Ready for the beach...

This little girl can hardly wait for the beach this summer. Daddy will not be allowing his precious daughter to wear an animal print bikini at any stage in her little life, but when this hand-me-down was delivered to my door, I just couldn't resist a try-on session.

Building is Serious Business

The Bests

It has been the coldest, rainiest spring ever in Cleveland. After the coldest, longest, snowiest winter. But today there is sun.

What have we been up to?

Mason is pretty proud to be riding a 2-wheeler with no training wheels. We are pretty proud of him, too. He started t-ball. All but 3 practices have been rained out, but he is figuring out fielding, glove wearing, and running the bases.

Levi LOVES this motorcycle. He begs to ride it all.day.long. He is happy to be riding Mason's 'old' bike with training wheels.

(and yes his shoe is on the wrong feet.)

Ava can't wait to model her summer dresses without longsleeve onesies underneath. I can't wait to have her chubby arms & legs accessible for squeezing.

We spent a long weekend with the cousins in Maryland.

Ava has had 2 ear infections...and has handled them like a champ {except for sleeping well at night}. The most recent one is a double infection so we have called in the chiropractor.

Tim has been selected for the Summit County Technical Rescue Operations Taskforce (TROT) team and is training in Columbus once a month for 3-4 days. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

My brother Phil & his new wife Chelsea moved to Ohio from Washington at the end of March. We are overjoyed to have them around and a part of our daily lives!

I am cooking a lot more these days and wondering how it is that I can {seemingly} work from sun-up to sun-down and still have a house that needs swept, laundry that needs to be done, papers that need to be filed, etc.

I have hunkered down and lost 30 pounds since January. Ready for spring! Excited for vacation to Myrtle Beach with the cousins at the end of May. Excited for a visit from Uncle Matt and his girlfriend Michelle at the end of June.

God is good. Time is flying. Will post pictures after I take some on this sunny day... :)

ava photos

Ava's sweet Auntie Em took these absolutely adorable pictures in honor of our baby girl turning 3 months old. Ava cooperated with her smiles and worked the camera while Emily and I had fun playing dress-up with her for the first time. Thanks, sister!! You totally captured her sweetness and her precious toes with your camera!

Levi Love

Levi, our second born little man,

You are one pretty special kid. You are physical and coordinated. Your vocabulary blows me away. You have a temper than can strike out of nowhere. You love to sing. You teach yourself new things daily. You do a really good job of keeping up with your big brother.

You have recently turned into a pretty cuddly and loving kid, kissing and hugging when you normally would fight it.

And, you love your sister. You love to talk to her and make her laugh. You bring your very favorite, I mean, very favorite blankie down every morning and tuck her in with such tenderness while she plays on her playmat. You hold your mousie up above her face and laugh when she grabs the tail....

You are a delight. I can't wait to know you more.

Of course I can zip up my own jacket, Mommy.....I just figure these things out on my own to make your life easier ;-)

an extra measure of grace

This time around I had a pregnancy friend. A friend that grew her baby girl with me, a friend that offered encouragement, understood every stretch and ache and pain, shared every joyful kick, and was able to lament with me as our girlish figures swelled with baby glow.

One day as I was fighting back tears of inadequacy, she reached out to me with the best encouragement a friend could offer (especially one that was getting ready to add #5 to her brood):

"The Lord pours out an extra measure of grace with the third baby."

This was just what I needed to hear in response to my tearful, fearful thoughts..."What on earth would I do with a 3rd baby when I was so burnt out with 2?" "What if this baby girl screamed as much as #2?" "How would I get out of the house with 3 kids?" "How would I stay in the house with 3 kids?" "How will I break up fights between the 2 boys when I am nursing on the couch?" "How will I make breakofast, lunch, dinner while I am nursing?" "How will our marriage survive a 3rd baby?" "What were we thinking??"

Well, I started to pray for this extra measure of grace....I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to meet me where I was at. And I am so humbled at how God has answered those prayers in such sweet, tangible ways. I don't know how else to explain the {mostly} smooth transition to 3 kids. I don't know how else to explain the transformation in my boys. I don't know how else to explain the strengthening of our marriage in the midst of sleepless nights. Lord, forgive me for doubting your grace and thank you for meeting me where I am time and time again.

Here are just a few of these very tangible ways:

** Mason, who was unable to buckle himself in the 3rd row of the minivan, figured it out.

** After spending the entire month before baby fighting and screaming and not sharing, they miraculously discovered they can play TOGETHER and that they can be FRIENDS during the day.

** Mason and Levi can brush their own teeth, put on their pajamas and go to bed without me sitting in the chair in their room for an hour.

** Levi started zipping his own winter jacket.

** The boys can pick out mostly matching clothes and get dressed by themselves.

** They can both use the bathroom without help....including wiping.

** They are not jealous of Ava in the least....they love to love on her.

These things may seem like small things, but to a nursing momma of a new baby, these are HUGE milestones. And, I can't begin to tell you how suddenly these changes took place after Ava's arrival. And I can't begin to tell you how much these things have helped in the smooth transition to a family of 5. Of course, there are so many more ways God has met my needs: No post-partum depression, a laid back baby, a good nurser, a caring, helpful husband with a much easier work schedule, a supportive family and church family and the best friends on earth, meals for a month...I could go on and on and on.

It reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses for this season of life:

He tends his flock like a shepard:

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart;

He gently leads those who have young.

Isaiah 40:11

I love the visual this produces in my mind's eye, snuggled in the safest place possible. I love the word 'gently' ... that is so what I need each hour of each day: gentle leading. And the very thought that the Master of the Universe is offering this to little old me. There are so many times when I try to rush ahead of this gentle leading or think that I can lead our family in my own strength with my own ideas. But when I step back, let Him gather me up and carry me close to His heart and submit to His gentle leading...what a difference.

And so, when a mom of 2 approached my kiddos and me at the zoo last week and asked, "Honestly, how is the transition to 3?", instead of going into a long drawn-out response about the ups and downs and such, I should have just replied, "Do you have Jesus? Because, honestly, I couldn't imagine how I would do it without Him."

The Cousins Come to Town

The cousins were in town for a good 10 day stretch--10 days of no-napping fun! There was lots of playing and crying and snacks and adventuring. We took a field trip to Trader Joe's and the zoo's Rainforest. Gram read lots of books. The boys had lots of fun together, pulling toys out of the playroom and stuffing them into our teeny tiny bathroom {their firehouse} or under the kitchen table {to keep them from getting 'soggy' in the storm} or in Mason's top bunk {to practice their heavy lifting}. They dressed up as super heroes. They played outside in the mud. They rode bikes out front. Ava went with the flow and starred in an Aunt Emily photo shoot for her 3-month pics...can't wait to see the results.

I have never made this many peanut butter & jelly sandwiches in one week! It was a fun time filled with lots of memories {most of which are on Emily's camera}.

hot cocoa & popcorn after playing in the mud

Grams' Story Hour

Aunt Emily & Ava-Girl