Now for her party...

Oh, blog of mine, I have missed thee, but you'll just have to continue to take the backseat to pretty much everything else right now.  In any case, I have felt rather in a fog these days, and just do my best to form clear sentences to my children that they can comprehend and follow.  Yes, I think interrupted sleep can leave you feeling rather dull and stupid; last week I was definitely feeling it in full force, but I have a fire under me this madMonday.  Yep, we moved back down to the homeschool room this morning, I am posting on the blog {anyone want to proofread this for me?!}, and I'm attacking the office next! 

I can't believe it.  The Christmas season is already underway and you know December is going to fly by.  Hold the keyboard keys- I just spoke my next sentence to my laptop and it did not type the words for me!  Been spoiled by a smart phone much?  Ha, ha!  I still don't know about all this technology stuff, but I did make my grocery list this weekend by talking to my phone.  And when I get a chance, I have really enjoyed reading this gal's blog and her beautiful posts/perspective on everything from parenting to yes, even some redeeming qualities of technology.   I love their love token system, too.

But, I digress, the reason for this post...

It was a campfire birthday partay for the little Miss.  She loves the outdoors, and we kept it simple and sweet.  Hot dogs and smores with our awesome family.

Her new baby doll was by far her favorite present, she even passed up on dessert so as not to have to be separated from Grace {she named her within minutes}.

We love you, sweet, sweet girl!
Enjoying the fire at Camp 18 yesterday.

Crazy bunch!

Look Who's Two!

This little "Shirley Temple" girl turned two yesterday!  She is as sweet and feisty as they come.  Not only does she have a Shirley Temple personality, but she also shares her rotund little figure, and comical strut {walks around tummy first}.  She's cute and she knows it!

 It seems like overnight her vocabulary went from good to incredible.  She throws out big words in her grown-up sentences like, "instead, chapter, suddenly, pretend, and because".  It shouldn't surprise me that she is making up stories and walking around with books, just following suit and doing what she sees done all day long!  We've got some good imaginations around here, I'm telling you. 

We love you, Julia Bright!

Pray for good weather for her party on Sunday because Mama planned a "campfire" birthday party for her; will I ever learn?! :-)

She turned two and her baby brother was four weeks old yesterday!

I'm also squeezing in our Instagram pictures from the last couple of weeks.

A big smile from the little man:

I love my girl's curls:

Helpful big sister:

Soaking in the pure bliss of snuggling with a newborn, OUR newborn...ahh!

I really love white, black and gold right now {scenes from around the house}:

Being goofy with my sista and the little nuts in a photo booth at our church's annual Thanksgiving Eve service:

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thankful!

I'm so thankful to be the Mama to these nuts!

Two Weeks!

Today marks two weeks since we brought our sweet baby boy home from the hospital.  I have tried to sit down to write this post on several occasions, but have only got as far as uploading some photos, so I better just leave it at that and post it already!  The sweet moments are happening all around us, and all the time; I really want to capture some of them.

The little man at one week old:

These little nuts have the best Daddy ever!  How I appreciate and love him!

Daddy, the jungle gym:

Art appreciation with Daddy- watching a little Bob Ross:

I came across this picture from the hospital and love it.  He managed to find some milk as it was nearing bedtime and she was pretty adamant about having some! 

We have, understandably, been home more than not, but thankful for a few outings.
Dressed up for the harvest party:

Off to ballet for the girls, and cousin/Lego time for the boys:



Baking in the kitchen with my sweet girl- notice the dishes she put her ingredients in. :-)
It is pretty amazing watching your kids welcome a new sibling. 

Big Sister: "He is SO cute!" {x100}

"He is our gift from God!"

Big Brother: "He smells so good!"

"I wish I were him, so, you would touch only me." 

"I like him better than any other baby because he has the smallest head."

Big Sister: "I kiss him!"

"His eyes are open!!"

We made it to Tarjay, which is always one of our first outings after baby! :-)

Can you believe we picked his name while I was in labor?  David came up with it and I processed it between contractions- ha!!  I love his name and I love him!!

A Nature Birthday- 4 years old

Someone turned four years old on Sunday!  We celebrated with a nature-themed party.

I had hoped the weather would cooperate for a hike, but 'twas not the case. 

The rain has officially started, but we still had a really good time.

The IKEA throw, and napkins were the inspiration for the invites, and party decor.

I had fun making these nature journals for party favors.  I used a JDC template for the journals and embellished them with the fun pencils.

Party favors also included these hiking goods in simple brown paper bags.

The birthday boy!

His Grammy made the cake and I just had to throw some fun decorations at it.

My favorite part of the party was when he opened his gifts.  Upon opening each gift, he went to each person, cocked his head to the side and out of the side of his mouth said, "thanks" in this macho, mater-of-fact-tone.  He held up each present like a trophy, too.  It was so funny and sweet!  How we love him!! We are so proud of you, Mr. Man!

 New toys AND a new brother for your birthday?  It doesn't get any better!