Wyatt's 6th Birthday

We were introduced to Paw Patrol by Uncle Robert when we moved to Oregon and it has become a favorite for most of the kids at one point or another so this year Wyatt voted for a Paw Patrol Party.  We celebrated with a big family party, gifts, games, and cupcakes at school.

 For our game the kids had to pretend to be pups and race to the dog bowls at the other end of the room.  Then they had to eat the scooby snack from the bowl as quickly as they could.  I think it was mostly just entertaining for the grown-ups but the kids were good sports.

At school Mrs. Lute does such a great job of celebrating the kids.  I really appreciate how she makes it fun for them and makes them feel so special.  On their birthday they get to sit in her chair and all the kids share what they like about them before they eat cupcakes.  Some of the things Wyatt's friends shared were that he is friendly and kind to people, He always plays with everybody, he is helpful, and he always has a smile on his face. His best friend Cold said, "Your mom lets me play with you." and Melahna, a little girl in class who likes him said, "His crown, everything about him."

After school we had Cole over to play.  First we went out to lunch with Uncle Robert and then it was play, play, play until it was time to pick up Sadie.

I 

Happy Birthday Wyatt!  You are such a great kid.  We've had our challenging moments, but you have really grown up so much this past year.  I love your cheerful attitude and your enthusiasm towards school and life in general.  I love hearing all about your day, and your friends, and the fun things you are planning and dreaming of and who you've invited over.  You are friendly and kind to all and continue to be one of the most generous kids I know.  You have also become quite the gentleman this year opening doors and learning what it means to be polite.  However, one of my favorite things about you continues to be that you give the very best hugs.  Sometimes after dinner without warning you still climb into Daddy's lap and give him a big hug.  I hope you hold on to that sweetness for a very long time because we sure love your tender heart and know that God is going to use that as you care for the people around you throughout your life.  We are blessed to have you as our son and pray that God would continue to reveal Himself to you as you grow.

You are loved!!!  Happy 6th Birthday!

2 Months

Our Miss Evie Rose is 2 months old and has earned the nickname of "Nibblet."  Daddy loves to give nicknames and this little one is a good eater and our chunkiest baby so "The Nibblet" he has named her.  Whether they will love him or hate him for these nicknames only time will tell but right now Cooper is especially fond of it and calls her Nibby all the time.

Christmas 2016

One of my favorite new traditions since moving up to Oregon is cutting down our own Christmas tree.

 And of course enjoying some hot chocolate by the fire.

Our traditions have changed year to year but this Christmas we made a big breakfast with Great Grandma's cinnamon rolls and had Grammy over to enjoy it with us.  Then the kids opened their presents from us and we spent the morning just hanging out.  We tried really hard to not get carried away with the gifts this year as the kids already have so much.  So everyone got new jammies on Christmas Eve, a new book, a lego/duplo block set, and a new bike.  They loved the books and everyone except poor Cooper was excited about the bike.  We probably should have seen it coming but unfortunately didn't.  Cooper is our cautious natured one and he wanted nothing to do with a bigger bike.  He's really great on his little balance bike but between this one being a lot taller and the fact that it wobbles just a little with the training wheels it was just too much :(

After naps we headed over to Grammy's house for more presents, games, and dinner.  It's always so fun to be together and all the kids make it just that much merrier.  Grammy is currently at 9 grandkids so you can imagine the excitement in the air.

1 Month Old

This little one continues to be about as sweet as they come.  She is alert and happy, she's a great eater, and at day 5 she was sleeping from about 10pm til 5am and then going back down for a few more hours.  I was told to wake up my other kids if they slept that long as newborns because they were slow weight gainers but she's such a good eater that I haven't worried about it and just can't believe how easy she's been.  She takes most of her naps in a rock n play surrounded by lots and lots of chaos and seems completely unbothered by it.  In fact she seems to sleep more soundly with all the noise.  It's like she's use to it or something :)  She loves her siblings and they love her and so do we!

One of the things that I was most worried about as we anticipated Evie's arrival was how we were going to manage our schedule.  I couldn't quite comprehend how we'd get it all done.  The kids start school at 8:00, Wyatt gets out of school at 11:00, and then Sadie gets out at 3:00.  So even though school is only about 10 minutes away that means 3 trips and over an hour in the car every day.  Add to that the time it takes to load 5 kids in and out of the car that many times, feeding a new baby every 2 hours, plus naps, and I just couldn't figure out on paper how it would work, though I trusted it would, and sure enough with lots of help we are finding our way and everyone is doing okay.

Grammy has taken the kids to school almost this entire first month which has been such a blessing to me.  Getting Sadie and Wyatt fed and ready to go by 7:45 felt like a big enough task initially and I've truly been so grateful for all the extra help allowing us to get our day off to a much slower start.  After a week or so of Grammy doing all the drop offs and pick ups we slowly added back in the afternoon pick up, and then the kindergarten pick up, and finally we started braving drop offs a few mornings, and finally after about a month we were back in the swing.  We also started using a grocery pick up service which has been a game changer with all these littles and the our crazy schedule this year.

It really does take a village and we're sure thankful for ours!!!

Just a few more baby pictures

In the spirit of trying to soak in all of this baby time we've taken lots and lots of pictures.  As you can see we are loving our new little one.

 These were our favorite little jammies of Sadie's and now all 3 of our girls have had a chance to wear them.  That's right... 3 GIRLS... how blessed we are!

 SADIE

HAZEL

EVIE

There's nothing I love more than watching and snuggling with this sweet sleepy baby. 

I have such great big helpers these days.  I think back to the days with just Sadie, or just Sadie and Wyatt and it was a special time with just us and our little ones, but it is also such a blessing to watch the bonding of siblings and to realize that they won't remember life without one another.  I  hope and pray that these relationships will continue to grow and that they would be one of life's greatest blessings to one another. 

 This one will always make me laugh.  I can remember asking Wyatt, "Would you like me to take her back?  and he says, "No that's okay."  I love that they are so unphased by the things that threaten to unnerve us as adults.  The fussing and crying and chaos that we try so hard to manage and avoid most of the time is not bothersome to them in the least.

BATH TIME

COUSIN TIME

Our friends and family as always have been so wonderful to drop off meals and take care of us in so many ways.  We are always so thankful during these early days for the way they come around us.

 Carter and Hazel

 Cooper and Carter

 SHENANIGANS

This one is nothing if not a nut.  She loves loves loves her sister and trying out all the new "toys" around the house, and though she's little bitty she really is getting so big.

Seriously how did this happen?  She has joined the big kids at note quite 2 years old and she just loves it.  She is now officially a big girl in her big girl bed.  How the 4 of them get any sleep all together in one room we're not sure, but so far it seems to be working.  There's usually lots of giggling and a few warnings given each night but then they always seem to settle in and we tell ourselves as we sit downstairs, fingers crossed that they will fall asleep soon, that these are the memories that childhood is made of.