Florida

I fully intended to get these pictures up before Aimee's party pics - but it just didn't happen. There are a LOT of pictures. And in no particular order, here we go:

This trip to Florida was especially great because my sister Steph was going, with her new baby - that I hadn't met yet. I was SO excited to finally meet this cute little lady:

My newest niece, little Addison Mae (and first on my side of the fam! About dang time!). Only, I like to call her Mae-B ("maybe") you know... like on Arrested Development. And because I have a niece named Addison on Greg's side, I thought calling her Mae-B would help Aimee and Jack be less confused. I don't think it helped. Jack just kept calling her "baby" because that sounds just like Mae-B. And Aimee would say, "I'm going to call her Addison." Haha.I tried.

Aimee meeting little Mae-B for the first time... she was very excited!

 

Mae-B LOVED her cousins! She was just fascinated with the them the entire trip. 

Our attempts at a cousin picture... I thought it was hard with the 9 on Greg's side... still hard with only 3. Jack was NOT cooperating.

My sister took this one. That is my hand "gently guiding" Jack out of the way. It looks like I'm about to yank him over. I promise I didn't.

Mae-B looooved her Pop-pop.

The new mama.

Mae-B's first beach day.

Jack being a spaz in the pool.

Aimee, being dramatic in the pool. We are never boring around here.

Whitney and little Mae-B. (This poor baby eats, I swear she does - but she has the scrawniest little arms and legs!!)

Jack and Aimee were loving being thrown up in the air and "caught" in the water. They would completely submerge - but didn't seem to mind. Jack would scrunch his face up and put his hands over his eyes. So funny. We did this FOREVER.

Mae-B, being cute. She was a really good baby, but man - when she gets mad she will let you and the entire world know it. I don't think I've ever been around a baby that cries louder than she does. Must get it from her mom. (Hah!)

We were at this little shopping center in Viera. They have these bronze statues everywhere  - I'm pretty sure the same artist has a bunch of pieces in Utah. I think I saw a CTR ring on one of the statues - but didn't remember to look for it or take a picture this time around.

With the Madre.

These are blurry, but pretty funny.

Aimee's face is hilarious!

A tiny chocolate covered pretzel couldn't be that messy right?

Right?!

Jack swiped Mae-B's pacifier. Lookin' good son!

Zoo day!

Cute ladies

Jack would walk near the giant tortoise, but would NOT touch it.

Stripes! (I realize that I wear this shirt A LOT - I have million pictures in it)

We went to the beach! Aimee had a total blast. Jack wasn't the biggest fan. It took him over an hour to be ok with the sand... and he didn't want anything to do with the water. Poor land-locked baby. Don't let the over-castness fool you. It was plenty hot, and we only stayed as long as we did because we weren't being blasted by the sun. It made for a really good beach day!

How Jack spent the first hour we were there... chillin' on the blanket and eating snacks. 

Sweet baby and Ana.

And this is why I long for a home with a yard (see pics below)... I want to be able to kill some time without leaving the house and get my kids totally worn out before bed time... (one more year, one more year, one more year)

 

This one deserves a bigger size - so sweet?? Aimee kind of looks a little devious. 

And now for some fishing. Redneck style!

You actually can catch fish out here, it's kind of fun. Until you accidentally catch a turtle. Don't worry - he's ok.

Pop-pop and Whitney with the babies.

Last day :(

I feel like the time always goes too fast when we get to visit. And as always, we can't wait until we get to go back! Love you guys!

Aimee, the Birthday Girl

Aimee turned 4 on the 11th - and to celebrate I went all out. 

Ok, not really - not at all. I had a bit of Mommy Guilt when sometime around June 2nd I realized that Aimee's birthday was coming up and I had no idea what I was going to do for it. I was so last minute putting it together and being the very preggo/husband-less lady that I am - I wanted to keep it as easy as possible. 

A party at the park was perfect! The entertainment was already provided, my house didn't get destroyed, no pinterest-inspired food table to set up and take down. It was GREAT.  

We had pizza, snacks, cake, juice for the kids - I would say the only thing that would have made it better would have been if it were 15 degrees cooler. It was SO dang hot and muggy - even at 10:30, when we started. The kids didn't seem to mind, but I was dying. 

Now for the pics!

 

Party guests, chowing down. 

The birthday girl herself. 

I love how intense the expression is on their faces!

 Don't mind the food tray - it was blocking the wind

Before we destroyed the cake - thank you Kroger!

Present time!

Love love love how excited she is...

 

 If I couldn't wrap my head around Aimee turning 4 - this picture helps. She looks so grown up!

 

 Cash money!

And sometimes it's hard not being the birthday kid. 

I died when I saw this picture of Jack! He was in such a foul mood! He swiped a present of Aimee's and just started opening it. She didn't notice, otherwise I'm sure she would have had a meltdown. The best part is, when Jack saw what was inside (a My Little Pony) he cried and threw it on the ground. Hah.

We discreetly put the My Little Pony in an already opened gift bag. Aimee was none the wiser. 

All in all - success! My only regret, not taking a picture of ALL the kids together. They were so cute and fun. Thanks to everyone that could come (especially so last minute) and for helping out!

Utah

Now that I'm coming off my vacation high (and going through withdrawals) I will torture myself a little bit by uploading all these pictures from part 1 of our summer vacation. 

Brace yourself. Get a glass of water. If you need to go to the bathroom, do so now. This is a long post. :)

The kids and I flew to Utah at the end of April to see Greg's family. Greg started his finals right after we arrived, but joined us once they were over. For the first few days it was just me, the kids, Greg's parents, and my SIL Stephanie, her hubby Micheal, and their baby Conner. Soon my other SIL Laura came with her two girls and then the party really started. 

Below are some pictures of Aimee and Addison. I think this time around they played together okay. Well, now that I think back on it - there were a few spats. Some meltdowns over who got to wear which princess dress, who had what crown, who got to be the "teacher", who was the fastest... serious stuff to almost-four-year-olds but at least 75% of the time they got along GREAT!

Nanny helped alleviate some of the dress-up issues with a trip to Costco and purchasing 4 of the same dress.

Addison, Jack (sans pants) ooing and awwing over baby Conner. I think Conner loved all the attention.

Don't worry Conner, they all love you. They really do!

My little man in his natural messy state.

How many babies can we fit into one tub? I think 5 was pushing it. Conner wasn't thrilled with the idea.

Oh! And I got the best surprise while in Utah. I was bummed that Greg's sister Carinn wouldn't be in Utah this trip. I hadn't seen her fam since Jack was born. Little did I know... she planned a quick sneak-trip! I was in the kitchen, heard the doorbell rang and then the girls start shouting, "Neal! Amelia!" 

Say whaaa? I go outside and there they are!! I was so thrilled! Bless you Carinn for making the 12 hour+ drive with 4 little kids. You are a saint. And I am SO happy that I got to see all of the kids!

Now, organizing any sort of outing with 9 kids under the age of 8 is quite the ordeal. But a trip to Utah wouldn't be complete without a stop at PBR and Malawi's Pizza.

 Aimee, Bree, Kourtney, and Neal.

 (Part of) Amelia and Aimee. There was free face painting the day we went. Score! Aimee was thrilled. She pretty much had a complete meltdown when it was time to wash her face that night.

 Sweet Bree. 

Jack, Neal, Amelia, Bree, and Aimee. 

Now Jack looks at the camera...

Okay, so I just gotta say - it was funny (and frustrating) to see how Aimee (and Jack) interacted with their cousins. Let's start with Aimee. I already mentioned that Aimee and Addie had kind of a love/hate thing going on. Aimee was super competitive with her. But put Aimee with Amelia and you got "the informers". They were quick to tell on anyone for anything! Yet, played together really well. Neal was like Sweden. The great neutralizer. Anyone that played with him had zero problems. Aimee and Bree got along really well most of the time, but those two together were sneaky and naughty! I know at one point they swiped some chocolate (they said they found in the trash can, I hope not) and could be seen racing across the backyard (when no one was supposed to be outside) to find a place to eat it. Aimee treated Kourtney (Addie's little sister) like she was a baby most of the time. She was nice and motherly with her most of the time. And of course, she was nice/indifferent towards the babies, Sophie and Conner.

Jack was okay with the big kids and the babies. But he had it out for Kourtney! (SO sorry Laura) Laura kind of warned me that Kourty could be a bully, that she wasn't afraid to take a swing at her big sister. But whose kid was the bully? It wasn't Kourty! It was mine... Jack will pull Aimee's hair if they are fighting over toys at home... But if Kourty so much as looked at him, or wandered too close he'd get mad and pull her's. I'm kind of at a loss as to how to discipline this. Time outs, scolding, hand slap (which I totally regret doing) - He doesn't care! It was a bit foolish of him to pull her hair, especially since Kourtney has like 3 inches and 7+ pounds on him. Maybe if she had decked him he would have left her alone!

Anyway, back to the pictures.

We had a mini birthday celebration for little Sophie (aka So-so or Sof) and one for Aimee too.

Here's the little lady digging into her cake.

Bree, Addie, and Aimee

The "big" kids. Neal, Bree, Addie, Aimee, and Amelia

Aimee got a special present from Nanny this year. A "real" Cinderella dress! Laura and Steph had her close her eyes while they put it on her. 

Inspecting the dress...

 

She loved it!!!

And little Conner man, being cute as always.

I mentioned that going anywhere with all the kids was an ordeal. We had one outing that ended up being almost reality-show worthy (in my mind anyway). 

All Greg's mom wanted to do was take the kiddos up the Canyon for a relaxing Sunday afternoon picnic. No big deal right? I guess when you have a house full with 18 people sleeping, eating, and living there, it can get a bit crazy. 

I could almost see how this would play out on tv. Clips of kids fighting, some wandering in the front yard (unsupervised). Cut to the moms in the kitchen, packing 18 lunches, cut to the dads hiding out downstairs, chatting and totally oblivious to the chaos around them. Cut to a mom looking for her kid's shoe, cut to a kid hiding a shoe behind the couch...   

Cut to the moms figuring out who's riding in which car. Frustrated dads moving a dozen car seats around... More scenes of kids screaming and crying and fighting. Clips of the wives getting frustrated with their husbands...

Finally everyone is loaded up, but we're at the commercial break and the clip of the next segment seems all dramatic when the camera crew focuses on the car Greg and I are about to drive... Dun dun duh!! Back from commercial and you find out that the car Greg, me, and the kids were going to drive up in, is out of gas. AHH!! So more clips of frustrated Greg moving the car seats to a different car. 

More scenes of kids bickering in the car ride up the canyon... but we make it! (About an hour and a half later than expected... but we made it!) Cut to scenes of the beautiful canyon... the streams, the picnic benches... but the wind was chilly, almost down right cold. Cut to scenes of the families unloading the cars and cue the commercial again with more dramatic music... Come back from the break and what do you know? A bunch of blankets and sweatshirts were left in the back of the car that was out of gas. At this point the show would cut to a scene where Greg and I are sitting on a couch, being interviewed later,

"We didn't know there was anything in the back of the car! We thought it was all in the van!" 

(At least the food made it up!)

Do you see what I mean by reality show worthy? Yeah, next time we're all together we should let TLC know... 

Well, once we were in the canyon, fed, and settled, everyone enjoyed themselves. I think the highlight for the kids was throwing stones in the creek. Jack could have done that for hours.

Here's something disappointing though - after all that - I only have two pictures from the trip... :(

Little Kourty

This may have been a game of duck-duck goose (Addie, Eric, Bree, Aimee, Amelia, Poppy, and Neal and maybe the back of Micheal's head)

We did attempt to get pictures of all the kiddos together. It was pretty much impossible. Another reality show-worthy moment. But I will spare you the details. These pictures below are from our second attempt... we were a bit more successful this time around.

The handsome boys. 

Conner, Neal, and Jack

Nanny and Poppy with ALL the babies.

(Jack, Kourty, Aimee, Nan, Bree, Addie, Sof, Poppy, Conner, Min, and Neal)

Oh... and I had to add one of So-so's individual pics. She is such a doll!!

Below are some okay pictures I got of my kids from our first photo-shoot attempt.

Aimee looks so old here!

And my little man, hiked up pants and all. 

It was such a good trip! Oh, I should mention that we also threw a baby shower for a friend. Which I blogged about (in great detail) here.

I am so very blessed to have such great in laws. I wish we all lived closer so it wasn't so far in between visits. I love them all so much!

It's all going to be okay

It's all going to be okay.

I keep telling myself this when I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of becoming a family of 5. FIVE. You'd think after 7 months of pregnancy I would have wrapped my head around this fact by now. 

Nope.  

I've been keeping busy the last month, which has been a wonderful distraction from all the things I need to do to get ready for another baby... We visited fam in Utah for two weeks (post with a million pics to follow) and are wrapping up a 2 week visit with my fam in Florida (again, a post with a million pics to follow). Greg is in Austin and starts his internship on Monday... I go back home to play single parent for 6 weeks (minus most weekends, we hope! The plan is for him to come home as much as possible). Once Greg is done, it will just about time for baby #3 to make her debut.  

There a lot of things about this pregnancy that have made it rougher than with Aimee and Jack. I feel like I've spent a lot of the time feeling unhappy about the toll this pregnancy has taken on my body. I feel like people give me weird looks when I'm running errands with the other two kids, especially when they are behaving less than wonderful. 

I had a flight attendant say to me, "Well, I never want to assume..." (Looking at my very obvious pregnant belly) 

Me: "Oh, yeah - I am definitely pregnant"

Flight attendant: "Well, at least get the little one out of diapers first!"

Harty-har-har... dude (and it was a dude) you have no idea...

The lady that waxed my eyebrows had a conversation with me something like this:

She: Oh, you're having a baby! Congrats! 

Me: Thanks!

She: Is this your first?

Me: Oh no, this is number 3.

She: Girrrrrrl! Are you old enough to have 3 kids? How old are the other 2?

Me: The oldest will be 4, and the next turns 2 a  few weeks after this one is born.

She: OMG. So you've like been non-stop pregnant for the last 5 years. 

Me: Uhh... yeah, kind of. 

I hadn't thought of it like that!

Then she went on to say, "That's ok - just get them all out of the way and be done with it."

I've had a couple of people (usually strangers) say that to me. I don't really care for it. I don't feel like having kids is something to get out of the way.  I've been asked/told too, "Well, you're definitely done now. Right? You already have one of each!" 

Maybe! Again, I think it's weird when people say that sort of thing.

So while these types of conversations and my prego-body issues have been in the forefront of my mind AND I'm still kind of in denial that I'm actually having another baby in two months  I came across these old pictures on my mom's laptop. 

Little Jack, just a few hours old.

So tiny

And sweet...

I felt more than ever that even as crazy as life will be, it's all going to be okay.

Jack singing

Finally! Jack was willing to sing on camera... 

His lovely rendition of the ABCs... or at least,the very last part of it.