Happy Father's Day to the best.  There's no one else I'd rather raise 'em up with.
And thank goodness because we have a lot of raising to do.

Love you so much.

TGIF.

I feel like I should say it 10 times over.

Thank goodness it's Friday.

I fell into bed on Wednesday night, my hips and feet completely throbbing, 

keeping me up longer past the normal 10-11pm wiggle/roll/kick party that goes on in my stomach every night from sweet #3.

 

Funny how the body doesn't always agree with the mind.  

What I may have been able to do prior to having kids, or even while pregnant with Henry and Nelle, certainly seems harder this third time around. 

It was just a brewing storm of a busy shoot weekend, a busy week of activities for the kids, volunteering, weeknight meetings, combined with an unexpected pregnancy growth spurt where I'm crazy hungry, devastatingly tired, and ended up with another ocular migraine during a shoot.

Not the best timing when it leaves you temporarily without peripheral vision when looking through the camera viewfinder with one eye. 

Oy.

 

Achy body, I hear you!  

My toddlers don't though so if you could give me a break for 8-ish more weeks so I can continue being their human jungle gym, I'd be grateful.  

 

Yes...I'm 32 weeks tomorrow.

 

I may have started hyperventilating a little before falling asleep last night thinking about how there seems to be just SO much to do before this little one's arrival and how right now that's what occupies my thoughts instead of sweet newborn smell and meeting the newest member of our family.  

I know it doesn't really matter that we haven't even touched the nursery yet.  Mainly because the nursery is actually Henry's room, and in order to set it up for a wee one, he's got to get booted to Nelle's room that they will soon share.  It doesn't matter because the baby will survive on diapers, boobs, and swaddles for the first several weeks of its life.

But it does matter to me. 

Because the more settled our space is, the more settled I am.  

And in my head, the more settled I am, the longer I can keep this babe in place.

Achy body or not.

Looking forward to a weekend where I'm promising myself to make some time for myself.  

And hoping that includes a little sliver of sunshine despite the rainclouds on my phone forecast.

Happy weekend to you!

PS...ask Andrew how much he loves my new chair. 

Henry turned three last week.  

THREE!

We blew up balloons and snuck them into his room on Wednesday night after he went to sleep. 

On Thursday morning he came into our room and with his little face close to mine said, "Mommy!  Come look at the balloons behind the chair in my room!" because they had all been blown to the corner by his ceiling fan.  I told him they were for his birthday, that today he was three.

He stood on the edge of my bed in nothing but his underwear, and said, "I'm big!".

Because turning three makes you big overnight.

As much as Henry likes to tell me he is big, he equally likes to hear about when he was small, when he was a baby like Nelle or the baby in my tummy.

Henry has been loving all of his new toys and books, but it especially makes my mama heart happy when he picks this one
from the new pile over and over again because I just knew I wanted to get it for him for his birthday
sure he would love reading about a boy named Henry hear about when he was small.

One day not too far from now our Henry will be bigger and bigger, and I hope he still loves to hear about when he was small. 
Because I sure do love telling him...no matter how big or small he really is.

When Henry was three and small, he liked to tease his mommy and tell her,
"I love you Mommy," in the sweetest voice followed by,
"not too much, but a little."

When Henry was small, he loved to ride his bike, coasting through as many puddles as possible,
but especially the big ones that made splashes on both sides of his tires.

When Henry was small, he loved his baby sister fiercely.  He also tackled her fiercely.  No one was going to mess with her...unless it was him, in which case he did with gusto and glee because that's what big brothers do.  Some would even go as far as saying he got extra of this instinct.  He was the first to grab her by the hand and lead her back up the driveway away from the street, but also the first to shove the hose in her face.

When Henry was small, he loved to try to do things by himself.  Like pouring the orange juice in the morning, cracking the eggs into the bowl when making cookies, turning on the hose in the backyard to water the plants, and opening the garage door maybe a few minutes too early before anyone else is ready to leave the house...except for the dog who appreciates the direct escape route to the street.

When Henry was small, he got a new twin bed to match his sister's when they share a room soon, and after sleeping in it the next morning he announced he liked it because it didn't give him pains in his knees or aches in his legs.

When Henry was small, he wanted to be a fireman and a construction worker when he grew up.

When Henry was small, he started to ask why.  A lot. 

When Henry was small, he loved to play fumble (football) with his dad every night after dinner and used good napping as his bargaining chip.

When Henry was small, he only wanted to wear K-State shirts.  At home.  At the store.  To bed.  Every day.

When Henry was small, he taught his parents so much about finding adventure and joy in every day. 
There was always a bear to hunt, a laugh to have, or an devilish smile to give.

When Henry was small, he lived big and was loved big too.