lollipops for my girl.

it's {embrace} the camera day!



K and i are

absolutely,

positively

soaking up our time together while D is at preschool.

for some reason, i am a total pushover for my one and only girl.

she is basically getting away with just about everything she tries with me

when the boys are not around.

lollipop before lunch?

and for no good reason?

you bet!

yep, she's hard to resist.

356. God's protection over D when he hit his head in the bathroom

357. my new haircut

(warning: it will never look this good until i get it re-cut)

358. B's night out with the guys

359. sleep, sleep and more sleep!

360. my sweet girl

waiting and waiting.

i know that girls are supposed to take longer in the bathroom.

it's just something we are wired to do.

but, after waiting for an unnecessarily long time for K to come out,

i realized that she was mesmerized by her own reflection in the mirror.

she is pretty entertaining.

i do have to give her that.

i mean, that hair alone is enough to distract anybody.

my solution?

open the medicine cabinet

so all she can look at while washing her hands is shaving cream and toothbrushes.

problem solved.

351. L's new ability to high five

352. the much cooler day

353. dinner out thanks to my dad and Uncle S

354. feeling like a new woman (more on that later)

355. clean rain gutters

and it was hot.

besides being really hot today,

we were really hot.

i think it was 106 today.

and that's not how many faces and behinds i wiped

(although some days it does feel like that many).

so yeah, it was warm.

i should have had homemade popsicles at the ready,

but i didn't.

i did offer ice cold water though.

lame, i know.

here is our thermostat

inside the house

this afternoon.

wow.

yeah, we don't have a.c.

(as if it wasn't obvious to you).

D has been making up a lot of signs lately.

this means "be quiet."

the children were without shirts for the latter part of the day

and K was without a shirt, shorts and panties

for the latter, latter part of the day

while she was outside.

but she did keep her sandals on,

so i did have a minor victory.

it's been exciting!

okay, well it hasn't been

that

exciting.

but it has been real.

346. fresh lemons

347. fresh grapefruit

348. the sweet baby who fell asleep in the ergo today at target

349. arriving at preschool way early for pickup (a first for me)

350. eating outside in the cooler (than the house) air

the ankles above the preppy shoes.

it's been going well not nursing L.

and i mean really, really well.

the first few nights we had a couple of wake-ups

but last night, he slept the best he's ever slept.

i know, amazing, right?


he's been spending a lot more time in his high chair lately.
but his fluid consumption

(that i was so concerned about)

has gone through the roof.
hooray.

i know now what moms mean when they say

that their sons eat them out of house and home.

D's always been especially picky, but L?
not so much.


and look at those chubby ankles.
when L first started to chunk up

i actually called our pediatrician

to ask her if the line in between

the ankles and the legs was normal or not.

and, i took him to a dear friend who is a nurse practitioner.
they both said:

normal.
phew.

one less thing to worry about for him.

i just want to munch on them.

the ankles that is.
and aren't those just about the most darling and preppy shoes you have ever seen?

they're D's old ones and i somehow almost love them more the second time around.
since B won't

ever

wear docksiders

ever,
i have given myself the green light to dress my sons feet

in the preppiest of shoes i can find.
success.

and today, i got to sleep in until 8:17am.

and the best part about that was that i did not

need

to sleep in (since L had such a good night)

but that i got to sleep in to actually sleep in.

just because.

B is the best.

the best, i tell you.

341. prying a new golf hat off D's sleeping head

342. the hot, hot day

343. popcorn for dinner

344. spending some much needed time with K

345. leaving the mall with only purchasing a pretzel and lemonade

the end.

tonight was the beginning.

the beginning of something wonderful.

i have been

s l o w l y

weaning L from nursing.

he has never been a good sleeper,

but his sleep has somehow gotten worse over the last couple of weeks.

i had no idea that was possible.

no idea.

i think that maybe because i haven't

been nursing him during the day,

he's been holding out for the real stuff at night.

so i knew i needed to curtail the nursing all together soon.

but i wasn't sure when to do it.

and then last night, when he bit down

(remember #333 from yesterday?)

and pulled,

i knew i was done.

i knew we were done.

so, there were no tearful goodbyes

(by me).

no enjoying the moment one last time

(by me).

we were just done.

i explained the plan to him while he was in his high chair tonight.

i think

stunned

would be the most appropriate word i should use to describe his reaction.

but then as he started to guzzle his warm milk,

he too started to warm up to the idea.

(he did drink more milk in that one sitting

than he normally does on a daily basis.)

so maybe he does understand.

and then i realized that he's been playing me.

but that's okay because he is just so darn cute,

isn't he?

we'll see how it goes tonight.

i'll be sure to let you know.

i know you'll be thinking about me all night long.

as you sleep soundly in your warm, comfortable bed.

so since B put him to bed,

do you want to know what i did with all of that extra time?

i cleaned the high chair.

i mean really cleaned it.

336. not wearing the hair rubber band around the wrist

of the side i needed to have him nurse on next

337. my body back (well, not how it used to be... but you get the idea)

338. L's little curls

339. a really clean high chair

340. D + K asking me if the acorn squash i served at dinner

was dessert since i put brown sugar + cinnamon on it.

it doesn't mean they liked it, but they did consider it a possible dessert.

we had a popnic.

it's {embrace} the camera day!
woot woot!

my freshly pedicured toes,

L's sweet eleven

and of course,

K's beloved babydoll's piggies.

today, the kids and i had a popnic outside.

oh, you've never had one of those before?

you're really missing out.

they're great.

you eat popcorn,

on a picnic blanket,

outside.

preferably in your front yard.

instant activity.

i was, of course, inspired by Darby's post today.

but who couldn't be inspired by such a God-fearing woman?

Charm is deceptive,

and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

331. popnics

332. bicnics (more on this soon)

333. L's fifth tooth coming in

334. having my nails + toes done.

ooh lala!

335. homemade tomato soup

those eyes.

what a week.

and yes, i know it's only tuesday.

this has been a

dreary,

draining

day.

i'm so glad it's nearly over.

on sunday, we heard this great sermon

(it's called What Would God Tweet).

it's great.

really great.

you should listen to it.

really, you should.

what especially cut my heart

was when Keenan said that

our children should never see our phones.

i'm trying very hard to not fill any quiet moments with more noise.

it's hard though.

so hard.

i am trying to be here.

right here.

at this exact moment.

being here.

but sometimes i'm there and not here.

i'm working on it though.

i will always probably be working on it.

but how can i not be in the moment

when i get to witness this shining face?

pure joy.

looking into those eyes touches the depths of my heart.

looking into those eyes takes my breath away.

looking into those eyes reveals how truly overwhelming my love is for him.

he and i can communicate just by looking into each others' eyes.

The sun will no more be your light by day,

nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your glory.

Isaiah 60:19

326. picking pomegranates before the squirrels get them

327. fresh flowers by my bed

328. wise, wise words from a friend that rock my soul

329. overwhelming love

330. an empty dishwasher

climbing rocks.

in celebration of...

my sister's birthday,

(Aunt WW),

we all did something that she enjoys.

we went rock climbing.

crazy, right?

right.

the waiver i had to sign freaked me out.

we don't do too many things around here that require us

to knowingly accept that we may be hospitalized if something goes awry.

it's just not how we roll.

D was a bit nervous, but told me that he has been

practicing on the rock climbing wall at preschool.

the only thing he requested was to wear the helmet with the orange stripes (of course).

K was just about as thrilled as could be.

she was probably the most excited out of the bunch.

this little girl is not scared of much.

everyone got all strapped in,

and were fairly observant of all of the rules.

(i think B was the only person to break one.)

and the only thing K requested was to wear the helmet with the pink stripes (of course).

Aunt WW, showed us how it is done,

and K couldn't wait to get up there.

here she is climbing up the alligator's back.

i had to keep reminding myself that she is not yet three.

and here she is climbing on the alligator's head.

as she posed for pictures, she was absolutely fearless.

(i wouldn't expect anything else from her.)

D was nervous,

(i wouldn't expect anything else from him)

but he climbed!

my dad did great climbing up,

but had a hard time coming down

because he just couldn't believe that my brother

would really be able to slowly lower him down the wall.

i think he was very happy to be back on the ground once more.

my mom was so glad that she made it down safely,

thanks to my brother's excellent belaying

(i totally had to look up how on earth to spell that).

it was much more thrilling than i could have ever imagined.

i am afraid of heights and i honestly couldn't believe that i could actually get up to the top

that i couldn't wait to go up a second time.

after B mastered the "easy" wall,

he decided to take his newfound rock climbing ability to new lengths.

here he is only using the yellow thingies that we used to climb

(i obviously have no idea what those are called... fake rocks?).

and my brother shimmied up the wall like it was nobody's business.

Aunt WW showing D how's it's done.

L was such a good sport while he watched all of us climb.

and L had his fun while coloring at the restaurant afterwards.

321. being asked for my ID once

322. being asked for my ID a second time (seriously, how awesome is that?)

323. pumpkins for sale at tj's

324. a really, really great PT session

325. receiving Godly wisdom from a God-fearing man

nothing new.

there's nothing new to report around here.

the kids and i have been snuggled in our

warm and cozy house while summer quickly fades

and fall just as quickly approaches.

we've been having plenty of dance parties,

and we've all been taking

lots

and lots

and lots of pictures.

what about you?

316. a breakfast feast

317. sweet L who takes such lovely naps during the day

318. clean floors (even if they stay that way for mere moments)

319. fresh flowers the color of fall

320. the chilly air blowing through our windows

a cancellation.

when i got word that we were going to have to enter into a formal appeal

in order to fight for L's therapies,

i really didn't think i could handle it.

i was so stressed out and pushed to the max.

but after

hours and

hours and

hours

of a lot of prayer

and a lot of work,

i was able to get everything prepared for our mediation.

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

and then do you know what happened?

i got word that the mediation was cancelled

because the team re-reviewed L's case

and decided that in fact, he should continue with his current therapies

and not decrease them after all.

i know.

i can't believe it either.

praise God for this result.

it's {embrace} the camera day!

today,

all three children

and i went to our weekly CBS class.

it feels so good to be back after the summer break.

and, it feels so good to have all of my children attending

(my parents watched L last year and would bring him

to the class so that i could run out and nurse him and run back in.

we called it a drive-by nursing).

i am so blessed by the study and the amazing women who teach

not only me

but also my children

about Christ.

CBS has been life changing for me.

i can never imagine life without it.

similarly to how i feel about knowing Jesus.

when i dropped L off in his class this morning,

(this was the very first time in his fifteen months of life

that he was watched by anyone other than family)

there were lots of tears.

but luckily, i was the only one who shed them.

Praise His Holy Name.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

311. remembering there are cookies in the freezer

312. B's help to get out the door this morning

313. our surprisingly open afternoon

314. celebrating the news about L's therapies

315. feeling r e f r e s h e d

one of those days.

it's been one of those days.

yeah, you know exactly what i'm talking about.

the kids have been super wild lately,

like there's been sugar floating through the air

that they are getting hyper on by just merely breathing or something.

i can't figure it out.

but they are wearing me out.

i've set up art projects for said wild children,

to distract them while i hurry and get dressed for the day.

but it ends up taking longer to set up the activities and

then after the four minutes of glorious peace that they give me,

where i get ready for the day as quickly as humanly possible,

they ask me "what's next?"

then, it takes me

way

way

longer to clean the activities up.

(yeah, you know exactly what i'm talking about.)

actually, it's been one of those weeks.

i've been in survival robot mode because of this impending mediation for L.

i am so looking forward to that being over and done with.

soon, soon enough.

i didn't even brush my teeth before taking D to school this morning.

i know, gross.

but that's mostly

(but not entirely)

due to the fact that i hadn't eaten breakfast by the time we left.

i know, still gross.

i have barely been able to keep up with the laundry

(more of a problem than usual).

and to top it off, this little one

has been pretending she's a fussy, whiny, crying baby.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

306. preschool

307. other special needs moms who get it

308. dream dinners

309. tea parties with K

310. mary poppins soundtrack

too cool for school.

D has officially begun his first and last year of preschool

(note, he was enrolled in preschool for a brief time a few years ago).

i couldn't have been happier to hear that his first day was "awesome."

he might just be too cool for school.

K missed him dearly and longs for the day when she can go to school.

L on the other hand, just wants to eat books.

yes, i left him in his high chair for a few moments while i helped K in the bathroom

and what did i come back to?

bits and pieces of wet papers all over his cheeks and hands.

and this is what i saw out my window while i was making dinner the other night.

pure bliss.

301. being able to hear with both of my ears

302. L doing something new nearly every single day

303. the weekend (a.k.a. end of week)

304. our red swing

305. naps while the kids nap