*Siiiigh* I'm not going to say it. "My poor neglected blog..." True? Yes. Relevant? Nah. The truth is, I really miss my blog. I really miss reading my friends blogs and my online friends blogs so much. But there just isn't enough hours in the day right now. And really, I couldn't be happier.

I've turned a proverbial page in motherhood since Kaden was born. I swear, each child we have opens my heart up in ways I never knew possible. Before Kaden, I felt like it was my responsibility to provide a meaningful childhood to my kids, learning, play, fun, laughter, I knew what all the ingridents were. But I still felt like it was a responsibility. After Kaden, and not over night, but gradually over the last 5 months, my understanding of parenthood and specifically motherhood has depended to a level that I have prayed for a year to reach. I finally feel like I "get" it. These words have taken on new meaning to me....

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Psalms 127:3

Seriously. I could read it a thousand times before, but only now do I actually understand what an awesome gift each one of our kids is to us from God! A heritage, a reward. It's like, every child we have, his or her special characteristics, personality traits, they only help to reflect those of their brothers or sisters. Each one makes me realize how special the other is. It's by far the most beautiful part of life.

Not to say it's not exhausting. It is. But what is more meaningful than raising up human beings? And especially raising up human beings in the way of the Lord.

Meaningful...hmmm. That's a word that could describe a lot of things we've done over the past month. We took the most beautiful day trip to Doheney Beach last Saturday. It was gorgeous. And better yet, we went just us, and had the time of our lives. Going places just our family is not something we do often enough. We lovelovelove our family and friends, and usually, when we go somewhere, it's with others. But sometimes a family needs to get away and connect personally and privately and this connection was long over due for us. Davey and I relaxed, the kids played in the water ALL DAY, and Kaden was super happy to get to experience his first beach day (just a few weeks earlier he got to experience his first lake day, and he loved it!). Dakota was literally the last beach bum standing. She played in the waves until we finally had to pry her off the beach at 8pm. Both her and Levi cried because they wanted to stay longer. I have memories of that day that will definitely last a lifetime. And I know the kids do too. That's the best part ;)

And now, for some oo-y, goo-y, marshmallow-y nakey baby goodness to sweeten your day. This child lights up my life. Imagine the happiest baby on earth. Now combine that with the absolute most pinchable, kissable, love all over you, round, chubby, cherub face on the planet. Yep, that's Kaden.

Oh my gosh, the baby rolls. It's too much. He is my love.

And I'm figuring, while I'm at it, I might as well just make this a huge picture post. Because seriously, if it doesn't happen now, it just never will. As much as I'd like to say I'll post more in a week or so...I know I won't. I've kind of just conceeded to the fact that I'll only get around to posting once a month for the time being. So here it is, more Kaden goodness....

Ummmm.....that face. Can I just say what a completely over the moon mama I am to have him? Please do not grow up Kaden. But I know you won't listen. Because just look at your big brother. TOTALLY did not listen.

Seriously....how did this happen? There is no longer a single trace of babyhood left in Levi....

My heart both leaps and breaks when I look at him. Why does he have to grow so fast? Although it's hard to feel like you're losing one of your "babies", there are definite advantages to growing up. For one, soooo many less temper tantrums, soooo many less time outs, a lot more happy days, a lot more actually playing nice together with sister, and a lot more talking and interacting. Oh yeah, and Dakota and Levi sleep in there own bed now! We put them in the bed that's in the loft attached to our room because we needed to make room for Kaden to sleep with us. And I am shocked at how easy they have transitioned into it. No wining, no arguing, they don't even bug each other. Stories, pray, sleep. Who knew it could be this easy? And now that Levi is finally returning to a normal childhood state, and not in a constant whirlwind of two year old breakdowns, we actually get to enjoy a whole lot of activities together too. And when I say a whole lot, I mean a WHOLE LOT. The amount of crafting that has been going on here lately is aaah-some.

Koty and Levi got their first lesson in pottery. One of many, many more to come...

And voila. Koty's first thrown pot. Beautiful.

Dakota has been really big on helping me sew lately. She loves it. The older she gets, the more and more I find we have in common. Her and I, I've discovered we're a lot alike. And I love it.

One of our sewing projects were these burp cloths for baby Finn, who I got to go meet recently. He is precious! Just holding that armful of newborn sweetness was pure heaven. I didn't take Dakota and Levi with me, and I ended up missing them so much. When I got home, it was like I saw them with new eyes. I realized what seriously awesome kids we have. I think in general, I tend to take that for granted and underestimate just what good kids they are.

My favorite project lately was this reusable snack bag. I LOVE it. It was actually supposed to be a wetbag for Kaden's cloth diapers. But 1, I thought it was way too pretty to be a dirty diaper bag, and 2, I thought it needed to be way bigger for that. So I decided to use it as a snack bag and it's come in super handy! I'll definitely be making a bigger (and I guess uglier??) one for the nappies. Hahaha.

My faaaaavorite color/material of the moment!!!

And of course, the eldest boy likes to help too. As long as his attention can hold out. Which is about 2.5 minutes ;)

We've also been raising new animals lately. Butterflies....

Thanks Shell! They've all hatched and we released them last week. Except for one. He didn't develope his wings properly. Or Levi smushed them. Either one.

And last but absolutely not least, the apple of my eye. She leaves me next month for school. I'm looking forward to the break. But will miss her like I would miss my right arm. She is my little helper around the house, with the boys, with the cleaning, with the chores, all the time. We craft, we color, we have secret girl dates. I love her to the moon and back.

Time for her to start the long journey of making her own path though. And I couldn't be more honored that I get to help her along her way.