UPDATES FROM HERE AND THERE

Hello Strangers!
So we've hit the part of the summer I like to call UGH. 
Ok I don't really call it that but it's the first word that came to mind.  It's just way too hot for comfort, even at the beach it is nearly unbearable.  I wake up every morning and look outside thinking "it has GOT to be cool out there...right????"
WRONG
The kids start school next week...Bennett is in 4k and will be going 5 {FIVE!!!} days a week.  Part of me is really sad but the other part of me is excited for him.  Emory and Jacob will be at MDO three days a week at the same church where Bennett is, which makes things easy. 
After the past two years, come August 21st I don't think I am going to know what hit me.  Three days of four hours each to myself, and two other days with just two kids. 
Crazy I tell you.  Out of control over here crazy ;)

One of the greatest updates is that my little sister had MY FIRST NEPHEW {not to mention her first child} on August 2nd

He was a big healthy baby and from the neck down looks just like my kids {big hands, feet, skinny legs}.
From the neck up however, that is another story.  He is his daddy's CLONE

I am SO incredibly proud of Erin.  She handled labor and delivery like a champ and now is a model first time mom for anyone to make an example of.

They only live 25 minutes away but for some reason in this small city that seems like the other side of the world.  I wish they lived next door so I could see my fourth child whenever I pleased.

On the homefront not much has developed.  The playroom is still a work in progress but I have at least decided on a few things.

I painted it the same color as the bedrooms up at the camp...Benjamin Moore's Early Morning Mist

It's a really nice neutral-gray-white.

Right now all of the kids books are on the bookshelves in Jacobs room, which I love.  We all pile in the glider and read books and its cozy and crazy.
...Except for when Jacob is taking a nap and then Emory just barges in there and takes the books she wants, closing the door on her way out.  This would be good and all but sleeping babies don't respond well to sisters coming in and out of their rooms in search of books :)

I bought three of these wall baskets from World Market and now just have to figure out where in the room their new home will be.

The playroom is one of the hottest rooms in the house, as the morning sun BEATS in the east facing window.  The ceiling fan is also the size of a hamster wheel so there isn't much air circulating.  I have woven shades on the windows but they are more for looks than light-blocking.  I searched my hardest for some ready made drapes, I really did.  I searched and searched and just didn't find anything.  But last night I ran across this print from Premier Prints and at less than $8/yd it just couldn't be beat.

{I'll be taking bets as to which calendar year these drapes will be completed.  ...Not to cheat by providing insider information but I'm putting my money on sometime in the year 2014.}

Stephen's call schedule is changing, thank goodness, and instead of only one weekend off a month we might be looking at TWO a month instead :) I am beyond thrilled.  We've enjoyed trips to the beach and the camp recently thanks to this new freedom

Emory is speaking in two to three word sentences now and I had forgotten what a change that is in a child.  She seems SO much older.  Everyone says it but girls are so different from boys.  She mothers every one of us and nurtures and parents any thing resembling a baby doll.  And as long as you can see past her mud-loving rough-housing feisty exterior the girl is a total sweet heart :)

As her Pop put it, she is tough as a boot but SO delicate. A lovely combination in my opinion!

 

We are pushing every limit in the hair department.  Trying our best and working with what we've got.

 

Jacob is showing signs of an interest in crawling, but he can't seem to get off his belly.  I don't mind.  He can be my baby forever because he is growing WAY too fast as it is.  He just absolutely melts me.

I can't handle it.

All self control is called into action to help prevent cannibalism with this child.  His thighs are bigger than Emory's.  They wear the same size diaper.  He eats everything.  He sleeps well and laughs easily.  He has a temper that makes me laugh.  He gets beat up and pushed around all the time and he can't handle a lick of it.  I will be that mom renting an apartment wherever he goes to college just so I can throw a jacket over the puddle of water he was about to step in.

Ok maybe I'm not that crazy but the thought has crossed my mind :)

Bennett is my helper and keeps me on my toes with all his questions. 

 

He loves playing on pbskids.org and disney jr on the computer and I am promising myself the only reason I let him spend the time on it that he does right now is because it's too hot to do anything outside and school is about to start.  And it's more interactive than watching TV? I also tell myself that once school starts I will have more time to do all the things that I need to do for myself and work while they are at school and therefore he and I will have more quality time during the babies' nap time.
He is as stubborn as they come and would be happy eating oatmeal or spaghettios every night until he is sixteen {because by then they eat a lot more than that RIGHT?}.  He has the most tender heart and is the MOST amazing big brother to his siblings. 

These kids pull at every heart string I have.
It's amazing.

Sometimes instead of working I do this during their nap time, just for a bit of recharging

 

And sometimes I do this

Well, the last one isn't at nap time but you get the idea. :)

Does anyone use real cameras anymore????
My social media of choice is still instagram these days, and most of these pics are pulled from there.  What did we do before the iPhone??!!
I almost want to throw mine in the Mobile River but at the same time, I wouldn't have any of these pictures if I did.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

 

the world as seen through the eyes (and lens) of bennett

since attaining an iPhone the day i mean morning i mean second it became available to Verizon users, i have enjoyed having a decent camera that fits in my pocket...or at least one that doesn't weigh my already ginormous diaper bag down any further.

so has bennett. he has been known to snag my phone from time to time, and here are a few surprises my budding photographer has left behind: