16 Years

 Way back in July we hit 16 years of marriage! It is actually pretty unbelievable to think that we have already been married that long. It just blows my mind that we aren't those young newlywed kids anymore or that we now have 6 kids and some are becoming quite close to being teenagers!  Daily we are working towards and dreaming about building that legacy for future generations. 

This was an interesting year of marriage. We added Leeland to the family in a whirlwind labor and NICU stay during a pandemic. We faced many, many more challenges than a typical year and in the busyness of raising 6 children, we had very little time to devote to our relationship. And yet, we are okay. It's hard to explain but I am sure someone out there knows what I mean. Life did not give us the time to devote a lot of attention to our relationship. At many times we were under very high levels of stress and just pure exhaustion from a baby who still doesn't sleep through the night and the daily energy required for this family and work.  And yet, we've had each other through it all. Even if we didn't have time, we have been side by side, working together and supporting one another and that has gone really far during this season. Looking back, we've grown a lot this last year!  

These hard times have brought us so much closer together. In true crisis, we bonded more than we have through anything else!  While I long for more time together to have fun and date and enjoy life, I am grateful that even through our worst of days we have each other and know how to love each other through it! I am glad for what we have learned and become through 16 year and I look forward to the future years we still have because I know through thick and thin, we have this life together! 

LB turns 8!

The kids just keep growing, and LB is no exception! Her 8th Birthday came upon us super fast and she is really starting to grow into a sweet older girl. She has changed so much lately and is growing a lot! 

She requested cinnamon rolls for the big breakfast!

And then really wanted to go and play games with us. She is really good at Mario Kart! 

We took her to lunch and got her some ice cream and did a little shopping!  And then she had her big ole candy themed birthday party! 

LB, It has been amazing to watch you grow this last year! 8 is when I feel like all you kids really start to grow into a big kid and I see it happening with you too! You are funny and sweet and kind and typically willing to try new things!  I love that you do everything with a big smile on your face! People often comment on your beautiful smile and it personifies who you are as a person! You are a little ray of sunshine and we can't wait to continue to watch you grow up! We love you so much!   

 

9 Months

This first year is just flying by. I should have been prepared for it, but I never am! We are having so much fun with our little guy and his unique personality is really starting to shine. Overall he is so easy going and full of smiles and giggles. He is definitely in a Mama and Dada stage and we are his favorite people and we are kind of okay with that! 

He cracks us up because he feels like an endless pit and will eat all the time! It's nice now that he can pick up food and feed himself though. He doesn't seem too picky at all, he loves nursing (around the clock), bottles of  milk, pouches of baby food, finger foods. I think the only things I am seeing that he doesn't like are bananas.  But he has loved fresh berry season with all the raspberries and blueberries! 

He's still a pretty little guy even with all the eating he does! Under the 40% in both height and weight but I think we might have caught him right before a growth spurt! Sleep is slowly improving and he finally gave us a couple full nights of sleep during his growth spurt.  He is on a regular 2 nap a day schedule and will at least go down easily at night and at a decent time! He typically has been waking 1-2 times a night but that is better than the phase where he was still waking up every 2 hours not too long ago. Improvement is improvement but I am definitely looking forward to the time when we will sleep all night again!

He's still off to the races and learning so much! He is cruising everywhere and crawling fast. He just needs to gain some confidence and he would take off walking, but no rush!  He's a super busy guy already! But so much fun! 

Leeland Dale, We are having so much fun being your parents and want you to know how much we love you! You are a special little blessing in our lives and it feels like you complete our family so well!  Your adorable little smile and giggles melt our hearts and bring so much joy into our home!  This year of your life is going so fast but it has been our delight to get to watch you grow before our eyes! 

 

June Recap

June was also a busy month that flew by, but it was at least a lot more fun than all the sickness we had in May!

No sooner did we get back from the water part trip, and then the boys were off to Alaska with their grandparents. They had an amazing time!

 We tried to spoil the girls as much as we could while the boys were gone! 

And then the boys were home and I don't think Mal missed us too much, but he missed his baby brother! I thought he was coming to give me a hug but really he was just coming over to steal the baby from me! 

Father's Day!

 

Finally it felt like summer arrived!

At the end of the month, Peter went and got Maui

Peter took Sabrina on a fun little date! She loved it!

May Recap

May was a SUPER busy and hard month!  We spent a large portion of the month deep into taking kids to their sports and also doing the final push for school. It is the time of year that the kids are just over it and I am just over it and we needed to get it done! Leeland was sleeping terrible, the toddler was full of attitude and I honestly felt maxed out on life.  Peter had to go away on a little business trip and even with the help from my parents it was very hard and overwhelming. As soon as he got back, Covid finally caught up with us! Malachi and Sabrina went down at the same time, a day later Eli and LB went down, then Me and Ayla the next, and Peter and Leeland on the 4th day.  I am so grateful that the big kids were almost through it before Peter and I went down. It was soooo hard trying to take care of 6 sick kids while feeling sick and exhausted ourselves. We were not getting any opportunity to recover ourselves and I feel like it took us a solid 3 weeks to get past the brain fog and fatigue and get back to "normal".  So while May wasn't the best of months, we still had some good times and memories!

Leeland got more and more active 

I worked more and more on my sourdough techniques 

Lots of time spent on the soccer field

Malachi made an improbable bet that the Beavers would win every game (5) they played against the Ducks (our rival) this year.  We were happy to have to pay this bet out to him!

FINALLY started feeling like spring

Tea parties

We celebrated the last day of school with slushies and a junk food all nighter (for the kids) although we did finally make them go to bed around 4:30 in the morning.

A lot of popsicles and soup were consumed and a lot of trips up and down the stairs to deliver food and drinks to kids in bed by tired ole mom and dad!

Ayla did help me do a lot of planting!

Poor sick baby boo, but I am thankful we held off on catching this until his body was big and strong enough to fight it off well! 

Fun art with Sabrina

I have worked so hard on getting our lawn to grow, it was sooo bad and I was pretty darn proud of myself for finally getting it to grow where the old pool was! 

And that was another month in the books. They just keep flying by faster than I can even blog them :)