The Tall and Short of US

I went to bed alone. Something I thought I'd love. No elbow in my back. Or knee in my side. Or hand tickling my armpit. Or drool on my shoulder. One night, a few weeks ago, Thomas took the kids to bed. Abbie usually stays behind while the boys go to Lincoln's room, but this time Abbie joined them. And then it was just me. Alone. In the bed. I thought I'd love it but it was awful! I was suddenly so alone. Something I haven't felt in a very long time. Even little dude in the womb was still. And there was a deafening silence. I fell asleep so quickly, so the feeling didn't last very long. And that part was nice! When Thomas came back with empty arms it was so bizarre. I can't even remember the last time it was just me and Thomas alone in our bed. Probably the night my water broke with Lincoln! 🤣😜🤷‍♀️ I was relieved to see Abbie wander back to our room a few hours later. Barely two, in her own bed, across the house. I'm just glad she found her...

Abbie is exploding with words. Lincoln plays a game with her in the car that I call "Abbie Say." He'll list off 50 words and she'll repeat most of them. It's so funny to hear her say words like "dinosaur" or "fluffy". Sometimes I join the game and see just how crazy we can get! Abbie is also all about babies these days. She's always rocking her baby dolls and wrapping them in dish towels. Lincoln is so smart and creative. I wish I could take credit for it, but it's all him. He always asking to craft and draws and creates the most bizarre things. It's so funny to ask him what I'm looking at and hearing him explain everything. He recently got into youtubers catching fish with hamster cages. So random. I'm just glad it's not "What Does the Fox Say?" on repeat... On that note, Abbie Rae is REALLY into Bruno Mars these days. Which I can tolerate. If I turn on nursery rhymes or Baby Shark she gets mad a...

Time is flying! Abbie is almost 2 and I'm not handling it well. Maybe it's pregnancy hormones or big changes in the air. Fall is here and I'm so excited! But that means my tiny little chicken nugget is not even a toddler anymore but a big girl! She says "I two!" already. Sings her ABCs and counts to ten. She has a huge vocabulary. In fact, she can speak full sentences. The other day I was struggling to put a lid on her cup. I asked her to take it to Dad to fix it. This girl straight up said "Daddy! Cup. Mommy broke." He asked, "Oh, did mommy break the cup?" and she gave a very enthusiastic "Yeah!" 🤣🤣🤣 I just can't even with her! She doesn't walk anywhere, she struts. Sometimes it looks like she's dancing with each step! She loves music and dances anywhere and anytime. She'll wiggle her shoulders or shake her hips and yell "Dance!" 💃 A few months ago she started calling Lincoln "Bubba...

This summer I've made it a goal to go go go. The park, the splash pad, the zoo, the museum, Elitch Gardens, the library, tumbling gym, etc. And we've literally done all of those things in the last two weeks. And I usually have an extra child (or four 😂) in tow! Lincoln is at such a fun age and Abbie is getting old enough to enjoy everything! She's getting more independent and adventurous and it makes going to the park and other adventures really fun! She's always aware of where I am and never wanders off. The children I watch have a very calm nature. A double stroller, baby wearing, and obedient children make these outings possible! I often get the cliché "Wow! You've got your hands full!" comments. Or "Oh my! Are they all yours?!" I usually just smile and move along. I have too many ducklings to stop and chat with the opinionated and very vocal strangers. But I love the "They're all so beautiful! You're so blessed!" commen...

I'm not even exaggerating when I say I've been attempting to write a family update for over 6 months. With two tiny humans, moving to a new home, unpacking, vacations, and daily life, this family journal was put on the back burner. No, the crock pot. Who am I kidding? I didn't even pull it from the freezer to defrost!  Life is wonderful and beautiful and chaotic and I wouldn't have it any  other way. I am so grateful I take pictures as much as I do, otherwise I would hardly remember our day to day activities! A picture is worth a thousand words, so it's fine I skipped the writing part. Right? Say yes! Let's rewind from our last update! I think that was January when Abbie Rae was 3 months old. And now I'm planning her first birthday party! How did it all fly by so quickly?! My baby is almost walking and the sweetest thing. We said goodbye to our first home in June. I loved that little town home. The move was amazin...

The last 5 years of my life have involved a lot of pregnancy and baby talk. Thomas and I decided, while we were engaged, that we would start talking seriously about having children after we'd been married at least a year. Less than 4 months after the wedding we threw the idea of a year out the window and decided to just let it happen. And it didn't happen. At least not on our own.  Fast forward through multiple fertility treatments and lots of waiting. We finally had Lincoln. We were over the moon. Finally being parents was everything we'd imagined and more. Adding another child and a sibling for Lincoln came up from time to time. After Lincoln's first birthday we started the process again. This time with even more heartache. After years of infertility, I suddenly had no problems getting pregnant. Except this time I just couldn't keep them. And then Abbie Rae changed all of that. Six pregnancies and two living children in five years. We are luckier than many...

This is the same dress I was blessed in 26 years ago.  This dress is so special to me because it was handmade  by my grandmother, my sweet Mama's mama. We blessed Abbie Rae on November 26th, 2017. It was such a tender moment for us. Family and friends came to visit to help us celebrate. The men gathered in a circle and held baby girl in a sweet prayer. Thomas gave the most beautiful blessing to Abbie Rae. It was such a humbling experience to hear the sweet voice of my husband saying such lovely things to our baby girl. He blessed her to know of our love and to know her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He went on to bless her with things I will never forget.  I'm a big time planner and typically get stressed over big events. But this time I just enjoyed the celebration. I don't think I stressed about this day and blessing once. Everything kind of fell into place and it was the perfect day. After the blessing Thomas held her for a long time. I would...