Monday, August 15, 2016

Bears and boots and baby besties

A few little randoms from the last week that I don't want to forget. 

After completing the scavenger hung and dropping our name into the raffle at National Night Out along with a million other kids, Everett's name was drawn and we won that big bear and a family pack to Santa Monica Pier. I don't think I have to tell you how excited these two were and are about their spoils.


Somehow this little lady has outgrown almost all of her 2T clothes. 22 months going on 5! I can't believe this little lady will soon be 2 almost as much as I can't believe this little lady isn't already 2!

After swim lesson shaved ice at Blockheads. My absolute favorite Taiwanese treat shared with my posterity--and they LOVED it!


Quinny and her baby bestie Annie. We hear about Annie all day, eryday. She loves that girl!

Those cowboy boots though, all the heart eyes!

My boy's not much for face paint, but pretty please color all over his arms!

Quinn is constantly following those brothers of hers and doing exactly what they are doing. This was in the doctors office at Coco's check-up. I can't believe how big these three are looking!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Coco's 1st Dodgers Game

We are so spoiled! Another day, another Dodgers game with incredible seats. This time we were behind home plate and wow, what a game we saw! We are so grateful to the generous partners at James' firm who offer us their tickets and help build our family culture. I love having adventures and creating memories with our little Wiggy six (even when it's a lot of work and even when people look at us like we're crazy!) Go Dodgers!

She may have been wearing pink but she was definitely cheering for the blue. This angel baby just took it all in, and then fell fast asleep (and remained asleep in my arms for the remainder of the game). I love this girl so much.

A couple of Quinny's favorite things: her Daddy and peanuts. Although don't think she would allow Daddy to crack her peanuts for her, she do-ed it herself!


This boy is SOOO much fun to take anywhere because he just loves life like no one else I know. You should have heard him cheering and yelling and talking about how this was the best game he's ever been to and how lucky we all are. He's decided his favorite Dodgers player is Howie Kendrick because we got his bobble head and he hit a home run. It was great. I love his enthusiasm!

The teenagers behind us became Quinny's fast friends. They were so good with her I honestly wanted to ask for their numbers so that they could babysit. Seeing this picture now, I wish that I would have!

#angelbaby

The best family picture we could get of us all there! Luckily we had way more fun than this picture would lead you to believe. ;) We'll consider Coco's first Dodgers game a success, can't wait until her second!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Never were there such devoted sisters

One of these days Cora won't cry every time I put her down to get a matchy-matchy sister shot, but until then we have lots of images of Quinny being the best big sister/little mama to her Coco. Becoming a big sister has brought out a maternal side of Quinn that I never knew she possessed. It's exhausting sometimes ("No Quinny, don't shove the binky down Coco's throat!") but if I take a step back, I realize that I'm witnessing such a beautiful transition and she is such a great little girl. They both are.  





Thursday, August 11, 2016

My Angel Baby

Sometimes I don't feel like I'm taking enough pictures of my sweet angel baby, but then I look at my camera roll and find so many adorable snapshots of my little chunka munk and breath a sigh of relief. I want to remember every last detail of my last little girl. I want to remember how she falls asleep as soon as I cuddle her in my arms. I want to remember her serious soul who for so long only smiled and cooed in exchange for my baby talk. I want to remember how we are two entities acting as one for all our waking hours. I want to remember the sleep-deprived, stress-induced circles under my eyes. Oh wait, no I don't want to remember those that much! But I do want to remember every last detail of my little Coco. Her full cheeks, her dimpled chin, her floppy right ear and those chunky thighs. I love everything about this baby girl, and I'm glad I have these pictures so I'll never forget how she looked and how loved she was at exactly this moment in time.   










We're nickname people around here, and she's gained quite a few so far. No matter what we call her, one thing you can definitely say is she is loved! 
Cora, Coco, Coco Rue, Cokes, Cokie Roberts, Diet Coke, Coco Nut, Cora Sue, Sister Sue, Little Lamb, Baby bear, Grumpy Cat

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

While Mommy Nurses: A Photo Series

My busy baby keeps herself entertained and barely out of reach every time I'm nursing little sister.  The thing is there's not much I can do except take pictures so I end up photographing the heck out of the sometimes adorable, sometimes mischievous and sometimes exhausting antics she pulls. Oh Quinner, you keep us entertained with your busyness, that's for sure!

Here are a few Quinny moments from the last week that happened while Mommy was nursing:

 A little dress-up action.

 A little beach-towel nap.

 A little tea party and a HUGE crumbly mess. 

 A tantrum the size of Texas.

 A self-served snack at 7 am--last night's chocolate cake.

A chip party--Mommy wasn't invited. 

A future Mama nursing her baby.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

When Daddy's Home

Daddy is rarely home these days during the kiddies waking hours, so when he is this is usually my view of the couch. Those littles love their Dad-man, and he adores them. I'm the luckiest that they all belong to me.

Monday, August 8, 2016

The best big brother

T really loves holding his baby sister. He actually BEGS me to give her to him. He sits on the couch and props a pillow under his arm and before long he is loving on that little lady with such sweetness. I've mentioned many times that Coco loves to be in her Mama's arms, but if her brother is holding her I often have enough time to run to the restroom, throw in some laundry or unload the dishes. I cherish that time, not only to get things done but to see my oldest and my baby interact. I love these two little friends and I'm so grateful when Talmage is a helper.




Wednesday, August 3, 2016

#keepingitreal

I took a shower today, which pretty much means I'm winning at life. Except that it's been one of those days where I feel like I'm the worst, my kids are the worst and our messy home is most definitely the worst. Bad moods were prevalent around our pad and even though the ward BBQ brought some smiles this evening we came home to screaming baby girls, disobedient older boys and chaos, total bedtime chaos. This four against one business, sheesh.

The worst part is not necessarily the craziness, because crazy is our normal around here. The worst part is that all day my brain is going a million miles an hour with witty lines to write and meaningful stories to tell and there are times where I feel so inspired and excited, but by the time I have a second to actually pound the keyboard my brain is like applesauce and the only thing I can think to write is, well, I'm tired. I wish there was more time, or that there was a pause button I could press during the day, but the reality is that my mamas-girl Cora seems to always need to be rocked, fed or changed, my sassy Quinny is finally feeling the effects of becoming a big sister and is acting out in all sorts of heart-braking ways, my emotive Ever is perfecting his art forms of choice--the whine and tantrum--and my big boy T is clumsily making his way from little kidhood to bigger kidhood whilst needing a whole lotta TLC. I'm stretched thin. There is no pause button. And if the only thing I write on this blog is that I'm tired you should know that it is really coming straight from my heart and is just about the only thing on my mind. (Well that and chocolate, but sleep usually wins out. Usually.)

This little blog of mine is not going to win any awards for glamour and sadly my words these days seem to be weak and petty, but I've never tried to make our life seem like something it's not and right now, this is my life. It's crazy. It's noisy. It's messy. And have I mentioned that I'm tired?

But there are perks. I mean, look at these two pictures of my biggest fan:


Cutest little chunka-munka ever, amiright? A friend said she loved that Cora's cheeks rest on her shoulders and I laughed so hard, because don't they? And she loves me more than you can possibly understand which makes her pretty irresistible. I seriously want to slather her with butter and eat her for dinner, that yummy little Coco. She makes even the craziest of days totally worth it.