"trying to catch up" smile tuesday :)

i'd love to pretend i had time to tell you all kinds of fun things we've been doing. i don't. truth is i want to get some pics posted, but i also really want a nap. so that is what i'm going to do...quick captions...and then get some sleep and hope to kick this sickness once and for all (i'm on day 17 of a nasty, nasty sore throat--and a cold the past few days as well)...must get well!

i think this was jilly's first taste of pudding ever...she liked it :)


my little luke man...

today we are in the midst of pajama day...which has also been a morning of many pictures...so here goes...



(he did flash me a big grin at lunchtime...but he isn't smiling regularly yet...and i definitely haven't caught it on camera...he only smiles for one face currently ;-) )

she was so proud to be "holding" him...note me holding her, holding him :) jilly is so much more "into" luke in the past couple of weeks...and into helping me with luke.

sweet big sister lovins

libs took this one...i love it!


all my "ducks" in a row...

today was his first bath where he didn't cry the whole time...he does look a bit suspicious though!

this was taken last friday...at six weeks old...where in the world have six weeks gone?! he is busting the seams on his 0-3 month outfits, fits very well lengthwise into 3-6 month, and is just so stinkin' cute i want to eat him up! and he is regularly sleeping 8-8+ hour stretches at night...now if i could just get healthy and do the same ;-)

saturday evening we enjoyed a free family night at the barn...so much fun...and lots of our favorite friends were there to share in the fun with us

elizabeth, kate, aiden, and caleb (elias is hiding in this pic and jilly wasn't on this hayride)(their "boy"friends--sounds hilarious when elizabeth says they are her boyfriends...because she totally has no clue what she is saying!)...these are some of our closest buddies...and they really act more like cousins or siblings than friends...sometimes good, sometimes no so good. :) their mom, my friend holly, is due with #4 any moment now (literally!)...can't wait to see if luke is getting a boy buddy or a "girl"friend.

elizabeth (5 1/2), aiden (almost 6), caleb (4 1/2), and elias (almost 3)--add in kate at 3 1/2, jilly at 19 mo, luke at 6 weeks, and their baby #4 due any day and they are quite the crew! :)

jilly loved the mini-horses...

...and the dirt...errr mud (thanks to the morning storms) piles were quite the hit

uncle nathan helps the kiddos (emmett, kate, brennan, and libs) feed hay to the horses

uncle nathan helped kate find her bravery

luke slept most of the time away...notice the kids' shirts...luke's has a lion, elizabeth's has a monkey, kate's has a gator, and jilly's has an elephant...sweet and crafty (amazing) jill made those for them...love it!

kate and daddy...showing off her george face painting!

and finally....here is our budding baseball superstar...ha! aunt shell, maybe she'll take after you on the t-ball field as well! :)

from a friday morning

my house is a bit in disarray...but what else is new. :)

but we have had a sweet little morning...

i'm finally feeling good after almost an entire week of strep throat and a cold...seriously, my throat hurt so bad i winced every time i swallowed...from saturday night until today...ugh!

i'm so thankful i decided to have our friends over for a playdate in spite of my messy house...and messy self.

we busted out the boxes of foamie stickers and markers and crayons and paper (and glue sticks--which throughly entertained jilly). the big girls created masterpieces and chattered and giggled...and elizabeth was amazingly kind about letting kate do everything too...since she is a bit insistent that riley is "HER" friend. :) it works well since riley and kate are typically in sunday school together during first service though. once they had sufficiently explored the realms of stickers and markers (and luke woke up, meaning upstairs was fair game!), they tramped upstairs....they shrieked and giggled and shrieked and giggled and shrieked some more. in the end they turned the girls' bunkbed into a really cool fort....a fort that kate can hardly wait to nap in. sweetness.

jilly and her little buddy connor mostly ignored each other...but they wandered around, and found a common love of watching the train go by through the window for a moment. connor was thoroughly entertained by a car and the "Percy" train he found in the tox stash...and jilly, well, she just liked the glue.

i had a chance to chat with a friend for a few moments.

it was just nice.

it felt normal....i like normal...makes me feel like we are settling into the new groove.

add to that two fresh baked loaves of bread and a triple batch of stovetop granola....or the fact that luke slept from 8:30-2:30 and then again until 7....or the fact that we use aforementioned granola to make homemade yogurt parfaits (with tasty greek yogurt!)...or the fact that a sweet friend who knew i'd been cooped up in the house with sickies for the entire week dropped by with a box of hillegoss donuts...

...and, well, it adds up to lots of sweetness...lots and lots of sweetness.

i am so thankful...and so blessed.