WayfaringStrangers

These October days are filled with baby smiles. Samuel can sit up now, and his tiny tuft of hair stands on his head and he's so beautiful my heart explodes. God is good. These October days we 4 -Graham, Patrick, Samuel, and I- walk home slowly from the bus stop at the end of the road. Everyone else drives to get their kids, but we walk and breathe in fresh (warm, this week) air. We check on the trees as they change color. Sometimes we detour into the woods. Yes, some days, there is whining, but it is always worth it to walk if you can. God is good. These October days, the house smells like pumpkin spice granola. I'm bagging it up to send to each of the hard-working teachers who have made my boys' transitions to school so seamless. Graham especially is thriving in the structure and all day learning. God is good. These October days I cherish my parents. I love that Dad is here with us this fall, and hearing what God has placed on his heart. I love callin...

Summertime...you are lovely and tiring and warm. Yesterday was the first official day of summer, but it's been warm and the kids have been out of school for a month now, so it feels familiar at this point. Today the air is humid and the sky looks like it might host one of those wonderful summer thunderstorms. I took the 3 boys for a walk in the woods this morning and it was perfect: that earthy woods smell was strong and we all breathed it all in. And then we got eaten by mosquitoes. The sun has been going down late and up early with the summer solstice and so the kids seem to go to bed later and wake up too early. That, on top of their relentless energy , million demands (not that every demand is always met), and a baby that is up at night nursing, is why my blog has been quiet. Writing is hard right now, as is showering, exercising, and sometimes eating. I do tend to prioritize eating though. Basically any alone time I have is very limited and I'm stretched thin. What hav...

There once was a me, who wanted to be a mother, deep down in my soul. So I found me a man and in a few years we planned to begin our parenting role. Three boys in 5 years, full of joy (and some tears) mean my house is never neat. But that doesn't matter, except when there's splatter of pee on the toilet seat. Now let me be clear, I'm happy to cheer about the joy of motherhood. They're gifts from above and there's plenty of love. The days are hard, but I know they're good. Amidst baseballs and sand, with coffee in hand, I navigate through the long day. Many times they go pee and I don't want to see, "Don't make a mess on the seat!" I say. But at the end of the day, when boys have been put away, and I think I won't have to repeat... I usually find-and then lose my mind- that there's pee on the toilet seat.

It's one of "those" posts...I'm a jumbled mess and just trying to type out all the feelings and thoughts. I am tired. Patrick wiggled his way into our bed at some dark o'clock. He kissed me and then laid quietly. I looked at the clock: 5 a.m. "Oh good," I thought, "he'll go back to sleep." 5:15: He's still laying awake. "He will go back to sleep." 5:25: Still awake. "5 a.m. cannot be his wake up time." 5:40: Still awake. "5 a.m. cannot be his wake up time." 5:55: Still awake. "I feel like death..." 6:10: Now he's whispering about cheerios. 6:15: Thankfully Behn got up with him. 6:16: Graham wiggles into bed with me. And so. I am tired. I am also 2 days away from my 3rd trimester, which is another tiring factor. Growing humans is serious business, folks. I am full on waddling now, and had quit all my part time jobs because I just can't anymore. I feel fairly depleted and yet ...

Back when I first got pregnant with this one, we talked about "not finding out." You know, if the baby was a boy or a girl. At first, it seemed like it would be easy. People never used to know what they were having, right? I declined the 10 week blood test that would show for abnormalities and also reveal the gender. We moved on. Then we started talking about names. We've always had a girl name, but coming up with another boy name was a challenge. And then I started looking through the baby clothes. Would I need all these baby boy clothes? Or could I purge most of them? Should I be looking at little sundresses? Our 20 week ultrasound was scheduled. Behn and I decided to have them write down if the baby was a boy or a girl, so that we could decide later on if we wanted to know. At this point, I was pretty much itching to find out. As it turns out, the ultrasound tech wasn't allowed to write it down, but she did print a very specific potty shot so that we could deci...

Last year I documented an outing to CFA and Target with a 3 and 2 year old. I really enjoyed looking back on it, and thought I'd replicate the outing a year later and see how things have changed or stayed the same. Year: 2015. I have a 3 year old and an almost 5 year old. The outing is discussed, expected behavior is laid out. We have goals: to get lunch and then go to Target to buy things to fill our shoebox for Operation Christmas Child . Shoes on, hoodies on; much easier than last year. And we're off. One mile down the road I have to pull over. A kid is already  losing it. I forget what it was even about. I threaten the "knock it off, or I cancel the trip..." and we are set to go again. I tell stories again while we drive. I've been telling stories in the car for over a year now, and it fries my brain every time. Thankfully, they don't ask for them every time we drive, but since it takes a while to get to Chick-Fil-A, a few stories were told on this ...