{the Lake} Part 4: Anne Perry

{the Lake} Part 3: Audrey Kate

{the Lake} Part 2: a Two Year Old & Tubing

I'm not sure I've ever {tubed} before. I've skied on two skis. I've skied on one ski. I've knee boarded. But I don't think I've ever tubed, until today!

...along with my {two year old} and my {brother-in-law}.

I've got some arm muscles from carrying these twins and Addie around, but I'm really lacking the stomach muscles that tubing requires you to use to {pull up} on the tube.

So it started out a little challenging, you know, pulling yourself {and} a two year old up onto a tube (12 weeks after a c-section and 7 months after major abdominal surgery).

I would have been left {way} behind had it not been for Uncle Jay! (mind you, Paul was back at the house with the babies!).

But once we actually managed to get {on} the tube, we had a {BLAST}:

According to Addie, we were going {super duper fast}:

...because we were!

Thank you for taking pictures of us Aunt Laura!

Nana

My aunt {my mom's sister} has always been a very special part of our family. I have very fond memories of her taking me to NYC and Boston as well as spending many family holidays with her. She has always loved my brother and me as if we were her own children, and loves our girls just as much. She spent countless days with me when I was so sick, caring for me and Addie and keeping our home, just that, a home. She's the best Nurse Nana out there!

When Addie picks up my phone, we always ask her who she's talking to. I'd have to say that 99% of the time it's Nana! So we were thrilled when she came to visit a few weekends ago, especially Addie.

One of the goals of everyone's visits seems to be to get a picture of him/her with the girls. Clearly this is a much greater feat than anyone can imagine (including myself). I've come to grips with the fact that someone will typically be crying in our pictures. If not crying, they certainly won't be looking at the camera. But that's ok. The point is the capture the memory...right?

I'm not sure why I thought I could recreate {this} picture, but we tried!

We did manage to grab a very cute picture of Nana with the 3 girls.

and even just the babies.

Thank you for coming to visit us Nana! We love you!

{the Lake} Part 1: a Preview

way {way} more pictures to come

when i have {time} to process them

but here's a {preview} of the beginning of our week at the lake

with the {crazy} fun Wamsted clan

{the house}

{Addie-boo & Daddy}

{Anne Perry}

{Audrey Kate}

{tonight's sunset}

 aunts & uncles & cousins to {love} and {hold} our girls

{more} to come

Baby {Giraffe} Love

You might remember me mentioning that our zoo has a new baby giraffe. Ok. I did not know that a baby animal could be this cute! We went late one afternoon when Addie's Gramma was here but were told this little baby wasn't out. So back we went the next day before church to see it! Of course I left my camera at home (feeding, dressing, bibbing, buckling, walking, driving...you get the point. sometimes i'm doing good to get everyone out the door!).

So, back we went the next week because apparently this little guy stands over 5 feet now and will be over 6 feet in a month! Can you imagine your baby growing an entire 12 inches in a month? I wasn't going to miss this photo opportunity!

I'm pretty sure this little guy ran everywhere he went!

It was so strange to see how short his long neck looked proportional to his body and compared to an adult giraffe. Did that make any sense?

There were 3 other giraffes in the exhibit: what appeared to be a mother, father, and female teenage giraffe.

Scroll down this progression of pictures, watching the baby and male giraffe...

I guess if something 3x my height came after me, I'd run too! Who knew at times they only had one foot on the ground at a time while running? Is he cute or what?

Are they cute or what? ;) This was their first time in the umbrella stroller. it was so very hot outside and i just couldn't see stuffing them in their car seats under the car seat visor and creating a mini-sauna! So the umbrella stroller it was...and i think they enjoyed it!

Then these little guys totally put in a show. I just wish I had my camera set better. Look at those eyes though. Made me want to pet it for all of 2.5 seconds. I'd prefer to keep my fingers!

Of course we couldn't go without seeing the elephants. My favorite elephant visit was {here} though!

But this is the life...

And this is Audrey Kate reminding me that she does NOT like being hot. Just in case i had forgotten.

Our big girl walked a lot more this trip than any other. It was great for her to be able to hop in and out of her stroller to see things better.

She's still one of my 3 most favorite babies though!

As Told By Anne Perry

Mommy thought we were so cute in our polka-dot outfits.

We might have agreed, but we weren't letting on because we didn't want our PIC-TURE taken!

But here's how I really felt about things. I learned this face from my sister Audrey Kate.

Not a bad pout for a 10 week old (almost 12 weeks now!), you think? 

You want us to lay on our tummies for how long?  Ok sure. We'll just do it our way then!

Wait. Oh.no.you.didn't?!? Why do our arms need to be up under us? You want us to hold our heads up why? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Can't somebody give us a little support around here!

Whew! I can finally talk again! I can scoot around in a circle on my tummy, but my sister Audrey Kate can actually role over when Mommy puts our arms up underneath us like that. Ok, so she's only done it once, but that counts in baby-ville. Right? At least our Mommy wanted us to be in the same position for a picture, so she finally rolled me over too!

Much better. Much better!

You see, I've already learned that if I hold my breath when I cry and turn purple enough that they have to do something! Now I've just got to teach Audrey Kate how to do that. You know, those little sisters and all! 

But after almost doing our mommy in yesterday, we slept from 10pm to 6 am last night!!! that's 8 hours just in case you're counting! ;) i guess we were a little worn out too. maybe there is something to this "tummy time" thing. 


Nah...

the Big Question

7:45am

today I had to take paul to pick up his car

I went and dropped his off last night so I could pick up mine from being serviced so we could take all 3 girls back to get his 

(confused yet?)

two cars again

gas

post office box

paul with girls in car

run inside

paul to work

pick up life jackets for trip

Chick-fil-a

order

situate

eat

hold crying AP

rock fussy AK

playground

... & poop in her pull-up

babies crying

out the door

(thank goodness for kind people who hold doors!)

in the car

home

umbrella strollers & double graco out of trunk

single & double jogger strollers in for trip

...when its not 110 degrees outside

babies cry

dog & strollers on deck

babies to crib

change addie

clean up

no more in potty? right?

panties on

wash hands

change girls

diaper pail out & grab drinks outside

wash hands

dog inside

poop in panties?!?!?

seriously...all done?

clean up

wash hands

grab girls

situate

feed girls

disappears

come back!

NO!

I have to poopoo!

 naked 2 year old

well go!

doubtful 

little potty

juggle how?

Oh mommy look. I poopooed!

?

little potty into living room

Yeah! (ewwww!)

any more?

More!

how to do this?

put girls down

crying!

dog with nose IN little potty!!! 

OMG!

NO!!!!!

harder crying :(

drag dog outside

little potty clean out

clean up

phone rings

can't answer

re-panty

wash hands... again

sobbing still

grab girls 

nurse again

curious george

breathe

spit up all over me, baby & chair

babies asleep

These are the days I question my ability to even manage the bare essentials & its only 10am!

 addie in (dry) big girl panites 

AK holding AP's hand tightly

& nothing much else matters

the BIG question?

How Do You Do It...?

the Answer:

I don't!

You just do what you have to do.

I'm not a super mom. 

I'm not super woman. 

I don't have it all together. 

& I don't do it all.

I promise.

I'm tired.

I'm hyper-organized.

I'm incredibly imperfect.

& I'm ok with it.

You just do what you have to do when you have to do it

...and let the rest go.

Gramma's Visit

Paul's mom came for a visit last weekend. We had heard about the baby giraffe at our zoo and wanted to take Addie, but apparently they only put the baby out in the mornings when it's cooler. So instead, we grabbed some Sonic slushes and took Addie swimming at Margaret's hotel, a much better way to beat the 100+ degree heat index!

The babies weren't really sure about the heat, but they let me get a few good pictures of them and their Gramma.

Audrey Kate does not like the heat. Period.

Addie and Daddy got to swim, and Addie had a blast!

We kinda thought she looked a little like a line-backer here!

Finally the little girls gave into the heat and fell asleep. Sweet babies! The first two are Audrey Kate and the last two are Anne Perry.

We did make it to the zoo (and church and lunch) the next day, but of course I forgot the camera! We went back this past week with my mom, and I got some pictures of that cute baby giraffe. Post to come!

We had a great weekend, and Addie really enjoyed playing with her Gramma!

Camilla's Birthday

We met Camilla through Kindermusik last spring. She turned two last weekend and had a fun water party!

And yummy cupcakes:

I didn't know but a few of the kids at the party, so I'm just posting pictures of mainly Addie. I'm always a little more cautious when I don't know the kids or the mamas and don't want to publish pictures of anyone's kids we don't know well (if that makes any sense?), but I can assure you there were plenty there.  In fact, there were fourteen little girls there!

Addie really enjoyed swimming...right up until she got water in her nose!


But my favorite picture of the day:

Love that sweet smile.

Wordful Wednesday: Pickles

Forget Wordless Wednesday. This is WordFUL Wednesday. So how is this different than any other post? I'll let you decide!

Bottom line, it's been a long week; and it's only Wednesday.

The house? In a nutshell, structural engineer #1 deserves to be sued for overlooking some major structural issues in our house. Thankfully, we don't always get what we deserve; and from our end, that will be the case here. The issues are here whether he is willing to address them or not. We'll let that be on his conscience (I'm pretty sure he's not losing sleep over it though!).

The problems? A tipped pier (that will need to be jacked up back into place). Temporary piers needing replaced. Piers needing to be built around the original abandoned chimney (that connected to a wood burning stove!) because it's sinking and pulling the middle of our house down with it. Rafters above our kitchen connected to our ceiling instead of load bearing rafters (you know, rafters that prevent your roof from collapsing!). Leaky dishwasher. Braced plaster ceiling. Cracking/peeling kitchen floor. And water standing up against our house because of an improperly tilted porch causing wood to rot. Oh yeah, and mold in two closets?

Monday's stink: literally this week. Four 2 year old potty accidents (one on the sofa!). Nighttime diaper contained more than I bargained for.  Tantrums that put any tantrum I ever threw as a child to shame! Crying babies. Tooting pooping bottoms that consider diaper changing time ideal for extreme production. Spit-up on down my shirt. I think I needed to be decontaminated of biohazardous waste by the end of the day!

Tuesday: a contractor finally showed up after trying to get him here for 4 days. there arent many options out there. at least this one showed up! the week is looking up! He'll be back sometimes this week to send some of his guys up under our house and into our attic.

Today we are visiting some fabulous friends. And the rest of the week will consist of packing up our entire most of our house to head out on vacation with Paul's Dad's family. Five babies two and under. Five teenagers (or close to it). Seven from our generation and eight from his Dad's generation.  All in a 9 bedroom antebellum home on a 6 acre island surrounded by a lake. Pictures to come! As Uncle Jay would say: Crazy Wamsted Vacation. If we can only get there, it will be a blast! :)

And my mom brought me this* tonight...

*hint hint: this is what makes this post different from the rest of them!

You think this qualifies as a 21st century picture album?

I do...and it also pretty much sums up the way I wish I could react right now, but I am thankful that my 2 year old can outdo me on these.

I'm thankful I have a 2 year old that can out tantrum me.

I'm thankful to have a house that can fall apart.

I'm thankful I can hold my babies while they poop out their diapers and spit up down my shirt because I can hold them!

I'm thankful that Mondays end and Tuesdays begin. 

I am thankful that I can write totally random posts!

I'm thankful that this too shall pass.

And I'm thankful for our God who extends grace to us on a daily basis teaching us to extend grace to others!

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

Pump-It-Up

We've been to Pump-It-Up several times over the past few weeks because it's been so H.O.T outside! Addie was a little timid at first and not sure she wanted to jump, but she had a blast!

She loved playing with Camilla and Alli Beth!

I had to hike my ISO up really high to take these without a flash, so they are pretty noisy/grainy. I didn't want to lug my flash around (i know, lazy). But I thought her expressions were pretty priceless!

You can't tell here, but she has on two different socks. I was doing good to get there...and at least they are both white!

Addie's favorite part became the slide. I went up with her a few times; but before I knew it, she was doing this:

Can we say daring?

We went back a week later with Diane and her kids. Addie loves Tyler and Ellie and of course wanted to do anything they were doing! The week before, I had to help her climb this steep wall. But check her out (Tyler had been on one side of her and Ellie on the other side of him):

I guess it's worth it when you get to do this!