17 and counting...

...and counting we did today, several times, to make sure all were accounted for. Because we went swimming at our pool today with a bunch of friends and we had a total of 17 KIDS!!! It was a blast!

Me and my 3-Karis, Brayden and Lucy

Paige and her 2-Nathan and Mari-Morgan

Monica and her 3-Mackenzie, Maddy and Morgan

Lori and her 1-Emma Kate

Rachel and her 3-Drew, Kendall and Jack

Helen and her 5-William, Jacob, Rebecah, Hannah and Joshua

I don't know how the Duggar family in 18 and counting do it! She deserves the super mom award!

Jack and Brayden

Super cool Jack

The goggle eyed boys

Just some of the girls (and Brayden). Is he a ladies' man or what? He has quite the selection here!

The big boys

1, 2, 3...Jump!

Stopping to pose for a quick pic...

Sweet Joshua

Mom...we are hungry!!!

Lucy got to hang out in the pool for a long time...but still slept straight through it!

Me and my little chickens in a wad...

Kendall and Brayden

Whew! We came home tired and the kids took a LONG nap! We look forward to it again soon!

We love summer...

Because there are lots of fun days at the pool. We hung out at Rachel's neighborhood pool today with Rachel and Lori and there was a lot of fun to be had!

Kendall and Emma Kate

Jack is not a baby anymore...such a big boy!

Kendall and Karis

Drew

Brayden

Lucy...slept through the whole outing. She is such a GREAT baby!

You know it is time to go when you get a face like this...

Time to go home and nap...we have some tired kids on our hands.

Just thinking of some of my favorite things (in no particular order)

1. fresh flowers
2. a clean house
3. sushi (smoked salmon...yum)
4. coffee (any time of day)
5. a good reality tv show
6. pine sol
7. my christmas tree
8. quiet times on the beach
9. sunrises and sunsets
10. chocolate (dark is my fav)
11. taking pictures of my children
12. dates with my hubby
13. simple love notes
14. deep conversations with ones I love
15. an organized house
16. witnessing "God moments" in myself and others
17. fresh cut grass
18. vacations
19. early mornings times with the Lord
20. doing pedicures with Karis
21. drinking coffee with Brayden
22. cuddling with my handsome hunk
23. feeding Lucy
24. a balanced checkbook
25. vacuum lines on the carpet
26. my husband's cologne
27. a day at the pool
28. my iphone
29. quality time with my family
30. my favorite Bible (no, others just don't do)
31. blogging/checking blogs
32. the beach (aaahhhhh)

7/8/09

Did anyone realize today's date 7-8-9? Neat. And it happens to be Pop-pop's bday too! Happy bday and we love you!

P90X

As of late, there has been alot of talk about P90X. My brother Matt and his wife are doing it for the second time, yet this time are doing the diet with the exercise program. Jay has done it for a couple of weeks and then with all of our family in town, jumped off the bandwagon. I have needed to get back into some exercise but recently having surgery have been putting it off and trying to recover and heal. Now that it has been 8 weeks post surgery, I have no excuses now. I still have a few baby pounds to lose and want to get it off. I like the idea of the nutrition plan with it because we could always eat healthier and the book pretty much lays it out for you. We love fruits and veggies at our house and meat too so it shouldn't be that much of a change except for the no salt, no sugar rule. NO COKE OR COFFEE???? I only drink one coke a day but it is like my reward of the day. I love it. And coffee??? I REALLY don't know if I will give it up. I can give up alot of things, even Dr. Pepper, but not coffee. I will be reviewing the Nutrition plan this week and then Jay and I plan to start it together soon. I wonder if it is possible to get a six pack after giving birth to 3 children? Highly unlikely but hey, it is ok for a girl to dream right? We'll see. Anyone else tried P90X?

Just for the women out there...

...breastfeeding.

I just want to tell you it is one of my favorite things. OF. ALL. TIME.

I have breastfed all of mine. Karis for 3 months, Brayden for 5, and since I am not working full time now, hope to feed Lucy until she is a year old. If you have breastfed yours, you understand the connection you feel between you and your baby and how special it is. As I sat and nursed this morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks how incredible the process is. The Lord knew what he was doing when he designed it and how all of it just "works" when done right. There is nothing sweeter than your baby knowing you and your smell and knowing that only "mom" can give them what they need. Moments that bring me to tears are when Lucy (and my others when they nursed) look up at me and grin so big that they stop eating. Did I mention it is one of my favorite things???

I think the reason I am sentimental about it so much now is knowing this is my last baby. I am cherishing every moment with my angel Lucy and don't want to rush a second of her growing up. And hopefully for the next 10 months, I will continue to cherish the moments...even though sometimes it can be inconvenient. Because, it is one of my favorite things...ever.

July 4th weekend

We packed up and went to Corinth for the weekend to see Jay's parents. Although it went by way too fast, we had a great time visiting with them. We were sad to go!

Pop-Pop and Brayden

Nonnie and Karis

On Friday we went to Shiloh Ridge to swim and they enjoyed some play time with daddy and Pop-Pop.

Grandmother Lucy and baby Lucy

Aunt Juju

Pinto and all the big kids...

Lucy getting some snuggles from Nonnie

Pop-Pop and Uncle Haha playing baseball with Brayden...

The kids helping pick veggies from the garden...

Uncle Haha playing "Simon says" with the kids. There is a reason we call him Uncle Haha...he is always making us laugh!

Mommy and Lucy

On Saturday, July 4th we went over to Grandmothers to enjoy hanging outside, swimming, grilling out and eventually fireworks. Karis coloring while she waited on cousin Evie.

We pulled out the pool Nonnie got them last July 4th and they had a ball with it!!! I haven't seen Brayden smile like this over something in a long while. He was so excited he could barely catch his breath!

Cousin Evie

Nonnie, Grandmother and Didi (Evie's mom)

Grandmother gave Brayden this boat and he LOVED it! He kept showing his "pirate ship" to everyone and telling them that pirates say, "Arghh! Matey!"

The girls cheesin' it up...

Karis and Aunt Jessie

Enjoying a picnic outside complete with none other than grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh tomato from the garden, baked beans, chips and rotel, cantaloupe and watermelon. It was a perfect July 4th meal! YUMMM!

My sweet family!

Bug searching...

Karis and Brayden

He was holding the flag like it was a baseball bat...he didn't quite have the right idea, but oh well.

Granddaddy Pinto

We really enjoyed our time in Corinth with Nonnie, Pinto, Aunt Jessie, Aunt Juju, Uncle Haha, Cousins Didi and Evie, and Grandmother and Pinto. We love yall!