The house is quiet...those rare few hours at night after the chaos of the day and I am sorting through the 1500+ photos (no joke) that I have taken since my last blog post. My screen is scrolling through so many memories and smiles and giggles and precious moments that we have shared in, in the last few months and it almost overwhelms me. Partly because I have to actually choose which ones to show, but mostly because I am so amazed at the abundance of blessings our gracious God has lavished on us. A beautiful home, my whole family living within 10 minutes of us, health (well, does 2 months of cyclical colds and viruses still count as health?), financial security, an amazing husband who is the love of my life and delights in being a dad, and two incredible, exhausting, challenging and wonderful children.
The day will start again tomorrow, usually before I am ready for it, and I will be holding, wiping, hugging, feeding, tickling, running, guiding, disciplining and loving those wiggly wonderful bodies all over again. And it, like everyday, will be brimming with the noise and busyness of this season of life with littles. It is why I have so many pictures, and such long stretches between sharing them. But what a fantastically, exhaustingly, marvelous life and purpose He has given me. Enjoy with me some of my favorites parts.....
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| please tell me I am not the only one whose house looks like this....without even trying! |
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| My dear friend Sarah Bowman blessed us with a photoshoot for Megan--she takes amazing photos and Megan just sparkled, like she always does! |
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| Megan loves anything with a face--a photo, a puzzle, a stuffed animal and people. She will get really close and peer at it and coo and talk animatedly. Any stuffed animal gets a hug and snuggle from her and she will wrap her arm around it and hold it close to her neck while walking around. She is most definitely our social one! |
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| Ben and the Hat Trifecta! (Top hat on top of a cowboy hat on top of a ball cap) |
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| you know too much laundry has built up when you can hide a child in it |
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| Sweet baby Kenzie Anne--my new niece! |
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| I absolutely love this photo because it totally captures each of the kids and their unique personalities. |
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| so much fun....until cleanup time.....puff paint is NOT easy to wash off! |
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| my little sous chef! |
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| just like Daddy....little bit of hero worship goin' on here |
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| Ben and his buddy Jack |
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| We LOVE Lego minifigures at our house (Lego Guys, as Ben calls them). They are an ever present presence on our counters, beds, in our cushions, in my purse and underfoot. But Ben loves playing with them and regularly makes up stories with them and changes all their parts up to make new people....of course the favorites are the baseball guys and anyone with a cool hat. :) |
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| The original baseball outfit (piece of wood trim as a bat, sock over his hand as a glove, styrofoam craft ball as a baseball)....we have now upgraded to legit pieces, but either way, he says "I am a baseball guy who plays baseball!" |
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| We have a walker! Megan took her first steps right before turning 10 months and is so confident now that she loves to run and be chased all the time. |
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| Don't know what I love more--Megan using the knob handle on a puzzle piece as a makeshift pacifier, or John's grin at her antics. :) |
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| classic family photo....2 out of 4 looking at the camera isn't great, but it's realistic! |
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| toothy cheeser grin! |
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| Had to include these photos of our tree out front. Takes my breath away every fall looking at this brilliant yellow explosion in my front yard! |
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| Every girl needs a tutu.....and a prince :) |
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| Pops and Gran came for a visit for Megan's birthday, and even though she had croup and an ear infection for her birthday, she was adorable and fell for her Pops (I think it was mutual). |
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| Add caption |
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| It has begun.....phone obsession |
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| Family birthday dinner....a week late, once everyone was well |
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| cake smash! |
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| Yay! A girl cousin! |
