Aaaand she's up!

We finally have a doctor! 

The search for a doctor has been ridiculous. 

NOT

 because I am picky, but because no one is accepting patients or if they were they wouldn't be able to get anyone in until September or October. 

RIDICULOUS!!

I know. 

So a month later, I finally got far enough down the list of our 'in-network-providers' to find someone who could get us in this last week. Sadie was a month past due on her shots and her 6-month check-up so I was getting a little desperate. 

We got there only to find out that they don't do immunizations in the office but we have to go to a clinic. Oh, if only I had known that a month ago! Anyways, i'll stop complaining. I like living in a smaller town, but there are definitely things I need to get used to.

So at seven months Sadie weighs 14 lbs 4 oz. And is 24" tall. She is definitely a shrimp but she is our little ball of fire. 

She has been pulling herself up on stuff for the last little while, 

and just this week can now stand on her own. 

From sitting to standing all on her own. She is still pretty wobbly, but plops onto her bum in a relatively graceful fashion :)

She looks more and more like Lucy as she gets older..

But not so much like Cole...

Certified

Lucy and Cole went with Daddy to get some stuff from HomeDepot so Devin could have a real work bench for his tools and get stuff off the floor of the garage. They weren't supposed to be gone for that long, but almost and hour and a half later I decided to call to see where they were. Devin said they had had an activity there for the kids and they were getting in the car right then. We ended the call and thirty seconds later my phone was ringing with Lucy on the other line. 

"Mommy! I can't wait to show you what we made!!"

me: "What did you make I can't wait to see it!"

"We made trucks! We got to paint it and use screwdrivers and nails! I built it myself!"

She hung up and they were home within a few minutes. 

These were the fun little trucks they got to build and painted!

I guess they had a little certification class where kids can come and learn safety skills while they get to make something. This time it was using a hammer and nails. 

 They each got little certificates, and even pins! They were so excited that we will definitely be going back next month.

 "I did it!"

 "I did it!"

Playing in the Rain

This summer has been so nice! 

Every time I say that someone tells me that it is uncharacteristic or Illinois, but nonetheless. It has been GREAT! Yes it is more humid here but there have only been a handful of days where it was muggy and uncomfortable to be outside. 

We've had a lot of rain, well, a lot compared to Utah's rainy season :) 

The kids LOVE to play in the rain, I know I've posted pictures of them playing before, but here we go again. So you don't need to keep going if you'd rather not. 

They will just run in circles,

This time Lucy asked me to sing the raindrop song. I thought she meant the "drip drip drop" song from Bambi, so I started singing that. But she stopped me and said, "no the one that goes, ah, ah, ah," with her mouth wide open and her tongue sticking out. So we sang the "if all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops" song while we walked around with our mouths open to the sky. It was so fun. 

I have been surprised that Sadie doesn't mind the rain at all. If it's pouring hard she'll hug me and put her face down, but for the most part she wants to be going with the kids.

The kids new favorite thing is to paint EVERYTHING with water. So naturally after they were done running around in circles they got their paintbrushes and started painting in the rain.

I love how close Lucy has to get while she paints things.

Cole thinking "you want me to do what?"

They loved this spot, while playing in the pool they always pour water to make a puddle so they were pretty happy to see the rain filled it up so much.

Finding answers

Motherhood, being a mom is all I ever wanted in life. 

I dreamed/wished for the day I would be a mom. 

When I could have kids of my own to love and play with and teach. 

Since I've become a mom I feel like I've been weighed down with the 'need to do' things. The kids need baths, they need naps, they need food, they need a clean house, they need etc, etc. 

I used to want twelve kids.

Then ten.

When I got married I wanted eight.

Six months ago I was done at three!

My sisters used to joke with me that I would be that mom with ten kids running around her crazy! I would have the loud home with kids running all over.

With all the joking there was never the "annoyed mom, 'oh my goodness my kids are being so loud, how embarrassing!'" aspect implied or imagined. I always envisions happy chaos :)

I've thought of that often these last few months. I've talked to many other mothers and non-mothers, about my inadequacies of being a mom and not having it all together, etc. etc. 

You know what they have all said? Give it time, you will find your way or that is what I have gleaned from the conversations. 
Then today one of my friends posted a link to this blog post. 

It has put word to my thoughts and feelings of late. I have been trying to find a way to be that mom that I used to dream of being. To love being with my kids, to teach them, to not be overburdened with what I cannot fit into each day. To let them be kids! 

 I have found my answer to becoming the mom I envisioned myself of being.

 My answer?

 Heavenly Father. 

Forgetting about what 'everyone else can do' because why does it matter what they can do? 

What matters is what I can do, with the Lord.

Matthew19:26 -"but with God, all things are possible."

I am so grateful for His hand in my life thus far. I am so grateful for the help He has given me. 

I am happy I have time to work on becoming the mom I have always wanted to be so that I can love my family even more. 

I have been told before the scriptures are the guidebook to parenthood. I know now that is the truth because only through the scriptures and the truths taught within them can we find our way.
Grateful for another day to start again! 

Just because...

Keeping the blog up-to-date seems to mean,

 blog every couple of weeks with a few posts in a row :)

hope that's okay with everyone else!

 Sadie had popcorn for the first time a few weeks ago, well, had her own unseen-snatch-into-the-popcorn-bowl-handful for the first time :) The following morning she was making this face. Still not sure what was going on but I have an inkling she might have had a husk stuck to her throat or tonsil...not gonna lie, I laughed more than once at her all morning long. 

I have read this book no less than five times a day for the last week and a half. Cole's favorite. We'll read it he'll go to get another book and come back with that same one, saying, "read again, pwease?" And if after the third time in a row I say no please pick another one, he'll go read it to himself while I read Lucy's pick. Then come back asking for more :) Silly boy. What can I do but keep reading it?

I think our living room has undergone at least three rearrangements since we've been here. After this last one the kids decided running along the couch jumping into my rocking chair; and off the chair onto a pile of pillows and beanbags was the thing to do. Here is my documentation of the event.

This last couple of weeks we've been hiking at a nearby state park. It is BEAUTIFUL! I WILL TAKE PICTURES NEXT TIME! That was a reminder for me...the last two times I've taken the camera and left it in the car.

 grrr. 

It really is gorgeous and the kids even climbed up to the waterfall with Devin this last time. They were adorable. Lucy was trying so hard to be brave even though she is terrified of heights. Cole didn't seem nervous at all but was intent on making sure I was watching every step of the way, so he was constantly looking over his shoulder saying, "mamma, loot! I doing it!"

 SO cute. 

We discovered a family of cats under our shed on Sunday! I don't know where the groundhogs went. The cats, sadly, are not friendly at all. The mom is pretty skiddish and acts like a stray. The kittens are careful to not be near or within reach when they hear us. I wouldn't mind having cats as pets, as long as they are nice and don't bite us. And as long as they stayed outside. Dispite my best efforts of bowls of milk and random lunch meat, the cats aren't becoming friendly.... :( it's probably a good thing. 

Sadie thinks she's grown up. Oh wait, that isn't news! She now pulls up on everything. 

Can stand for 5-10 seconds. 

Sucks on any and all knobs she can reach, which is quite a few in this house.

LOVES wipes....sucking on them mostly. I'm hoping she doesn't die of an overdose on whatever is in those things.

Plays peek-a-boo by putting her face on the floor and sitting there until someone says, 'peek-a-boo!' then she'll pick her face up full of smiles. 

There is a couple that lives down the street who walk their dogs everyday around 9. We've seen them almost everyday for the last week. They kindly endulge the kids with waves and smiles as they pass. i probably couldn't resist smiling at two little kids with their faces stuck to the front window arms waving wildly, either! 

It is fun and something they look forward to every morning.

Snowball (the syrian hamster) has proved he is not as stupid as we once thought. He has escaped one too many times. The last time he escaped he somehow found his way into one of our walls downstairs. I didn't see him for 36 hours...needless to say I was worried we might end up with a smelly dead hamster and no way to retrieve him. Thankfully he emerged and now every possible escape route has been taped and tied shut :) 

We love our Snowball. And tape.

Poor Cole is having a rough week. 

There are usually two reasons why Cole gets upset and cries. He is hungry or he is tired..okay a third would be that Lucy is teasing him. But in general, those two reasons. This week, food and sleep have offered no aid in reliving Cole of whatever seems to be causing him grief. He has been sad (crying at everything), mad (hitting us when he is upset), stubborn (beyond belief) and I cannot figure out why. He has been sleeping a TON the last few days. We think he may be growing? Devin thinks he looks skinny. But with that and Sadie's separation anxeity issues this last couple of weeks we've been seeing a lot of crying in this house.

We are LOVING Devin's work schedule, and how much we're getting to see him. He works a LOT but the fact that the work doesn't follow him home anymore is UH-MAZING!