July July July

It seems like I blinked and July flew right by me. It's not even like we have had anything going on. It started with 2 weeks of swim lessons, and I was able to get all 4 boys into their lessons at the exact same time. That was amazing and awesome. I tried to put Taryn in the childwatch and swim with the boys every day and decided that the YMCA is the biggest blessing every for that reason. It's too cold in their for T, and it's way too hot outside for T, so we have been going to the Y as much as possible to swim and this month. Taryn does great in the childwatch and I feel better about putting her in there because it's their slow time of day and she gets oodles of love and attention while I get to give some extra attention to Ammon and Micah and my older boys get to have a blast in the deep end (they finally took the swim test and are SO excited to be able to swim and dive down there). Really we have just been taking it easy and enjoying each other this month and I don't know why it sped by so quickly. Here are the pics that might remind me of anything else we did..


Micah looks like a giant in this picture. I know it looks a little more like Christmas time with Micah's PJs but it sure doesn't feel like Christmas when we step outside...Ammon loving his sista.

Micah's 4th of July Breakfast. Oh see we did have a birthday/bbq at a friend's house on this day and then went bowling and did sparklers.

Taryn 4 months old

Noah loving Taryn. Lately I hear this discussion a lot from Noah..."Taryn doesn't seem like she is going to be a little sister. I don't count babies as girls or as boys. They are just babies. I feel like she is just going to grow up to be another brother. Mom, are you sure she's not going to be another brother?"

Stylin.

Smilin.

Discovering her tongue.

T's favorite finger to chew on.

This is a very significant picture for us and to explain it, I may have to admit that Taryn is a tummy sleeper and then I might get arrested or something. Anyway, she just MIGHT be a tummy sleeper and at 3 months when she learned to roll from her tummy to her back, it was very traumatizing and we stopped getting all of that sleep we had previously been getting. She rolls over and her eyes pop right open and she just cannot sleep on her back. Just as I was in the depths of despair over this, and after trying many things to help, I went to wake her one night from her evening nap and found her like this. At first I assumed she was on her tummy but she did look a little odd. Then I saw her dress and the thumb of her hand and thought surely she is not asleep on her back. I lifted her dress just to be sure and...

That is totally her belly button. I was SO excited. She CAN do it and now our nights and naps are getting better again and I find her on her side, and sometimes even on her back.

Our little turtle the boys found in the back yard this week. They kept him for an hour and fed him carrots and water. Then they let him go.

Look who found her feet! I love this moment in a wee babe's life. They are so delighted to discover those hands and feet and start awkwardly experimenting with them. So cute.

Kaden is such a good big brother. This little girl cannot make a fuss without having several people rush to talk to her and hold her and give her toys. I am trying to at least once in awhile have her be by herself and have to entertain herself, or one day I will be in big trouble.

Family time

We live for moments like these. We haven't seen JaNae and her family for almost 3 years! Yes, that is not a typo and it is very sad. So this beautiful little girl was just a baby when we last saw each other. No longer. JaNae and Aubry drove 2 days to get here and were able to stay for almost 5 days so we tried to cram in lots of good fun without overtiring everyone. Aubry and Micah at Jamestown Settlement.

Ammon

I'm sure the kids favorite part of Jamestown--the chickens. They had little babies with them this time!

Carving their canoe with oyster shells.

Here are the kiddos, minus Noah. He had scout camp all week, so we had to juggle that a little.

JaNae and kids on one of the ships.

Kaden....um

JaNae and Aubry

Fort Monroe

Rolling down the hill

Aubry taught her cousins the game of spotting all the fire hydrants.

It was so good to force us out of the house every day and find out the Taryn actually WILL still still when I am packing her when she has to. She did so good.

We went to Buckroe beach thinking it was going to be a rainy day, so we didn't dress appropriately. We just let them all dive in and play anyway and just had to improvise. The next day we did much better.

Yorktown Beach

Beach baby. Beaches are hard with babies, I have decided. But a beach tent, and getting to the beach at 9 a.m. or earlier helps...

Kaden asks for the camera every time Taryn smiles in the car. Here is his great shot.

I got to do Aubry's hair every day. And I am way out of practice for some reason. She has such pretty auburn hair though. Thanks Aubry for letting me play...

Thoughts on gums, babies, and trials...

Today as I was sitting in the chair at the periodontist (if you don't know what that is, you are lucky)...I was trying to go to my happy place and use relaxation techniques I used with labor. It wasn't working and I tried instead to just think of everything possible except for the scraping going on in my mouth and the big headache I was going to soon have (which would be right now). At first I guess I started thinking about labor because I had tried to use the same techniques, and then I thought I would much rather go through labor than this, and then I decided to lay there and try to remember my labor and all these thoughts were going through my head. There is so much that I wish I would have known from the beginning when I had my babies. With every baby I had a better labor than the last, until finally with #5 I actually looked forward to labor, and it was a profoundly spiritual and amazing experience for me. I wanted to go right back and do it again (but not the pregnancy part...uh...no).

It took me that long to have the right mindset and not to be afraid, and I am positive that affected how long and hard the actual labor was.

I say I wish I would have known more from the start and had the same goals and knowledge, and I know people who start out more prepared, but I guess for me, I needed previous experiences that prepared me (and the experiences of those around me), and each time I learned and discovered something that helped make the next time better. So imagine if I had 10 babies how great it could be. (I'm kidding!--I cringe to think how my body would break apart with another pregnancy). And I really can't imagine it getting any better from Taryn's labor.

Anyway, I am sure no one else can see the connection, but I started to compare it to our trials making us stronger and more capable and closer to our Heavenly Father. He gives us these things to bless us and mold us. He knows what we can be and He knows how to get us there. As we put our trust in Him and give the control over to the one who knows what's really going on, we are tremendously blessed and strengthened, and better for the next time. How grateful I am that I am not alone, and that God knows me so well and knows what is best for me--and that He is in charge instead of me. How wonderful is that?

So thank you Mr Periodontist, for helping my heart be filled with gratitude this day and hopefully doing wonderful things to my teeth and gums so I can keep them awhile despite the utter misery.