a little throwback.

A throwback all the way to April. Whew. Did you get whiplash on that long trip? Ok, fine, so not a super big throwback. I just ran across some photos from the hospital that I somehow never shared. And I wanted to document them here. Also? Graham was tiny. Like, really, really small. What an awesome day that was...

laughter lead to hiccups. sometimes.

Y'all, Graham was killing it with the laugh last night. Jeremy was able to catch a couple of the giggles before the hiccups interrupted our fun little time. We've decided that if his laugh continues on like this, he's going to have one hilarious laugh. And definitely distinctive. And please to forgive my ridiculous talking. Focus on the baby. Also, if you focus on the baby, you won't notice our messy reality in the background. Ha!

graham's baptism.

We had Cayden and Sawyer baptized when they were also about three months old. And all three boys have worn the same sweet outfit. Somehow, I don't think I ever blogged about the other two being baptized, and now that's just a little bit sad to me. Maybe I just wasn't happy with the photos and chose not to blog about it. Who knows? Either way, blogging about it now!

This past Sunday was Graham's baptism. We could not get Sawyer to come stand with us. At all. But I promise he was there with us for the event. Graham did awesome. Not a tear shed. There might have been a side-eye give to Dr. Jim when he placed the water on his head, but otherwise, all was well.

After the service we attempted to get a family photo. And most of them turned out like that one photo of most of us looking anywhere but the camera. Oh, three and five year olds. If you can get them to stand still for the photo, most likely they're looking the other way. Good stuff. But also a true representative of our little family.

Also, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of the boys with their Aunt Jenny. She's just as crazy as they are. And I mean that in a totally good way. Oh, and a big thanks to my mama for capturing these photos for us during this special moment!

my blue-eyed boys.

We were taking Graham's monthly photos this past weekend. Cayden was supposed to be resting, but he wasn't. So while Sawyer napped away (we still frequently get two hour naps from him!), Cayden helped me and Jeremy snap some shots of Graham.

Graham didn't want to smile for his monthly photos this time 'round, but as soon as we got him on the floor, I asked Jeremy to grab the camera again and see if he couldn't get one of him smiling. Cayden was laying on the floor trying to make Graham laugh, so I asked him to scoot toward his littlest brother.

Y'all, I'm still not entirely sure how we ended up with two blue-eyed boys. Scratch that. Both of our mothers have blue eyes, so Jeremy and I obviously carry the trait. But with Jeremy's eyes almost brown and mine green, we never imagined we'd end up with these two. I've always wished I had blue eyes. Blue eyes and red hair is just such a pretty match. So I'm thrilled to have these blue eyes to look back at me so many times a day.

And not to say that I don't love Sawyer's dark eyes. They melt my heart in a completely different way.

beenockcleears

So, so glad I got this on video finally. Please to not be telling them how to say this correctly. And, you're welcome for the cuteness.

wordless wednesday: ultimate bubble bath.

beauty from ash.

It's really hard to even know where to start, but here goes...

Once upon a time, there were two really cool people. Those two people met and decided to get married and become a little family. And not too long after they were married, they found out they were going to have a baby! A little boy! And his name would be Noah.

Noah was a wild little thing. Full of life and laughter. And then one day, when he wasn't very old, Noah got sick. It wasn't a normal sickness. And Noah had to have a few surgeries. And chemo. And stayed in the hospital off and on for a long time.

Many, many people prayed for healing for Noah. But this time, that just didn't happen. So Noah went to be with his Lord and Savior at the young age of four. Noah was a brave little boy. And lived life 100%.

It's not the happiest of stories. In fact, it stinks. But it's true. Some of our really good friends lost their sweet son to cancer a little over two years ago. And it's been hard for them. But something, really cool has come out of it. They've started their own ministry and will travel to churches playing their songs about Noah, and tell his story, and y'all, it's changing people's lives.

I know his story changed my life. It can change yours too. If you let it...

John David and Jessica are wanting to reach more people. And they want to do it with an album that contains all the songs that have been written about Noah. Making a CD is no cheap feat, so they're asking for our help. My help, your help. Anyone who is willing to help.

Check out their Kickstarter page and, if you feel led, make a donation. Make this dream become a reality so that other people who are grieving can be helped to find some form of peace.

graham: three months old.

This was a really fun month. The smiles were more consistent. And laughs are just around the corner! Also, hands! They're the most interesting thing ever! But seriously, Graham, when you catch sight of your hand, you'll stare at it for a good 30 seconds moving it this way and that. Speaking of staring, we put the mirror on your play mat above you. And you are definitely digging your reflection right now.

Your brothers are still a little confused about why you aren't crawling yet. But you know what you are doing? You're trying to sit up. Mama and daddy think you're entirely too young to be doing this, by the way. You'll be sitting in our laps, lounging back, and we can feel you trying to pull yourself up. I think we're going to insist you save this trick for a couple of months, please. Preferably six months. I guess if you want to sit up, we may as well try to find the bumbo for you to practice with, huh?

You still love your brothers like crazy. And they love you! Sawyer asks to hold you all the time, and Cayden likes to say funny things to you to make you smile. You probably couldn't have asked for better big brothers. Mama and daddy are loving the relationship you are all forming. It's pretty awesome.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop giving you your reflux medicine. You were still spitting up, but only occasionally, and I didn't feel that your medicine was making things any better. And if it wasn't helping, I didn't want to keep giving you medicine and putting those chemicals in your body. I would say that your reflux has improved significantly though. Perhaps you being a couple of weeks early meant that you needed a little extra time to figure out how things work. We're still not 100% spit up free (hello three outfit changes before church yesterday), but you're getting there, and we're so very thankful for that.

You still enjoy sleeping through the night. And with mama going back to work last week, we're happy that you're falling into a little schedule. You're usually up at 7 in the mornings, eat around every two hours and in bed between 8 and 9. I have to admit, it's pretty awesome. And again, mama and daddy are very aware how blessed we've been with three good sleeping boys.

Likes: your left hand, your brothers, diaper changes, daddy's elephant noise, the cats
Dislikes: being hungry

weeks nine through twelve

cayden convos.

Aw yeah, back with some words from our oldest this time. I really wish I could record him for most of the day. I'm surprised with the words that come out of his mouth sometimes. And if anyone ever tells him binoculars isn't pronounced bi-noc-clee-ers, I might cry.

While in the garden section at Home Depot around the fertilizers...
Cayden: Mmmm... this one of my favorite smells!

----------

And now, around anything that smells kind of dirty, he constantly reminds me that he and daddy love dirty smells. Such a weird, but awesome kiddo.

only child.

This week our big boys have been with their Granna and Poppa enjoying some away time from mama and daddy. And you know what? As awesome as it is for them to be away and have their own fun, it's SO weird for me and Jeremy. Monday night when we got home, we were really confused about what we should do. There was no bedtime hustle. No asking to watch just one more show. And with our wireless down at home, Jeremy and I had no form of entertainment. Believe me, just watching five and three year old boys is enough entertainment, but we no longer had that. Weird, I tell ya.

So Graham's been a seemingly only child this week. It's been a long time since we've only had one kiddo around. We went for a walk around our 'hood last night and everyone we met kept telling us to enjoy this time. We'd smile, say thank you and give each other a look. We know this time is precious. And maybe having older children makes you realize just how fast it can all go by.

For now, we'll enjoy our one-on-one time with our littlest for two more days. And tomorrow night, we'll welcome the wild back into our home. With open arms.

sawyer says.

Back in the day, I used to post cayden's convos. Both the boys have said some of the silliest things lately, so I thought it might be nice to get back in the habit of posting some of those things. This is Sawyer's first entry, so, welcome to "sawyer says."

While flipping through a blank notebook...
Me: Sawyer, whacha doing?
Sawyer: Oh, me? I jus lookin for daddy some vegtables.
Me: Some vegetables? Do you mean some recipes?
Sawyer: Oh. Yeah. Recipes.

---------------------------------------------

We have "picnic" dinners in front of the TV some nights. After sitting for a while....
Sawyer (jumps up & starts marching around): My foot's too big! My foot's too big!

(His foot falls asleep and this is what he says when it happens. Pretty hilarious. Thinking I somehow need to try to film it this scenario.)

and bam, color!

It's amazing how adding one simple thing to a room can change the look dramatically. We knew going in that we wanted blue curtains for Graham's room to offset all the black and white. We even picked our ceiling paint color based on the fabric we had already purchased (um, yep, we've had this fabric for months).

We finally hung the curtain rods so that I could measure just how long the curtains needed to be – 89 inches; that's some serious curtain there. We hung them high and wide to accentuate the big window even more. The second we had one panel up, we were already in love. Cayden keeps telling us how much he loves Graham's curtains. (Which of course makes me realize how much their room is in need of a makeover. One day.)

We were already loving the bookshelves we added, but simple curtains definitely stepped up the look in this room. Can't wait to see what other final touches we can make in here.

first giggles.

sweetness.

Last weekend I was in the kitchen and happened to look over at Graham. He had his little fist tucked up under his chin with the most peaceful expression on his face. I grabbed my phone and snapped a photo real quick. Thankfully, Jeremy was right behind me in my madness and grabbed this shot on our real camera before Graham woke up and shifted. I wonder what he was dreaming about? It must have been lovely for sure.

mud pit.

When Jeremy digs a hole to plant watermelons, some little boys must play in said hole first. And get absolutely filthy. Mud for days y'all. It was one part adorable and lots of parts disgusting. But they had a blast, and I suppose that's ultimately all that matters!

bowling.

We took the boys bowling last week – the first time for Sawyer; Cayden had been once before with school. The bowling shoes on our boys was adorable. And then watching them tote their ball to the line and rolling it as hard as they could? Was so much fun! Jeremy and I were certain that their balls would never make it to the pins, but they did. While taking approximately a minute to get down the lane. We rented our lane for an hour thinking we could get two games in. Haha, joke's on us! Since it took the boys' balls so long to go down the lane each time they bowled, we completed one game with just five minutes to spare. We won't talk about who won (ahem, it was me), or who bowled the lowest score (I believe that would be Jeremy), but the boys did have the advantage of the bumpers being up for them. It was a really great family outing that I think we're have to rotate into our family fun adventures...

I'd honestly forgotten how much I enjoy bowling. I'm really not that good at it, but there's just something about feeling like you know all the techniques. And sliding your foot behind you as you release the ball. I'm totally a pro.

fourth of july, twenty fourteen.

We've been spending the fourth holiday with my parents since Cayden was a bitty baby. It's nice that the holiday always seems to fall on week that my sister and brother-in-law have their older children and we can all celebrate together as a big family.

After a hot dog dinner, we attempted to take some family photos for the first time (ever!) and it went about as well as could be expected. The fun thing? After we took all the photos and every one was in meltdown mode, Jeremy discovered the lens was on manual focus. So some photos were nice and focused, but the majority were not. Sad face. Guess we'll just have to all get together and take some more family photos sometime soon. Yay!

Our neighborhood usually has an awesome little show of fireworks above our lake. This year, there were TWO houses that decided to have some really great explosives. We just had to turn our heads back and forth. Like a little tennis match in the sky. I don't think there was a clear winner; all the kids enjoyed all the fireworks, so a win all around.

Once the fireworks were over, we headed back inside for brownies and homemade vanilla ice cream. A delicious way to end the evening!

wordless wednesday: smiles for big brother

graham's nursery: bookshelves

I think the last update post on Graham's nursery was adding furniture. And then, well, he surprised us about three weeks early and not much got done. We're finally back to working on the nursery and hope to have it done sometime before he turns ten. Haha, ok, hopefully before he's six months old. That leaves us about three and a half months to get to it.

But hey, bookshelves! We finally got them up and were able to put all the lovely books that we received at our diaper shower. The big boys also donated some of their books to Graham. It's a perfect little area in the corner of his room that will one day house a beanbag for him to snuggle into and read to his heart's content.

Also, please to be noticing the ceiling light that we installed. It makes my heart sing every time we walk in there. So much better than the pesky fan that we used to have in there. One step closer...