spike and mack

These two girls are going to make the best mothers someday...

sleeping

this really doesn't need any words, but last night

my son slept from 11-230 and from 300-600.

amazing.

a gift from my husband

I struggle sharing this, because Lincoln and I honestly do strive to live simple life.

A life with few unnecessary indulgences.

But this is such a special gift.  One that my husband sacrificed and saved for months to give me.

He snuck around, fretted, designed, and surprised with me this beautiful  mother's ring.

My and my six kiddos.

nothing makes me smile (and cry, and stress) like those six precious gifts from God!

My birthstone is the large green one, and then there are six stones around representing my six kids in the order that they were birthed into our family...from right to left:

Hunter (August 5)

Claire (February 10)

Graysen (November 28)

Blake (February 23)

Silas (February 24)

Fletcher (March 9)

ps - Graysen is determined that she is the purple ones...all three of them, not the orange one.  Last night she decided that she would share one of the purple ones with her sister Claire...the two right next to each other (Blake and Silas').  What a girl...

baby friends

Megan and I have been friends since 8th grade.

Now we have babies just weeks apart!

Meet Miss Audrey!

Wedding Celebrating!

One of my best friends is getting married this weekend!

Jayna is my cousin, but also one of my best friends in the whole world.  She is 3 weeks older than I am and we were blessed that even though I lived away most of our childhood our mom's made an effort to keep us close.  

A gift from my mom...the before was a pretty pink nightgown...

and the after...Long Johns!  ha ha

Jay,

I am so very excited that you have found Nathan.  He is precious, and absolutely your perfect fit.  He can even hang with our family, which you know can be a trick sometimes!  

I knew you were going to marry him the weekend that I visited you in Arkansas and saw the way you lit up when we talked about him.  You are proud of his accomplishments as if they were your own, and internalize his sadness, wishing you could take it from him.

Of course you know that the wedding is just the beginning; that marriage is long, and tiring and down right hard work sometimes...

but it's also so rewarding, and so much fun.  It blesses my heart to think of the laughter that you and Nathan will share together because of inside jokes that only the two of you understand.

Thank you for including me in your wedding day. 

  I loved having you stand with me on mine, and it has been a comfort knowing that you have been supporting Lincoln and I for the last 8 years.

Know that I will always support you and Nathan as well.  I will pray for your marriage, and the family that you are creating.

Love always,

Ash

My Little Helper

We've started doing a sink full of dishes by hand every day because we have so many bottles to wash.

Who knew that Graysen would love to help?

I really like this time of day because she washes, I rinse, one of the boys dries, one puts away, and the other sweeps the kitchen floor.  It's so nice to have all of my children together working as a team and visiting together.

This is what memories are made of!

baby wearing

We spend a lot of time like this.

We work around the house,

we go to soccer games,

we go to church,

we shop.

I wish I had more pictures of me wearing him, because it's such a special time.

Do you wear your baby?  If so, what is your favorite way to wear him/her?

he's alert

Little Man has always been very alert.

I love his big eyes.

He's starting to turn his head to find the voice when someone talks to him.

Ah, I'm so in love.

she loves to cuddle babies too!

My precious princess loves babies just like her mommy.

Especially her baby.

She's done a lot of cuddling the past 5 weeks...

and I don't see the new wearing off anytime soon!

summer's almost here!

This is a very good representation of what our summers look like.  

Outside, playing, friends.

I can't wait!

a belated birthday party {the zoo and chuck e. cheese}

During Spring Break we took a family day and went to St. Louis!

first stop:  The Zoo!

We took the stroller in so that we'd have a place to put our bags.  Spike rode in it for the first hour and then he got in the Moby wrap and slept the rest of the afternoon!  Graysen ended up in the stroller the last hour, so I'm very glad we took it in!

The tulips were beautiful when we went!

This picture is so Hunter right now.  He's so studious...always reading, learning about new subjects.  After this day he's been very interested in learning to read a map.

Stop number 2:  Chuck E. Cheese!

We have two little boys who were so very understanding about not having a birthday party while Mommy was on bed rest with little brother.  It was about time that they got to celebrate their birthdays!!

Graysen was scared of the mechanical Chuck E. Cheese at first.  She eventually warmed up...with Mommy's help.

I swear I should take this kid to the boats!  He has won the "jackpot" on a game the last two times we've been here!

Time to party!!

Blake and Silas

The loot !

Thank you boys for being so patient with Mommy!  I hate that we had to postpone your birthday celebrations, but I hope that you had a lot of fun when we finally got to celebrate!  I love you both so very much and am so blessed by you being my kids!  

baby photo comparison

Hunter Lee - 7 weeks old

Fletcher Moreland - 4 weeks old 

Graysen Faith - 4 weeks

What do you think?  Does he look like one or the other?  A mix of both?  Neither?

these three boys

...may not look much alike right now, but I bet they will some day!