Enjoying Life

Taking care of 3 little boys without the help of Jake has been challenging. I often find myself in survival mode, just trying to get us through the day. Sometimes I get so caught up in taking care of them and getting things done around the house that I forget to just enjoy my boys and this time in our life. I forget to take time to just play with them and laugh. Jake is so good at playing with them and I know they miss that so much. In church we are going through a series called The Art of Family. Last week the pastor said something that struck me. He talked about not just surviving raising your young kids, but striving to be a great mom filled with the love of God.

Today we had a really good day. I want to remember it and the way I feel tonight about each of our boys. I feel truly blessed and so thankful for each one of them.
It was the first time in months that Asher has been happy for an entire day! He is a very challenging baby and spends a lot of time crying, but today he smiled and cooed at me more than he ever has before. While the older two napped, Asher and I got to spend some quality time together. He was so happy and I was able to give him all my attention and soak in all of his sweet smiles.
William is my happy little man who always has a smile and a snuggle for me. My favorite time spent with him today happened just before bed. We sat in his monkey chair in his room and read together for about 15 minutes. He was pointing to the pictures in the book and telling me what everything was. It amazes me how quickly he is learning new words. He has just recently found a love for reading and I hope it is something that continues to grow.
Caden seems to be growing up so quickly. Every day after naps we take a walk around the neighborhood. It is a loop that is about 1/2 mile. The last couple of months, Caden has been riding his bike while I walk. He has really been practicing and is getting pretty good at riding it, so today Caden rode his bike really fast while I jogged and pushed the other two boys in the stroller. He went around the neighborhood 2 times without stopping. He had the biggest smile on his face and was so proud of himself. I was so proud of him! He wants to keep practicing so he can ride his bike with Jake when he gets home. Caden's love and enjoyment for life is something I hope he is able to hold onto forever.

So I'm ending the day filled with love and a sense of peace. There are dirty dishes in the sink and laundry to be done, but they can wait. Tonight I will go to bed happy and praising God for this day and my 3 amazing little boys.

3 Clean Boys!

For the first time last night I put all 3 of our boys in the tub together. Caden and William thought it was so much fun to have Asher join them! The three of them sat together in just a couple inches of water while I washed Asher. Caden and William had Asher smiling the whole time. I don't think he has ever had so much fun in the bath. It was cool to have Asher in the bath for a little while, but the fun wore off and they kicked him out so they could fill up the tub with more water and add some bubbles. I can't imagine what it will be like in a few months when Asher is sitting up well and wants to take a bath every night with his big brothers. There is sure to be lots of splashing and laughter!

Blogging for Jake!

It has been a long time since I have posted on our blog. Since my last post, we have moved back to the states and welcomed Asher into our family. I'm obviously not very good at keeping up with it. This time it is going to be different! Jake is deployed for the first time and I want to keep him up to date with everything that is going on in our crazy house. This is the best way to share our stories and pictures with him. In a house of 3 little boys there is always something going on and I don't want him to miss out on any of it!

We are moving!!

This week Jake received his new assignment to fly C-17's at Charleston AFB in South Carolina! This was Jake's first choice and we are all so excited to be moving back to the states and living closer to family and friends! We have just 2 months to get packed up and moved back to the states. Jake is busy trying to get things set up for us as quick as he can. We will be leaving Germany Oct 1st. Caden, William and I will be going to Georgia to stay with family for a few months while Jake goes to train in Altus, OK. We will all be in Charleston by the end of February!

William Michael is here!!

William was born on July 20 at 8:31am. He weighed 7lb 4oz and was 19.5in long. He is healthy, beautiful and such a joy to our family. I have had a quick recovery from my c-section and am feeling great. Caden is being a super big brother and we are so proud of him. He loves to show his brother all of his toys and to teach him about trucks, trains, airplanes, and tractors. I'm sure they will be the best of friends! He gets a little jealous sometimes and he really can't wait until I can pick him up again!




Jake holding him while waiting for me to get out of recovery.


Going Home!




Thanks Oma for the big brother and little brother shirts!

Kim and Dan were here for 10 days and they were a huge help!! We are so thankful they were able to come out and help us welcome William to the family and take care of Caden. Caden really loves his Oma and his Opa and he had a wonderful time playing with them. Jake started 10 days of paternity leave when his mom left and we are all enjoying having him around the house to help out. My mom gets here on August 4th and we can't wait to have her here!

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers for our family. We are doing so well and we thank God for blessing us with William.

Caden's first day of summer camp!

Caden is turning into such a big boy! Today he started his first day of summer camp at the Childrens Learning Academy. It is a school off base, but is all Americans. He will be going 5 days a week from 9-12 for the next 7 weeks assuming he continues to enjoy it. He was so excited to go this morning. The first thing he said to me this morning was "today I go to school!" and then all morning he ran around saying "hooray school!" I'm pretty sure that I was more nervous about him going to school than he was. When we got to his classroom he hung up his backpack and ran inside the room to see the toys. He gave me a kiss, told me he loved me and then ran off to go play with another boy and some tractors. I was so proud of him for being so brave! When I went to pick him up he was playing with trucks, but as soon as he saw me he came running and jumped into my arms. His teacher said that he did well, but was having a little trouble listening. Hopefully that will improve as he gets used to being there.

Getting ready to go to his first day of summer camp!


Running to give Dixie a goodbye kiss before we leave.


I am now 37.5 weeks pregnant and still feeling pretty good! It has been hot here and I'm looking forward to the cooler weather we are expecting this week. I have really been missing air conditioning the last couple weeks. Caden and I are still keeping busy walking Dixie every day and playing at the park. He talks a lot about his baby brother now, but I'm still not sure he quite understands what is about to happen. We are all getting excited about William's arrival and I can't wait to have him in my arms!

37 weeks, feeling huge!


Caden and his best friend Dixie snuggling on the couch before church on Sunday.

It's been a busy month!

We started out the month of June with a trip home to the states! It was a very long 10 hour flight with Caden and we don't plan on doing it again until we move back. We started our visit up at the lake with the Fox family. Kim and Dan had a birthday party for me and we were able to spend a wonderful day at the lake with both sides of our families. It was so much fun.

After a few days of relaxing at the lake we got on another plane with the Fox family and flew to Virginia for some time at Jake's grandparent's beach house and for a friend's wedding. We spent our first few days in Virginia on the beach and spending time with family. Caden had a great time on the beach playing with Jake and I and his aunt April and Oma. We are so glad we were able to go up to the beach and spend some time with Caden's great grandma and grandpa and also meet his great uncle Rick! We all really enjoyed our time there.

In addition to our fun at the beach with the family, we were also able to go to Ryan and Sam's (college friends) wedding in Suffolk, Virginia. We took Caden to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night so that he could meet our friends we had not seen since we moved to Germany. He was great and even fell asleep in his stroller during dinner. He is such a good little traveller. On Saturday, Caden's aunt April and uncle Eric were kind enough to watch Caden for us all day so that we could go to the wedding and enjoy time with old friends. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time catching up with old friends. It was especially fun to spend time with Mike and Kelli and have another pregnant girl to hang out with!

On Sunday we flew back to Atlanta and spent the next week with the Gutting family in Marietta. We spent most of the week playing with Caden's cousins Brennen and Emma. He loved playing with them and still asks me every day if we can go and play with them at aunt Jenni's house. I wish we lived closer and could see them more often. We also made sure to eat at all of our favorite restaurants and do a little shopping! We tried to have a birthday party for Caden the day before we left to come back to Germany, but Caden was so exhausted and worn out from his two weeks of excitement that he fell asleep on his grandpa's lap about 20 minutes after all of the party guests arrived and slept through the whole party. Even though Caden missed his party Jake and I enjoyed spending time with both of our families and our good friend Melissa.

We had a wonderful time at home and treasure the time we were able to spend with our families and friends. We hope we will live closer in a few months and will be able to visit more often!

Yesterday we celebrated Caden's 2nd birthday and Father's Day! I feel so blessed to have my wonderful boys. Jake is an amazing father and Caden adores him. I love watching and listening to them play; there is nothing better than the sound of them laughing and playing together!

Now we are busy preparing for William's arrival next month! We will keep you posted this coming month and I promise to post more pictures soon!