3 months

our freshest tiny has just crossed the 3 month mark! i am in disbelief and already grieving how fast its going. i love having a fresh one in my arms. it never gets old. my cup is full. i am grateful and content.
but i think i could have 10 more babies and pretty much feel the same. i love this season.

our first 8 weeks :: rough.  they were equally sweet and amazing. but mostly survival mode.
many people say 'oh, going from 3 to 4 is nothing' well . . . yes it's something.
there is a certain amount of chaos, noise and wildness that with 3 you're used to, so #4 just falls right in. but its another human who has needs and a baby, who's needs don't really wait for much.

there were more meltdowns and emotional crisis than this tired mommy felt equipped to deal with.
sitting and feeding a newborn with trains crashing down the stairs and toy buckets being dumped out and my phone ringing for showings wasn't exactly relaxing.
i bounced back and forth from feeling guilty i was spending hours feeding a baby to feeling overwhelmed that i couldn't meet the needs of my other tinys. i know the feeling. i have had it 2 other times, with the addition of Liam & Lucy. and the only things that begin to make it better are time and sleep, and lots of grace. somehow the grace thing isn't something i come by very easily.

so i feel as though the baby fog is lifting. sleep has returned, mostly, and our days have their normal 'rhythum' to them again. whew. i feel like i am present and accounted for. . until she starts teething or hits the next growth spurt!!

i was given a new camera lens for christmas!! so post bath today London and I decided it was time to break it in properly!!

 the lip : finally captured on camera!

another post coming later this week, tied to camp tiny & my new daily prayer rhythms!!!

warm fuzzies

one word :: instagram. 

hello, my name is mommy, and i'm addicted. 

not sure who said it, but they were right; the best camera you have is the one on you. 

i have so many crazy moments throughout the day. 

moments filled with giggles and sweet fresh tiny smiles, but more moments filled with drama, meltdowns, spills, bumps, reconciliation, tears, puzzles, piles of mess, dishes, ignored laundry, tiny plastic dinosaurs, trains, scrambled eggs, 2nd breakfast, dried playdough, and on.

so i pay homage to the most wonderful free iphone app that has granted me this sweet window into my world of tinys . and on those days when i feel like i just might not make it past the 430pm meltdown, i have instagram. go ahead, judge me....

i have a way to look back at sweet grace-filled full-of-life moments caught in a split second.

it reminds me that, the crazy passes, the meltdowns mend, the mess will always exist, but its ok to just soak it in!

and don't we always look back on photos with nostalgia, with warm fuzzies about how sweet it was?

so i am banking on not remembering the crazy straight-jacket moments and am excited that i have hundreds of warm fuzzy moments amidst the chaos!!!

back in november we took a saturday and had a day campout! 

complete with a hammock, marshmallows, hot chocolate, cheetos & hotdogs! sounds healthy. 

we've decided it has to be a new tradition. the tinys : had a blast. 

 daddy teaching fire building skills!!!

 this fresh one was just barely 3 weeks : bundled up!

a still moment. this was minutes after one tiny got kicked in the face from wrestling in the hammock.

a quad

 “The prayers we weave into the matching of socks, the stirring of oatmeal, the reading of stories, they survive fire.”― Ann Voskamp

I love the truth of this quote.

A promise for steadfastness in the mundane.

Being a mom is quite possibly the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

I don’t have patience; I continue to learn patience thru parenting four tinys.

Every tiny meltdown or crazy mess is an opportunity for me to show self-control; and I don’t always make the most of that.

Every loss of self control is a chance to apologize, confess and talk about how even my own sin.

Every tiny lie and bad attitude is a chance for me to extend discipline in love; mend with the fruit of the spirit.

Being a mom is quite possibly the BEST thing I’ve ever done; and I am grateful that God has used parenting as a tool to show me how desperately I need HIM!! It’s a beautiful mess!

I love the pause that the arrival of a newborn brings.

even within the chaos of three other tinys.

I don’t have a problem saying no to things that come across our calendar; there is extra grace in drawing our family inward. and maybe its not really the grace of others as much its the freedom we give ourselves to not do it all. . . or maybe that’s just me. ….

I don’t have sadness over being semi hermit-like.

the mess I am already comfortable with just gets messy-er and I don’t care . . I just want to sit and hold a baby, and sleep, but holding a baby.

I really love the slow pace of it just being us. I believe its really how family is intended to live . . . unharried. unfrazzled. focused on growing. I mean we’re also focused on not going crazy. the adjustment of a new baby has manifested itself different in each tiny.

we had our first family dinner out last night:: chick-fil-a

we conveniently chose the booth next to the playroom so Andy and I could actually make eye contact and share a few words . .

so :: I finally have some shots of my 4 tinys together!!

Here’s another truth from Ann Voskamp

I love this !!

“The state of my space doesn’t mirror the state of my soul and Christ Himself was born in a barn.”

gives me that extra bit of freedom to love on tinys and leave the mess!! someday . . my house will be clean again and tiny toys will be off my floor and a part of me will be sad.

one week :: London Elinor

these first few weeks home are my favorite. 

i can say that after four tinys. only because I know how quickly it passes :: snapping photos any free moment i have!!

I will be attempting to actually take a photo with all four tinys this afternoon!! wish me luck