This little guy...

has grown like a weed.  So I've been carrying around the mom guilt weight for months that I haven't blogged about Jennings since he turned 4 months and now he's about to be turning 10 months.  Probably one more thing the kids will remind me about that I did wrong.  

Somdays mom's can't seem to do much right.  Oh well.

Anyway, we have SO enjoyed every minute of Jennings and I tell myself that its okay I haven't blogged each month because I've selfishly been soaking up each minute.  I find myself feeling mixed emotions as he gets bigger.  It is always wonderful to see him learn new things and to reach the next milestone.  And then as I pack away his clothes that no longer fit, and put away the baby swing, the baby bouncer and the bassinet, I hold back tears, for this chapter in our lives in closing. 

Its a strange time because for almost the entire duration of my adult, married life I have wanted kids, babies... lots of them.  Now I have them and I sadly don't want it to end.  I've always said if it wasn't for the teen years I'd probably have 15 kids.  Okay maybe not that many, but I'd definitely want more.  I respect certain things about teen years too, I know it's a part of the kids growing up and finding their independence and freedom, it's just that it's so much fun to cuddle and kiss a baby rather than a eye-rolling, hormonal, adult sized kid.  Don't worry boys I LOVE YOU just as much!

Anyway, I say that it has been emotional because I have finally reached a part in my heart where I am comfortable with Jennings being our baby. I wondered if I'd ever think this but I realize this chapter has to end too and I think with me beginning nursing school and clinicals very soon, I can't imagine being pregnant, going to school, having 5 or more kids and working.  And for that I feel some sadness that the baby stage is going to be over so soon.

Enough with my sadness. I look at Jennings and each day soak up the moments of baby smells, the cuddles, of being his whole world and being able to give him all he needs.  While I'm pretty darn tired, I even try to tell myself that the sleepless nights will come to an end too and so I should give thanks he still wakes up and searches for me.

Jennings is truly a great baby.  He smiles way more than he cries, he's content to play with his toys and he loves his siblings and his daddy.  He's recently found that he can get around and is into everything.  He likes our food rather than baby food, wants to swim when his siblings are swimming, loves to sleep to the sound of rain (we play a YouTube video every night) and he has a mouthful of teeth.  At 9 months he has 8 teeth fully in and one more just about ready to break the surface. 

He loves to facetime and knows when the phone rings he is all smiles and he looks just like his daddy.  There is no doubt who his dad is while most people wouldn't know he has any relation to me, other than his cubby thighs, I can take full credit for them.

The big kids love him and boy do I mean love him.  He pretty much is smothered in kisses, hugs so tight I'm afraid they are going to crush him and he has more nicknames than most people have shoes.  Some of the popular ones are "Jenners", "Cake" "Keek" "Jenner Benners" Bubber Cakers" "Bubbs" "Bubbers" "Bjorne"   Don't even ask me where most of them came from, but all of them directed in love.

When we first had Jennings and brought him home, I wondered how we'd be able to handle 5 kids, plus work, and school and all the activities.  The truth is I can't imagine our life now without him.  He is the perfect cherry on our multi-scoop ice cream sundae. 

Jennings, Mom apologies for not getting your monthly updates done (I did get them done in your baby book if that's good for anything) and please know it is in no way a refection of not loving you.  Actually it's the exact opposite, we love you so much we spent all the time we could with you and instead of sitting here writing, momma instead sat in a chair holding you. 

We are so in love with you and all of us dream of watching you grow up.  Your big brothers want to show you all the ropes as you grow, and your sister's are going to savor the days of getting to boss you around.  You mom and dad are just going to love you to pieces and know that with you being the baby we are going to have to take every picture of every milestone and you'll have to put up with all of mom's tears as she cries that it's the last time her baby is going to do X.  I can already see the eye rolls.

No matter what please know just how much you are loved.

Until next time,
Mom

A good family day... in quarantine.

We have been at home since around March 12 and we have I believe done a very good job following the recommendations.  I have only stepped foot inside a grocery store once since the end of February and we've kept the kids at home too.  Needless to say we've fallen into a new routine here and when life returns to what it will look like in the future, I am confident to say we will all miss this time.

I keep reminding myself that Gabe will graduate in 4 years and Michael in 5 and I am soaking up the time now.  Most nights after the girls go to bed, the boys and I will watch a show.  I have been introducing them to some good 80's and 90's movies like Splash, and Sister Act and the other night we watched Daddy's Home with Dad.  They keep asking to see more adult movies and I keep saying no, and then Jarrett reminds me that they are almost 15 and 13 and that when we were their ages we were probably watching the same movies they are asking to see.  I can't stop seeing them at my little kids even though both of them are way bigger than me.

Wow, sorry long tangent.  Anyway, today I took one of my exams for my class and after church I asked Dad if he was up for a drive.  The kids haven't let the house in weeks, and I thought maybe we could just take a drive to see what the outside world is like.  At first the kid were leary... "what? Like why are we leaving the house?"

We ended up packing up a picnic lunch and headed east toward Tortilla Flats.  We ended up eating our lunch on the way and as we drove we all noticed new things we had failed to see prior to this pandemic.  Perhaps its that in the last few weeks we've retrained out brains to see the simple things... things we missed before because our brains were on warp speed and couldn't stop.

As we drove the kids saw shapes in the rocks, Michael said the one he saw looked like a monkey to which the other kids all agreed.  We saw wild flowers, moss growing on the rocks, Gabe found a huge lizard sunning itself on the rock and when we got to the lake it was really fun to watch.  All of the kids eyes were pealed out the windows.  It was like we were seeing it all again for the first time.

 Turns out we weren't the only ones out for a drive and while most people didn't seem to understand the social distancing at all, we stayed in the car, I surprised the kids with Otter Pops I had brought along and we enjoyed our cool treat while we looked around.

Gabe wasn't very impressed as you can see in the background that we wouldn't let him get out and go down to the water where crowds of other kids his age were.  We just said the risk wasn't worth it.  

He eventually came around... 4 girl scout cookies, a sandwich and some fruit later. 

Meanwhile Jennings thought it was a huge treat to be able to get out of his car seat while we sat along the road.

Our view out the front window... 

After we enjoyed our treat, talked for a bit, we turned around and headed back home.  

It was a relatively quick trip but so nice to get away for a bit, even though we didn't talk to or come into contact with anyone, I will say it felt strange. 

We have been staying in the comforts of our home, doing our thing, bonding as a family and I must say, while we have our fights and arguments... for the most part... it has been wonderful.  The less amount of stress of having to race here or there, and how there is plenty of time for tasks balanced nicely with equal amount of time for rest and play.

Speaking of rest and play.  When we got home we had told the kids we could have a water balloon fight. They were all thrilled and jumped out of the van as soon as we pulled in the garage. The kids thought it was fun to get dad and ask you can see from the pictures below... I think they got him pretty good.  In the video you'll hear me say be careful of Dad's knee.... we don't need to go backwards after his surgery last December.  Even Madelyn thought it was funny to get daddy wet.

Yep, he's been working on his pitching....  

After the water balloon fight we all went swimming as the weather has turned to summer overnight.  We miss our cooler days already... only 6 more months of crazy heat!

Today was a good day.... It will be one of those days I'll look back on and miss for sure.  I am keenly aware that these next few years are going to fly by and never will our family of 7 living and growing together be the same.  So as we look at this time of COVID-19 and it can be so easy to focus on the bad and the negative, I am going to give great thanks for all the blessings instilled upon our family.

We are healthy.

We are safe.

We are without needs.

We have quality time to spend together.

We laugh.

We love.

We cherish this time.

Until next time,

Angie

PS:  And in another first tonight... this little guy decided he'd start climbing the stairs... all the way to the top... a few minutes later another baby gate appeared in our house again.

April Fools!

April fools is one of my favorite days because I love to play little tricks on the kids.  In a world where so much is serious and we have a hard time taking time to be silly, it is the one day where mom is silly for sure.

While the world is not really in a funny light hearted place, I debated about not doing anything for this day but then thought twice.  This is a day my kids look forward to now.  They have been talking for weeks speculating about what prank I am going to pull on them and how they are definitely not going to fall for any of my shenanigan's.  I smile and tell them I bet I'll prove them wrong.

The minute the kids woke up yesterday, they announced it was finally April 1st and they were on to me.  I played along and persuaded them I wasn't going to do anything because I was too busy.  Michael had been playing for a while that he had come up with a whole list of pranks and was going to be busy during the night of March 30th setting everything up to trick us.

In playing along with his game, I helped "set him up"  I pulled all the cereal from the shelves and hid them in various places.... under the church pew and in the oven.  I also took the foot spa (sitting on the counter for our planned April 1st, home spa day, and I filled it with cereal.  And then I waited...

As the morning routine went on Madelyn was the first to notice the cereal under the pew and she said, "Mom look the Easter Bunny put our cereal under the pew!"  Lately the Easter Bunny has been very busy doing things... when St. Patrick stopped by for St. Patrick's day, Madelyn was sure it was the Easter Bunny who had left her all the coins.  And she was convinced yesterday's fun was to be assigned to the bunny himself again.

When the big kids came running to see the cereal, I said, "Okay boys which one of you did this?"  To which they looked at each other, pointed fingers at one another and shouted, "NOT ME, it was (insert name of other brother)"  I, in my motherly "you're in trouble" tone said, "Michael it must have been you... you've been talking about pranking us for several days."  Determined to prove his innocence eh said, "Mom, look I can tell you with a straight face I'm not lying, I didn't..." and then he burst out laughing.  He begged, "Mom, really it had to be Gabriel, it wasn't me."  I turned to Gabriel and said, "So you're the prankster this morning huh?"  To which he immediately got wide-eyed and insisted it wasn't him!

After a few minutes and after some curious asking I started recording the kids and Michael caught on saying, "This is all mom!  It was then I let them in on the secret... yep mom strikes again!"

The other prank I pulled on the kids was that I showed them a picture of the governor declaring that the students would have to retake the same grade next year.  I acted surprised when I found the photo on my phone and even though we had just been discussing the fact that it was April fools, the boys fell for it hook, line and sinker.  Immediately Michael said, "That's it, we have to move out of state immediately!"  Gabe was more shocked and speechless but just kept repeating no no no over and over again!  I said, "ask Dad!" so Gabe took off running up the stairs, completely interrupting Dad's meeting to ask, "Am I going to have to redo 8th grade?"  Jarrett, obviously being interrupted in the middle of a meeting said, "April fools!" to which Gabe came out of the office with a big smirk and said, "April fools!"  It was so funny, I smile now even writing about it.

As the day went on we laughed about all the past April fools pranks and the kids insisted one of these days they are going to strike back!

Until then, this mom looks forward to another April Fool's day fun next time,
Angie

PS: Enjoy a little April Fool's joke from Madelyn!

The end of March.... we finally made it!

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day and while I normally love to celebrate this holiday, I'm kind of deciding in my mind this year, the April fool's joke was that March 2020 was the longest month in the history of the world!

But we made it through and while today was a bit tough... everyone is getting tired of this groundhog's day life, we are thankful for our health, grateful for those on the front lines and determined to do what we can to help lower the curve... we are staying home.

We go outside for 2 walks a day... 2 laps around the block and then back inside.

 The kids are wound up like a spring, and we make them exercise but they are desperately missing their normal routines, and with the announcement they won't get to see their friends for who knows how long, everyone was kind of in grumpy camp today, especially mom.

Hope you made it through the day.

Until next time,
Angie

Living her best life...

While the big kids seem to be missing their friends so much and have decided Mom School is for the birds, Madelyn seems happy no matter what.  She likes to go to school but pretty much she's happy no matter what.  She is so easy going, cheery and loves to play.

So with the orders to stay home and play a lot more than we normally get to, Madelyn is living her best life.  She dresses up as Elsa everyday, and at night she transforms into her Elsa pajamas, with her cowgirl hat and her high heels.  She then tucks them under her bed at night so that when she wakes up in the morning she can resume her Elsa duties.

I have so many videos of Maddie loving life these last few weeks, I could fill up all the data in my phone....

Here are a few videos to capture some of the fun she's been having...

Today she was Cowgirl-Elsa-Fairy-Queen... and here she is testing the strength of her wings to fly.

She insists on wearing a dress everyday.  This dress she had gotten chocolate on and I told her I was going to have to wash it.  A few minutes later, after insisting she didn't have to take it off, she came in to tell me she had solved the problem herself.

One project I had the kids do for Mom School was to make a news broadcast.  Madelyn served to introduce the newscast and she happened to forget what her name was.

And then there's the fun she has with Jennings.  He loves to play with her and she loves to play with him.  Just hearing their giggles makes my heart so happy.

Yes these days of staying home are kind of challenging but I am reminded to be so thankful for this time.  

Until next time,

Angie

Stay at Home... Stay away Corona Virus

These are some of the most interesting days of my life thus far.  Never would I have imagined even at the beginning of this month that we would be sitting home here now for several weeks and that the news playing on our TV's each day would be so sad.  I could go on and on and on as this really has consumed me for the last few months, but because I'm short on time (school is so time consuming, along with having the kids home all day everyday), but it feels like it has been a year since I've gotten on here and wanted to write....

Home quarantine is going I would say well.  I actually LOVE the idea of having to wake up and not go anywhere. My introvert personality feels quite comfy at home.  Everyone is getting used to being all together, all the time and while we do get on each others nerves and I think everyone will someday enjoy getting back to their normal routines, for the most part I would say everyone has been enjoying it.  ( Well, except Jack... he's gotten used to his quiet (peaceful) days when he's the only one home.  He's been sleeping in my closet most days, I think wishing we would leave.

Here are a few photos of just some of the many things we've been doing each day!

We decorated the drive with inspiring messages!  

We have daily "mom school" which the kids think is for the birds!  They can't wait to see their teachers again!

Madelyn loves the activities but she misses her class too and keeps asking me "Is today the day I get to go to school"  She knows about the "corona" and that we have to wash our hands ALL the time, but she doesn't understand why that means she can't play with her neighbor friend Connor or go to school

There has been LOTS of playtime, LOTS of dress up and LOTS of Frozen play!

Speaking of play... the house is kind of destroyed... this was one fort pillow!  47 pillows went into the making of this "fun"  I've started instituting 15 minute pick ups throughout the day, so that at the end of the day the house doesn't seem like 7 people are living here 24 hours everyday!  

We also build exercise into our daily schedules, well because the kids have A TON of energy and they need to get it out!  The girls do yoga or PE online each day and the boys created a home gym.  

This morning I made them run with me, they thought it was going to be easy because well mom your old and out of shape... turns out one quit before we were even 5 minutes in and the other one only stuck it out because he was determined to earn video game time.  I might be old and out of shape but I can still hold my own with them!

How do you like those milk jug bar bells?  Pretty resourceful if I do say.

And then there's this little guy who is growing and changing daily.  He's an expert crawler... He pulls himself up on everything and loves his walker (man can he go)!  I feel like he's so big and it makes me sad to think my baby is getting so so so big!

He's a big helper for mom when I'm working!  

He's also wiped out... the house is definitely not conducive to having quiet naps!  

We hope everyone stays safe and healthy.  This is definitely not something to take lightly and when they are telling us to stay home, please do so.  Your health and that of your family's is worth more than any money can buy.

Until next time,
Angie

Isabelle is 8!

This past Friday we celebrated Isabelle turning 8!  I can hardly believe she is already 8... I still think she should be 5 at most.  Time seems to slip through our fingers and so we give thanks that we've been blessed to have 8 wonderful years with her.

8 years ago our lives changed with a single phone call.  I'll never forget hanging up the phone after learning our dream of having a little girl was coming true.  That night when we arrived at the hospital to meet this precious baby girl, we had no idea how wonderful she was going to make our lives.  Her smile, her genuine love for others, her kind spirit and her joy radiate through her everyday.

We are so proud of the person she is becoming and we love her more than she will ever know.

Happy birthday beautiful Belle!  Dad and I are truly honored to be your parents.  Our wish for you is that you always believe in yourself, find confidence to achieve all of your dreams and know we will always be there to cheer you on.

All of our love always Belle....

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

love,
Mom and Dad