Ahem. Houston, we have a crawler

And, not only that, but today when I set her down on the floor on her tummy, the next thing I knew she was sitting up. That's right...from laying to sitting all by herself!

Yay for our sweet little Miss Bean!

As a matter of fact...

Today I picked Morgan up from his buddy Wyatt's birthday party. He got in the car and told me all about how much fun he had...particularly playing with the ball shooting gun that Wyatt got as one of his presents. (Side note: I like to have the kids pick out the gifts they want to give their friends for birthdays and make/write the birthday card on their own. After combing the toy aisles at Target, Morgan picked out a super-cool play-doh play set and some transformer stickers for Wyatt - I am a terrible friend for giving your kid play-doh, sorry Judi). I asked him if Wyatt liked the present he had given him...

(very matter-of-factly) "Ummmm, yeah. He liked it VERY MUCH. He had just been waiting to get some play-doh."

How old is he again? 25? How am I ever going to keep up with this kid?

(edited 9-10-09 - I realized I misquoted him when he said something similar again yesterday...it wasn't that he really liked it, it was that he liked it VERY MUCH! lol!)

Eloquence

I just love, love, love reading this blog! A post from earlier this week (that I am just reading today...I know) just struck me to the core. What a beautiful moment it is, when you read a collection of words that together, describe an emotion so perfectly that you can instantly feel it yourself. And it is so familiar that you know you have felt it before, but didn't know how to describe it. Not until now.

True eloquence.

P.S. Seth, now you know why I cry so much!

Just so you know...

These flowers are lovely

and they bloom at the loveliest time of year

and they are absolutely gorgeous in flower bouquets

and you just can't help but smile when you see them

which is fabulous because they are just about

every.where.you.look

but...

they make me sneeze

and sniffle

and make my eyes water

A LOT.

So, just in case you ever want to buy me flowers

can you just be sure there aren't any sunflowers in the bunch

...

or at least include some really strong allergy medicine.

Just so you know.

(note to self:

for future reference, hiking through a sunflower field and spending the rest

of the day playing on a beach surrounded by sunflowers is probably NOT a good idea

...especially without a working allergy perscription)

Dear Friends

This has been the summer of moving away for many of our dear neighbors and friends and as another family we love headed off on a new adventure today, all the emotions come flooding back for all those we are missing! We think about you often and miss you often (even you who have been gone for quite a while and you who are not really all that far away).

And to all of the dear friends who have made our lives so rich and sweet - close by, far away, past and present - thank you (if you are reading this blog, there is a good chance that this includes you)! Thank you for letting us learn from your strengths, for serving us in so many ways, for puting up with our weaknesses and for ALL of the fun fun times!

*and now I am done with rambling sentimental thoughts by Jen...sorry for the plethora of them lately! Back to pictures and kid stories and birthdays and school starting and fun events soon!

Evidence

Every single day, I feel like I am uncovering evidence that the nicer, more tactful, thoughtful, caring, optimistic, non-judgmental, organized, productive, listening, serving, fun and energetic version of me is still in here somewhere. This is very good news considering this version of me has been missing for almost a year and a half now (not surprisingly, about the same time I got pregnant with Brynn and we started building our garage) and I was beginning to think she might be gone for good!

So happy you are back, better version of myself, now can you just help me find the more patient version of me who didn't yell?

Feeling Glad

Some days are hard - really hard - for no reason at all. Some days, after my kids fall asleep, I just want to fall into bed and not wake up until they are grown up enough that I don't need to do everything (or almost everything) for them. But then then, there are the moments - that come quite frequently even though I often don't recognize them for what they are - when I just feel glad.

Today, right now, I am feeling glad.

Glad that I am married to the man I love. Glad that he still makes me laugh, that hanging out with him is the highlight of my life, and that I still get excited for him to get home at the end of the day. Glad that my name is "mommy". Glad that, even though it is hard work, I get to be here to witness my kids learning and growing every single day. Glad that I so frequently stop in awe and amazement of the strength, character and love that I see in my 3 sweet babies. Glad that I am also just "Jen" and that I finally realize that that role is just as important as wife or mommy. Glad that I have had a beautifully blessed life filled with fond memories, dear friends and family and so so so much love. Glad that I have time - right now - whether good, bad, or anything in between and I can choose what to make of it. Glad that I can look forward to tomorrow (and especially 21 months from now) with hope and excitement. Glad that I am able to serve...very very glad. Glad that I know what I know...and that there is so much more to learn...every single day.

Today I am glad, even though it has been a long day, I am glad. There is nothing extraordinary or earth-shattering about life right now, but it is sweet and wonderful and I want to always remember that it is the simple things in life that make me glad

Seven Months of Sweetness

I can't believe that my little Brynn is already 7 months old. Every time I turn around she has learned something new and looks more grown up and I wonder where my little baby girl has gone!
At her 6 month appointment (which was actually closer to 6 1/2 months) she was 17 lbs. 8 oz. (68 percentile) and 26.5 inches long (64 percentile). Those of you who held my other kids when they were little are probably asking, Really? Yes, really. If she didn't have those big beautiful blue eyes like Chloe I might wonder if she were actually switched at the hospital (anything is possible when you don't have your sharpie marker ready to mark your baby as it comes out - hehe - I am getting kind of excited for the new season of The Office). Just in case you don't remember...Morgan was 22 lbs. at his 6 month appointment, and Chloe was just under 21 lbs at her 4 month appointment. Apparently, my body has decided to make 2% milk instead of ice cream!

Brynn is just a little spark of light in our home. She has the sweetest giggle and the greatest belly laugh (which reminds me so much of Morgan at that age). She is so happy and easy going and loves to observe the world around her. All you have to do is smile at her and her whole face lights up and smiles a big giant grin back at you! She says “dada(dadadadada)” and I am pretty sure she has said mimicked some other words quite clearly, but since has only said them once I don’t think they count. She loves to play with her turtle book/toy, Chloe's My Little Ponies, her Jungle ball activity center, and my laptop keyboard. She could spend all day giggling back and forth with Morgan or laughing excitedly as Chloe puts on a dance performance for her. She doesn't hate her car seat nearly as much as she used to, and she will finally take a bottle every once in a while to give mommy a break.
Her 1st tooth broke through on Monday and she has been having all sorts of fun chewing stuff up ever since. She does a great job at picking up finger foods and feeding herself but she always wants to eat whatever I am eating. She grunts/screams for a bite of your food until you give it to her (just like Chloe used to do...I am sure my family will know what I am talking about if they think of Chloe's first Thanksgiving dinner.) She especially loves freeze-dried fruit, fresh fruit, cheerios, goldfish crackers, yogurt and potatoes. Her fuzzy head is actually growing some hair and I am getting my hopes up that I may be able to start putting bows in her hair by Christmas time (fingers crossed).
She is a fabulous sleeper and sleeps from about 8:30/9:00 pm to 7:00 am most nights and then goes back down for a long morning nap after breakfast and some playtime with Morgan and Chloe. She still sleeps on her tummy, and loves to suck her thumb. She will take a binki if you give her one, but she prefers her thumb. She has been sitting up for over a month now and is rocking back and forth on her hands and knees in preparation to take off crawling for real instead of just army crawling all over the place. Despite her good nature, she is starting to show some serious spunk and I am starting to get really worried about my capacity to handle 2 little girls with so much spunk!
I still don't feel "adjusted" to being a mother of 3. I never have enough hands, patience, time or sanity, but I can't imagine our family without Brynn. She is such a joy and a beautiful girl. She has such a great capacity to love, and I am in awe as I observe the amount of love she shows to each and every member of our family, despite her very young age. It is hard to imagine that a 7-month-old child can make so many individuals feel that they are the most loved and special person in the world, but she does. I love to see the relationship between Chloe and Brynn evolve and I know that they will not always get along, but they are going to be the best of friends like only sisters could be. Thanks for being a part of our family Miss Brynnie...we love you more and more every single day!!!