Sweet moments ...

Kids have always and will always have this amazing ability of living in the present.  All now without regrets about the past or anxieties about what is to come.  They fully embrace the moment and are capable of such JOY.  Here is our ordinary evening which turned into deep laughter when the kids decided to opt for post-dinner pig piles and rough housing!  Followed by a "swimming pool" bath (their evening bath tub has been renamed a swimming pool by Luke!)  Love these two and the depth of joy, thankfulness and love that they bring to us!

End of summer fun!

Counting some of our last berries of the year

Best buddies ... until one of them gets taken down by the other in 30 seconds :)

Sweet baby Eden!  We love you!

Hard to believe he'll fit a XXL like his daddy some day!

Dirt and trucks and blueberries make for happy toddlers -- and
therefore, a happy mama :)

One of the many things I said I'd never do before I had kids.
But yes, we now have a sandbox!  When it's an amazing yard sale
find and your kids love it, it's hard to pass up :)

Luke:  "Hmmm, I'll trade you one cucumber for one cherry!  Deal?"

We had FOUR days off together with very few plans and have been soaking in the last days of summer and some glorious family time.  There are certainly crazy parts in every day (come by any day at dinner/bath time to witness the circus!) and hard days ... but I feel like after 2.5 years we're actually at a place of having a really great rhythm with these two.  Scott and I don't feel like we're constantly behind on our sleep and just trying to get the essentials of life done.  My advice to new mamas (and I know many new mamas right now!) is:  give yourself time!  It takes a LOT of time to adjust to being a parents and a 24/7 caregiver to a tiny person (or people!).  It's hard to figure out life (or even what you're having for dinner) when you live on a couple hours of sleep a night.  Everyone told me when the twins turned one it would get so much easier.  I'm not sure it did!  Then I had two mobile babies who still woke up often at night and the logistics of getting everyone out of the house were still so tricky.  But every kid and situation is so different and you have to allow yourself grace and space to figure out your own kiddos.  And sometimes that takes longer than you think it "should" ... that's okay!!  Anyway -- I digress ...
This was the last weekend our favorite blueberry farm was open so we had to go twice!  We've got almost 150 lbs in the freezer partially because we love berries and still do smoothies every morning for the kids, so they'll definitely get used.  And partially because berry picking is the perfect toddler activity!  Outside, active, they get to help and be involved in the process, they are free to run and play ... and they get to sample the earnings of their hard work!  Hoping we still have another month (at least!) of nice outdoor weather.  I've never minded the rain or change of seasons but I dread keeping these two cooped up inside ... I guess that's what raincoats are for!

Oh the joy!

Love these four kids and their contagious joy and how much laughter and fun and chaos they bring to our lives and our families!  Kylee and Caroline and Luke and Amelia and Baby Girl (who will arrive SOON!  Caroline will be the big sister!) -- you are very loved.

These faces ...

These two faces light up our whole world.  No longer are they the version of the red-wrinkled preemie faces that we fell in love with in NICU.  Or the faces of infancy and babyhood when they were covered with rolls and kissable cheeks (they do still have those).  These are now the faces of my KIDS -- my kids who are getting ready to start preschool next month  My kids who tell me hilarious stories (Lukey told me a long story this afternoon about riding his bike to his barn to check on his dinosaurs and make sure they had enough eggs to eat!  What?!  Love his imagination).  Amelia's face is the one that lights up when I come home because right now she and I are very close and she can't wait to do the hokey pokey together and twirl in our skirts and clean the floors (the girl LOVES helping me with household chores.  Like more than any toddler I've known.  She asks at least a dozen times a day to "Fold my laundry please!"  Which entails shuffling her big girl underwear - which she's very proud of - from one laundry bin the to next and then back again!)  These are the faces that I carry with me every day, all day long.  The faces that I pray for and hope for and love so much it hurts.  These are the faces of the kids that have challenged and grown and changed me in painful ways.   The ones that make me realize my short-comings and impatience and desire for perfection all too often.  These are the faces that I will apologize to millions of times throughout their childhood.  The faces that I will live out GRACE with in our home.  The faces that were known and loved by their Maker before I knew of them.  The faces I will love to the moon and back.

Beauty. Grace. Love.

We just spent a week over at SunRiver in central Oregon and can't wait to go back!  I hadn't stayed there since high school and there are SO many fun things for kids to do!  A new water park (amazing), bike paths, hiking trails, parks, etc.  The perfect place to bring 3 toddlers.  And seeing those three play together was probably the highlight of the week for me.  Of course, they needed frequent "reminders" to not shove, steal and bite (toddler years keep you humble, huh?) but they were really quite sweet with each other.  Caroline and Amelia loved walking around holding hands :)  While the week also had some serious car troubles (RIP dear "red car" as the kids call my moms car) and our van has been fully broken in (it was a tree stump vs. honda minivan) -- my memories of this week are sweet ones of our babes being at very loving, independent, strong-willed, kind-hearted phases.  It truly does just keep getting better.