Long Time No See

Hello, strangers! It has been a hot minute since the last time I really blogged about US. Back to school, a family vacation, a busy cheerleading schedule, a husband working from home, and juggling life and 5 kids takes up every single minute! 

I miss blogging so much, so I'm going to attempt to get back into it. I can't make promises anymore, though. This stage in our lives is just too busy right now, and my number one priority is spending time with my family, especially since my kids are growing up so fast. Guilt over not being able to put the time into writing has consumed me, but I refuse to let myself feel that way.

So here I am. I will write when I can. Sometimes I'll be able to blog more, while some weeks might be silent. I have so much to catch up on - Lily's birthday, Liam's birthday, our awesome beach vacation - as well as some new topics I want to tackle. For now, here's a look at life lately...kind of a reintroduction since we're pretty much strangers now!

IT'S ME!

So, I pretty much summed up my life in the first few paragraphs! When I'm not chasing after a kid or two or five, driving the Mom Taxi, or taking pictures, you can find me running with Coen in the jogging stroller five mornings a week, struggling to check off items on our long to do list, and maybe reading a chapter or two. I discovered that I absolutely love October now, and wish these beautiful Fall days would last longer. Life is busy, and I rarely have time for myself. This past Thursday, however, I had a spa day with one of my best friends. It was my first time getting pampered since before I had kids. The foot and hand massage was amazing, and our gel manicures and pedicures look great! Oh, and hey, I caught a video of a tornado on the beach, and it was picked up by Reuters, and ended up all over the place. Never a dull moment where our family goes! (Grant and I also celebrated our 20th anniversary last month!) I have so many pictures to share, but this seems to sum up my life right now!

GRANT

Grant has been working from home since the middle of March, and he's still here! It has been quite an adjustment for all of us. He now has an office setup in the basement. Right now, he has a lot of virtual meetings each day, and he's putting in extra hours while his company launches a new system. There is no return date to the office yet, and his company seems to be discovering that the employees can work effectively from home - which saves them money! Grant does have one employee in the office, and was approved to go into the office on her days off so she doesn't get behind. He will be in the office once or twice a month now, starting with two days next week. One great thing is that his company started an awesome help at home program, which means we get free meal delivery or house cleaning services!

DYLAN

I truly can't believe it, but Dylan is going to be 16 next month! SIXTEEN! I don't feel old enough to have a child who is ready to drive, but that's what you get when you have your first child in your early twenties. Dylan is back in school and doing great! He has an awesome girlfriend, Liv, who spends a lot of time at our house. She fits right in! (This girlfriend stuff is weird, too. Just saying.) About a year or so ago, he gave up team sports to focus on skateboarding, and he's getting really good! Dylan is currently studying to take his permit test, and is so excited about driving. (I'm not.)

LEXIE

My Lexie. She's such a good kid! She's in 8th grade, and on track to make high honor roll again. She was so excited to bring one of her grades up thanks to a perfect test score - from a 95% to a 98%. She has a hidden inner nerd, and I love it! Lexie isn't very athletic, other than daily exercise, but is showing some interest in volleyball. She loves to sing in chorus, and she is getting really good at special effects makeup. Some of her looks are realistic and gross! Lexie has the biggest heart, and will do anything for anybody. She loves to volunteer, and her favorite thing to do is spend her hard earned work money on gifts for other people. She recently spent her money on a Halloween decoration for my mom, and bought two of her teachers Wonder Woman masks because they really liked hers. She is actually a really mature teenager, too who rarely gives us attitude, and she's the BEST big sister!

LILY

Lily is keeping us very busy with her cheerleading schedule, and I photograph every game for the team! She started practices in July, and has had a weekly practice and game since August. Her last regular season game was a week and a half ago, but her team only lost the last game, so they made playoffs. They won the first playoff game on Saturday 26-0, so they are on to the next round of playoffs on Saturday. If they win, they will go to the Super Bowl on Halloween. She is very excited! On top of that, she has a weekly tumbling class with her best friend, and she loves it! Lily is very smart, and doing really well in school, too. Now that she's 9, she's getting a bit hormonal. Most of the time, she is very kind, loving, sweet, and funny, but she can have a mood swing just like that! And she gets ANGRY. Lily is very honest and forward, so she tells it like it is and lets her feelings be known! We didn't experience this with Lexie, so it's new territory for us. I fear the teenage years with her!

LIAM

It's Down syndrome Awareness Month, and we are celebrating our favorite kid who is rockin' an extra chromosome! Now that Liam is back in school, he is thriving. He is maturing quite a bit, he is becoming more independent, and his speech is improving. He is saying words more clearly, starting to engage in conversational speech, and is stringing together more words into sentences. He still has a long way to go in the speech department, but we're excited about his progress! Unfortunately, the Spring and Fall seasons of baseball were canceled, so Liam doesn't have any extracurricular activities right now. He keeps very busy, though, and wants to spend most of his time outdoors! Liam's round of yearly medical appointments is coming up, so we're going to be busy! If you're the praying kind, please keep Liam in your prayers. He has had a swollen lymph node for a few weeks, and although he did end up with a mild cold, his pediatrician wants it checked out. Leukemia is more common in kids who have Down syndrome, so that's always a big fear of mine. Liam has always been really healthy, and he doesn't have any other symptoms, so we're just praying it's related to the cold. 

COEN

Baby Coen is 19 months old now! He is growing and developing so quickly, and he is seriously the cutest little thing! It's hard not to snuggle him all day long. He is talking a lot, and he loves to play outside, read books, and watch Blippi with his big brother. He is still breastfeeding a bit, and takes his paci, but he's starting to cut back. He has only had one seizure in the past few months, which is promising! Coen loves to explore, and we recently found out the hard way that he is an eloper like Liam. Because of that, we are looking into fencing in our backyard! It figures that baby # 5 would be the one to keep us on our toes!

That pretty much sums up life lately! A whole lot of kids, driving, and football. Halloween is creeping up quickly, and we need to find time to hit up the pumpkin patch. (Somehow a seed ended up in our yard, and we have about 40 gourds, but that's not going to work for pumpkin carving!) After that, it's full speed ahead with the holiday season! I'm becoming more appreciative of each season, so I'm here for it!

How are you? Tell me in the comments. I'm excited to catch up with some of my favorite readers again!

Coming up (hopefully) soon: 

• Beach Vacation Recap
• Birthday Recap
• Down Syndrome Awareness Month
• New Favorites
• Holiday Gift Guides
• Home Decor
• Recipes and Meal Planning
• And maybe, just maybe, a new series...