Leaving me more free time to just sit and play with them and dress them up..and then nap with them because I am tired by 1pm:)..which them means I cannot fall asleep till around midnight because of the nap...which then means I am super tired at 5am when I wake up, but cannot fall asleep...thus a vicious cycle I have been stuck in all week!

Harper is babbling, screaming and "talking" like crazy lately!  She can say ma-ma and da-da..but she has no idea that I am mama or that Bradley is da-da!  But she is babbling so I am happy!  When one your kids misses some milestones you sure appreciate it in the next kiddo following them! She loves to play with inflections in her voice and see how loud she can get her voice..pretty loud if your wondering:)

Harper is in competition with Easton for being the easiest kiddo!  She is only grumpy if she is tired or hungry.  She sleeps awesome..about 12hrs at night and then 2 short naps and one long nap during the day.  The best part is how easily she goes down....you just lay her in bed and walk out!  Easton and Harper have always been so easy to lay down.  It's amazing what you learn after your first kiddo!!  Easton has been an amazing sleeper since 3 month, Harper since about 6 months and Charlie...since about 4yrs old...oh the things we learn as we go!!!!!

Other then the constant spit up and stained carpet..this little sweet girl is nothing but fun!!  Her brothers and Daddy are in love with her and when she gives them her huge gummy smile that starts in her eyes...they will do anything she wants!!  We are so lucky that she is ours:)

catch up

So, blogging only 3 times in the month of June was not what I had in mind..but life happens.  To be honest, I have been wanting to blog and share funny stories and cute pictures, but when I have free time...blogging doesn't rate a top priority.  I used to blog in the am when before the kids got up or while they ate breakfast.  Sometimes it was at nap time and every now and then before bed.  Now, I don't get up before the kids..if one lets me sleep till 7:15am then its a glorious day:)  I don't blog while they eat breakfast because I am loading/unloading the dishwasher or changing out laundry.  I don't blog at nap time because I am doing one of two things...folding clothes or napping my self.  And I do not blog at night because I am just so zapped and drained by that time of the day that all I want to do is sit and watch mindless TV or read a book.Bottom line people..this mama is tired!!  I want to keep my blog updated because I feel its the mom's job to be the family's memory keeper.  Between blog books and shutterfly books, I feel like that is giving my kids an awesome gift.  Granted, Harper may be the only one who ever reads them when they grow up, but the memories are there.  Lets face it..they have already faded from my brain so they will be impossible to reach in 30 years unless they are on paper somewhere!!  And poor Harper Jane, she will be the only one who will probably care and she has made the fewest appearances so far!!All this to say, being a mom is the greatest job in the world.. for reals, but its also the most exhausting...not that I am sharing some breaking news here or anything.  Like any mom, I am only able to give a little of myself here and there because the kids get the most of me...as it dang well should be:) So, while I would love to be that mom who can have kids coming out her ears and yet still have dinner and homemade desert on the table each night, still get to do my crafty projects,  get to make Harper all those girley things that I dreamed of for years, read all the books on my book list, blog every time my kids say something funny, shower, shave and get a pedicure...I am not that person these days.  If I can get through the day without losing my patience and going "crazy mom" on one of the kids...that is now my new definition of a great day!They are only little once so I better make those memories that I cannot get back..and hopefully find a little time to get those memories on the blog and shutterfly..so I can look back and actually remember them in 10, 20, 30 years!