camping with four

We just got back from camping... two weeks ago. Can I get a whoop whoop because this Mama is on fire and completely punctual with this post. Lest we forget I'm typically a month and a half turnaround kinda girl, so two weeks late is nothing to sneeze at. Also, I have a baby coming soon so this will not at all become a habit of mine. I have been rockin the procrastination since grade school, and have zero intentions of becoming one of those ontime over achievers. So expect this baby's announcement to arrive in your mailbox... uh... uh... oh ya, never.

Brad and I decided it would be fun to take one last family camping trip as a family of four. We thought unlike last time, maybe this time the kids would be independent and spontaneous enough to endure a few days in the woods without the comfy lifestyle they have grown so fond of, we thought maybe Brad could get some fishing in and we thought pregnant me would take to the woods like a natural bush woman.

We thought wrong on all of those counts.

Did I mention I was then 3 weeks from having a watermelon? Picture all 170 pounds of me squatting in the woods.

Better yet, don't picture that. Some thing's you just cant unsee.



And the kids... oh these kids. They just cant hang in the woods. They don't do well off a schedule, Harlyn is a klutz and that is just never a good combination with the outdoors because you know she'll probably end up falling off a rock and into the lake, ruining all chances of Bread actually catching anything. And Khage will down right refuse to poop in the woods, even if we fashion a makeshift bathroom out of a sheet. Then life gets extra fun when Mommy forgets to pack Harlyn nighttime diapers and were forced to construct one out of a tube sock and paper towels which just ended up looking like our toddler was sleeping in a giant maxi pad. 

 



Andddddddd it rained. Making it very clear that our tent is in fact NOT water proof. Good thing my man knows how to set up a dirty laundry/paper towel/blanket barricade... this guy's skills are truly never ending. If he could have fabricated me a potty perch, this pregnant bod would have thanked him greatly.

But hey, lets just paste some smiles on our faces and trick those nearby campers into believing that we are a family totally capable of roughin it. As far as those screams you hear coming from our campsite? Don't worry about those.



 Harlyn... forever classy.

And look, I was there too. Just parading about in my most stylish camping attire as of yet. Take special notice of Harlyn trying to outshine me with her ever so adorable toe tip. She may be wearing crocs but darn it if she wont try to chic 'em up.

Until next time.

countdown to baby e.t.a

I think I should probably walk away from the computer right about now, disregard this post and spend my time doing something more suitable like reveling in the silence that is my house. All three of the kids are sleeping, one still sleeping inside womb but I'm not picky as long as their all catching their required zzzz's. I still cant believe next week...ahem or a few days later based on past history... that I will have 3 children and my now quiet house will live no more.



It sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm actually not, just proper note taking on our current status. Status being: quiet house but anxious mommy because I couldn't be more excited for the up and coming chaos. While that may make me stupid, it also makes me just plain in love with these kids and what ever mood/emotion/tantrum they will throw at me once they realize they are getting moved on down the line. K and H, did I mention your no longer my favorites?

Love ya, but babies smell good. Like real good.

So here we go, count down to me getting my fill on being needed again. Read that as: the kids will probably fight over me... picture me smiling devilishly because I'm totally into that kind of thing. I just love feeling needed by these ever so needy spawns and that includes a new baby addition that will probably be the worst offender of all time. Seeing as babies never know what they really want and just seem to cry for the sake of hearing their own sound.

+ Maybe all the crying will force the mouse that has taken up residency in our home to move out. Maybe, but surely not. Considering, the other two kids do their fair share of screaming and yet it still insists on using our address as its main headquarters. Did I mention we killed this current mouse's cousin/friend/brother (could have been a sister because obviously we didn't investigate) last week. So its pretty clear we have a mouse infestation. Welcome home baby, I hope you like your new pet(s).

+ So this pictures is from a few weeks ago, I look exactly the same if you can completely ignore the additional pounds gained and regional swelling.

 

This may be the last of this pregnancy's photo series. I may not get around to taking another one because this particular wall is at a local park and therefor I am required by law to wear pants, and I try to avoid that as much as possible these days. So, maybe don't stop by unannounced. You have been warned.

+ My sisters and Mom threw me a little sprinkle for Roo last weekend. In case, like myself, your not entirely current on baby trends, a sprinkle is like a mini shower for second or third time mommies. And that came straight from babycenter so you know that information is legit. It was amazing, and fun and I was riding that happiness for a solid two days. Post on that coming soon. Or later.

+ My belly button has popped which makes me all the more anxious that labor is impending, but then I remember it popped like three months ago so that little fact is altogether worthless.

+ And lastly, my wedding ring still fits. I was forced into removing it early with my other two pregnancies so this just makes me feel great, like this fat bod is really just a figment of my imagination and the 30 pounds gained must surely be all baby. Hello, New World Record... I'll take my trophy in the form of a lifetime supply of diapers, thanks.

harlyn's two

There she is people, our baby girl in all her two year old glory.

 

Take it in, every last bit of her.

 

Sidenote: if I can teach you anything about my sometimes seemingly strange camera shots it is this: I'm not overly concerned with faces, I am in the market for all those other often times overlooked tiny details. Hence the reason 3 out of the 11 photos above feature her looking at the camera. Don't mistake me, I love her face too but I also adore her tiny ankles, the way her little hands are holding that flower, the side profile that shows off her protruding upper lip and the little bridge above her nose, the small dent at the back of her neck and the way I can never get her pigtail part straight because she only grants me 30 seconds to do her hair, or that way she crouches down with her little butt just an inch off the ground and the loving way in which she holds and cares for her so very precious babies.

These are the things I never EVER want to forget.  It's these little things that entice us to sneak in her room once she's asleep to lay one last kiss on the bridge above her nose, or the reason why we grab her hand just to feel its tiny weight in ours, and the constant excuse Brad and I have for meeting eyes and proudly declaring how adorable our daughter is.

If you need further proof, which I don't think you do...

 

Any kid this cute that likes cheese and farts on demand has my heart already.

And that cute little outfit featured in the series of photos from above was courtesy of world's greatest Nana. That was the first of many outfits Nana has now lovingly made for Harlyn, and I mean it when I say I love seeing my daughter dressed in something made by my Mother.