Baby Jayden is 8 Months

Whew, where has the month gone? It's been fast and baby Jayden is growing, you know, like a weed.

 You aren't slowing down little man and neither is time. We will rapidly be approaching your first birthday. And then I'll blink and you'll be three.

You are so easy going and that makes life so very easy for this mama. You got your first tooth this month and that was pretty hard on you. You were fussy but never stopped smiling. You did stop sleeping however.

As long as you are part of the group, you are good. Leave you alone, for any reason, and you are one unhappy camper. Speaking of camper, my husband took the big kids camping this weekend and that gave Jayden some much needed time with mommy. We did head out to the lake Saturday and seriously sat there mesmerized and in awe of the big kids and their daddy.

They had the best time camping and, for a short time, we had fun watching them live their best life getting outdoors together.

Even in the heat, Jayden, you are the happiest baby. You refused to nap though so the day was a struggle with me trying to keep you on routine and also enjoy the time at the lake as a family. You struggled that night sleeping as well but are spending most of today playing catch up. Teething hasn't been fun with any of our kids and we will be thankful when Jayden has his teeth in.

We plan to keep this week low key as we have a busy weekend ahead with family coming to visit. We will keep soaking up this 8 month old baby and all the smiles and laughs he has for us.

Jayden, you make life look easy and find life so fun by wearing your emotions on your sleeve. You kick and bounce like crazy when you are excited and happy which is most of the time. This leaves you a constant dancing fool and we can't help but smile at this. You love full blown open mouthed kisses and grab onto us to make sure we can't move. You are strong. Much stronger than you will probably ever know. Your strength gives us strength and reminds us that God has much bigger plans for you than we could have ever imagined.

We love you more than you could ever know. Thank you for choosing us.

Reviewing our life: What have we been up to?

Well, to answer that, a whole lot of everything. Seriously, we stay busy. This is really another post where I'll just show you rather than tell you what we've been doing. Pictures are more fun anyways.

 1. Museum Tours
Now that our oldest is 5, it definitely seems like a good time to get out and explore venues nearby. We went to a local train/prairie museum that focused mostly on the old west days period of time. This was perfect for our kids who are currently obsessed with Little House on the Prairie any thing. They loved playing in an old school house, seeing a hotel from the early 1900s, and touring a train. There was also a playground that represented what children used to play on in the early days and the kids had a blast on this and didn't want to leave.

 2. DIY Projects 
I'm trying to get a few things of my own done. Here is our new WELCOME sign and refinished matching chair for our front deck. The succulents are also new additions this year as I have an increasing love for these low maintenance plants!

 3. Art Projects, Outside, and Easy Fun Stuff
I am almost always down for an art project that lets the kids express themselves creatively. When paint is done outside you are almost guaranteed a total win. No inside mess to worry about and clean.

A friend of mine showed their kids painting cardboard while laying on their swings. We decided to give it a try and had a blast.

Outside of art projects, you can find us running through the sprinklers, riding bikes, watching chickens, and walking our side road regularly! This year corn is growing next to our road and it makes our road feel more private than ever.

 4. Friends and Parties
With everyone preparing for back to school, we have seen a lot of all of our friends, which we love. We have had several play dates a week, evening barbecues, and recently a baby shower complete with a bounce house and trampoline. All of our kids are having a blast. And are oh so tired.

 4. Bath time fun
Bath time is a regular part of our routine each night. Jayden is sometimes joining in on the fun with the big kids but this picture entirely represents that time. Busy big kids, baby taking front and center, and what you don't see, mom and dad a tad nervous about this arrangement. Not ready to make this permanent yet, but soon baby Jayden. Soon.

 5. Way too much TV
Yes, there is a thing of too much screen time and yes, we are meeting that point. But, when the two big kids lay like this and ask nicely for a show I just can't resist. I know when we get back into the groove of a schedule, we will slowly wean ourselves off of tv again. Pray for us during that time.

 6. A 3 year old dressing himself
I have started to give this little man more freedom to dress himself and he always shocks me. He picks the most dressy outfits he has and rocks them so well. I love seeing our children's personalities come through and getting to know more and more about them and what God given talents they are blessed with.

 7. Story time and picnics outside
We love using our outdoor blanket and heading outside to spend some time reading and eating. I haven't done much of this during this summer like I planned but we are totally making up for it in this last week.

 8. Popcorn and more screen time
See #5. Definitely too much screen time but we love a good movie with popcorn. The kids recently discovered our biggest popcorn container (formerly used as storage for our smaller containers) and now constantly beg to use. It's huge! And it's loved!

 9. Baby Snuggles
It won't be much longer and this boy will be ditching us constantly. He is go, go, go but since he isn't quite mobile yet we can hold him as much as we want still. Our days are numbered though. We are soaking it in as much as we can.

 10. Harvesting
Our garden is producing so it's back to the grind of harvesting food for the winter. We didn't grow corn this year but were given some last week and so we spent a morning working on that. The apples in our yard should be ready soon for us to start and we are already roasting tomatoes.

This is a time where I am spending a good chunk of my own time on personal reflection. This will be our last year to not have all our children at home with us as next year our daughter will start kindergarten. I'm soaking this all up and working hard to enjoy this, albeit short, season of life. Time goes so quickly and I feel like I'm going to blink and all my kids will be in school.

We hope your summer is wrapping up as well as ours is!