How is it April already?!

April.  We've celebrated 3 kiddo birthdays already this year with Claire left in May.  And she's going to be 13.  How is that even possible?

The other thing that is crazy is my continual lack of blogging.  I really, really want to blog more, but that Instagram...it's just so easy.  But it's also kind of lacking wordiness.  And I can definitely be a wordy kind of a girl.

I was looking over my 2015 and 2016 (thus far) posts just thinking about how thin my blog book will be for those years.  I can probably just combine them with 2017-2020 and make it semi-worthwhile. :)

Okay, so we've had some major excitement around here since I last posted.  We have a new member of the family...gasp!!!  It's another girl...

Ahhhhh...isn't she precious?!  She certainly is when she's sleeping!  Welcome Ruby!!  Long story short...Josh's brother (who is a dog breeder...along with 46 other professions) was out of town for a couple of months on a special assignment, so we had his pregnant dog.  She had 6 adorable black lab puppies, and we kept one.  We absolutely love her, even though she's totally a puppy and wants to chew on all socks and shoes and slippers and legos and every other thing that isn't hers.

We've had her in the house with us for almost two months.  She's doing great overall, but I'm looking forward to getting past the puppy stage...in two or three years. :)

For anyone who isn't friends with me in real life, you will be shocked and surprised (and hopefully just as thrilled as we are) to find out that we're also having another baby!   

That photo was taken just prior to 20 weeks.  I'm over 26 weeks at this point and twice that big.  Maybe I'll talk Josh into taking a photo with my real camera sometime in the near future.  Okay, so the even more shocking news...

I know, right?!!  Shocking.  I still don't think I've wrapped my brain around it, nor do I think I will before he arrives in July.  And probably not even then, either.  It's going to take us a while to get used to snakes and snails and puppy dog tails (though, we're doing pretty well with the puppy dog tails right now).  

So, this is kind of how this baby thing went down:  I have kind of wanted baby #5 for a while.  I've been thinking about it for a couple of years, but I knew Josh probably wasn't going to be on board.  He was perfectly content with four kiddos.  I would hint around from time to time to get a feel for his interest level or lack thereof.  He was at like a 10% baby, 90% no baby level.  Not very promising.  I was really 50/50.  

So, then one evening last spring, we had a pretty major discussion about it.  It wasn't sounding promising (at all) for another baby.  So, I prayed for contentment.  And maybe I prayed for a surprise pregnancy as well...but definitely was praying more for contentment.  Then, in August, I had just decided that I was so okay with not having another baby.

Josh had been throwing out the thought of getting a dog in the house since Tucker was sick and didn't have much time remaining.  I wasn't sure I wanted another body in the house, but I warmed to the idea.  So, one night in September, Josh was sitting at the computer working, and I came up to him and said, "I think we should get a puppy."  His response: "I think we should have a baby."  

I.was.speechless.  Literally.speechless.  

I think my jaw dropped and my mouth was hanging open for who knows how long.  Then, I had to completely check my emotions to decide if I really wanted a baby #5.  Well, regardless, I decided that we just better hurry up and get pregnant before either of us changed our minds.  So, we did.  And here we are.  And the Lord is so kind.  We feel beyond blessed to be welcoming this precious baby into our lives, and our girls are beyond thrilled.  I fear that I'm going to have to fight for baby holding time. :) 

So, those are the two big adjustments in our world.  We have seven weeks of school remaining!!  Seven!!  So excited about that.  We've had a fun birthday stretch, and I make no promises, but I would love to post about birthdays and kiddos.  I actually do drag out my nice camera to take birthday pictures.  That will at least force me to upload photos, and I might even have one or two others that I could post.  That would be something, wouldn't it?

on mothers day without photos

As I scrolled through my facebook feed, I saw photo after photo of my friends with their kiddos celebrating Mothers Day.  They were truly beautiful.  I, on the other hand, posted no photos of my children today.  I didn't have any.

I'll admit that I had good intentions to take my camera along with me today to snap a shot or two of my girls with their grandmas and maybe even one with me.  I mean, I had to speak in front of church this morning for a few minutes.  This means that I definitely wore make up, had my hair just right, and even wore a nice spring-y shirt.  In theory, it would have made for a nice photo.

But I dropped the ball.  My good intentions were put on the back burner as I remembered my print-out for church, the strawberry shortcake for dessert at my in-laws, and my church bag.  We were on time to church, and I didn't forget any of the essentials.  Phew!  That's really a major accomplishment in and of itself.

So, to all of you moms out there that didn't post photos of your kiddos today...consider this your pass.  You're a mom.  I know you had a million other things that consumed your mind today.  Whatever the case may be, it's okay.  You're good.  I didn't do it either.

And tomorrow, let's all band together and buy t-shirts that read: World's Okayest Mom

Who's with me?

Happy Mother's Day to the most okayest moms I know.  I love you all to pieces.

olivia is four

The little one is four.

She wanted a beach cake with a dolphin on it for her birthday.  We have two dolphins somewhere in this house, but only one surfaced when the cake was being made.  The other must have been swimming somewhere off shore.

I put the older girls in charge of making some beachy decorations for the cake with Legos.  I knew they would come through for me, and they certainly did not disappoint.

This is the third beach cake that I've made.  If my memory serves me correctly, I've also made three castle cakes.  I wouldn't have thought the beach theme would be a popular one, but I won't complain.  Beach cakes are waaayyyy easier than castle cakes.  It took longer to crush the graham crackers than it did to decorate it.  

The girls had several gifts for Liv this year.  Claire made her a stuffed teapot, tea cup/saucer, and spoon.  Meredith made her a few stuffed pastries/desserts to go along with her tea set.  Amelia gave her three pieces of gum and sparkly $1 bill. :)  All three girls pooled their money and bought her a $5 Bunny and Babies Lego set.  

She.is.so.loved.

Josh and I got her a Design and Drill toy.  She (along with her her sisters) have absolutely loved playing with it.

At four years old, Olivia loves...

-her sisters

-balloons

-talking

-cheese

-the color purple

-books

-people

-playing with hair

-changing her clothes

Olivia,

You are a bright spot in our lives.  It is so much fun to enjoy life with a four year old!  We love the way you think, talk, and giggle.  Your love and admiration for your sisters is beyond evident, and they adore you as much as you do them.  We can't wait to see you grow this year.  What a blessing you are!

the "almost" slumber birthday party

Oh, the "almost" slumber party!  It has come and gone, and we all survived. :)  We celebrated Meredith's 10th birthday party with another Dramatic Fanatic themed party...this one with a slumber party theme.  Again, it was a hit for all involved.  (We did a similar camping themed party for Claire's 10th birthday a couple of years ago.)  

For several reasons, we chose to do an "almost" slumber party instead of an actual slumber party.  One of those reasons included the fact that there were 20 girls here that evening celebrating.  What a fun time, though!

The girls had the option of coming in character or in their pajamas.  I scoured Pinterest for as many slumber party/sleepover party ideas that I could find.  You know me, I chose the cutest, easiest ones. :)  All of these ideas (and more!) including the printables and recipes that I used are on my almost slumber party Pinterest board.  

Here are some photos from the setup:

The Menu:
-sleeping bags (not pictured because I didn't have them baked when I took the photos): crescent rolls filled with pepperoni and cheese with dipping sauce on the side
-yogurt bar: yogurt in individual cups with strawberries, blueberries, and granola for toppings
-bed bugs: red and green grapes on small kabob sticks
-cuties
-bacon and eggs: white almond bark with little m&ms and pretzel sticks
-crispy bites: rice krispy treats made with fruity pebbles cereal on small popsicle sticks
-donut pops: donut holes on kabob sticks (by the way, I just wrapped a shallow box with kraft paper and poked holes in it for the donut pops holder)
-donuts
-water bottles: covered with fun duct tape and an owl sticker
*the food label stands are sitting in jumbo marshmallows...they worked perfectly for our camping themed party, so I used the idea again.

I decorated the tables with cereal-filled jars.  I added some larger cereal bowls and spoons as decor as well.  Believe it or not, all of the cereal in the jars and bowls was eaten by the end of the night!  It totally cracked me up.

Streamers were used to make a photo shoot area which was a fun addition:

The girls watched a movie and ate popcorn to end their night.  I found the popcorn bags on Amazon:

We sent home little boxes of cereal with the girls:

...and a little note on the back:

This was a really fun party to put together!  The owl theme was sweet, and I went with it because I found printables and matching duct tape.  Meredith had a great time and so did all of the girls.  I always love planning for and doing parties like these, but I'm also thankful to not have to do them every year.  I don't think my sanity could handle it.  Now, I get a three year break until Amelia's. Whew! :)

Happy Birthday, Meredith!

Happy Birthday, Meredith!  You are officially ten years old, and it doesn't quite seem possible that we've had you that long.  However, my photo records prove that we've celebrated each and every birthday up to this point.  It must be true. :)  

Since we kind of go "all out" for 10th birthdays around here (I'll post about her party soon), I thought I would put together some photos to document Meredith's ten years.  

#1: Day 1.  Really practically minute one.  What our anesthesiologist lacked in timeliness, he made up for in photography skills.  Since she was a c-section baby, I have photos of her literally half in/half out.  They are some of the neatest photos (as long as you're not grossed out by that kind of thing).  This particular one was probably 5 minutes after she was born, but I just love how we're holding hands.  Meredith is a complete cuddle bug, and I'm not surprised that we're touching already. :) 

#2:  Six months old.  Such a fun age.  So much personality.  She was a very pleasant baby, and I'm certain I had no major complaints.  By this point, her hair had finally calmed down a bit, and we were starting to drop the nickname, "Crazy Hair Mer."

#3:  Age 2.  This photo was taken on her 2nd birthday.  I remember making cupcakes with little ducks or chicks on them for her.  They were kind of last minute, and we ate them at my parents' house.  It wasn't much of a celebration. :)

#4: Age 3.  Three fingers in the mouth, elephant in the other hand, happy toddler.  This is the point in life when we started fighting over socks.  We would have 20 minute battles over wearing socks or not wearing socks.  It was a huge deal for her for several years.

#5: Age 4.  Not battling those socks anymore.  Embracing sockless winters with the agreement that she didn't have to wear socks as long as she didn't complain if her feet were cold.  We found fuzzy shoes and boots that helped as well.  This was also the point in life when I wondered where my sweet little toddler had run off to.  These were some very trying times in parenthood.  Meredith was all over the board emotionally, and most of her wardrobe bothered her when she touched it or looked at it.  Whites and stripes hurt her eyes.  Pants were too tight.  Shirts itched.  Shoes were too tight. There was a lot of stomping, screaming, and crying.  She fought a lot of things.  This was a hard stage to navigate.  But she also had this soft, sweet side which is captured so beautifully in this photo.  I honestly didn't understand how two very different personalities could be possessed by one child.

#6: Age 5.  Lots of prayers.  Lots of patience.  A few clothing items that she would wear over and over and over and over and over again.  Taking into consideration that this child valued comfort above all and that she was ultra sensitive to touch and smell made life much more tolerable during these days.  It was a learning process for all of us.  Still wouldn't wear socks.  This photo shows her painting, and she just loves all things artsy.  

#7: Age 6.  She's coming along.  Still no socks.  Still no white shirts.  Still no jeans.  Finding more pleasant days than unpleasant days during this time.  That newest little sister of hers (Olivia) fully brought out her most admirable qualities, and they often comforted each other in their times of need.  I snapped this photo to get an idea of lighting as I was prepping for Olivia's newborn photos.  The lighting was beautiful, and I've always loved this image of her.  

#8: Age 7.  She's wearing socks with her tennis shoes...now this is progress!  She's down to having an emotional outburst probably once a week which seems like such an enormous improvement from the three previous years.  The Lord is kind.  Her love and compassion for others is shining through everywhere, and that littlest sister of hers is one of her very favorite people in the entire world.

#9: Age 8.  We've completely figured out the wardrobe.  Black knit pants and nice soft shirts.  We've come a long way. :)

#10: Age 9.  Kind, compassionate, caring, and as sweet as sugar.  Begs each and everyday for another little brother or sister to love...which doesn't surprise me at all.  Wears jeggings, socks, and several different shirts. :) Major growth spurt on so many levels.

#11: Age 10.  This photo was taken on Friday.  We hosted her 10th birthday party.  She played an actress in the drama for the evening which is why she looks especially grown up.  I'd be tempted to say, "Slow down!" But she's only getting better with age.

Meredith, 

You are sweet, spunky, compassionate, and creative.  Art and babies are your two favorite things, and your heart is as big as your smile.  You told me yesterday that you hope to buy an island house in the middle of a lake, get two dogs, and live there painting pictures.  You are so encouraging and such a great teacher to the younger people around you.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if you decide to be an elementary art teacher someday.  What a blessing you are to our family.  We love you more than you know. 

On a side note, I've thought a lot about what I might have told myself had I known that good days were on the other side of those rough years.  I don't know exactly what I would have told myself other than encouragement that is so obvious: This too shall pass.  

It did.  At the time, though, I think I was clinging to the most positive personality aspects of Meredith that I could see, and I prayed so often that those would shine through someday.  I knew they were there, I just didn't know how to make them stay.  When we made it through a day without conflict, I rejoiced.  I found a lot of comfort in my friends.  I found a lot of comfort in my prayers.  

I found that the more I knew and understood the things that set her off, the better I could prepare her for the next task or event.  She needed downtime, physical touch, and a lot of rest, not to mention she doesn't like to be surprised about what's coming next.  It's been a learning process along the way and continues to be.  

May I remember these things as we deal with all of the bumps, u-turns, potholes, and detours along this road ahead.  And during the quieter and more pleasant days, I pray I remember to take lots of photos and to be especially thankful for the beautiful landscape that surrounds me.  

olivia: age 3.5

There is so much sweetness wrapped up in this child that I don't even know where to begin.  Age three and a half suits her well.  Josh put together the top bunk of Amelia's bed, and now Olivia is sleeping in the bottom bunk with Amelia on the top.  

After 11 1/2 years of constant use, the crib is unoccupied.  Bittersweet, for sure.

Olivia has transitioned extremely well to her big girl bed...probably better than any of her sisters.  She likes to follow those three big sisters, and since they stay in their beds (mostly), she stays in hers.  

She loves her Grandmas, Grandpas, sisters, Pipper (her stuffed dog), and flashlights (see story below).  She has a weird habit of talking about dying.  I have no clue why, but she is constantly asking about people dying.  We just roll with it. :)

She is a total giggler, and the girls can make her laugh in a heartbeat.  She is so affectionate, and she just gives great hugs.

While the girls are doing school, she plays by herself so nicely.  Playing in her little kitchen, looking at books, and playing with her dolls keep her pretty distracted throughout the mornings.  

Okay, so the flashlight story....

This photo is framed on my bathroom counter:

Olivia was in the bathroom with me the other day while I was getting ready.

Olivia: When did you take this picture, Mom?

Me: That was at Thanksgiving a few years ago at Aunt Jill's.  You weren't born yet.  You were in my belly.

O: Yeah...I couldn't see then...it was really dark...and I couldn't see...uh-cause I didn't have my fwashwhight.  

If only she could have had her flashlight in the womb. :)

Love this little stinker pot.  She is a joy every single day.  

home sweet home addition

Our house.  We purchased our house seven years ago.  It was repossessed.  It was disgusting.  And that is a kind description, really.  

Really.

The short version of the story is this: We walked into the house, and part of the ceiling was lying on the floor.  I looked at Josh and said, "We are not buying this house."  

Josh is a visionary...not to mention he was obsessed with the 5 acres, the barn, and the 1/4 mile long driveway.  He was in love.  I was disgusted.  

We discussed it.  It met and surpassed all of my expectations except for the condition of the house (we were looking for a paint and carpet house since we had two kids and were trying for a third).  

We put an offer in, we found out we were pregnant with Amelia the follow week, and our offer was accepted a couple of weeks after that.  

We couldn't believe that we owned it.  It was amazing, exciting, and overwhelming.  

Josh worked tirelessly...and then some.  Of course, there was so much more work to do than expected.  We thought we weren't going to have to redo everything.  We were wrong.  The house was torn down to the studs, and Josh worked on it for 7 months straight.  Amelia was born 17 days after we moved in.  

There was only one major thing missing from our house.  An attached garage.  It originally had a garage, but a previous owner had turned the garage into a family room and a laundry room.  So, no garage.  

We have wanted to add a garage since day 1.  There is never a good time.  

Then, we had to decide where to put this garage and if there would be more than a garage.  Our house was built in the 70s.  It is obvious to me that people who designed houses in the 70s had z.e.r.o. clue that people need to STORE things in their houses.  Closets, anyone?!  Seriously.

Please allow me to whine for a moment about my "first world problems".  

We have closets, but they are itty-bitty.  Josh and I share the one in our bedroom.  Claire, Meredith, and Amelia share one in their bedroom.  Olivia shares the one in her room with all of our homeschool curriculum, winter coats, Halloween costumes, the pack 'n play, and kites.  

Seriously, though, we only have 3 small closets in our house.  Three...for six people.  We had a front coat closet when we first moved into the house.  We stored all of our coats, hats/mittens/scarves/etc, our luggage, and all of our board games/similar items there.

Then our furnace died.  And it was in the attic.  And the furnace guy said that the new furnace had to go in the coat closet.  Cue dread from Jackie.  

I had to find new places for all of the things in the closet.  And these aren't random we-don't-need-these-things items.  I'm not a hoarder.  I get rid of so much stuff on a continual basis around here.  Josh accuses me of not having a sentimental bone in my body. 

So, we currently have 3 bedrooms plus an office (doesn't have a closet {of course!}, so it's not considered a bedroom).

When we decided on the addition, we needed an entryway to the existing house.  The most logical place was our current office.  However, if we enter through the office, we can't use the office as an office.  

The current office is hardly usable because it tends to be the "catch all" room in the house.  It currently houses two desks (one for each of us), a huge utility shelving unit that holds pantry-type food/our canning jars/old photos/etc, a bookshelf, our safe, random Christmas things that can't go in the barn, my nice cooler, and 126 other things that are randomly piled everywhere.

It is a disaster.  I organize it once or twice a year, and it never holds because it's just a catch-all.  Horrid.  I just keep closing the door.  

Okay, so with this being our new entryway into the house, we needed a new office.  What else are we lacking?  Storage.  

Josh cannot stand the thought of adding on to our house and not doing it right.  We're already spending the time, money, and energy.  No regrets.  We're planning on staying here forever.  No regrets.  Storage room, it is!  

One thing that I've always disliked about our current house is the entrance and entryway.  It is small, tight, awkward.  I could go on...I'm whining again, I know.  So, we're getting a beautiful new entryway.  

Our current office will be converted into half entryway, half pantry.  I am so spoiled.  

Do not let me complain about anything house-related again...ever...I mean it.

The new entryway meant that we needed a new driveway to the new side of the house.  

Can I take a moment to completely brag on my amazing husband?  He designed all of this himself.  This man continues to impress me with his skills.  How do you learn how to do things like this?!  I have no idea, but I'm beyond thankful for it.    

And here is where we (finally!) begin with the photos, which are in chronological order...

This is our current driveway.  It continues forward, then curves around to the left.  This will remain the same...we're just adding the new driveway there on  the left where you see the dirt/opening in the trees.  This photo was taken pre-construction, and you can see our house back there on the left.

The concrete guys pouring the foundation!!  They were supposed to start at the end of January.  This was the beginning of October.  Patience, patience, patience. :)

Josh even got in on the action.  The foundation is being poured!

Foundation complete!  This photo was taken from the back yard.

This is the opening for our new driveway.  I love it.  I'm standing right in front of our future garage looking down to where the current driveway crosses.  We are considering connecting them in front of the house, but our septic system sits near that location.  We'll see if we can make it happen.

This is kind of a hard one to see, but this shows what is already there.  House in the middle, barn to the right, the new addition is going out the left side of the current house.

The builders came early on a Monday morning.  These TWO guys were incredible.  It was amazing to walk away for an hour and come back to see what they had accomplished.  

This is after Day 1.  This is our new entryway: porch, front door, a window on each side.  The garage is on the left (not pictured).  The office is behind the entryway.  

This is after Day 2.  Sorry for the crooked picture.

The backside after Day 2.  The opening that you see is one of the windows in the office.  The remainder of the wall to the right of the window is the storage room that goes across the back of the garage.

Day 3.  Eek!!  The design of the roof makes it look ginormous.  It's all aesthetic (plus attic storage!!).  

Day 3.  See those big tire ruts?  Yeah, a large delivery truck got stuck there for a couple of hours during Day 3.  

Another view.

Backside.

Day 5.  Amazing.

Up close.  

They did everything in 7 days.  It is now roofed and wrapped as well.  Once all of our doors arrive, they'll come back and install them.  

Now comes the hard part.  The DIY part.  We've barely picked anything inside the house...lots of ideas just nothing in stone.  There will be plenty of decision making to do over the next several months.

We are super excited to use these new spaces. I can't wait to have a garage!!