Colors in Keystone

 Michael:
made applesauce and apple cider this week again, which involved cutting 60+ apples from our tree. He loves using as many of those as he can and our house smells really good when he does. He came with me to Camden's eye appointment on Wednesday and I was grateful to have him there... it took both of us plus the assistant to get Camden's eyes dilated and it was not fun. I was grateful we were there together. He's also the best DJ on road trips and I like listening to the playlists he makes. I put zero effort into finding new music but I like that Michael is good at it.

Maddie:
has 6 more weeks of growing this little baby boy. We went to Keystone for the weekend, which is our last family trip before baby, and it made his arrival feel closer to be on this side of the trip. Katie was so sweet this weekend -- she's no nonsense when it comes to bodies and what they need and after the first day of being all together she called guest services at her condo for a wheelchair, and pushed me all around Vail the next day. I can't say it didn't hurt my pride, but I can say I went to bed that night in far less pain than I usually do these days and I felt grateful that she knew it would just be a better day all around if we added wheels. Vail was beautiful! I had never been there before and it was so fun to see. Michael rolled the wheelchair outside and was sitting in it while watching the kids play on the playground while he waited for me and Katie and Ryan to go to Vail. I came outside and saw him sitting there and thought of how I always watch him running around playgrounds chasing our kids and I felt so grateful and lucky that he is able to do that and just seeing him sitting in that chair watching them made me start crying. #pregnant.

Westin:
is going through an "emotional growth spurt" which is what I'm naming those times when suddenly we feel off our groove together after being in a groove for a while, but it just takes extra patience and extra looking for the good and helping him feel what he feels, and we'll get back to a good groove soon enough. It's just interesting how when one kid feels super easy, and another one has some challenges happening, when the challenges start to resolve the super easy kid seems to have some come up. He has wanted someone to lay by him at night for a bit for the first time in I don't know how long, and in Keystone he wanted to sleep on the floor next to me rather than in the other room on the pull out couch. My dad was always so responsive to me when I wanted him to stay by me until I fell asleep after he read to me, and I really appreciated that, so I'm trying to have patience with Westin's new needs during a time when I feel SO done with my day when I get to my kids' bedtime. He's a sweetie.

Bennett:
will take care of me when I'm old. He never left my side when we got the wheelchair out in Vail. He'd walk right by me with a hand on the armrest of the wheelchair, and stay close to me, and Westin had a few meltdowns here and there that were sometimes directed a Bennett and he never responded or reacted in any negative way at all. He just held his sweet Bennett space the whole weekend and seemed to be extra aware of me when he saw me rolling around instead of walking. It melted my heart and I just see how much he sees people and how sweet he is. His most repeated sweet phrase right now is, "You're the best mama." And I say, "you're the best, Bennett!" And he says, "No, Jesus is the best. And everyone in the world is the best." And I'm like, if you can go through life thinking those two things then you've just got the two greatest commandments down and your heart just came that way. Sweet boy.

Camden:
needs glasses and I cried when we found out. I really cannot imagine that and I'm just so bummed about it but grateful that he has such good health overall and that we caught his astigmatism early. There's a chance he'll grow out of the need but it doesn't seem likely. We go in next Wednesday to get his glasses and then we'll start working toward wearing them full time which sounds..... impossible. But we'll take it day by day. He did better in Keystone than last time when it came to bedtime, and we skipped his nap this weekend which had me stressed out less because there was less pack n play crying time. I am trying to soak up the sweetness of this stage but I really look forward to when we can travel with no pack n plays, or nap times, or crying when putting kids to bed and everyone can just sleep where we're sleeping without stress. We did haircuts Sunday night when we got home since it's picture day tomorrow and Camden did NOT like the experience. But we're good for....6 weeks. Oh boys and their haircuts.

This one is starting to love to color,
even when he's not just doing whatever his brothers are doing.

Always sneaking smiles at me.

Our apple tree is finally slowing down a little,
Camden loves the all access snack pass.

Passed these cuties taking our friend Rupert on a walk
on my way home from a doctor's appointment

This appointment was a total bummer...
dilating Camden's eyes was NOT a fun process,
and we were so surprised he needs glasses.

Rupie and the boys wrestling.

Homemade apple cider, ready for Keystone!

He woke up early in Keystone
(and early all the other days, wherever he is)
but Michael and his older brothers were out on a moose hunt already,
so he needed some serious distracting while he kept asking for "Daddy huggie!"

Then he started posing haha.

So many boys!

Turning 33

Michael:
was on double call this week and actually had a few surgeries and checks come up this weekend, but still nothing like residency. He's been wanting a big stone bench in the backyard for a while and got that put back there with a guy from the stone place, so that made him happy. And he spent his day off with his chain saw because a big tree branch in our front yard started hanging over the sidewalk pretty bad after breaking, so I think that made him happy too. Even though outside does take so much of his time off. 

Maddie:
turned 33! I'm not sure about 33 yet. Always a little apprehensive of the odd years. I'm so happy 32 brought my book into the world but 33 will bring out last cute baby here and I'm really looking forward to meeting him. Having 7 weeks left of pregnancy feels so daunting. Michael had to help me up the stairs last night and those moments are just so frustrating -- I want to be a pregnancy all star but I'm just not. My Tuesday birthday with Camden was a good, chill day and I felt so loved from so many people that I love. Michael made me Apple Fritter Bread before he left for work that day, which was so nice and super yummy. On Saturday I went to the beginning of stake women's conference and then left early to watch the boys play soccer. 

Westin:
is figuring out his first grade vibe, we've had some highs and lows with this year starting. He's such a sweetheart. He was so scared of a storm this week and when I get glimpses of how little he still is it really humbles me, because man he's expected to help out a lot around here and he does a great job with it. But he's still 6 and I just love him for being our guinea pig and the oldest of this crew. He was so so fun to watch during his soccer game Saturday. He's a quick runner and good at running back to defend the goal when the ball comes down to their goal. They won 4-1 and he cheered so much when they would score. 

Bennett:
was not too sure about soccer and isn't too into running and likes to ask how much longer frequently throughout the game haha. Such a cutie. He is two years younger and just such a cutie and I feel bad he's getting thrown into soccer at the same time as his big brother, but that's just the way their age gap goes. He was so fun to watch too. I told him "Five more minutes, Bennett!" And that gave him some spring in his step and he ran toward the ball to kick it for the first time -- problem was, it was when the other team was getting ready for an inbound kick so he tried to steal it from a confused kid who was just trying to pass it into his team. Bennett had such a determined face in that moment and it was the game highlight for me.

Camden:
is so cute and so frustrating, #twoyearolds. He had some potty training regression this week which is totally normal and totally the worst. Thank goodness these kids play outside a lot, that's all we'll say about that situation. He's loving his alphabet book and choo choo train book, and is such a picky eater but then ate two huge bowls of a sweet potato/turkey/pumpkin/black bean chili I made this week that had so many other veggies in it, and I was so weirded out that he even touched it. These kids are unpredictable. Makes me feel a little crazy :)

Library Day at Preschool

Camden and I picked up some free stuff on my birthday and shared it for lunch.

Taking care of the broken branch. 

I sewed the edge of the extra rug from my stair runner project and stuck it here for now.
I'll probably be a door mat somewhere soon but it's fun to have it here for a bit.

I love watching him play when he hasn't spotted me yet,
so he's not whining for something at the moment :)

Michael and his little monkey that never leaves his side.

My sous chef stacking spices

Church videos on Sundays. I love their little faces.

Grandparents, Boys Weekend, & Keystone with Kindal

This week was rejuvenating in so many ways!

Grandma and Grandpa Miner

came to visit us and I feel like I can get so caught up on life while they're here. We took them to the CSU Flower Gardens, they watched the boys while Michael and I got thai food and a movie date in, they stayed home with napping Camden so that we could take Westin and Bennett to the Paw Patrol movie, my mom watched Camden while my dad helped me install my stair runner, they walked my kids to school 3x a day so I had my first week in forever where my hip/pelvic pain was way more manageable, my mom is a pro at using produce around so suddenly we were eating applesauce and apple zucchini bread and soups and delicious things, we played Cover Your Assets with Westin and he thought it was extra fun to beat grandparents :), we watched Nate Bargatze Netflix comedy shows at night and just laughed and laughed, and my dad brought copies of the same crossword puzzle from the newspaper in Cedar so we could do them together and I just loved that. We are so happy when family can visit us, it's the BEST.

They stayed with my boys during Thursday and Friday days until Michael got home from work, so I could go on a Keystone weekend with Kindal for all things Lighten Print, and just to have a little girls weekend before baby boy comes here and owns my nights for the next year. The minute I left I noticed Michael's tire pressure light was on, so I texted to see how long that had been on. It was new as of that day... of course :) Then 50 miles down the road it started flashing, which I've never seen it do, so I had to turn off my podcasts and stay in the right lane and pray myself to the nearest Costco tire center which was 17 miles away. I just really didn't want to stop at a random spot that might take forever or not have what I need but I didn't know if it was smart to not pull over right away... but through prayers I made it there and checked all my tire pressures.... 35, 34, 36... and 14. Michael and Bennett had visited a stone masonry place the day before and I think they ran over a nail on their adventure, and it was unfortunately not reparable so I had to wait a couple hours for a replacement. But honestly, waiting in a Costco for two hours without kids, I mean..... easy. Easy easy. I was so grateful it wasn't worse. Then I had a new tire and got on my way.

Kindal and I had the best weekend. We worked on our website, our blog, setting up a new email list so we can keep in touch with all our Kickstarter backers in new way plus have a new way for people to subscribe from our website, planned social media systems, talked about holiday plans, started brainstorming illustrations/outlines for our next book, and just caught up on life and had fun eating food and being together and having time to just actually talk in person and not on Marco Polo. Such a glorious weekend.

Michael and the boys had a fun boys weekend, and he even let them all sleep in our bed one night. Even Camden made it until about 1am, which, I am shocked. Never could I ever sleep with all my children in a bed haha. I won't lie, it was REALLY fun putting just one person to bed, brushing just one person's teeth, feeding just me, and sleeping how much my body wanted to sleep each night. I've long since stopped sleeping through the night which is a shame and a wasted opportunity during that solo weekend, but it was at least very restful in its own way still.

The boys started soccer this weekend and I was sad to miss that! They're on the same team and I can't wait to watch one of their games. They thought going to a movie was so much fun. And they've been looking forward to boys weekend for a while, but they were happy to see me when I got home :)

Such a happy, rejuvenating week

Bennett could not peel his eyes away from the big screen for a picture haha

"Bennett, smile!" Haha still no eye contact

I may have taken a nap.
The boys were shocked I slept through the final Paw Patrol rescue scene.
I'd like to say someday they'll understand, but.... #pregnancy.

Bedtime books with grandpa

Last time I used a staple gun while pregnant was with my upholstered chairs and I swore I'd never do something like that in that state again. Never say never :)
I'm so happy to have this done.

Music time for Benny

Weekly swim lessons. Bennett has come so far with his fear of water!

Downtown Splash Pad with Grandma and Grandpa

We rode the gondola in Breckenridge and it was so warm that day!
Time for fall.

Kindal testing out her new camera. She's so talented at so many things!

This is soooo cute to me.

Westin looking 18

Potstickers and rice by the river.
Dads are fun.

This cracks me up. Never could I ever catch a wink of sleep in this situation.

Carrot harvest!