The Last Test

 Michael is out in Raleigh this weekend ready to take his LAST TEST OF HIS LIFE first thing Monday morning. He's so ready for it to be behind him. We're so ready for it to be behind him.

I survived his Nashville trip earlier this month with me + four kids solo, but I wasn't really looking forward to doing that again... my sweet parents knew that and came out to visit us! I was so grateful. I just breathe easier when they're around, and so much more gets done apart from just surviving, and I just love them for taking the time and effort to visit us.

Michael changed his flight to leave earlier to avoid having a layover in DC during the big storm that's coming. My parents helped with school walks and entertaining lots of little people, and we had a Thai food/Encanto night this weekend that was supposed to be our party night of the week, but all four boys were struuuuuggling during that meal. We had other fun times though :)

Next week looks like snow... hoping that means we can keep Grandma and Grandpa here even longer!

Wallpapered my soon to be pantry! Now I need to paint those baseboards...
You think things are white, until they're not.

Pictures uploaded backwards this week...
process shot.
I went with peel and stick so don't be super impressed.

No one can get Asher to sleep. 
The only way he sleeps is falling asleep while nursing.
But Grandpa came and Asher found a new favorite cozy spot. So sweet.

I snuck away to Westin's basketball game and we had ourselves a little lunch date after.
Such a sweet boy. One on one time with kiddos is the best.

Basketball is very new for this sweet kid but he's enjoying it!

Ready to bust out the one shelf that was in here so I can start fresh.
Don't worry, I only put two holes in the wall -- ha. Whoops.

Camden only goes for the orange fishies.

Workout.

Winter swim lessons mean some cold walks to the car, 
but these guys are still loving it!

I can't quit these zucchini backed oats.
They're still my dessert each day.

Checking Off Days

These are not eventful days.

Covid, winter, newborn time, boards studying =

a whole lot of nothing going on.

But highlights from the week:
Michael coming home Monday night!
Making healthy food all week for the first week since Asher was born.
Bennett got to go back to school (for three days at least -- two-hour delay because of ice meant he was home Thursday again).
Asher's first 5.5 hour stretch of sleep, and half the victory was that I got 5 of those.
Westin swam allllmost the length of the pool at swimming lessons!
Westin went to his first basketball practice/game Saturday even though he was verrrrrry nervous. I'm trying to teach him that brave means doing things even when you're scared, not just not being scared at all, and he seems to take heart from that.
Less fighting, a little more outside time, a little more sleep, and another week of this high demand stage down :)

If I did a low points list I'd have to include the moment that Camden was REALLY mad at Bennett and when I intervened he turned to me and yelled, "You shut your mouth, mama!!!!" And no one is fessing up to teaching him that... he got his first time out, and that gave me a minute to secretly laugh at that even though it's also just so heartbreaking when they learn to be sassy. Stay tiny, Asher.

But, we won't include a low points list :)

Michael is super ready to be done studying. He takes boards in ooooone more week and the countdown around here is real. Westin is looking forward to making a shirt for the 100th day of school. Bennett is working hard on his letters with me but learning to read and learning to ride a bike feel like big hurdles to that little cutie right now. Camden seemed like a big kid this weekend when he was 85% cool with getting a haircut, compared to the 0% cool with it that he's been every single haircut up until now. I forgot we used to turn on a show while Westin got haircuts and it helped a ton, so we did that this time and it made a big difference. He and Westin are so similar in so many ways. We fed the missionaries this week for the first time since baby, and we have sisters now instead of elders. It was fun to get to know them but also, wow Michael and I felt very old after. We're not old. But we're not babies anymore.

Here's to getting through our last full week of January! Always an accomplishment to get the year rolling and make our way into Spring.

My view these days.

We're about to turn this closet into a pantry!
Cutest helpers. Westin wore safety goggles while we measured the walls :)

My kids just eat soo much.
Westin ate another one of these full plates and then half again.
They are growing!

Dinner helper. We make dinner in the mornings usually because Asher takes a good nap and I never know what afternoons and evenings are going to look like.

How many pictures do I have that look like this.... :)

So close to that laundry shoot. So close.

Camden loves to say "Mama, 'nuggle me!"
(Snuggle me.)
He says it to daddy all the time, and even Westin, and Westin is the cutest big brother to this kid.

These two have a sour patch style relationship...
So sweet, so sour, so sweet, back to so sour.

Swagger walk to school.

A cozy winter newborn life, even with these big brothers to keep up with.

Flying Solo

Writing this means we survived without Michael for four days! He gets home tonight from Nashville where he did a few days of a crash review course getting ready for his upcoming oral boards. It was fun for him to see his residency friends and probably fun to have a break from bedtime -- amiright -- but it was a lot of info poured onto him gearing up for one big stressful final test. 

Bennett was home from school this week because of positive Covid cases in his class, and Westin somehow got to keep going even though half his class was positive or quarantined. They keep them in groups at school so if a case is positive then just the people in close quarters with them have to quarantine, where Bennett's class is considered one big group since 3-5 year olds are not pros at keeping masks on. Except, by now, yes they are. So, Bennett did virtual school this week and I was more attentive to him and his mute/unmute needs while I was a house painter early last school year than when I was a nursing newborn mom but, we did our best. 

We had a really hard day with Westin this week and his hard time with transitions spilled over into school and all I want to take away from it is -- I'm grateful for support in my kids' lives from other teachers and counselors and leaders who know them, and I'm also super grateful for the awesome kid Westin is. He is smart and an old soul and inquisitive and working through his hard things with him is privilege because he's a special soul. We have our hard days but watching him grow up is a really incredible experience. I wish I was more confident in what the right thing to do is with parenting a lot of time but I know the bottom line right thing at all times always always is to just love them. 

Bennett is working through his reading book with me, Camden is working hard at learning to not scream, and Asher is giving us all more smiles every day and we're loving it. He had a couple great nights of sleep this week and a couple that I saw every hour of the night on my phone and I've noticed with all four of my babies that even though my many prayers don't seem to put them back to sleep in the night, they DO seem to help me not be very tired the next day even when I'd expect to barely be able to function. So I'm grateful for that.

We met our friend's new puppy and Camden wasn't too sure,
while Bennett was completely head-over-heels smitten.

Sometimes he stays in the exact same sleeping position after a feeding is done like a cute little statue and it's my favorite.

A little bundle.

Dark eyes like his oldest bro! But kind of his own look apart from that these days.

Bennett wanted to make a picture for grandpa

"We're leaving the house? We don't do that much at all... are you sure about this?"

Studying and holding babies. He's done this for hours over years and years.

Happy little sweetheart

Camden's big into measuring things lately,
and brings me this all the time for me to pull a few inches out for him so he can go on his way and 
"do some measure stuff!"

My lunch dates.

I had a phone meeting with an accountant this week (the side of all this fun book stuff that I do NOT enjoy) and it looked like this on my end. Tricky times.

Bennett gave Camden Lite Brite and Spot It lessons this week and it was adorable.

Westin had a friend come home from school with him one day this week to play and everyone in our house loooooved it. This sweet kid wasn't quite sure about all of the attention though (he's the youngest of four boys). At one point he said to Westin, "Do you hate being an older brother??" I laughed inside and then melted when Westin said, "Well, it's hard when we fight and stuff but mostly I really love it!"

When you think you've put everything away in this house...
you never have. We worked super hard Saturday to clean and put EVERYthing away and I told the boys they could choose dinner and a movie that night if we did a good job (they went with burgers and The Incredibles), then I saw this snake after all our efforts and felt like it was mocking me haha.

He's super into sharing daddy's chair after he gets out of his high chair,
and this week I had to do.

2014 vs. 2022

This was our Sunday best today... don't judge us.
Caught sacrament meeting on Zoom and Bennett wanted to know where all the conference treats were.

Michael back with his Fresno peeps!
He had such a friendly residency program.