Our Aweful Beautiful Life

Em's been a typical (poor) middle child lately. She's just hanging around, basking in being the only girl and following her brothers who both demand a bunch of our time lately. Either Colton has homework or football or Keaton needs to nurse or be changed. But she's handling it like a trooper. Between being an awesome big sister & preschool, we must be wearing her out. All the pictures I've captured of her lately, are pretty sleepy & sweet. Daddy's the best sleep buddy. She made this face the entire time she rode this ride -- GermanFest 2013 Grandpa's Girl on the carousel. Love those lashes! 

I figured I better show the newest member of our family a little love. I don't want him getting that "I'm the 3rd child" complex. So hard to believe that the little bug will be 8 weeks old this Friday. My how time flies!  He's really changing too -- he's cooing more and finally smiling -- which never gets old. Just when you think you've all done in...he flashes a grin and your sold once again! He's a pretty low key baby -- or has been until this week, when he's decided that he doesn't know how to poop. Too much? Probably. That's life of a mom with a newborn and the daily struggles. He's not "constipated", but sure struggles to pass a stool and we get to hear the grunts, growls and whimpers while he tries. And it's trying. But we're hopeful that it's a quick passing phase. We just keep reminding ourselves....this too shall pass. Far too soon we'll be shipping this cute little bug off to Kindergarten. And yo...

All I can think of as I start this post, is that line at the very end of one of my favorite movies, Dumb & Dumber -- "Just when I think you couldn't possibly get any dumber Lloyd, you go and do something like this, and TOTALLY redeem yourself!" -- This would be how I've felt about you, dear Colton, as of late. Only not the dumb part....those words would be replaced with "make anymore poor choices". Let's suffice it to say you've been testing the kindergarten waters lately. Can I remind you -- since you probably won't read this for some time, that your Kindergarten discipline chart goes like this -- - Green is GREAT - Yellow is a warning...time to slow down. - Blue - this is your angel life. You walk laps for 5 minutes of your recess and are removed from the activity. - Red - You're done. You lose all of recess to walking laps and you parents get a phone call about your behavior. In the past week you've gotten two blues and a re...

Were we not just teething? How can this kid be old enough to lose his first tooth? But he did. Pulled it himself...(thank goodness...not sure I could stomach that, to be honest). And let's face it...he's kind of cute with a giant gap. Lost his first tooth! 

Aside from gaining a family member, we've had a LOTS of fun this summer. We really made a point to soak up those last days of summer vacation before Colton started school. Here are a few pictures of the fun we've had... Purdue Fountains with Sawyer & Jenna Keaton enjoyed getting out and about. Em's getting better at staying on her feet while playing! Colton loved it. I love Sawyer "just watching" in the background.  On Grandma Jacki's birthday, the whole fam loaded up and headed north to Fair Oaks Farms. We hit both the Dairy Adventure and the new Pig Adventure. Such a great day. The kids loved it. They got to see a calf being born, as well as play on the giant jumping pillow and taste some cheese. Happy Campers! Fair Oaks Farms for Grandma Jacki's birthday! We love the animals! Baby girl! Love these faces! Cousins! Crazy Uncle Jacob!   Once Colton started back to school, and I finally felt like getting...

Not only has Colton started Kindergarten ... but what truly goes with school days? Sports schedules. He loved tee-ball this summer, and is such an outdoor kind of kid, that when Jason heard about the West Side Flag Football league, he knew Colton would love it. And he does. They meet every Thursday and practice for an hour and then play for an hour. And they have jerseys. And mouthgaurds. And it's AWESOME (in Colton's terms) because they break huddle by saying -- "Do we like Football?" "YEAH!" "Do we like Soccer?" "NO!!" "Do we like Football?" "YEAH!!!!" They had their first game last week and will play again tomorrow. It's about 8 weeks long and conveniently ends the first Thursday I am back to work...so it works out perfectly!  Colton's favorite part -- Jason's helping coach. Jason says he's simply "herding cats" for two hours. Either way, they are both in heaven and it's great bonding t...

Where does the time go? I've often said that as I lacked at posting for long gaps of time, but today the question is more like -- how have my kids grown to be 5 & 3 and SCHOOL AGED? Keaton -- you might be forced to stay a baby forever -- however, let me be clear -- the type of baby that is potty trained and sleeps through the night... got it? Nearly 3 weeks ago, my first baby started Kindergarten. What is it about Kindergarten that makes moms so crazy? Especially with their first (and raging postpartum horomones)? Colton showed both signs of excitement and nervousness, but we worked through those feelings and gathered up our supplies (and what felt like 5 new pairs of shoes....checkbook is still recovering!) and conquered the first day of school. I'm not sure what he was more excited for -- his first day of gym class, which meant he got to wear his new hightops, or just getting his first day under his belt in general. Lucky for us -- he had gym as his special on the first...