InstaLIFE :: Just Add Water + Sand + Sun

beach life is exhausting {liam} :  twilight swim  :  buzz + liam  :  

tractor spying  :  carousel riding {griffin}  

mega water play  :  the bees knees  :  water lovers  :  crazy strong {beck}  :  

birthday wish {liam}

brothers  :  little fish {griffin}  :  to the rescue, most awesome mall shopping carts ever  :  

my new book 

summer sweets  :  new toy  :  family breakfast  :  more bees knees  :  

cake batter ice cream goodness

fourth of july beach day  :  sand lovers  :  E's gag gift  :  silly beck  :  sink envy

first movie  :  little big fish  :  repeat {oops!}  :  on top of the world  :  letter practice {griffin}

This is what life has looked like the past few weeks for us, 

full on summer mode and loving it!  

It has been a summer of firsts, many for me, out solo with the boys, crazy right?!

For the past two weeks Ethan has been at camp filling his mornings with science experiments, improv {very cool}, and ancient Egypt.  

Today ended the series with a little performance from the LOL Club.

Genius idea, kids create their own skits, shop at the Rubber Chicken store for props, really cute.  Even more I am proud of E for pushing himself out of his comfort zone.

I hit up the dollar store for some great gag gifts as a treat for him, who can resist the good ol' whoopie cushion, spilled ketchup, and chatter teeth?  Not one in this bunch.

His science teacher pulled me aside and told me what an amazing young man I have on my hands, super respectful, sharp, curious, eager to participate.  If you know me by now you know I tend to beat myself by not doing enough and of course that is another conversation for another time, so it is always that I am humbly thankful for words like these and of course so proud of Ethan.  

Oh yes, back to our two weeks...

The first couple days were tricky to navigate the crowded parking lot with four little men

following their big bro in for drop off and back out again for pick up.  

Three hours of time in new surroundings to keep the little guys occupied.

An adventure for sure, one in which I learned I could take my boys

to the Children's Museum solo {and meet up with two amazing quad moms and their loves},

in fact I took them to a water park alone too.  

We're still alive to tell our tales.  

We have been brave.

I am really proud of my guys, all five.

While I can't say I will miss getting us all out the door bright and early,

prepped and ready to go, we have bonded a lot, they are enjoying hanging together,

and I have to say they listen better most of the time when it's just me.

That being said, we love having friends and family along,

it's just good to feel "normal" doing things on my own with my boys too.

It's time.

What has been insanely great to witness among the little boys is the fighting from the backseat...nah...it has been awesome to see their concern for each other.

The protection, the looking out for, the helping one another up after a fall.

You know the saying, they fight like wild animals among their little posse, 

but heaven help anyone who wants to take on one with the get three more free deal.

OK, so I took some liberty with that wording!

You can follow us on Instagram here {until I get a fancy sparkly new button}.

                                   

Happy weekend!

{michelle}

Saying Grace.

Last night around the dinner table Matt was working late, so

we searched You Tube for all of the roller coaster rides in Walt Disney World

and screamed our way through dinner.

Great for digestion.  Highly recommend {smile}.

Before though there was this adorable moment.

We said our usual grace before meals, 

bless us O Lord and these thy gifts...

After, I said what I was thankful for then went around the table.

Here's what they said...

Aiden :: the beach

Liam :: outside

Ethan :: my family

Beckham  ::  my family too

Griffin  ::  crickets

No, not actual crickets, but silence {grin}.

Griffin . . .  GRIFFIN!

Hey, it's ok to be thankful for yourself.

Especially when you are super cute, cuddly, and extra sweet.

Lots more to share, until soon.

:: michelle ::

Perfection.

I have Francesca Batistelli in part to thank for a moment driving tonight with Ethan.

We were on our way to spend some of his birthday giftcards.  

Sometimes the best, most memorable, loveliest things are said in the confines of our car.

And sometimes of course not so much.

In her song Free To Be Me she sings "and perfection is my enemy."


I didn't think E was really listening to the song until...

:: E to me ::

"Mom perfection is an enemy because no one can be perfect.

Even the most nicest, most kindest, most smartest person

cannot be perfect.  Only God is perfect.  We shouldn't want to be perfect."

Those words, so unexpected, so matter of fact, and actually quite perfect.  


A great reminder to this reformeding perfectionist.


Ahh, to understand this at the ripe old age of seven.  

{via}

Sweet dreams friends,

:: michelle ::

Lucky Seven.

Dear Sweet E, 

I remember the day we met face-to-face like it were right here and now.

The day you did not want to leave your warm and cozy home.

The moment we heard the word "boy."

The awe when we looked at your big chunky tan body, bright light eyes, 

and the tufts and tufts of blondish wavy hair.

Where did this surfer dude come from?

Had I not actually done the pushing that culminated in seeing

you, our little miracle, I may have wondered.

You stole my heart.

You gave me a life changed forever.

You made me a mom.

The amount of love was and is just insane,

a crazy do absolutely anything for you, unconditional love.

While we were a family before and we loved our life together,

we now really felt like a family the day we held you.

You captivated us and we did things for you we never thought we would do.

Never thought we were capable of doing.

It's the same seven years later.

You have a heart of gold and incredible curiosity and love for life.

You can be intense and want things fair and just.

You are bright and confident.

You feel and love deeply.

You are beautiful, unique, and just perfect the way God made you.

Ethan Matthew, my sweet first born, keep radiating, keep loving, keep living,

guard your spirit for life fiercely.  God has given you this beautiful gift.

While it's bittersweet to see you grow older, it is really cool 

sharing jokes with you, talking about what you enjoy, 

and seeing the amazing little man you are becoming.  

All that you now are capable of.

The fun that you have just being you. 

Keep rockin' E.  
Like you have from the beginning.  

Enjoy this most amazing day about you.  

You so deserve it.  

We love you so.

Happy {Lucky Seventh} Birthday.

It's going to be an incredible year!!!

xoxoxox

Mama

Fab Find: Fancy That Design House

I am smitten with the beautiful typography designs Stephanie from Fancy That Design House has created.  When I found her shop, I was thrilled to see the typography that is so lovely joined with the words I want to display in my home.  It was also so great her Fruit of the Spirit print just happened to come in yellow and gray, our living room colors.  

And she is a midwestern gal, a nice little bonus {smile}.  

My print arrived in such pretty packaging.  I love when those little details are given time and effort, it makes such an impact.  

I added my lovely new print to the entry way table, just the right spot and

a place we all walk past frequently, a great reminder in those biblical words.

All of the prints in Stephanie's shop are truly works of art, I 

had trouble picking just a few to highlight, so pop on over and 

take a look for yourself.  You will be inspired!

Here is the one I chose in black and white, gorgeous right?

{Fruit of the Spirit : B&W Typography}

Another I have on my list, beautiful!

{Pray More Worry Less : Burlap Texture}

And this would be perfect for Father's Day, wouldn't it?

{I Need You : Typography Print}

You'll be seeing more of Stephanie's beautiful work here

as a sponsor in my sidebar.  

Thank you Stephanie!  You have some serious talent my friend!

Enjoy this beautiful day!

{michelle}

B&W Planters

Last weekend we were earth movers with dirt under our fingers and toes.

We tore into our overgrown front yard landscaping and spent the days

trimming, weeding, planting, watering, sweating, and teaching 

little boys how to stay away from the dangerous street.

I have to find the picture I took with all of the boys out front,

serious disaster zone, but they were so happy to dig, look for worms,

move rocks, and all seven of us just started to move in a rhythm 

to make our corner of the world a little prettier.  

Being under the sun, hands in the dirt, it is truly a 

good form of soul therapy and renewal.  

One of the projects I finished up...hurrah!...was my black and white planters.

The one on the left is chalkboard paint, which I love using on planters

because of the versatility and the finish looks great on the terracotta pots.  

On the right, I just spray painted a large pot white as in the pictures below,

taped off the stripes {on a curve, tricky and don't bring a measuring tape here ok?}

and then sprayed on the black.  They hold my Mother's Day boxwoods so nicely.

I love boxwoods and am glad they now have a home.  

{paint first color/base}

{tape off stripes and add second color}

We also picked out succulents for the front urns.

I hope I can keep these alive.

The boys liked planting our hens and chicks 

and added some rocks to the scene.

I'm really loving it too.

Even more that it was a family effort.

Head on over to these lovely parties I'll be linking up to.

Happy Friday!!

{michelle}

Little Braveheart {continued}

It's time to update, to put out there the words that knocked the wind out of us on Tuesday.

Coming to write this post I had titled it from Friday, Liam's Miracle Heart, but with that day having been so exhausting for us I just hadn't finished it.  In a way I am glad because now, his heart is even more of a miracle.  Liam is a miracle.

I don't think there is really anywhere else to start than from the beginning...

When Liam was about 2 months adjusted {so around his actual birthdate} we followed up on a heart murmur that one of the NICU  nurses mentioned to me, and I brought up with our pediatrician.  We looked into it and they found a significant anomaly with his heart.  It was unrelated to the murmur, yet we never would have found it without that clue.  We were rushed down to Children's Memorial without returning home.  Literally Liam and I were off to the hospital and at the time we had 3 more preemies at home.  It was tough.  

We stayed a few days to check out Liam's heart.  

They wanted to do invasive testing.  Liam was not even 7lbs. yet.  

{Remember he was born at 2.9 lbs}  

In the meantime we heard of an amazing cardiologist at Rush, where Liam was born.  We felt comfortable there, it had been our second home for awhile.  We sought his opinion.

His decision was to wait until Liam was older and we could do a CT on a 20lb.+ toddler as opposed to an angiogram on a preemie that was not yet the size of an average newborn. 

We chose to wait and walk in faith.  

That was two years ago.

On Friday Liam had his CT, did an amazing job, I was there when they put him to sleep and then we met with Liam's doctor.  All along we knew that Liam had a single coronary artery, instead of two.  The greater concern was that this single path could not course through/between any other major arteries.  As Liam grows, those arteries will get bigger and can squeeze that pathway, leading to sudden death.

Heavy stuff to hear about your sweet, little, mighty miracle.

During our meeting Friday those fears were put to rest about 99%, we had a celebratory Memorial Day weekend.  Then Tuesday while driving Liam and Beckham to the pediatrician, I got a call from Liam's cardiologist.  At their final review, they found that Liam's single path does indeed course between the aorta and right ventricle.  The nightmare was reality.  We were blindsided.  It's not the first time it has happened to hear devastating news about one of our children, and somehow it all just floods back.

Yesterday I was sad, hurt, angry.  

{please allow this tangent that follows from my heart, 
it is by no means meant to be preachy, just helpful and hopeful}

Please give your friends and family that space.  It means the world to allow them that time to feel what they need to feel.  Realize they may not get past it right away or in the time you think is appropriate.  Don't be uncomfortable by it, don't run.  More importantly, realize that it is not a measure of their faith at all, it is a natural reaction to gut-wrenching news, and the best thing you can do is respect those feelings.  Just be there and hold them in prayer.

If you listen closely you will find that all dialogue...all of the tears, cries out, all of it, is aimed above, the faith at that time is more certain than ever.  

We've gone through a few of these times enough to know you can't move 

forward if you don't deal with all of that first.

And of course it isn't all gone in a day, it will take awhile.  

Thankfully we are surrounded by people who understand that, 

and we are so incredibly grateful for their support.  

So here is where we have landed.

What we do know from all of this is that knowledge is power.  Usually this condition is found on an autopsy as the cause of sudden death during the teen years.  There are no documented cases in medical journals of someone having died before ten, yet somehow that is not as reassuring as it should be.  

Matt and I have a lot to review as life continues as normal for our boys.

We have many discussions and decisions ahead of us.

We would love and appreciate your prayers for our guidance.

We have to hold onto this, our mantra and what we will do.

What we know more than anything is that Liam deserves our great faith.

Our Liam Jack has fought from 5 weeks in utero and will continue to have incredible strength for God has his hands on him. 

We know that having this information can mean the difference between 

being able to do something for Liam or something horrible and unexpected happening.

We understand the weight of it and can't express enough gratitude for that,

now it is knowing what to do with it.

Liam will need surgery on his heart, most likely once he is around 8 years old.  

Routine checks and tests from now until then.

We are sad that this is the beginning and not the end as we thought Friday.

It will be a huge walk in faith over the next few years.

Here are a couple other posts on Liam's heart...

Meeting of Minds on Liam

Little Braveheart

We will update as we can.

Thank you for all of your prayers whispered into God's ear for

our little mighty miracle son.


What really matters is that when I just asked Liam routinely yesterday how he was, he replied, "I'm happy mama."  Perfect sweet boy.

Until soon,

Michelle