It's Been How Long?

I miss blogging.  It's hard to believe it's been 7 months since my last post!  7 months!  The arrival of Gideon (Little Man, Mr. G, G Money, or Ge-un, as Rachel would call him) has thrown every aspect of what used to be "normal" out the window.  Needless to say, pretty much anything extra had to be put aside for a time, and blogging is definitely an extra.

But, he's getting older and more settled, and things are starting to take on something that looks a little more like normal day-to-day life!

Let's see... how do I even begin to update 7 months worth of goings ons?  We had a round of birthdays, so now everyone is in the even digits (12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2) and as time tends to cause, everyone is growing lots. 

Little Man, the dude who has shaken up our world so much, is almost 8 months old.  He has 4 teeth and army crawls everywhere. He's a chunky monkey - already over 20 pounds, the biggest of all the kids at this age. He was so, so colicky for the first 4 months of life, and pretty high maintenance until about 6 months old.  To try to help him, I've been on a dairy-free and very limited chocolate diet.  Yes, I am still alive, but sometimes barely!  But the repercussions of trying to eat "normally" are just not worth the indulgences. On the bright side, I think being limited has definitely helped drop the pregnancy weight.  I guess that's a fair trade.  Maybe.  Anyway, despite his difficult beginnings, he has won the heart of us all, and he's our sweet little man.

Here's how we spent most hours of the day during those rough few months:

(I am SO thankful for babywearing, it kept me sane.  Well, that and lots of prayer!)

Rachel is 2 now, and a chatterbug!  I love to hear all her thoughts and ideas, since none of the boys were as expressive at this age.  Let me tell you, two year olds are wildly creative!  And, kind of crazy.  But lots and lots of fun.

Isaac is taller than me now, and sometimes when he's talking I can't tell if it's him or Michael.  He and Michael went on a men's getaway weekend to do Passport 2 Purity, and they both loved it.  I'm glad it went so well for them, but I'm secretly thankful I don't have to cross that bridge for another 8-10 years with Rachel! 

Isaac and I on his 12th birthday - we were the exact same height. He's a good inch taller, now!

The others in between are all awesome as usual (hey, just because I have a moment of free time doesn't mean I have all the time in the world.  I don't love them any less, I promise!).  Growing, learning, playing, fighting, loving... it's all happening, all the time.  And I love it.

Maybe sometime soon I can do some more posts... there are always things circulating in my brain to share!