AMEN it's FRIDAY!!

Goooooooood gracious what a long week.

Is it just me?

Daylight savings + kids + lots of appointments/checkups + a teething baby + extracurriculars + LIFE in general and this worn-down, feeling-not-enough mama is beyond ready for a weekend.

So TGIF!

O N E
I am so excited I can finally shout from the rooftops - I'm going to be an aunt to ANOTHER BLOMPS baby!  #12, if you're keeping count.  My brother and sister-in-law are giving this sweet Addy girl a little brother/sister this August.  Yippeeeeee!!

T W O

And speaking of my family, I've got to give a huge ATTA GIRL to my little sister Whitney, who passed her thesis defense with flying colors on Wednesday!  Y'all, my little sister... she is superwoman.  She has a 2-year-old and a 10-month-old, a traveling husband, and is in the final year of her orthodontist residency program.  Talk about kicking life's butt!  I am just so proud of her and so in awe of how she balances it all, yet continues to want to know how my life is going.  Whit, you are amazing and I am lucky to be your sister!

T H R E E

Speaking of teef... my two bigs had dentist appointments this week!  This was a big day for two reasons:  (1) it was Everette's first cleaning, and he did GREAT.  He had to sit in my lap and needed some coaxing from his sissy, but he handled it like a champ. And (2) my girl has two loose teeth!  Y'all!  This news has totally rocked my mama heart.  I remember when those teeth first poked through her gummy smile!  And now they are LOOSE!  Of course, she thinks she is big stuff and asks me everyday to help her wiggle them.

F O U R

And who doesn't have teeth yet?  My caboose.  But teeth or no teeth, it is officially time for baby food!  With which I have a love/hate relationship.  It's so fun to go through this stage, but also such a pain, because it's one.more.thing to add to the day.  It's easy to just whip it out and nurse him.  Now we have spoons and bowls and bibs and high chairs and messes and constipation.  BUT.  It really is fun!  And yes, I am making my own baby food once again because it is so cheap!  Y'all know I am far from being a crunchy, all-organic, all-natural mama (I wish I was!).  BUT making baby food is easy and ridiculously cheap - I'm talking like 32 ounces of sweet potatoes for less than $3.  Baked, blend, freeze, and voila!

Hashtag Breyers.  Hashtag don't judge my dirty freezer.

But this little toothless caboose is doing great so far!  And mostly loves making sure his tongue gets in the way of the spoon. Every time.

F I V E

And speaking of my sweet #3, he's officially half of a year old you guys!  HALF A YEAR!

It's been a completely imperfect, nonstop, chaotic, challenging half of a year. But this little dude makes me so happy. And he is worth every hard moment of the last six months.

He's still meh about sleep, has the fattest thighs ever, smacks everything, and drools like crazy.  I'm pretty sure he's about to get a tooth, but I've also thought that for awhile now.  He puts everything in his mouth, loves his crawl ball, and screams like a pterodactyl.

 He calls this his serious pose.

The best thing about him?

He's all ours.

Our caboose, our sweet butterball of a baby boy who loves to snuggle and giggle and smile.

Happy (belated) half birthday to our Brooks!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!!

Oh, Hi & Four on Friday

Well hellooooooooo there, my little ol' narcissistic corner of the internet.

I've missed you, but I haven't.

But I'm popping in for a little FOUR on Friday.  Because ain't nobody got time for five today.

O N E
About my absence around these parts...
You know how on Thanksgiving, there's all this delicious, incredible food?  And you fill up your plate and push food around to make more room for more food and go back for seconds and even though your pants are about to bust wide open SURE you'll have some pie and ice cream for dessert.
And when you're done, you're stuffed.  Miserable, really.  And it's hard to even remember how good the food was because you just ate too much.
Hang with me here...
Life comes at you fast, ya know.  And sometimes there is just so much on your plate - a lot good, some not so good - but you feel like you can't even take a breath and enjoy what's right in front of you because there's just too much.
Right now, life is kicking my butt in many ways, and I've needed to take a step back - take a few side dishes off of my plate - to take care of some things that matter most to me.  To enjoy what's right in front of me and not be distracted by more, more, more.
This blog means so much to me for many reasons - it documents this precious time with my family, it is therapeutic, and writing truly is one of my passions.
So I hope that as I work to get my life plate to not be too much, but just enough - that I can find a way to fit the ol' Cupcakes and Running Shoes back into the side dishes.

T W O
Can you believe this little nugget is almost 6 months old?!  Y'all, we are all just so smitten with him.  I"ll be back with a full-on Brooksy-poo update next week as he hits the half-year mark.

T H R E E
And oh our Everette - this stinker is an absolute mess.  He is hilarious and challenging, all-boy and such a sweetheart.  He is becoming so inquisitive, and the way he asks questions all day long is just the cutest thing.  He is the perfect little middle sibling, and oh how I love him so!

F O U R
And CK!!  You guys, we spent this morning registering her for kindergarten.  KINDERGARTEN!!  I cannot believe it.  Especially when I think about how this seems like just yesterday:

And it was five years ago, exactly.  And now here we are today:

She is so grown up and just so excited about starting elementary school.  She rocked her registration appointment and left there dancing and singing.  And something else she is excited about?  A new soccer season!

We had her first practice last night, and I don't think the smile left her face for the entire (freezing cold) 45 minutes.  Go Thorns!

With that, I say TGIF and TGI-almost-HAPPY-HOUR!  Have a wonderful weekend, and hopefully I'll be back around here sooner than later. :)