Celebrating 8!

Grayson chose a family day trip over a birthday party this year, and we had a blast! He decided, after seeing USS Yorktown from a far at a park we went to, that was definitely where he wanted to spend his birthday! So for the last 3 months he has anticipated his trip back to Charleston to get an up close and personal look at it! Also from the park, you can take a ferry over to see Fort Sumter (where the Civil War is said to have begun), which was also an exciting trip for them all, the boat ride and canons being the most exciting! It was a busy and warm but extremely fun day! Wonderful way to spend celebrating our oldest on his special day and making awesome memories to last a lifetime!

 After the ferry ride back, we had a picnic lunch and set off to explore the USS Yorktown. This was by far the highlight of the trip for Grayson. He is in awe of all the air crafts and loved checking them out!

Climbing aboard the plane!

End of Year Activities

Most all the children's activities have come to a year end. Grady completed his 3K year at Trinity and his first season of T-Ball. Ada wrapped up gymnastics and Daisy's. Grayson finished up his piano year and cub scouts. And as some of our activities come to a close, our new school year begins! :)

Grady loved pre-school this year and was blessed with an awesome teacher who was loving and kind and really taught him so much. He had a end of school program of which he sang the first two songs and looked miserable for the last few. I asked him why, he said he "was tired of singing". Ha! I don't think performing for crowds is his thing. T-Ball, was great for him. He is getting the hang of the basics and loves having his family there to watch him! And he's pretty much the cutest thing in that uniform.

Ada had a wonderful year end ceremony for Girl Scouts, and really really enjoyed her first year as a Daisy. Probably something she will hold on to for a while! She will continue on to her second year in August. Gymnastics ended beautifully, she received a trophy at the gym for finishing as state champion on floor exercise and balance beam. She struggled, for the first time, a bit with weather or not she was going to continue gymnastics, but having already decided a month or so ago that she wanted to continue this year, she has come to the decision that she will work out her current frustrations and continue for one more competition season and then will bid it farewell and try some other things. She was feeling slightly defeated by some of the current skills she is working on and versus leaving a sport she has absolutely loved for the last three years, feeling defeated, she is going to try to work out the kinks and give her best for a few more months, and leave feeling proud! I think she will be glad she did! :) This is one of the situations where you feel like there's a life lesson but aren't sure which direction to go with it, because there certainly is. This situation seems so symbolic and reflective of life...so many things, faith...school...work...family...LIFE, gets hard sometimes, we aren't always on top, we aren't the best at everything, and occasionally we have to repeat steps. I think she will be better for having worked through it vs. throwing in the towel before the problem is solved. 

Grayson had a very successful first year of piano! He loves to play, loves a challenge and really seems like he will play for a long time. He said after his year end recital that he wants "to play until he's 90!", and maybe he will! ;) It has certainly taught him patience and hard work. He has to spend a good bit of time practicing for his music festival and recitals, and he sees the reward in a good performance and really appreciates it. It makes us very proud to see him put in the effort and do well. He completed his Cub Scout year with the Blue and Gold banquet, where he received his wolf rank. He worked hard this year and learned a lot. 

The school year got off to a great start! We are getting it in here and there while still able to enjoy the activities of summer...swimming, movies, outings! It's such a blessing and pleasure to be their teacher and have them home to just enjoy life together. Grady is joining us for the first preschool year, and he loves it!! We started third grade core for Grayson and first grade for Ada. We are continuing Adventures in US History and are LOVING it! Such great content! 

To Our Daddy

There's and incredible man that does life with me, we don't do life perfect but we do it perfect for us. We aren't experts and we fail each and everyday, over and over. But this man? This man, makes us better. He works, with his incredible work ethic day in and day out, to make ends meet and raise such beauties. He loves us hard and with the best part of himself. We don't get what's left or what's wrong, we get what's best and what's right! He builds us up each and every day. He strengthens us. He grounds us. He brings out the good. 

How did I get so blessed? How did I get him? We don't deserve him, not even in the slightest but we don't take for granted the gift we have. The gift he's given us. A love. A love beyond measure. And not because he has to but because he wants to. And that, that is the most beautiful gift we have ever been given. To my rock and my person, these 3.5 beautiful souls and I wish you the most amazing Father's Day! May you never question what your worth to us! Because to these people, you are THE WORLD! Thank you seems so insignificant, but it's all the words we can find. Thank you. Thank you for loving us, leading us, and grounding us. 

The Fastest 8 Years of My Life

I've attempted, over the years, through blogging and photographs, to preserve, savor, and relish in the moments of our quickly changing life, simple pleasures, and growing children. At times, I've kept up and there's so many times I've fallen behind, but I do try to keep up. And looking back on these memories, reminiscing, cherishing, and smiling, as big as my heart can smile, I am overwhelmed. As we quickly approach our oldest child's 8th birthday, I have found myself remembering. Remembering so many moments, big and small. Remembering what it was like to anticipate the arrival of our first born child, to imagine what he might be like and then to hold him in our arms, consumed by his beauty and the miracle that unfolded right before our eyes. And each one, each time we welcome a child into our life, it is/will be no less miraculous, it's amazing. It is a true reflection of God's love, a true representation of his grace. A baby, so naturally entering the world, so innocent and beautiful, literally filling our hearts with an endless love. And once they arrive, life happens. For that single moment, the world stands still and then all of a sudden, 8 years have come and gone. 8 years!! I can hardly believe it when I say that out loud.

We got out some little boy and girl clothes to sort through for our new little one, and it was as if I could see Grayson's very tiny self in each outfit, each pair of shoes, the diaper bag that toted all his baby things brought back so many beautiful memories. I could quickly spot the outfits he wore for pictures, or on his first Sunday to church. I could without hesitation see the activity that happened in each tiny outfit. How is it possible, how can it be that this tiny baby is now fully into boyhood? There's not a single hint of baby left, and I'm not sure I'm ready for him to keep growing. He was the best baby, he slept like a champ, loved food, and was pretty much the happiest boy ever! He made me a mother, he taught me and continues to each and every day how to embrace each season of motherhood. He is such a special kid, and amazingly enough, he's mine! He became a big brother at the young age of 19 months and has truly been an awesome one to each of his siblings. He's so beautifully embraced his leadership role and will be so sweet with our new little one this winter!

As he's grown, over the years, he's become his own person, so different from Chris and I, but completely ours nonetheless! He's smart and busy, witty and comical, dying to grow up yet maybe a little scared to do so. He loves deeply, he's strong willed, he's persistent and outspoken, he's full of faith and curiosity, and he can be quite challenging, and I love him for it!

He's tried many sports/activities over the years...soccer, basketball, baseball, cub scouts, piano...and now that he's getting older, he's pretty much picked his "thing". He loves piano, the challenge, the reward, he loves it! And he's recently become quite the biking/running enthusiast with his dad. He's going to continue playing piano and has asked that he can sign up for some 5K's and do some regular trail rides with Daddy. We have already found several races in the area and he is eagerly awaiting the opportunities! He's still big into science and cooking. He enjoys History as well, the other subjects he could take it or leave it. He does daily evaluations of how how long he has until he's an adult (eeek!), we have daily discussions on how many years before he drives, his future job, home, car, etc. He wants to grow up way too fast on me, and as much as I try to slow him, he just keeps right on. We have always said he's wise beyond his years, he pretty much is a 30 year old trapped in a 8 year old body. He was quick to grow up as a baby, first tooth at 3 months, first words at 6 months, first steps at 9, and hasn't slowed down since!

So, to my precious boy, who refuses to slow down, we wish the most amazing of birthdays and the happiest year yet. Keep exploring, keep asking questions, keep figuring out this big world, and making us proud. We love you more than we could ever say and so blessed to call you ours, you have taught us so much and we have so much more to learn together! So here's to the next 88! I love you, beautiful boy!

Hello Second Trimester

So! Here we are, 14 weeks into the last pregnancy of our life, for Chris and I! It's flown by yet crept at the same time, if that makes any sense. I've pretty much felt like I've been less than human for the last 2 months, and wonder how I already made it through 3 of these. But that's okay. it's all for a good cause! ;) I certainly don't experience the excessive morning sickness like some, but I do experience allllll day nausea and it's so hard to function like a normal person when your woozy and tummy turning all the time, BUT! We made it! :) Now on to the good part! Last week, I began to see a little light of the second trimester beginning to shine though! Not everyday but maybe 2 out of 7, I felt pretty good! And that's an improvement from the previous week, so the good part is definitely on the horizon!

We got to hear baby's heartbeat and what a sweet sweet sound it is!! Baby is about

the size of a peach now, they say! So sweet! I still haven't fully made my call in what gender I think we will welcome on December, nor has Chris, and chances are, if I make one, I will be wrong! ;) So we will just call it our "broster", which the oldest has named baby. :) 

The first trimester, as I mentioned has been a struggle as far as energy level and motivation is concerned, it's also had very worrisome and anxious times, and it's been full of odd dreams...i do all kinds of things and go all sorts of places while I sleep! It's been quite entertaining. Other than the weird dreams, exhaustion, light headedness and nausea, it's been a good three months symptom wise! I'm still able to jog a tad and workout when energy allows, definitely looking forward to a slight increase in the months to come as the energy returns! I miss regular exercise soooo much. It's a big part of our life now, and it's wonderful for a mood enhancer and physical boost. A small amount of weight has been gained but very proud of still carefully weighing the food options...most of the time...I give in definitely more than previous months and eat way more often, but still overall pretty good on the food front! :) The children are great support and we talk lots of baby! They are at such a curious age and really have lots of questions and comments. It's really fun to engage in these conversations with them. We discuss each week what new things baby is doing and what fruit we can compare size to! It's so fun! They are extremely patient with their Mommy's moments of irritability, because let's be honest, that definitely comes with the baby growing territory...and I am so grateful for their love and understanding. Grayson is beginning to take some responsibility in the kitchen, preparing meals and assisting with different jobs, it's fun teaching him and he's an enthusiastic learner in these areas! Ada is head over heels about baby and is such an encouragement and so compassionate towards baby and mommy. She already gives baby tons of hugs and love! Grady is in to talking about baby as well, but of course understands less than the others...and  I'm pretty sure he thinks we are having a fruit...one week a strawberry baby and the next week a peach, he can hardly keep up!:) These big brothers and big sister are gonna be the best! We can't wait to meet our little caboose! The one who will complete us! 

This has been an emotional time. Anxiety comes and goes, I think my age, the fact that we have three healthy kids and following a loss all adds to the anxiety a bit. This weeks check up, hearing a strong heartbeat and calm reassurance from our physician has definitely eased my mind somewhat and I am grateful! I almost...almost...feel relaxed enough to really start to enjoy it a bit. We go back in about 5 weeks to see baby on sonogram, which brothers and sister will join for that! 

So we now begin our second trimester with grateful hearts and anticipation of the future. Here's to 25ish more healthy and happy weeks! We are so excited to see who this little one is and watch them grow! Our hearts are so full and so complete! 💗