Sister Love....

Reunion

Baby Suzy finally arrived home today, from her stay at the American Girl Doll Hospital. She looks amazing! They did a great job, she came home with a new body, as ordered. And, they did a wonderful job just cleaning her up. She had a few bad spots on her head and a little orange marker. They cleaned it all up and she looks brand new. I will even have to mark them somehow. We have never before had trouble telling the difference between Addison's "Suzy" and Reagan's much newer "Bailee". I am not sure we can differentiate anymore.

Addison was so excited. She really has missed that little doll a ton. We all celebrated this afternoon when we found the box on our porch! What a happy reunion.

Dear Daddy,

Dear Daddy,

You may want to stop and pick up some shaving cream on your way home. Yours was all used up in a spontaneous back porch painting project. Gracyn, the potential Daddy's Girl, would like you to know that she had nothing to do with this.

Love,

Your Girls

Back to her Roots

Often in the evenings, as we are heading home from the park, Reagan tells me to "Give Gracyn to Daddy!" She wants the little one handed over and she wants in the Bjorn. Who can blame her? She spent most of her first 8 months of life riding around in here....it must feel like her home away from home. Good thing she is a little tiny one, she doesn't weigh all that much more than Gracyn....although it is a little hard to walk with her feet bumping into my knees.

Man's Best Friend

Okay fellow stay-at-home-moms, please tell me I am not alone here. Does anyone else often wonder why in the world you have a dog. As if taking care of, feeding and cleaning up after the kiddos isn't enough, what in the world possessed us to throw a dog in the mix???

I am mostly kidding, I do love her. But I have had enough of her running out the front door....retrieving her from the park 2 miles away isn't the easiest job with my girls in tow. And, she keeps having ear infections..... each of which costs about 10 x's what a trip to the doctor for one of us would cost. And finally, she can't seem to make up her mind.....she wants out, I let her out, she barks to come back in, she wants out, I let her out, she barks to come back in......repeat continuously throughout the course of the day!

She is my walking buddy, my kids love her, and I absolutely think every house should have a dog. But seriously today I think I could give her away! Am I heartless?

Happy Girl

This little girl is all smiles lately.

Look Who's Jumping

What do you want me to do in here? Oh wow, I think I like it!

Fun Times!

Taking a break.

Maybe I need to hold my breath in here???

Look Who's Jumping, Too

Reagan took a break from coloring with the blue marker you see all over her face, to try out the Jumperoo! Funny, she loathed that thing when she was a baby. We kept it out for a few weeks, she hated it more each time we tried it, and I finally put it away!

Future Cake Boss

Monday afternoon, the girls and I headed out to the gazebo behind our houses for Brenna's 5th birthday party. She had 11 girls and 4 baby sisters, all from our street, there to celebrate. She gave each girl an apron embroidered with their name on it (which Addison hasn't taken off yet) and then they set about decorating cupcakes. They had every color icing and every type of sprinkle imaginable, and they used them abundantly!!! They loaded down their cupcakes and then ate them right away. Reagan never actually decorated, she ate every bit of icing, as fast as she could squeeze it out. After cupcakes they tore into a cupcake pinata. I have never seen a pinata broken open so fast. At this point, a huge storm began blowing in. It never rained on us, but the loud thunder scared a few kids and the wind nearly blew us away. We wrapped up the festivities quick and headed for shelter. They are ready for the sugar!

Addison and Clara decorating, Reagan licking.

Hard at work.

They took time for a group shot before the wind got too bad.

The Pinata was blowing in the breeze.

I think I could have lost Reagan in the wind.

The baby girls, all within 6 weeks of each other. Gracyn is in there behind that precious flower bow!

Lunch with the Girls

Tommy and Alan happened to be on vacation this day, so they joined us. Little Colston, stuck close to the guys!

Mommy and Gracyn

Lots of babies, even Addison has her baby Suzy.

Kim and Gracyn, Christie and Colston, Ashely and Kate, Shanda and Karlie

Austin was with us that day....these girls sure love their cousin!

During my Dallas trips, I always try to schedule in time to meet up with my college friends for lunch or dinner. We often go to Chili's at night, sans the kiddos, and talk for hours. This time, we met at SpringCreek, with (some of) the little ones and a few Daddies. We took over their backroom. We had fun catching up while the kids ran around and played.

A Girl and her Daddy

I think this is my very most favorite from our family pictures!

Family Pictures

While we were in Dallas, Allison with Blue Mutt Photography took family pictures for us. She met us at the park and followed us around as we played. She couldn't have done a better job getting a snapshot of how my family looks right now. She captured each girls' personality perfectly and I will always treasure the pictures. Now I just have to pick my favorite from a 117 picture gallery! If you are interested in having her work with your family....she actually specializes in your 4-legged family members, her website is http://www.bluemuttblog.com/.

The Difference

My oh my how my perspective changes throughout the day! Here is an example of the difference between 7am and 7pm around my house.

7am: I am snuggled in my rocking chair with all 3 girls. I can't get close enough to them and I am loving the time. Reagan is sitting in my lap, Addison is squished up next to me, holding Gracyn. We are reading books and doing their morning devotional. I am blissfully happy, thinking how blessed I am and trying to soak up the moment. I find myself thinking how sweet it is that we have this time together, and that with each girl we have found just a little more room in that rocking chair.

7pm: Here we are back in the rocking chair. Good grief, how do we all fit in this chair? Are we about to break the thing? Gracyn is trying to nurse and go to sleep (hard to do while she's all squished), why is everyone on Mommy? How can 3 little people all be on me at the same time....how is that even possible? How many minutes until bedtime? Doesn't anyone want Daddy or some independent playtime for a minute. I think I might be smothering!!!

Thank goodness the Lord gives us new mercies every morning! I am glad by 7:00am I am always ready for more snuggles and togetherness. Someday I know I will sit in that rocking chair longing for little bodies to be in my arms and daydreaming about the days when it was overflowing!