Play Date

Our best friends the Burke family came to visit us last week. Our play dates are always wild and crazy and we love it. And my time with Amy is priceless. We make one another feel "normal" and it is like free therapy. I love how all our kids are the same ages and genders. It is perfect. So that is 8 children, ages 6 and under and 2 mamas. Like I said, crazy! We love our Burkes!

 Clara, Eleanor, Silas, Everett, Thatcher, Hampton, Wyatt, and Jasper. 

Thatcher at 18 Months

My dear, sweet Thatcher baby. What can I say about you? You are the sweetest baby ever. You definitely fit the role of baby of our family. In every way. And we all treat you as such. You wave and say "hello" and "bye" to everyone when we are out. And then give them your toothy grin. You have the best smile. You love to snuggle and give open mouth kisses. You say "mama" and "daeee" and "beep beep" for car……and well a whole other bunch of words. I've lost track. But I am happy with your language development. You are one smart cookie for sure. You keep up with the big kids in and out of our home. At the YMCA, you run around the older children like you are one of them. You have very little fear and can climb a ladder and slide down any slide. You hop on Everett's scooter and try to pedal with your leg. You are a bit of a picky eater, but I think that's just being a toddler. You absolutely love milk and we still cannot get you off of having a bottle. You are the baby. We'll let it slide for now. You love to watch Mickey Mouse, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Curious George. You occasionally still take a morning cat nap and then take your afternoon nap every day. You sleep 11-12 hours at night, still in Eleanor's room. She is not letting you go any time soon (I tried to explain to her we may move you into the boy's room and she had a major dramatic meltdown, crying that you were "her baby."). You got your very first haircut (by mama) last week. When I took you to your 18 month appointment you weighed 26 pounds and were just above the 50th percentile for height/weight and 95th percentile for head circumference. You now also where 18 month clothes and size 5 shoes. 

You are our bubba, Thatcher Reid, our blue eyed baby and we all love you deeply sweet boy. 

Arts and Crafts

What did I ever do before Pinterest?! I just love doing arts and crafts with these babies!

Time with the Babies

We fondly refer to Eleanor and Thatcher as "the babies." They are the babies, and Everett and Hampton are "the boys." So, last week I got to spend a few days alone with our babies. Eric took the boys to Georgia to visit family. I was so excited to spend time focusing on these two! And oh my, did we have fun. 

We went to the YMCA, explored the arboretum, had a picnic, went to the mall in Greenville, shopped at Hobby Lobby. Yes, we had fun. And I got so much rest! The babies sleep a lot. They take long afternoon naps and I took full advantage of the break….resting myself. It was so sweet to hear their little voices and everything they say. With four children in the house, it can naturally get kind of loud. I loved our time together!

Yogurt and Cheerios for breakfast. 

 We watched a lot of Curious George. They love it and so do I!

 Ellie and I painted our nails. 

 This girl is so silly. 

 We had a wonderful time, but we were happy to have these two guys back!

My Dearest Eleanor

My Dearest Eleanor-

Words cannot describe the place you hold in my heart little girl. You are the most joyful 2 year old I know. On the brink of turning 3, your personality and your words are really starting to shine. You catch me off guard sometimes with your growing vocabulary and everyday I wonder what you will say next. Today at lunch you cut your eyes at me and said, "you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" You are so funny! You definitely like getting a laugh and we have described you so many times as just plain goofy. To the silly sound effects you make to your endless array of funny faces….you keep us laughing sister. Your sweet squeaky voice saying to your brothers, "come on boys" as you lead the pack is just enough to make my heart melt. You are in charge around here. And if those boys do not know it now, they will know soon enough. 

Along with all the silliness and goof, you have a sweet quiet spirit in there as well. Sometimes you are timid and soft spoken with others. You have mastered the "smile and look away" for sure. You love on your baby dolls and have recently taken charge of caring for your baby brother. I see the heart of a mama in there and one day you will make a fantastic one. God has blessed you with such an amazing nurturing spirit. 

You play like it is your job. Your play is focused and intentional. You know what game you are playing, even if the rest of us do not. You crawl around on all fours and somedays you are a kitty. Others a puppy. You bark or meow and beg for "treats." You lay out your beloved pink blanket and declare you are having a picnic. You are constantly making us play food and your favorite dish to serve is "soup pie." We are still uncertain what this is exactly, but you claim it is delicious. You carry around two different purse stuffed full of trinkets, which are mostly plastic figurines (Minnie, Sophia, Elmo, etc.) You carry your purse everywhere and know just how a lady is to carry it. You are a girlie girl. You climb and hop and skip, but you are also aware of your femininity. It's a beautiful thing to observe. 

You are not only such a beautiful person on the inside, but on the outside as well. You are tall and slender. In fact so many comment on how big you are. You have learned to respond, "I'm not big. I'm tall." You have a head of curly locks and it is continuing to grow. Your eyes are big with lashes for days. You are a pretty little girl my dear.

You are still sleeping in your crib because why not? You are almost 3, but you love your crib and you do not try and climb out of it. You are a toddler hoarder though. I cannot believe you are able to even find a patch of bed it is so covered in blankets, dolls, and stuffed animals. You will not have it any other way though, even if you do wake up from nap a sweaty mess. Those things are your "friends" and you need them you say. 

You are still learning to use the potty and have made much progress. We are proud of it and are taking it more at your pace. 

You love your milk. Love your milk! I am certain you will never break a bone in that little body of yours because of all the calcium you consume in one day. You are a bit of a picky eater. You eat when your hungry and we are ok with that. 

Your favorite show right now is Curious George. Anytime I ask you what you want to watch, I can predict it will be George. And I don't mind, because he is my favorite too. 

Eleanor I cannot say enough about you. I am so blessed to have you as my one and only daughter. We have such a wonderful friendship and I look forward to continuing to grow together with you by side. We have to stick together! We are the only ladies in this household!

Love, 

Your Mommy 

Wednesday

My favorite blog posts over the years are the ones where I document a typical day. So here is our Wednesday:

All the babies woke up about the same time this morning. We went downstairs for breakfast. This morning we had chocolate banana smoothies, English muffins, and graham crackers. While they were still eating I ready "Timmy is a Big Boy" from our Eloise Wilkin story book. 

 After breakfast we headed downstairs for playtime. Last week I created a photo album of many different activities (puzzles, crafts, books, Legos, etc.). The children are then supposed to browse the book and pick an activity. This morning Everett and Ellie chose arts/crafts and Hampton chose playing with the remote control cars. 

 Around 9, it was time for Thatcher's morning nap. Poor buddy wanted to watch Curious George with the big kids. He plopped down in Everett's red chair. However he needed a nap, so he went down while the others watched Curious George and ate a morning snack. I then got them dressed and packed a picnic lunch for later. 

 When Thatcher got up, we packed up and headed to the arboretum around 10:30. 

 Cleaning their feet from the wet grass that got into their Crocs. It was a bright and sunny day!

 At the arboretum we took a hike through the woods and then had a picnic lunch….fig bars, carrots, raisins, applesauce, Goldfish crackers, and salads for Eric and I. It was wonderful. 

 After lunch the children ran off the last bit of their morning energy. 

 Once we got home we put Eleanor and Thatcher down for their afternoon nap. The big boys watched The Little Mermaid in the playroom. I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made an iced coffee, and watched an episode of Top Chef. 

Once all the children were done with nap/rest time, we headed outdoors again. I set up the plastic pool and water table and they did some water play. 

 The big boys had a great time sliding down the slide into the pool, and Thatcher had fun splashing in the water table. 

 After playing in the water we headed inside and I gave them all a quick bath. We then had leftover creamy ranch crockpot chicken for dinner. 

 After dinner we had family worship time. Eric lead us in a few songs on the guitar. 

 And I then read our Bible story. We then said our family prayers. 

 After worship time, it got a little crazy! We had an impromtu dance party (getting rid of the last of our energy) and the kids did a little wrestling. After that it was upstairs for brushing teeth and bed! The babies went right down and I read another chapter in our Junie B. Jones book. 

Another great day! 

Carl Sandburg Home

Our first summer activity was going to Flat Rock, NC and visiting the Carl Sandburg home. It was a beautiful morning and very serene. We had a wonderful time walking along the trails, seeing a short play by the Flat Rock Playhouse players, and visiting the goat dairy farm. We then had a quick picnic lunch and headed home for rest time. The perfect summer outing. 

And also……Thatcher Reid and the goats was amazing! He had absolutely no fear and grew quite attached to a goat named Maggie!