moving along

We've had some big changes lately.
They've kept me really busy.
And not at all able to keep up on blogging.
But I'm so thankful for my phone.
Is that silly?
I remember telling Matt it was totally not necessary to have an iphone.
All I need to do with a phone is call people.
That makes me sound so ancient!
Now that I have one, I'm not sure I could go back.
So, thanks to my super savvy phone, I've still been able to capture a few memories on camera.

We've gotten farther on the house.
Almost ready to move in!
I've had some pretty awesome helpers too.
Only the best of friends help paint while holding your baby for you :)
Thanks Mis!

One of our major changes...
We moved out of the Elbing house. 
They were so sweet and would have let us stay as long as we needed.
But I think we needed to see some headway and get a step closer to moving to our new house.
Now we are living at my parent's house until we are finished.
We've taken over the basement.
And my parent's have been SO nice about it :)
I know it's not easy having 5 extra people and all their stuff everywhere.
Thanks mom and dad!
Ellie and Tripp think they're on vacation and tell everyone they live with their Mema and Papa now.
Awesome.

We said goodbye to our favorite post office lady.
Susan will be very missed.
She gave the best suckers and always graciously displayed all the "treasures" the kids would find for her.
Ellie left, sucker in hand, with promises of coming to visit if I was ever late to pick her up from kindergarten.

My parent's have been gone all week on vacation.
So we've been relaxing and taking up the whole house, doing the chores, having lazy days and taking advantage of the huge selection of tv channels.
It's almost like a hotel when you're used to 4 channels at home!
Ellie's been into brushing bald baby's hair.
Not much to brush in my opinion.
But she's convinced he has as much as his cousin Griffin if you brush it the right way.
That's a huge stretch!

We've tried to keep cool in this crazy heat.
It's always more fun when you get to be with friends!

We danced in the rain.
That lasted a total of two minutes.
Bummer.

We've baked yummy cookies.
Only a few made it into actual cookie form.
It's just too hard not to eat all that cookie dough!
Ellie is definitely my little sweet tooth child.
She literally cannot stop sneaking bites!
It's just second nature.
She comes by it very naturally.
The two of us together are not good!

We gave the dogs a bath after they ran in the house smelling like a dead animal.
GROSS!!!
I kept thinking it it would go away.
I was wrong.
So off we went to wash two nasty dogs.
I came back to pick up and saw Tripp washing his hair with the dog shampoo.
Well that's totally normal!
He just yelled up to the porch and informed me he was gettin' clean.
What a goofy kid! 

Matt also changed jobs.
Which would be our other big change.
He was offered a position at Hardwoods in Burrton over the summer, and after prayer and a lot of talking it over, we decided it was a huge blessing and the perfect timing for exactly what we were needing right now.
He packed up his entire shop at Berean in one week.
With tons of help from family.
I'm pretty sure we couldn't do anything without our family!
That was another reason we decided to move the house now too.
He's been working there for a little over three weeks now.
There's been some adjustments, but we have felt so incredibly blessed in so many ways.
He gets to be home so much earlier now too, sometimes as early as 5:00!!
Definitely could get used to that!

So, that's what's been going on lately.
Hopefully we'll be in our house soon and will feel even more settled into all these new changes!

a new member

After all that thinking, all the helpful ideas, and searching...

We finally got a dog! 

We really like him. 

My heart was set on a rottweiler, a girl, and a little puppy.

We ended up getting a 5 month old, male weimeraner. 

And I'm pretty sure we couldn't be happier!

We named him Ruxin.

He fits in great with the family and lets the kids be all crazy with him. 

He's a sweet puppy and isn't all wild and jumpy. 

That's a big blessing. 

I'm actually not a huge dog person, but he is the perfect dog for me!

He's become my fury little shadow.

He listens to me the best and I can just say come, or move towards the door and he's right behind me!

His favorite spot to sleep is on the floor next to my bed. 

He definitely likes keeping track of me. 

He loves to be by people, but if you don't want to pet him, he just lays down right away next to your feet. 

I love that.

He's been a great little addition to the family. 

It'll be so fun to see him grow up with the kids and have adventures together on our little farm!

Webb {6 months}

Webb is getting bigger!
It seems to go so fast.
And I feel like the more kids I have, the faster it goes.
It's harder to pay close attention to each milestone and when exactly he started doing things.
I just keep looking at him, and think, Holy cow! When did he start doing that?!

So...his 6 month pictures were not awesome.
I had really high hopes.
Perfect spot outside, cozy blanket, shade, happy baby...
Too bad the baby didn't agree.
The second I set him down, poof!
DRAMA!!
No tears, just 100% baby drama complete with loud grunting, pouty faces, and squeals of anger.
I wasn't going back though.
And I figured it'd be fun to see remember those faces too.
Not every moment is happy and peaceful anyways! 

 Webb constantly crosses his feet. It's adorable. He has little scratches all over from always crossing them back and forth and sticking them between his toes.

 Then he looked at me sadly and it was all over. No more baby pictures for him. 

And when I scooped him up, all was right with the world. 

No more drama. No more sad faces. 

He was happy to be held and eat what was left of his scrumptious sign.

And just to add, I was not glaring at him. It was just the sun :)

Webb-

At six months, you are really growing and showing your personality! You have started doing so many new things. You love reaching and playing with toys now. You nibble on anything you can get your hands on. No teeth yet. I thought you were starting to, but I must have been wrong. 8 months seems to be the average time you all get your teeth, so we'll see if you're early or not! You have started giggling a lot! Ellie and Tripper can make you go on forever. I keep thinking they're going to make you cry with their in-your-face terrifying squeaky peek-a-boo games, but you laugh every time. You are ticklish and even giggle when I get you dressed. You stopped getting the hiccups every time you laugh or talk. I guess that just means you're getting bigger. :) You started babbling a lot more this month too. And even started saying vowels...which means you technically have said "DADA!" But I'm not sure I'm counting it yet. Not until you start saying your "M's" at least too! :) You are a very bald baby! I thought your sister was bald, but next to you, she's not even close! And you're slightly on the white side of things too! I keep finding myself jumping to all the shady spots every time we go outside. I feel like the sun could gobble you up in a few seconds and you'd just turn as red as a tomato! I think there is going to be lots of sunscreen in your future! You're skin is so very sensitive. I remember Ellie's being a little bit like that, but not quite so severe. If we hold you in the same position too long, you even get our whole hand mark on your legs and it stays there for a long time! Crazy! You are rolling around back and forth everywhere, but haven't started getting on your knees yet or scooting at all. That is fine by me! You can just take your time on that! You have the sweetest little personality. You aren't demanding at all. The only time you really show your opinion is through loud grunts when you don't like something. You get a really bewildered face and won't stop grunting until I pick you up. But most of the time, you're happy to just be wherever we are and enjoy going along with whatever we're doing. That's makes for a very easy third baby! I don't exactly have a very good schedule for you. I guess maybe that's a third baby thing too? Or just me. But you sleep great for naps, and you're a wonder baby at night! You are still the only child in the house that consistently sleeps through the night. You need to teach your brother and sister how to do that! You love to snuggle. You rest your head on me all the time. I keep thinking you'll grow out of it, but you actually have gotten even more snuggly! I love it! You might be a little shy too. You bury your head into me or your blanket when anyone talks to you. We might have to work on that when you get older, but right now, I secretly like it! I'm not quite sure how long little boys enjoy snuggles, so I'll take as many as I can get! You are an absolute joy to our family, little Webb! Thanks for being you!