Success

Aidric is four months old and today rolled over all by himself.  He has rolled over from his tummy to his back but today he rolled over from his back to his tummy, a much bigger accomplishment.  It is so fun to watch.  First he tucks his legs to his chest and then swings his shoulders and finally today all his hard work paid off and he made it to his tummy.  Of course once on his tummy he isn't quite sure what to do next and not sure if that is what he really wanted.

beginning the process again

At this point it is hard not to give him a little help.  Such hard work.

finally success

 The other day I was talking to a friend of mine.  She was so encouraging as she has gone through some of what we are going through with Isabella.  I asked for her advice.  One of the best things she told me was to celebrate every little success.  We are still working on potty training and it is so very frustrating for all of us.  So today when after several attempts she finally did it we all celebrated like it was the greatest thing.

Things can get a little tiring some days but I have so much help I really can't complain.  The other day though we had gone for a walk.  We were out of town with family and the bigger kids and dad had gone fishing.  I took a walk with my three youngest, my sister in law, and her young son.  We had found a little beach spot and the kids were having a great time.  Isabella was walking around but slipped into a little swampy puddle.  I just assumed she would walk around it but nope.  She slipped right into it.  I was terrified, ran and grabbed her out and she was covered in slime and little black bugs. Oh it was so awful.  There was even a leach on her shoulder.  I quickly removed her clothes and ran her to the lake and began washing her as best I could.  It is hard to relax when we go places with Isabella.  Someone needs to keep an eye on her all the time.  She loves to explore and if someone has left a cup out she will grap it and well, it gets spilled.  I had decided the other day that I don't need to go to another wedding or trip or camping for a while.  But I continue, because that is what we do.  We love going places as a family and well, right now it takes a bit more effort but that is ok.  So we are planning another trip and as we have learned some lessons, maybe things will go better.  It's all an adventure and I do love spending time with my family.

Isabella and I at the beach

Aidric first success was on that trip where he went from his tummy to his back

Another success was I finally got the kids picture.  I have been taking pictures of the kids all together when a new baby is born and put it on our stairwell.  Finally the other day after church I looked at my lovely kiddos and said everyone get together and let's get a picture.  I didn't have a camera but my son has an amazing camera on his phone, so yeah we got it done and I think it turned out great.  Now if we can just get a nice family photo before Alex goes back to college that would be wonderful.

going up the stairs

the new photo now at the top

going down the other side our parents pictures with their sibling growing up.  My dad's and David's dad's picture have 7 kids and my mom's and David's mom's picture both have two girls.  We apparently followed in our dad's foot steps

Well I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.  God bless have a great day.

Alicia

Wednesdays

If you were to ask David what his favorite day of the week is, he might just say Wednesdays.  Why?  Because it is cleaning day.  He loves coming home to a freshly cleaned home that smells, well, like cleaners.  When he comes home you can hear him say "awww its cleaning day."  That doesn't mean our house is trashed the rest of the time, just that Wednesdays are the day everything is vacuumed, picked up, and the bathrooms shine.  Well, at least that is the goal.  I have to admit I love it when it is all done too.  I refer to Wednesdays as my work out day.  Some people spread cleaning days out through the week, and we do clean everyday of the week, but Wednesdays are just get in and get it all done.  Everyone has their job and I am blessed that they all jump in and get it done.  My job is the floors.  That is a big job considering the amount of floors we have here.  It is so funny the kick I get out of seeing vacuum marks on the carpet.  Obviously with a family our size we vacuum some rooms throughout the week but Wednesday they all get done.

vacuuming with Aidric

When David and I were in college I had two jobs and went to school full time.  So Saturday was cleaning day.  Once I became a stay at home mom I moved that to Friday's.  I loved a clean house for the weekend.  But we were often busy on Friday getting ready for the weekend so I moved it to Thursday.  Well a couple years ago we started Bright Lights here every other Thursday so cleaning day got pushed back to Wednesdays.  Now I'm not sure what we will do.

Ivy and Aidric

When I started Bright Lights two years ago I asked Ivy to join me.  She has been the heart of our group but she is going away.  It is very sad to see her leave and she will be so very, very missed.  I have friends of all ages.  Some are quite a bit older and some quite a bit younger.  Just yesterday I had a wonderful outing with my dear friend Jessica, who is younger but such a priceless friend.  She encourages me in my life and walk with the Lord and that is what being a friend is about, I pray that I do the same for her.  I am grateful for all my wonderful friends God has placed in my life.  I remember when David and I were friends with a wonderful couple about my parents age, they were priceless.  Well, Ivy is around my older children's age but she is also my friend and priceless.  We have some wonderful conversations and both share a desire to honor the Lord.  Ivy gives everything her all and is always volunteering to help me out.  I have yet to find someone who could replace her as the Bright Lights leader and I am afraid I am unable to continue alone.  We will see what the Lord has in store.  Will cleaning day return to Thursday?  Maybe.  But for the next few weeks it will be Bright Lights with Ivy.  I am glad that there is a new Bright Lights group so it won't totally end in our area.  We love you Ivy, God bless you in your next endeavor.

Hope you all are blessed with good friends, have a wonderful day.

Alicia

Things are Growing

I have wanted to get an updated picture of my garden for quite a while.  I planned to show it in it's different growing stages but time sure flies by.   Keeping the weeds out of my garden is more of a job than I can do alone and the girls and I have enjoyed an busy summer.  I have been a little embarrassed to show you my garden with it's lack of weeding, but I find taking care of my family has been keeping me quite busy, and my family is bit more important than a perfect garden.   I have to keep my priorities right and sometimes the garden has to wait.  So no, it is not a perfect garden but we have been able to harvest some rhubarb, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, and a green pepper.

Our growing garden

I love melons and have planted quite a bit this year.  It has to be a good long hot growing season to get a good melon harvest here.  Hot it has been, but I got a late start, so we'll see.

Bill gave me an article on growing different plants together.  Here I have corn, with beans growing up them and pumpkins at the base that are supposed to keep the ground moist.

One of the exciting parts of the garden is the lovely blooms.  The bees were very busy this morning doing their job but it makes me a bit anxious as I weed.

A zucchini and pepper.

Another thing growing here is Aidric.  He is growing big and healthy and loves to talk with me.  He is a bit of a mommy's boy which I find quite surprising with all the attention others try to give him, he is quite particular to me.  He has been such a fun baby but my... he also has very good lungs and isn't afraid to let his voice be heard.  One moment we'll be laughing and playing then his tummy gets very hard and he gets very upset.   His baby gas drops seem to help.  I am thinking he might be sensitive to certain foods, because I nurse I have been trying to figure out those foods by eliminating certain foods from my diet.  I really enjoy milk and chocolate which tend to be the biggest problems for some babies, so I have been having a hard time eliminating those from my diet.  But when his tummy gets real hard and he begins to wail it encourages me to be more diligent.  Every child is so unique that there is no way to generalize what works for all babies.  They are all a bit of a puzzle we get the privilege to find the big picture.  

He is telling me quite the story here.

"She is so funny."

Well, I hope you are all enjoying your summer.  God bless and have a great day.

Alicia

Happy Fourth of July

It is a beautiful day right now, but it is going to get so very hot.  So we did our baking last night to try to make today a little smoother.  Air conditioning is going full time.  I am so grateful for our country and our founding fathers who got us started on the right foot.  May God direct and protect our nation.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12

We are looking forward to a fun day at our friends.  We will be short a couple kiddos with Alex running the worship at kids camp and Cassandra just left on a camping trip with her grandparents.   Alex was so excited, you would have thought he was going to be served not to serve.  That makes me happy.  Cassandra was very bubbly to be headed with Grandma and Grandpa on her first trip without mom and dad.  So it is just the 7 of us.  :) 

May you all have a blessed day and pray for our nation.

making cookies.  Isabella would prefer eating them.

Aidrics first fourth of July

Must wear our red, white, and blue

but I wanted to wear my Navy Aunt shirt in honor of my nephew.  

God Bless the USA