a pirate's life for me.

so will turned four... a pirate birthday party was in order.

these pictures aren't amazing...just snapshots of will and his friends playing pirates. 

it was too hot to get creative. 

oh yeah, the babies were hot too. 

they slept through the whole thing. :) 

this just makes me laugh. will's mustache melted off in the middle 

resulting in some weird half mustache, half dirty face thing.

treasure hunt!

pirates love rootbeer. 

disclaimer: will got to have a soda on his birthday...this is a very very rare treat. 

and is indeed a rootbeer.

although, he refused to call it by it's full name and kept saying:

"i love my beer." 

umm...r o o t beer, will. 

that pic of reece chuggin' his rootbeer with his arm around will cracks. me. up. 

pastor's son...look out. ;) 

two well dressed 'mateys. 

the second half: will's 4 year pics. 

when my dad visited a couple months back, he brought his hasselblad. 

hasselwhat?

think of an amazing old classic car that is crazy valuable. 

that's like what a hasselblad is in the photography world. 

apparently, they are amazing...if you know how to load film. 

i'm learning. 

dad's letting me borrow this indefinitely so i can do just that. (thanks dad!) :)

...but for now, we used it as a prop. 

one of my most favoritest (not a word) pictures of will. 

he's got two little freckles on his cheek that i L O V E. 

happy fourth birthday to our little big man. 

hush.

leo is growing too fast. 

i know parents always say that and it can sound so redundant. 

but it's true. 

8 months old already.

 crawling. standing. eating everything. "talking."

he's got a voice he's not afraid to share. 

since we are 99.99% sure he's our last biological baby, i'm trying so hard to soak in his littleness. 

just let myself get lost in his sweet baby smiles and co-sleeping snuggles.

he's only 4 short months away from becoming a toddler. 

that just sounds crazy.

i don't want to forget how long his eyelashes are. or how puffy his lips get when he's asleep.

and the little snoring sounds he makes that sound like a puppy. 

his chubby little hands resting peacefully on his belly. 

take pictures of your kids sleeping.

you'll be glad you did. 

giggles and tears.

story of our life right now

...kids are happy, laughing, enjoying each other and playing

and then someone starts crying. 

does this happen to anyone else? ;) 

the kids can be so hard to get good pics of. especially anna. i've been trying to get a good one of her with her eyes wide open f o r e v e r. and we finally have one now. 

i still don't know what color her eyes are. 

they're not brown or blue...they're more gray. 

which three seconds later, turned into this:

and then went back to this:

oh, will. sword and pirate obsessed.

he's always ready to cheese it up.

and then there's leo. 

rolls upon rolls of yummy squishiness i can't help but burry my face in.

he's not always happy either.

he's got the cutest expressions.

 and we've got another case of the curls. 

this is just about the age bro and sis's curls started coming in. 

except his are extra special cause they're auburn like mine. :)

anna grace. 2 year pics.

anna grace is two! 

it seems like i can hardly remember when she was a baby...that went too quickly.

anna grace:

 you're our crazycurled little lady. you've recently become a little sassy, but you're mostly sweet.

you're getting to be very social and less shy, always greeting everyone you see with a wave. :)

you are also very good at using your manners, we love that. :) 

you're obsessed with baby dolls and are such a sweet little momma to them.

you're kind of a chatterbox and saying so many cute things like: 

"howboutmeeee?" - whenever you feel left out. 

"dat schaowws mee." - when you get left in a room alone. 

"baybee leeeooooo?" - you say that in a really really high pitched little voice...so cute.

"tank koo jeesus." -when you pray before you eat. 

tank koo jeesus is right. we are so thankful for you!

we love you so much little girl! 

showing us how old she is now.

why so serious? 

i'm not exactly sure...she's usually full of sweet smiles that make her eyes all squinty, 

but when momma gets her big camera out, she gets a serious pout. 

pouting is cute. ;)

preschool year one. completed!

will just completed his first year of preschool. *cue happy/sad tears* 

pretty crazy to think that he's such a big boy now.

i love preschool programs...kids from ages 3-5. being cute. singin' songs. looking so proud of themselves and smiling at their parents in the audience. 

their spring program had a jungle theme...safari theme? i'm not sure which.

either way it was flippin' adorable.

attempting to get a shot of him by himself. smiling at the camera. standing still. 

impossible...too distracted by the playground and his friends to listen to me. :)

so i told him to look at the airplane in the sky. 

no airplane...and still no smiles. oh well!

family picture...and anna's crying. again. 

love these memories of our craziness.

post concert snuggles and window kissing. 

our big boy. 

william: 

you are growing into such an amazingly kind and compassionate 

little man who wears his heart on his sleeve and dishes out hugs and kisses like it's your job. 

your curiosity and sense for adventure both scares and delights me. :)

we are so proud of you for learning all you did and can't wait to see you excel in preschool next year! 

love you little man.