Summer Lovin' this family of 6!

Well I'm a bit behind (no surprise!) as Sophia will be 2 months old this week and the first photo here is her at 1 month :) We are in the swing of things as a family of 6. Honestly its not that different than when we were a family of 5...except the car is a bit fuller and so are our hearts. She is loud and snuggly....she is sweet and sassy.....she is tiny yet chubby.....She looks JUST like Benjamin and slowly but surely I am seeing her personality come out similar to his as well..yikes! 

The boys are wonderful with her. They love to hold and snuggle her, tell everyone about their "baby sister", and give her way more attention than she would like these days. I cant tell you how many times we have FINALLY got her calmed down and asleep and here comes Ben barreling towards her to kiss and grab her head (yes he loves grabbing her head...only Ben right?). Or Paxton will grab the bottle straight out of her mouth, or take the blanket off her in the car, or stick her binky in his mouth. Needless to say she is going to be tough and fight back hard once she gets a bit bigger. 

Brian and I always say we feel like we have had her forever because she just started flowing with our already chaotic schedules and lifestyle. There was really never a moment where we had to think "how are we going to do this with Sophia?" She just hangs with us and is along for the ride.....and sometimes its a very wild ride! 

the baby outfit i came home from the hospital in :) 

so fun with all the tutus and bows!

Easton is growing like a weed and maturing way too fast! He is having so much fun going to Mary Pat's everyday this summer. There have been a few times Ive kept him home for play dates, but for the most part he is always asking to go to her house :) He is an amazing help with Sophia and Paxton. I can give him a direction and he will follow through. He is also the great negotiator. If we ask something of him he wants to know what he is going to get out of it...usually he wants money lol. Each night when I come up to catch some ZZZ's before Sophia needs to eat (and Brian is still downstairs with the two littles) Easton comes into our bed and wants me to scratch his back and just talk to me. Now the point of these 2 hours is to get sleep before potentially being up all night, but I know I don't get this time back and one day he will stop wanting to come into my room just to hang out with me alone. He is so sensitive and kind.....and so thoughtful! He continues to be Paxton's person. They play together so well and he loves trying to teach Paxton things and come to his aide if he is upset. Paxton knows he can let a small cry out and Easton will come running :) He is Brian's son through and through. Mary Pat had a mud day at her house a few weeks ago and he was just certain he wasn't going to participate. The idea of getting dirty was simply appalling...."But how will we get clean mom?" ...."well Easton you'll jump in the pool she has set out for you"...."But mom then the pool water will get dirty" (sigh). After watching all the other boys dive in and have a blast he joined and had so much fun! That's Easton in a nutshell. He needs to see how others do it before he has confidence to try it himself. Even something simple like a mud fight....he doesn't want to do it wrong the first try. He is our analyzer and deep thinker. Love this first born of ours! 

loves reading and Paxton loves listening 

Now Benjamin...where do you even start when talking about Ben. He has decided that he doesn't wear shirts anymore....bc the Hulk doesn't. He loves running around the house naked at any moment he can....and making others laugh is his jam. He calls Sophia his "little bobble head" (no clue where he came up with that) and the things that come out of his mouth are hilarious! He is our 100% kid. He is either at full force or tank empty. He literally weights only ten pounds more than Paxton because he eats like a bird and never stops moving. We are working on his roughness. He loves to wrestle and be a bit rough with Paxton. He isn't trying to be mean he is just rough and with Paxton's low tone we need him to be "softer" at times. Brian and I joke that Ben likes to use water boarding torture on us to try to get what he wants. He will ask for something one THOUSANDS times in every way he can until he gets it or stomps away....The good thing about Ben is that he gets mad and two seconds later he is saying "i love you mommy" or "will you come snuggle with me"...he forgets quickly! I can tell he has been listening to me on my health consultations for Shaklee. He told me the other day he wanted water "I need water mom because I need to stay hydrated" LOL 

fell asleep like this at the dinner table

Paxton is doing really well. He started crawling on all 4's and attempting to pull himself up on things. Honestly Sophia has been a great motivator. He sees bottles on the coffee table, or wants to peak at her in the swing, and of course wanting to play with the other kiddos at MaryPat's has been a big motivator too. We have also started having some fun temper tantrums. I know he is closing in no 2years old but since he was so mild tempered his entire first year he didn't ease into this change. We are learning how to deal with it and teach him its not okay. He is signing and talking more which is fun. He really communicates nicely know and for the most part we know exactly what he is saying or wanting. He LOVES books which is so great. To get him to do things at therapy when he isn't in the mood we simply set out a book and he will get to work. In 2 weeks Brian leaves to take him to get his cast put on. You can tune in to Paxton's personal blog to hear more about that. Its going to be torturous for me not to be there, but it just doesn't make sense for the entire family to go this time. We hope that this doesn't hinder his gross motor development, but rather helps it. Time will tell I suppose. He is so adorable and fun. His sweet voice and huge smile just melts your heart. 

We had a fantastic 4th of July! My brother and his family (growing family....#3 is on the way) came into town and we had lots of fun swimming, going to the zoo, letting the kids run amok at my folks house, and catching up with Tom and Halley. We have a big Colorado family vacation coming up in September so we are busy planning for that too. Its such a blessing watching all these cousins play and learn together. My parents are in their true element spoiling and loving on grand babies. :) 

my 4th of July crew

daddy/Uncle Brian dog pile

Miss Mila LOVES her some babies

Neighbors enjoying fireworks on the actual 4th

Brian and I are just busy managing this family and sneaking in sometime for just the two of us (which isn't as often as we'd like but thats the season of life we are in. He's got a lot of changes happening at work along with travels and I am LOVING my Shaklee business and looking forward to leaving corporate America in another month. The other night we were sitting on the back porch and Brian said "sometimes I just wonder how we do all this and make it work" its so true. At the end of each day we look back and think "wow that was a lot" but at the same time we feel so happy and grateful that we are able to live this life, raise these amazing kids, and learn how to be better people and a better couple in the process. God is so good!