Motherhood Life Lesson #37

If you are attempting to scrub the bathtub, and you hear your two boys laughing at each other really hard, don't turn around and see what they're up to.  Just let it ride and get the bathroom done.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Caelum got baptized! It was a smaller affair than last year, what with my whole family being at church last time, but it was still wonderful.  Naturally, he didn't nap that well Sunday morning, so he was a bit fussy.  Multiple people came up to me and remarked on the irony of my usually perfect baby writhing around on the day he's in front of the whole church.  He really didn't do bad at all.

My neighbor Kim and her daughter Jenna came too, and Kim was kind enough to take all the pictures and a video.  I was glad they were there to see this sign of God's covenantal love for us!

Pre-baptism

Owen did great

Caelum attempting to escape

Making our vows

Ashton Family

Baptisms are hilarious

 

Don't you all feel like you were there now?

I Don't Wanna Wait For Our Lives To Be Over

 My Clemson roomies came for a lovely visit and I wanted to get some pictures up from their trip. We did some touristy stuff and had lots of time to chat and get caught up.  It was great to see how close we still are!

Grauman's Chinese Theater

Caelum wants to leave his footprint

The gang at Underwood Farm

Cuties Scarlett (almost 1) and Caelum

At Leo Carrillo

Photo ops at Griffith Observatory

 

We had a nice evening by the fire, until a Black Widow showed up

Buddies

Really hard to get all 3 kids paying attention, without looking drunk

Space and Caelum

 

 Thanks so much for coming out!

Slow Moves

Here's a little video of Caelum on the move. Note the brief distraction because Owen speaks.  He adores  his older brother.  Caelum has crawled properly a little bit, but only after I positioned him up on his knees.  

Forever and a Day

Sorry it's been so long, friends.  Where has August gone? Well, I'll tell you.  Between Clemson and the Outer Banks, plus dear friends visiting, the month flew by. Things aren't slowing down any time soon, but I'll try to be more consistent with posting...even if it's just a taste. The thought of summarizing the past month is overwhelming, so I'd refer you to Hannah's blog if you want pictures of the Ashton portion of our vacation.  Or, see my mom's facebook album for pictures of the beach house. I'm a slacker, I know, but for now, a quick update on the boys.

After slipping in a mud puddle at the park

A shopping cart!

Owen is our imaginative narrator.  He has a constant dialogue (or monologue, as the case may be) going on and if he's not talking, he's singing.  He's starting to ask, "Why?" a lot and he loves to tease.  Though he can identify probably half of the alphabet, he'll intentionally do it wrong after saying it correctly and then crack up.  How that bears on future homeschooling, I do not know.  Owen loves Bob the Builder and new books from the library.  He loves to play with blocks and hates to be dirty. 

Starting to pull up and cruise

Hooligan

Caelum is a smiley little man.  He can now army crawl from room to room, but he refuses to lift up that big bottom.  He'll be all over the place once he figures that out.  Caelum loves to eat and I recently spent a day making little cubes of baby food for him (squash, zucchini, green beans, peaches, etc), so I feel ready for the next few months before finger foods get going.  He also enjoys playing in sand and then the subsequent bath time.  Caelum can play peek-a-boo and wave, real spastic like. The boys are sharing a room and they sure do love getting up early. Zach and I have been enjoying our sweet little boys!

Playing together in their kitchen

 

I Will Not Take These Things For Granted

Knowing that I probably won't blog for the next few weeks, I figured I'd get one out there really quick. Someone posted this article about motherhood, and I thought it was so true and a good reminder. Lately I've heard many complaints by pregnant mothers, gotten a lot of "my, your hands are full" from strangers, and uncovered some silly reasons as to why people wait to have kids. I know a few couples that have been trying for a long time to get pregnant, yet simultaneously, the whole of society devalues children. Time at the Community Pregnancy Clinic has made it exceedingly clear.

Not that I'm much better. There are days when I greedily wish I could sleep more, or I begrudgingly gather the many items Owen needs to sleep with: 4 Pull-Ups (2 with race cars and 2 with tow trucks on them...representing our various family members), Lion, Blankie, and his cup of water. But it is a blessing to reflect how much God cares for children, and what an honor it is to be raising up little ones in the fear and admonition of Him. That's the goal anyway.

Get Better

This post is dedicated to Mantis, as he heals from a brutal yellow jacket attack. We hope you're doing better!
A few more pictures from the Ashton visit. We had a cold day at the beach, but still fun. We stopped for some delicious fish tacos and coffee after our short, chilly beach time, and then took a very winding road home. Everyone was carsick.

This is a hilarious sequence of pictures from one of our hikes around the ranch: Zach trying to get Owen in the backpack carrier while it is on Mantis' back.
Owen can't believe that Daddy and Grandpa Mantis would do that to him.

Caelum also enjoyed being toted around by Mantis while they wore matching Tillys. Very relaxing.
And Queenie, I'm sorry that I didn't get more pictures with you and the kids, especially considering how many hours you devoted to playing with them. However, I love this picture because it shows what a great Queenie you are...playing diggers until the point of utter exhaustion. Note the small digger in the crook of the neck.