month seven | ezra

Ez!! Seven months! Dude, you are such a delight. You smile and growl and jabber to us all day long. You really only fuss if you're tired or if your mouth is bothering you. You've acquired your bottom two front teeth over the past month and I'm betting the next couple aren't too far behind. You've also waved a couple of times and have mimicked Amos coughing. You light up when Amos & Solomon come into the room and turn your head whatever way you need to to find them. I love watching you watch them and know that you're going to be in the middle of their craziness really soon. I also love watching you growl at them for attention. You're so, so, so loud! Seriously, all I can do is laugh sometimes. 

You spent 2 nights with Honey last month while Mama & Daddy ran the Tuna 200 in NC. You still suck that thumb, use your feet as an extra set of hands and chow down on baby food (you're still nursing too). You also like to grab any table food thats within reach and go at it. You weighed 16# 13oz at your 6 month check (it was actually around 6.5 months so I'm counting it towards 7 months (: ) and were 27.25" long. You're learning to use a sippy cup & have gotten pretty good at it! And, your sweet tongue is still too big for your mouth. 

 I keep trying to get you to say, "mama," but you just look at me and smile that sweet smile. You're super friendly & chill. The ladies at church love snuggling you & a handful of cashiers have even asked to hold you. 

Ez, buddy, I love being your mama. I love snuggling you & getting the biggest smiles from you. You make my heart so happy! Keep growing big and strong - we've got lots of adventures this fall! (: 

[month seven | amos]

[month seven | solomon]

martin band of brothers | october 2016

Somehow you guys were all in a pretty darn good mood for the monthly #martinbandofbrothers pic. Until the end. Ez...that middle finger (you get it honest). 

i love you boys & i love bein' your mama 

pumpkin painting

Earlier this week Moose, Sollah-Roo & Sadie girl painted pumpkins in the name of all that is fall and October. Never mind that it's still in the high 80's here in SC and we're soaking in every fall day that's just an extension of summer. #ihatethecold

I wish..no, no I don't. I was going to say that I wish I had a fun story about taking the boys to a pumpkin patch to let them pick out their very own pumpkins. But, around here, if you go to the pumpkin patch, they're just really over priced. And, it's still 85+ degrees outside, which means that a certain child of mine would have whined the entire time about being hot and having to walk on his own perfectly good two feet. And, after apple picking last week I decided that a store bought pumpkin would be just fine. So, instead, we went to Trader Joe's and picked out $1 tiger pumpkins. They're naturally beautiful little pumpkins and the boys & Sadie think that their paint jobs made them even more beautiful. I agree. 

celebrate | lucky number seven

 Y'all!! Mikey & I just celebrated our lucky number seven! Holy cow. Looking back over the past year is exhausting, if I'm honest. We moved a couple of times, added another arrow to our quiver, spent countless hours working on our beloved white house, traveled some, ran a few races, and have gone none stop in all the in between. 

Mikey, I love you. You are my very best friend & there is nobody on the face of the planet I'd rather do this crazy life with. YOU are my biggest adventure. Thank you for loving your people well. Maybe lucky number seven will bring about a season of rest. Maybe, lucky number 77 will...who knows? If we don't get rest until then, remember that our cups are overflowing. Keep me safe mister & I'll keep you wild. I promise. 

[six, five, four, three, two, one]

apple picking + baking

Last Tuesday we loaded up the #martinbandofbrothers + Sadie girl, Haley & Honey and headed to Hendersonville to pick apples. Just a heads up - if you want the place to yourselves, go on a Tuesday at the end of September! We had to walk a-ways to get to the good apples, but that was OK. After tromping around the grounds for a while & loading our cart to the brim (we ended up with 32# of apples), we made our way back to the barn for apple cider donuts & apple cider slushies (a-hem, this may have been my reason for wanting to go). 

We came home from the orchard with the kids and they were pooped, so we planned to bake the apples the next day. The boys & I went to Ft. Inn to Honey's house and Haley & I made 2 apple pies + a double batch of applesauce. We've still got tons of apples, so I'm searching for new recipes to make something yummy with them -- please share if you have something that you love! (: 

month six | ezra

month six 

|happy half birthday|

Ezra!! Happiest HALF birthday!! (Holy cow!) This picture sums you up, almost to a T. It's just missing that ginormous smile that covers your face most of the day. You're my thumb sucker & monkey toe grabber. You're very good at putting things in your feet to free up your hands. 

You fit right in with your two big brothers who never stop talking by jabbering along with them. And, I think you may be louder than either of them if that's possible (#helpme). I know I say this every month, but boy do you love them. We recently discovered that if we stand in front of the fridge where I have pictures of each of you that you smile and look back and forth between the ones of Amos + mama & Solly + mama. It makes my heart want to explode every single time. I hope that you always love them like you do now. My prayer is that the #martinbandofbrothers is inseparable & that you know what a treasure you have in having two big brothers as best friends. 

You're still sleeping pretty darn well, with the exception of a few nights. And, you LOVE baby food. My hope was to exclusively breast feed you for 6 months, but around 5.5 months you just seemed ready for food, so we gave it a try. Your very favorites are applesauce and cinnamon pear oats, but you eat just about anything I give you (minus sweet potatoes...you gagged). You're also mastering puffs & love to chew on the fat pretzel sticks (we're careful with these because they'll get soggy and break off). You're going to follow in Solomon's footsteps and be an excellent eater of table food as soon as you can, I'm sure.

Daddy-O & I think you're going to be a bruiser. We call you "bulldog" because everyone now & again you just look like a bulldog. Your arms & neck seem super muscular & you just look like you're ready to beat somebody up (is that crazy?). You're definitely built differently than either of your brothers & I can't wait to see how this shakes out when you guys are teenagers. 

Thank you for being such an easy baby. You smile when you wake up and rarely fuss. You're so chill and just go with the flow. You're such a blessing to our rowdy crew & we love you so very much! 

currently

currently...

reading: People // Garden & Gun // Real Simple (thanks to Cathy)

playing: different Pandora stations depending on what I'm doing  

watching: thinking of starting Poldark 

trying: to get things put away at the white house 

cooking: nothing 

eating: smoothies made by OD 

drinking: coffee

calling: no one 

texting: kayla jean & mere  

pinning: things for the white house // crock pot recipes // fall travel ideas 

planning: (still) our 7 year anni trip!! whoooohoooooo! 

crafting:  Rust & Stardust necklaces & earrings...we just finished our largest order ever & are working on the 2nd! 

doing: laundry

going: to take the boys to Clemson's homecoming! (they usually go with Dad, Ria & Marcos) 

loving: running again 

hating: that we aren't (living) in the white house yet. do not even get me started 

discovering: that hard is not the same as bad 

enjoying: evenings with Mikey again 

hoping: for rain this week 

celebrating: our lucky number 7! (10.03.09) 

smelling: crisp fall air - love having the doors open on Paris Mt. 

thanking: Haley & Honey for keeping the boys so I can train for the Tuna 200 

considering: what a blessing being married to my Mikey for the past 7 years has been & is 

finishing: editing pics for Haley from early this summer (oops) 

starting: to shop for Christmas