Summer

It's safe to say summer is long gone as we have spent the last two days sledding in the snow. But I found these pictures on my phone and realized that I really never post anymore and thought this was as good of a time as any. We really did a ton of playing this summer and it was very relaxing and fun. We tried to hit up all the water parks in the county and ended up close. The park these photo's are from is one of our favorites and we went there multiple times and enjoyed grilling out there also. It's funny how summer does not really feel that different when the kids are little, but now that we are in school and summer is a break, it's pretty awesome.

I guess it's been a year.....River is 4!!!!

I can't believe it has been 4 years since this amazing girl flew into our lives.  I remember while I was pregnant I was very certain that I was having a little brown haired boy.  Right after she was born, I asked if it was in fact a boy.  They did not answer me, they just put her in my arms.  I was shocked, first that she was a boy and second that she had a bright orange head.  She was not a brown haired boy, she was a very orange haired girl. She is so beautiful inside and out. Everywhere we go people can not help but comment on how beautiful her hair is, and the "do you know how much people pay for hair like that" happens often.  Her big eyes are so bright and full of life. Her energy is contagious, she is always ready to go and full of joy.  My current favorite thing about this girl is her vocabulary and communication level.  She loves to talk, when she talks with her mouth, she talks with her eyes, and also her hands and hips.  She has an extensive vocabulary, using words like dilemma and predicament correctly on a regular basis. She has extreme empathy for others and has recently declared her super power as the discipline stopper for all her siblings. We love every minute that we get with her!!!

I asked her a series of questions this year at her family birthday diner, I hope to remember to ask the same questions every year and see the change:) And also come up with a few better ones.
Favorite book?  The barenstain bears
What do you sleep with at night?  purple blanket and my sucking fingers
Favorite snack? Go snacks (small bags of dehydrated fruit)
Favorite bug? butterfly
Favorite animal? Elephant
Favorite show? little Einsteins
Favorite fruit? pear
Favorite color? Purple
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A fireman and a nurse, oh no I want to be a guard that saves kids when they are hurt.

That little baby is 3!!!

Well I guess it's time to blog again, just in time for a big day. Sweet baby River is 3. Oh River, you are an amazing child, there is never a dull moment with you around. I love how nurturing and compassionate you are.















We had a fun joint birthday party with August, River's cousin. Everyone had a blast and ran their wiggles out. Then on her real birthday she got to choose the restaurant we were going out to eat, at first she was deciding between red robin or chick-fil-a. But then she said " I want to go somewhere new, where we have never eaten." Well ok my mini-me-adrenalin-junkie-surprise-adventure-lovin girl, let's do that. So we went to a thai restaurant and they all ate and ate. It was some awesome spontaneity, just what we all needed.

Happy Birthday baby, you are an amazing gift from God!!!

Great Wolf Lodge

We needed a little break so we thought we would check out the great wolf lodge. So glad we did, everyone had a blast!! They have everything at this hotel you need. The indoor water park we so much fun. They even had a family hot tub, I loved it!!

At night all the kids in the hotel in the "living room" and there is an animated show and a book reading, The girls loved that everyone was in their pajamas.

This quick mini vacation is one we will be repeating soon!

Cherry Blossoms

We took a great walk through the cherry blossoms one of the last evenings they were still out, it was so beautiful. Stephan skipped out of work a little early so we had extra time to explore and ended with a very yummy dinner at the white tiger.

Stuck in the Muck

So what do you do on your way home from South Carolina when you get stuck in a snow storm? We decided to stop after nine hours in the car we were ready to get out. Although the idea of being stuck inside a hotel room with four kids did not seam that much easier. But we made the best of it, we have long been a two hotel room family, but finding a connecting room was harder at the last minute.

We wrote on the windows.

We did some good bed jumping, snuggling, and story telling.

And we took a shower/bath with random hotel room objects, and then we slept!!! It was a fun adventure, since everyone was stuck from the storm the hotel provided dinner and breakfast for everyone in it, and we met new friends and felt a strong since of togetherness.

August is One!!!

We are so blessed to be able to live near family, three months after we moved to the D.C area, Stephan's brother Caleb and his wife Ashley moved back to D.C. from New York. Moving to a new place was so much easier with them. Since then we have had three more kids, and they have had two. Our kids are extremely close in age and have not gone more than a week without being together for the last three years. This week their little boy August turned one and we are lucky enough to be able to celebrate with them. He is a very sweet, loving boy who loves to snuggle, has not seen food he does not like, thinks sleep is overrated, LOVES to talk and is very advanced in his vocal skills, and we know he will grow up to be an amazing man of God!!

Camera is very excited to be the big sister and celebrate!!

The cake, by Aunt Michelle:)

What happened to my cake?

All the cousins! Ashley's two brothers and their families also live in the area, so I tried to get a photo of all the cousins together, 8 kids under the age of 5. We know how to party!!

The First Snow

Oh boy, I love the snow!!! We could not wait to get out in it as soon as it started. I waited just long enough for Shepherd to take a nap and then I took the top three out in it. Lucy and River kept crawling around in it saying they were swimming. Miles and Lucy make snow angels and River tried to follow along but could no figure out how to get on her back so she made angels on her tummy.

God had really blessed us by putting us in the perfect neighborhood, it's amazing, we have so many friend. There are 16 young kids within walking distance, they all love to play together and went sledding and trying to make snowballs. I love it!!

Love the sleeping baby:)

It's getting better

Today when I got home from an awesome baby shower I took the kids for a walk and the love continued. River is really enjoying her siblings and they are still really enjoying her. I love it!!!

Today is a good day!

Today is a milestone for us, River is playing with Miles and Lucy and Miles and Lucy are playing with River. They have enjoyed each other for a long time but this is different. Miles and Lucy have long established a pretty solid relationship, they have solved how to play with each other, rarely do they take or argue, they mainly share and enjoy. In fact ,for a while I have noticed how sweetly they will play things that is not their first pick just for the sake of the relationship. Miles will play baby and tea party and Lucy will play with transformers(although she mainly mothers the transformers). And for the most part River just does her own thing, but all morning long they have been interacting, talking to her and sharing with her and enjoying her. This makes for one happy mommy!

Our birth story

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted, we have been busy! Our sweet new baby is a boy! He is amazing and we are enjoying every minute with him, even thought we have had some ups and downs. Shepherd arrived two weeks late!! The three days before he accutally arrived I was in and out of labor, I would have contractions every three to five minutes for four to five hours and then it would just stop, this was pretty frustrating to me because I was expecting a fast labor and I was not getting any sleep. The day I was in real labor I did not believe it, Stephan and I were out together and my contractions were getting pretty intense. By the time we had gotten home I convinced Stephan that I wanted to just go to the hospital, forgo all my birth plans and have them put me to sleep altogether. I could not take any more false alarms. So he called my midwife to tell her my desires and she say she would be right over since it sounded like I was in fact in transition.

I was still pretty skeptical but decided to wait for her, when she arrived I was 7cm so I decided to stay home and have the baby since it did seem like it was really happening. For the next two hours Stephan helped me labor and three pushes later Shepherd was born. I was so excited to meet him finally!!

Sweet baby shepherd was born with a cleft lip and palate which we knew about from an earlier ultrasound but to see it in person was very emotional for us. We are very thankful that he was otherwise born very healthy and with a sweet disposition. Shortly after he arrived we brought the kids up to meet him, they were very excited holding and kissing him. Even though we had told them about his lip, the first question they had was "why is he missing a piece of his lip?" They love his and are so very excited about him joining our family and we cannot stop thanking God for this great gift.

Snow, lots and lots of snow:)

Well I know I am very behind the time but I'm going to try to get to blogging again. We have had so much snow and I LOVE it!! It still surprises me how much I do enjoy the cold. I guess I am no longer a Floridian, I remember the few cold days I had in Florida by trying to find shoes other than flip flops to wear to school, sometimes not being successful. I think one of the biggest changes of living up here is the seasons, in Florida everything is always green and sunny. Don't get me wrong I love green and sunny but I think growing up there has made other seasons in life a little harder to adjust to, maybe change in general a little harder to adjust to. Life is full of seasons, some great, some just good, some a little scary, but change is always happening. It feels like just yesterday that I held Miles in my arms and entered motherhood, since that time we have done nothing but go through joy filled seasons with him and I can't wait to experience more. So I have been embracing the snow, playing in it everyday we can, just looking at the beauty of it, hearing the peace it brings. Loving this season as full as I can and excited about the next season and what it will bring.


I love this picture of Miles, he had just gone down a HUGE hill by himself and did a total wipeout, even flipping over, I was thinking he was going to start crying. But instead he celebrated as if he has just done some extra tricks. I love it, we don't call ourselves the danger family for nothing:)





Sweet, sweet River, she is so full of peace and joy. Can't get enough!

I love my life!!!

I gotta say, not a day goes by that I don't say how much I love my life!! I just love how God lavishes his love on us in all forms. I love being a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mommy, and many other things that I get to be. Right now my kids are truly bringing in the most Joy around here, I also love my great husband who shares that Joy with me.

These guys are so sweet and compassionate and loving and FUNNY!!! They make up silly songs about whatever they are doing and try very hard to make the songs rhyme. I laugh most of the day. They play together all the time and are including River in their fun. People are growing like crazy. Miles just outgrew his first convertible car seat and Lucy is close behind him, River is standing and signing all the time. We are getting to see more of Stephan since we moved and his commute is only 15 minutes!!!! I love that for sure. And in case you did not hear, we have sweet baby number 4 in the oven!!!

The last of South Carolina

Hmmm....... That's a lot of posting for just one trip:) This is a picture of the kids eating watermelon on the front porch. Poppy's favorite summer treat is watermelon and the kids had no problem sharing with him.




Since both Stephan and Caleb's parents and Aunt Ashley's parents live in South Carolina, we do some visiting to both families. Ashley's parents have made a little playground in the backyard with some swings and a fort, also their is a bird feeder that the kids got to help fill up. That may have been their favorite part.

Miles showing us his muscles.

This is a picture from the day at the farm, I love this picture. He LOVED the baby animals, but especially the kittens who let him pick them up and carry them around. He was so sweet and gentle, he even changed the tone of his voice and talked to them. He really wanted to bring one home and even tried to just put on in the van. I just could not get enough of watching him play with them.

More South Carolina

Man I am really behind, since this South Carolina trip we have been to Florida, Virgina Beach, Camping twice, had a miracle with Lucy,and River is a crawling machine. Better get to blogging:)





While we were in South Carolina we drove over to a friends farm and spent the day playing with animals. I really enjoyed this, It was a beautiful day and there were so many baby animals, I do have a sweet spot for babies:) They had this huge pig, when he was a baby they let him live in the house with them, but now he is all grown up and lives on the farm with everyone else. He decided to roll in a mud puddle and then rub himself off on the van. The kids thought this was so great, they are still telling the story.

This is my mother-in-law's horse. He is really beautiful and sweet. She looks so happy on a horse:)

All the kids got to take pony rides, Camera was the one who enjoyed it the most. We also say a one week old baby donkey who really liked me and let me pet him for quite a while. It was a great visit.