The times they are a changin'

The big girls were flower girls in a wedding in Houston in June. They looked precious, and Addie actually made it down the aisle. They sat with me during the wedding and I have to confess a not-so-great parenting moment of hissing, "If you scream during this wedding I will spank your bottom so hard..." Good times :)

Emma & Addie's hair was ridiculously long! I love long hair on little girls, but the screaming every time we brushed it was getting to be too much for all of us. So we waited until it was long enough, and then did Locks of Love with both of them! They look precious - and a little too old for me!

This little group of girls (and now one boy!) have been buddies since birth! They are such sweet little friends!


A rare family portrait

Now that Lila is crawling she isn't so content to hang out with me in the pool - she's on the move, and so cute with those fat little legs!

I've had a whole week here at home with just one kiddo! Emma and Addie have spent a week with their Mama De & Papa while Lila and I have been enjoying some one on one time. It's been a good week - but very quiet and a little strange! We have left our girls with their grandparents before, but usually we're on vacation, or just had a baby and the time goes much faster that way. I'm ready to see my big girls! But I have thoroughly enjoyed some moments of stillness that at this stage of life are really hard to come by. My to-do list was quite long, and I accomplished a lot of it, but I was also reminded that having "just" one child is still a full time job - especially when that one is teething! Lila is 8 months old now (hard to believe) and has changed so much this summer. She's not a tiny baby anymore! She is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything (she learned to do these two things within 3 days of each other!), learning to dance, and today she started clapping! All fun changes that are a joy to watch, and make my job busier than ever. We have a little over two weeks until Emma starts Kindergarten, and its finally starting to hit me that our little world is about to change forever! Yes, I know I'm being a little dramatic - its just kindergarten. But soon the days of having all my girls home with me will be gone and we'll never have that back. I would probably be truly sad about that fact if Emma weren't so excited about starting school. She can't wait to meet her teachers and new friends and to learn new things. She is such a smart girl, and we have purposely not worked on things like reading all that much so as to keep her from being way ahead & being bored in Kindergarten. But this summer, she's basically taught herself to read just about anything! I hope she will use her powers for good and not evil when she starts school :). I see her as being the classic teacher's pet, and we're praying for a great teacher who will encourage her love of learning. It's been kind of a hard summer with my big girls. I hadn't realized how good it has been for them to be apart a couple of days a week, but the past few months we have endured a lot of bickering, whining and complaining! We're continuing to work on these things, but I truly think a big part of it is that we have stayed home a lot (since its MUCH easier than going out with all three!) and had a lot of togetherness. I'm fairly certain Addie will love the first few weeks of being home with me while Emma is in school, but then I anticipate her missing her sister a lot. Times are a changin'. In many ways, for good! After several failed attempts on my part at potty training, Addie woke up one morning about a month ago and decided she was ready! She's such a funny kid - she wasn't being stubborn about it (though she is well known for stubbornness); she just truly didn't care. She was talking about how she would one day be changing her own diapers as if she would be wearing them forever - that one got me worried! Thankfully for whatever reason, she's decided to be a big girl. We've had a few setbacks for sure, but overall she has done very well, and I am so excited about having only one child in diapers.

As for me, I am one month into getting up 5 days a week at 5:45 to exercise & have quiet time - this is no small feat for me since the two things I dislike the most just may be getting up early and exercising! But when I finally came to the realization that if I don't do it in the morning it just won't happen, I decided it was time to get busy. The frustrating thing is that I have yet to lose one pound, so I'm beginning to see that my diet needs some adjustments as well. It stinks getting older & losing your figure! But even if I do have to do a lot of self talk to get myself out of bed in the morning & push myself to do things I loathe, I actually do enjoy being up early and taking in the stillness and peace I have found there. I'm trying to listen to God more and seek Him more intently. It's a good way to start my day. Now, if I can just keep it up when school starts...

It's been a good summer, and in many ways, I'm sad to see it come to a close. But I'm looking forward with expectation to the good things this new season of life will bring.