Week 38 Around Here {2019}

Watching... Sweet Home Sextuplets and Risking It All, which are both really entertaining and I can watch with my kids (unlike The Handmaid's Tale- ha!). The boys really enjoy Risking It All, which is about families who sell everything they own to try their hand at living off the grid. 

Worrying... about Carly as she bonked her front teeth on her baby stroller, knocking them a bit loose and cutting her gums.  I was able to text a picture to her dentist's office and they assured me that she would be okay (and what to look for, just in case), which helped me relax a little bit.  But she did require cold, wet washcloths for most of the afternoon, poor girl.

Loving... our new house more everyday.  As we continue to settle in, unpacking more boxes and doing more decorating, I just love every nook and cranny more.  It's crazy to me how much it already feels like home.

Reading... Searching for Sylvie Lee on audio and The Most Fun We Ever Had.  I am loving The Most Fun We Ever Had.  It reminds me of This Is How It Always Is- every page has a small truth about what life is like with children and husbands and family... I can't get enough.
I also read Wyatt's second grade journal (finally) and loved the page he had written about being lucky.  If anything, we are lucky to have him.  That, I'm sure of.

"Vrooming"... our groceries into the house with Carly's baby stroller.  I asked for her help unloading them from the car and she asked if she could "vroom" them in.  Haha! I said yes, and it was the right answer! Sister brought in so many groceries!!!  #besthelper

Giving up... the Walmart grocery pick up.  I had been using it since late July or early August, but after multiple disappointments, and having to run to the grocery store myself anyway to get things they don't carry at Walmart, I found it just wasn't worth it.
Their produce isn't great, and their substitutions never make any sense (they didn't have sliced black olives, so they gave me green olives.  But wouldn't whole black olives make more sense? -for example).  I'm sad for the time lost to the grocery store, but it's a necessary evil.

Crying... {literally} as I drove past the emptied water park the other day and it hit me that summer is really, truly over.  I am trying to accept that fall is approaching (less than two weeks now), but I'm having a hard time.  Maybe I'll try to make a fall bucket list??? (Any ideas, friends?)

Signing... all three boys up for wrestling, which is exciting!  They've never wrestled before, but we think they'll be great, and the exercise will be really good for them. 

Laughing... at how Carly says, "Oh nothing" when I ask her what she's up to lately.  (Whenever she says that, I come a-running to see what kind of "nothing" she's up to.  Hahah!) And loving how she simply must hug & kiss all her guys goodbye everyday.  First it's Daddy, as he leaves for work; then the twins, as they leave on their bikes out the garage; then it's Wyatt, as he walks to the bus stop.  She hugs each of them, and kisses their bellies, wherever her lips hit 'em, and then runs back to her toys.
Her favorite way to end the morning is to wave goodbye to Wyatt's bus as it drives away.  So a few times a week we try to get out there to wave at it.

Taking... all three boys to the orthodontist for check ups and reprimanding Logan for cutting his wire on his own in the garage with Josh's wire cutters. Sigh. This kid.

Visiting... the vet with Ramona, who, it turns out, has a bladder infection.  We got some medication that she's been really good about taking and I'm praying she gets well quick. 

Buying... Logan a new medical bracelet (from Etsy- super cool and super cheap) after he lost his last one at the pool this summer.  I remember when I ordered his first bracelet that said "Epilepsy", it required a level of acceptance that I hadn't previously come to.  Ordering it this time was no big deal.  It's nice to be in this place with it.

Learning... how to properly breathe from Carly, who was teaching her frog how in the bath tub.  "Inhale... Outhale... Inhale... Outhale..." she said to him, over and over.  We decided that in our household we shall never say "exhale" again.  Outhale just make so much more sense.

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Carly at 23 Months

On Christmas Eve Carly turned 23 months.  

We are in the last month of her being one.  

It's so very bittersweet. 

At 23 months, she is funny, sweet, and loving.

She makes us all laugh,

and is full of character.

She loves to play with her brothers' toys,

making vroom sounds with the cars,

and taking apart the legos.

She also loves being a mama to her baby dolls,

and toting stuffed animals with her everywhere.

She loves getting dressed and is so good when I do her hair.

When she looks especially cute, all the brothers will say so, and she copies them,

saying, "So cute!"

Her hair is getting longer, which is nice...

but she constantly has new hair growing as well, so it is pretty much always out of control. 

Ha!

She loves to say, "Nope!" especially if we tease her that it's time for night-night.

At the dinner table she loves to have all our attention,

and she often does.

She'll join our conversation, or just get our attention so she can point out all the things on her tray:

Fork, spoon, cup of water, rice, broccoli, plate...

She is a bossy little tyrant some of the time (I think she's practicing for when she's two). 

She's the most bossy to her big brothers.  

Here she is screaming "Wy-att!!!" 

wanting him to join her on the trampoline. 

Hah!

She hasn't had very good naps the last month

(I blame teething)

and it's made for some hard, hard afternoons!!!

If things don't go exactly how she wants them, 

or I can't understand exactly what she wants,

she can throw some epic tantrums. 

Mostly they consist of:

melting onto the floor

and loud screaming

 She loves to go get brothers from school,

wants to walk independently while we're there,

and seemingly can't wait to be a big kid!

 She loves snacks.

She is always asking for a bowl or baggie of something.

This day, she brought me a baggie and the chocolate chips and wanted them PLEASE!

 She loves to read,

and will bring us HUGE stacks of books to read.

Then she will sit and listen to all.of.them. 

It's amazing given her age.

She'll also read to herself, which I love.

 While we were gone in Spokane at the hospital,

Josh said she would say, "Mommy? Wyatt. Sick."

When they finally got to FaceTime each other, they were both overjoyed.

Wyatt's smile hadn't been so big since before he had left town,

and Carly was tickled to see her Wyatt Byatt.

 I'll often ask, "Who do you love, Carly?"

And she'll answer:

"Wyatt,

Jackie,

Logan Bogans,

Daddy,

Mommy,
Grandma,

Papa,

Nanny,

Milo

and Ari."

It's so so cute!

 Before she goes to bed, she likes to make her rounds, saying goodnight to everyone in the house, hugging them and telling them she loves them.

"I love you, Gackie"

"I love you, Gogan"

"I love you Wyatt Byatt"

"I love you, too, dad"

And before I leave the room after tucking her in,

she'll say sadly, "I love you, mom."

 She is still nursing.

We are down to once a day, before afternoon naps.

The plan is to drop that as well within the next few weeks. 

I'm ready to be done in so many ways,

but quitting is still bittersweet.

(I'm finding all of parenting to be quite bittersweet!)

 I love how the boys tolerate her. 

She will get in their business, steal their toys, yell at them, and they just smile and let her be, always including her where they can.

She LOVES bubbas.  

(That's what we call stuffed animals around here!)  

When she finds one, she stops whatever she's doing and hugs it, closing her eyes and sighing. 

It's so precious.

She especially loves her new Panda from Josh.

She LOVES looking out the front window and the back slider at our bunny (or bunnies... we aren't sure if it's one bunny we keep seeing in both yards, or if it's a few bunnies...).  The other day after she looked at the bunny, she ran and got her monkey bubba and held him up to see.  She said, "Look it, monkey! See the bunny?"

She is just the most fun at this age.

She's putting together all kinds of sentences;

("Mama do it." "Bunny go night night." "Play with me.")

she can play pretend with her toys or the boys;

and she loves to be tickled.

I am still tickled at her girl-ness.

I love dressing her in pink and purple,

I love doing her hair and picking her shoes,

and I love how maternal she is to her dolls.

Carly, you are so beloved.

I hope that you forever know it, baby girl.

The last 23 months with you have been pure magic.

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Family of Six

{First photo of me with all FOUR of my children. Craziness!}

Our first picture as a family of six.  

When I look at these pictures I think of my mom, who also had four children, and I think of Josh and I, at prom our junior year.  It's crazy where 16 years has taken us and the beautiful family we've grown.

I'm so happy I didn't give up on my dream of #4.  I know that the miscarriages felt horrible at the time, and I settled into a deep depression after each one, but looking back, I don't feel any sadness.  Things happened exactly as they were supposed to, and Carly was worth the wait.

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Brothers...

Carly has three brothers.  

And oh how those brothers love her.  

First thing in the morning when they wake up, they ask how Carly is, wanting to hold her and give her snuggles.  

Listening to Wyatt talk to her is my current favorite.  He talks in a super-syrupy-sweet baby voice and calls her "Babykins" or "Carlykins", which slays me!

He loves to snuggle her in his bed at bedtime the most, but will also hold her on the couch sometimes.  

Jack also loves to hold his sister.  He is so confident when he holds her.  He recently started standing when he's holding her, and while it makes nervous (and I try to limit it), it's also pretty adorable.

Jack also loves to hold her like this (on his knees) because that's how Josh holds her. It's so precious.  Tonight he was sitting with her like this on his lap and he asked what I thought she was looking at when she was staring into space.  I said maybe she's seeing Shirley, a friend of my grandma's who passed away the day after Carly was born.  Jack agreed.

Then he asked, "Do you think Shirley can see Carly from heaven?" I told him I didn't know, what did he think?  He thought for a minute and then said that if God can see us from heaven, then Shirley could maybe borrow his goggles (by which he meant binoculars) to look down at us. So, so cute.

 Tonight the twins decided to change Carly's diaper and put her in her pajamas while I helped Wyatt get ready for bed.  I came in just as they took off her dirty diaper and snapped this picture.  They were so cute, working together and talking Carly into cooperating.  

When they were done Logan said, "That was awesome! I wanna do that again tomorrow night!"  I love how helpful they've been with their little sister and am so happy for them to be so hands on.

She's one lucky little girl,

that's for sure.

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