Continuing on.... with pictures of course!

There's not much to say.  I love these munchkins so much.

This was the last attempt at all of them.  Turkey buns was done :)

So we split everyone up!

Braddock:15 months

Lils: 3.5 years (edit! She is not 2.5. She is 3.5 years. See, I am not ready for her to be getting bigger!)

Damon: 6 years

Cherry: 7.5 years

The Girls:

The Boys:

I can't help but wonder what our tie breaker baby is going to be...

Oh How Time Flies

Last July this is what our lives were filled with.  The addition of our handsome little Braddock.  Life felt so full and happy. I feel completely blessed at how well our kids get along together.  How everyday they put a smile on our faces, along with the frustrations kids bring :)  But the good moments outweigh the rough so easily.  And as cheesy as it sounds, pictures always remind me of blessed we are as parents.  How LUCKY we are that these beautiful souls our ours. And how much harder I want to work at being a better mom everyday for them. 

One full year later I see how much they have grown up and changed.

I literally teared up editing these pictures. My how they have all grown up.  Becoming their own individual persons, with individual interests, and personalities. Each bringing their own dynamic to our home. And yet still somehow, they all still get along so well.  I catch all 4 of them outside playing"families", or downstairs having dance parties.  Yes, indeed our home is blessed.

Family, It's a Wonderful Life!

There really isn't much I need to say. I adore my family.  We have our good days and our bad.  There are days that are amazing and there are days I'm ready to call it quits.  There are times I think life couldn't get any better, and there are times I don't think it can get much worse.

One thing I have learned over and over again is that nothing else really matters. Truly.  As long as I have my family, that is all I need. 

I remember growing up and watching my mom raise us 7 kids and always being amazed by her.  How she managed to accomplish so much with 7 kids, full time church callings, and tending to the home I will never understand. I have 4 kids and I can't seem to keep up on anything it seems!

If you don't pinterest, you should.  I recently came across this awesome saying that I intend to make onto a wood sign for my front door, it reads; Please excuse the mess, the children are busy making memories.  That statement is awesome.  And true to every word.  I could clean and clean all day long, but it would never be clean for long! Children are children, let them BE children.  That's my motto anyways! ;)

James and I are celebrating 10 years this next fall, and to see what we have accomplished, all I need to do is look at pictures like these.  A beautiful family, a home full of laughter and love.  I think we have done pretty good!

poor Lillie, she normally is a total cheese for pics. And I could not figure out why she was so sad and crying the whole time.  Ya, it was cold and windy.... well, 4 days later her ear drum ruptured and I had no idea!

This may be my new favorite picture ever of James and I.  Man I love him so!

see what i mean about laughter? He is always crackin me up.

And my FAVORITE family picture. I will be getting this in a large canvas for my living room :)

Picture Overload.

Somehow, my back to school pics of the older two turned into a full on kid photo session.  Did I mention that I always take all 4 kids to shoot on my own? No backup. No help. And usually I am out for about 2 hours and am lucky if I get a few shots I love.

Not this time.  My kids were AMAZING.  We just headed to Wheeler Farm, went back into the woodsy area.  I let them just roam and play while I worked on one kid, and even after all that they were so cooperative for group shots!

Definitely the most fun shoot I have ever had with them.  And I finally can get some updated pictures on my walls! Yay!! (The last picture I actually printed and put up was when Lillie was 2 weeks old. How sad is that!?)

My 4 beautiful babes.  Yes, I am an extremely proud parent of these :D

Braddock:

At 3 days old:

Now 5 months old.  16.5lbs. An absolute chubby, happy, calm, perfect little soul! With lips so pouty you just want to suck them off his cute little face!

Lillie, the funniest 2.5 year old we have ever had. We call her our homeless child because no matter what I do to her hair, it is always all over in her face within an hour. And no matter how many baths she gets, her face is constantly dirty.  And I don't mean just a smudge.  I mean the entire face is black with dirt and food.  I'm not fooled by her love if princesses.  She is a total tomboy.

This is her typical look:

She really does clean up nicely!

Damon:  5.5 years old.  Sending him off to Kindergarten has really made us realize how grown up he is getting.  He has had no troubles with school, he is so excited to go that he gets mad on Saturdays.  Instead of telling me what letter they learned for the day, I hear all about whatever object was used to teach it. Like Gumdrops, or Alligator.  He wants to get to school as early as he can so he can go play with his friends.  He HATES breakfast. Unless I make him an egg sandwich. I still have to draw him a shark or marlin or some specific sea creature every single day.  :)  He is becoming quite smart, although he won't tell you that.  But he surprises us all the time with things he shares with us.

I could be totally prejudice, but I think he is a total stud.

Now for my baby girl.  The original baby girl :) Cherry. Oh my Cherry.  She has become SO grown up it makes me sad.  Sure she is only in 1st grade, but still!  She speaks like she is 9, not almost 7. She is outgoing and super friendly and sweet.  She is kind to everyone and wants to be friends with everyone.  She even hugs the crossing guard on our way to school :)  She is an amazing helper at home and at school.  She is the best oldest sibling I could have asked for.  She plays with all of them as if there were no age differences.  I really hope this never changes! She is a smart girl, great with reading and math. She is reading books almost completely on her own.  She is constantly singing and making up songs.  She doesn't know this yet, but I am going to start teaching her piano next month! I can already see teh natural talent she has for music.

Of course, I think she is absolutely gorgeous and just continues to get more beautiful every passing year.

I seriously am so lucky that they are mine

:)