Sunday Mornings

 The one nice thing about having church at 1pm is having a leisurely Sunday morning.

Nick's gonna be so happy I posted this one, but I just love so many things about it.  You can't sit down in this house without two or three kids climbing on you.  And, I love Nick's balding head.  ;)  Daisy has a (half) bald head too, if that makes him feel any better.

 Over the weekend we harvested all of our squash.  The kids were delighted to find all of these:

Yeah for Fall!

Going On

 Here's a little update on our family.

Warm popsicle days are drawing to an end, I'm afraid.  This is the "I just woke up from a nap" face from Lu.

 Maren makes me laugh.  She used lip gloss as makeup to look like this:

She did a fairly good job on that one eye.

The girls painted gourds with their Grandpa and really wanted a second go.  Isn't this one cool looking?

 And what's a post without photos of this munchkin?

 She rewards most people who stop to talk to her with a huge 'ol grin.

 I get lots of comments about her big blue eyes, and her long eyelashes.  You can see them in this photo:

 My girls wanted me to take a photo of their Barbies because "they look so cute!"  Personally, I think those two ragamuffins are cuter.

2 Months

 This little chiquita is 2 months old today:

I know, those eyes pierce you to the soul, right?  She is a sweetheart, that's for sure.  And I thought, just for fun, I'd pull up 2 month photos of all of us.  Here you go.

Here's Daddy:

Mommy:

Ellie:

Maren:

Everett:

 Lainey:

Genetics are amazing.  So many variables, yet so many similarities too.

That was fun, huh?

Yep, more photos, thanks for stickin' with me.

LuLu (Nick told me I can't spell it Lou Lou anymore, it's too boyish, or something like that... ;) was so proud of her Lego creation:

You need a closer look at that...

I think she has reason to be proud.

Madison, you'll be happy to know that your hat has provided hours of entertainment (at least minutes, which is like hours for a toddler/pre-schooler):

Where's Lainey?

There she is!

And lastly, we've been enjoying rainy days and some spectacular lightning storms: 

 And apparently my window tracks need a good deep cleaning.
That is all.

I Got This

 Just in case my life looks easy, let me make a confession to bring you all back to reality.  Being a mom is hard.  My life is a tender balance between managing house, meeting the needs of my kids, and somewhere in all of that making time for myself so I don't lose my sanity completely.  It takes me a few months after having a baby to settle into a new normal, and we are still in the midst of that transition.  We'll get there someday (soon, I hope) but for now, I feel every day is a struggle to stay afloat.  I get dressed, I'm exercising again, my kids are fed, clean on most days and usually dressed by noon and we have clean dishes to eat on.  I call that a win.  We are doing okay.

Other random things?

Daisy smiles are the highlight of my day:

She's using her voice now, too, which is awesome.

I love it when the kids are doing something all together, and even better when they are quiet doing it:

Lainey loves baby dolls lately:

We've been busy putting up the fruits of the season:

Nick is quite the man.  I am usually more on top of bottling and the garden, but this year has been a bust (for reasons mentioned above).  My husband has stepped in and helped me get it done as it's just as important for him as it is to me.  I sure love that man.

Blessed

 We had a very special day this last Sunday.  Daisy was blessed.  Nick gave a beautiful blessing, and we were feeling very spoiled with all the family who came to share this day with us.  And all the good food.  Always good food.

Here is her dress:

This was a special dress because it was mine.  I had debated using it for all of my girls, but the lace was faded and worn (I had used it on my baby dolls for years).  Finally, my mom and I took it apart and replaced the old lace with new trim, and I really like how it turned out.  Silly me didn't take a photo of the dress before we took it apart, but this is what it looked like some 34 years ago:

My mom also made a bonnet to match.

 What a beautiful baby my Daisy is.

 We feel so blessed.  Blessed to have Daisy.  Blessed to have five beautiful children.  Blessed to be surrounded by so much family who comes and supports us.  Blessed to have the gospel.  

Very, very blessed.