Mom Confessions on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Just off a short, fun weekend and not quite close enough to the next. 

Mom confession: I actually hate Wednesdays. Its my busiest day and way too far from the weekend.

But today I am telling myself that I am breathing, I am healthy, I am truly blessed. And I am thankful for this day. 

I am also thankful for blue fall skies and the crazy vivid colors of the leaves this year. 

Anybody else notice that? The trees are stunning. Doug keeps talking about how badly we need to work on the leaves in our yard (we got plenty, believe me) but I kind of just want to keep them. I like the sound they make when my big kids run through them. Another thing I am thankful for (most of you will probably disagree), but I am kind of digging time change this year. I seem to have an extra little pep in my step first thing in the morning. With a little bit of sunlight peaking in, I have actually been getting up on time and it has made our mornings so much more enjoyable. Mom confession: This will not last. I am sure I will be hitting snooze and therefore telling my kids to hurry up in no time and we will all be grouchy once again. Remind me of this, okay?

I know what you are thinking about time change and yes, I know that it gets darker in the evenings but honestly, by then I am ready to light a candle, put on some comfy clothes and have a dance party in the kitchen anyway. We are loving "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack right now. And as for my kiddos, time change hasn't seemed to have affected them at all. B is even sleeping through the night. So you might disagree with my time change thoughts, but so far it is working out well for me!

Bennett Lee is my favorite right now. (And not just because he is sleeping through the night.)

He has decided he is the funniest thing and laughs this deep fake laugh after anything he does. We of course all laugh too. He climbs, he crawls, he screeches. But he does not walk. Everyday he maybe gets a little closer to walking but we are tired of waiting haha. Every time he is standing up Doug or I or even the big kids are like "Watch! Watch!" and then he grins and sits right back down. Fake out!

This past weekend we attempted a front porch selfie, like we do a lot of weekends. This is the best I got. Douglas is on point but the rest of us....I just need to accept that this is now my life. We have family pictures this coming weekend and Shar better be fast with that camera or this is what they will look like. But it will be true to life and all will be fine.

Mom Confession: There are no pictures of Bennett up in our house. If you walked in, you would not know that we are a family of five. Sorry B. Maybe after this weekend I will hang up our new fabulous family pics!

Emery Kayt or Miss Sass as I have been referring to her lately is just busy living her best (sassy) life. 

She has been a bit of a back-talker lately. The other day I asked her where she got her sass from and she quite bluntly said that she got it from me. What could I say to that!?!

She is such a sweetie and oh-so-good most of the time that I am actually kind of intrigued by her new found confidence and strong opinions. Lately I have found myself walking the thin line of making her mind and be respectful but also asking her more questions about her opinion (aka stubbornness--her Daddy would say she gets it honest). I just want to know what she is thinking about and I want her to stand up for herself but girls gotta learn to do that in a respectful manner.

One thing is for sure, Kindergarten Emery has brought us into new parenting territory. She has to hug all of her girlfriends hello and goodbye, she might have asked a boy to homecoming (story to come) and yet she still says the word "yes" with a strong, on purpose lisp "yesshhh" like she always has and she still looks like her sweet baby self when she is sleeping. 

Mom confession: Raising a daughter scares me. And I will take all the advice I can get!

August Samuel has been an emotional, energetic, funny little whirlwind lately. 

So really just a three year old little boy. If he doesn't get his way, look out. We have been practicing patience, breathing and not springing any surprises on him. Instead of telling him he has to come inside for supper right now (tears would be instant if we did this), we give him a five minute warning. We do a lot of this and a lot of big breaths to calm down and this past weekend, a lot of time outs. It all seems to be helping. Right when Em turned three she was an emotional mess for about a month. As frustrating as Auggie has been, Doug and I have been reminding our selves and eachother that this stage will pass. Actually, last night we played Candyland and it struck me how grownup he seemed all of a sudden. He followed the rules, knew exactly where to move his gingerbread man. A month a go he would have either messed up the entire board right off the bat or quit a few rounds in. I have said it before, but I think school has been very good for him. He is so proud of everything he does there. Yesterday he brought home a necklace he had made and told us the Bible story of the boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. According to Auggie there was a miracle and then there was "a million loaves of bread and a million loaves of fish!!!" He begs to read Emery's homework books after she does and secretly he is too smart for his own good. He is my little lover-boy. 

Mom confession: I want him to stay three forever. (Maybe just without the tears.)

Last weekend we celebrate Chilifest number 15. The original Chilifests happened at U of I and while I am in no hurry to tell my children stories from those past get togethers haha, I do love that the tradition continues. The tradition of good (and bad) chili and the tradition of good times spent with great friends. The Chilliest crew has grown a bit in the last five years...I think altogether there were 22 kiddos present. (Can you spot how much Bennett loved it?) 

Mom Confession: I love fun. I love get togethers. But I would be lying if I said I didn't look at the clock more than once and think "Is it time to go yet?" Wrestling B, keeping Aug out of the pond and breaking the news to Em that she could not eat another cookie was hard work! But hard work that I am lucky and thankful to have.

Well, thanks for listening to my Mom Confessions on a Wednesday.

Now on to the weekend!