Gratitude from a Child's Perspective-Days 12 & 13

Mariah is thankful for:  

-Thanskgiving

-God

Jayden is thankful for:

-Marching bands

-tables

Myles is thankful for:

-gum (which he's never actually had;))

-milk

Jayden needed to work since we had shower repairmen here.  He loves to work and build!

 Myles is doing his typical thing-throwing balls and chasing after them!  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Oddly enough, the kids' first Jello eating experience.  They giggled the whole time!

Gratitude from a Child's Perspective-Days 8 & 9

Mariah is thankful for:  

-scissors
-crayons

Jayden is thankful for:

-watching movies
-pumpkins

Myles is thankful for:

-monkeys
-puppies

At the end of the day

I have to say, this stage has been my least favorite so far.  Having two three year olds and a new five year old has been emotionally exhausting!  Power struggles, battle of the wills, you get the picture! The sibling rivalry has just begun, and it's not cute! We try to keep them friendly with each other, but that only lasts a bit!  The picture at the piano is adorable!  One of my favorites! What you don't see is 3 seconds after taking this picture they all start hitting each other:)  The picture at the bottom with them all playing nicely together is so sweet, too, until 10 seconds later when they start yelling at each other and one boy tells his sister to bite her little brother and hit him on the head, which thankfully she didn't do!  Whew!  I say all this to say that we have some really yucky moments every day.  Ones that make me want to hide in my closet (or pantry;)) or stay in bed and not get up!  But, truly, at the end of the day, I feel blessed!  At the end of the day, I try to remember these sweet moments that make them young, vulnerable and precious!  The pictures are the memories I hope to cling to, because life is messy, but these babies of mine are perfectly imperfect little blessings!  

They definitely have an imperfect momma, who could use a whole lotta grace!

faces

This little guy preferred yogurt to a donut...he has no idea what he's missing!
Yep, I totally let Ri sleep in her "tinker bell" outfit. She loved it! She really loves feeling big and being Momma's helper.

These three are WAY.

TOO.

CUTE.

Ri's fave new face. Makes me laugh every time...even when I'm having a serious talk with her she'll turn that face on and I can't help but bust out every time. I need to work on that one;)
Playdough with Jay.
Jay, where is God?
Where's your hair?
Where are your eyes?
Where are your ears?
Where's your nose? (my fave...love how he pinches his own nose as hard as he can. ha!)
Where's your mouth?
Sweet brothers. I can't get enough of the matching clothes. LOVE.
This sweet 15 month old is still not pulling up or walking. A lot of it is his laid back personality, coupled with his anxiety over standing and his flimsy feet. I finally purchased a jumper to help Mylesie like being on his feet a little more. Just got a script today for some orthotics for his feet. He'll have little foot/ankle braces on to help him out and give more structure to his feet in the next few weeks. I have to admit, I'll be sad when he is completely mobile. A new phase of life.

these are the moments

Once Upon a Time

I used to have a blog. I used to be a semi-loyal blogger. That is, until, I had kiddos that I couldn't blog about, share photos of, or of course keep up with!!

Well, I'm back! We'll see how this gig goes! I would love to share are life as we know it, with a just-turned-three year old daughter, a 21 month old son and 14 month old son. We've gone on a nearly three-year journey of foster adoption, that resulted in three beautiful children, all under the age of three!

Join me in my adventures of child-rearing, cooking, decorating, Christ-seeking, tot schooling, organizing, and wife-ing!

Meet my little guys:

"Ri"-my three year old; loves dancing singing, writing on the walls with chalk, reading, and keeping us on our toes!

"Jay"-my 21 month old; loves music, flirting, playing in the dirt, eating bugs, playing in the toilet, and dancing!
"Mylesie"-my 14 month old; loves giving kisses, opening/closing doors, playing with balls, throwing food, and singing!

These little guys keep my life fun and definitely entertaining!

All photos by Mandy Stansberry Photography