cute overload!

More super Wisconsin weather has kept us inside most days. But these littles have been pretty well-behaved given the circumstances and being stuck inside together for days on end. They have their fair share of melt downs and fits and fights, but I caught them in a moment of pure awesomeness. I can't promise it lasted more than 5 minutes ;)

overnighter

In preparation for a hospital stay in the next ohhhh 31 days…I've been eyeing up some weekender bags for my overnighter. Definitely not a 'need' per se, but something I'd love to purchase because the bag I used when we were in the hospital with Meg turned into a diaper bag. And it didn't have a zipper on it. I'd like something that I can close. Also, I'd like something more around the price range of say 30$ ;) I've been *extremely* cheap lately ;)

in no particular order… 

Obviously, I pick the more masculine bags. And my guess is, there's a puppy inside!

Ezeiza Weekender  $375

Big fan of Orla Kiely, not so much the price. Another puppy maybe?

Orla Kiely bag  $245

More neutral. Also more masculine.

Herschel Supply Co  $79

Yet another masculine bag...

Everlane - The Weekender  $95

Right up my alley! maybe a whole litter of puppies...

Stela 9 Vida Weekender  $348

I've had a couple Roxy bags that I've loved.

Roxy Breakaway Duffle Bag  $54.99

Maybe too girly for me… although, great price. Also curious if it holds it's shape at all… hmm… Target run anyone? Casey? I know you're in ;)

Mossimo Floral Weekender Handbag  $29.99

Well, failed search for a weekender bag. Let the search continue!

BAGGU Weekender Oversize Tote Bag  $72

Instead let's just do this one, this one (in black maybe), orrrr this one  ;) 

I won't need much in the hospital anyway!

7/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

Peyton: he recovered quickly after his wisdom teeth extraction, playing Xbox within hours.
Lia: my kitchen helper.
Austyn: always creating. she was reading me one of her stories here.
Tayt: warm weather for half a day, and they were outside as much as they could be.
Nash: he loves to play with the big kids. and outlasted them this day.
Drew: post-nap stare down. and crazy hair.
Meg: conversation with dad when he got home from work.

and probably the one and only photo I'll get of him this year, but….
Dave: my everything.

a little less wise

unintentional teaser breakfast for Peyton who had to fast before surgery… sorry bud!

Friday Peyton had some teeth pulled. Dentist said he has a "size 8 mouth, and size 10 teeth." He has the same problem I had/have… overcrowding…poor kid. So to 'fix' this problem and prepare for dreaded braces, he had 8 teeth pulled. Ouch. Considering my hatred for the dentist, which has absolutely nothing to do with Peyton's procedure, he did amazing!

Here he is all prepped and ready to go. I guarantee I was more scared/nervous/completely overwhelmed… *deeeeep breath* …than he was. 
And that's where the Dave in him comes out. :)

We were told the procedure itself would take about 30 minutes and recovery 30 to 45 minutes. Dave went to visit some friends of ours in ICU while I waited in the waiting room, and within an hour we were called back to see him. 

{insert Courtney's nervous laugh as we walked in to see this poor kid all drugged up}

I'm not sure why I was so nervous… maybe all the horror stories… looking at youuuu, aunt Malloryyyyy :|  but this kid did amazing! Minimal bleeding, minimal pain, maximal Xbox playing because Dave and I felt pretty bad that he had to have eight teeth pulled. Friday night he was running around playing, asking for Reuben's (which we did NOT let him eat… started him off slow, as directed), and seemingly back to his normal self, with occasional breaks for some medicine and icing. I wanted to make sure he wasn't in pain so we followed his medication regimen pretty strictly the first 24 hours. Otherwise, he's been a champ!

Here he is about 24 hours after surgery…noticeable...

Here he is about 48 hours after surgery… definitely noticeable. They did warn us day 3 would be the peak, and they were *not* joking!

I let him stay home from school today, but I expect he'll return to school in the morning. He did start complaining of pain tonight, but I'm not convinced…he may just be playin me now. We shall see! Odd that he was completely fine all day until mention of school in the morning… weird. Teenagers… ;)

siblings

One of the many things I love about our large family is how the kids stick together. It's not always rainbows and kittens, but I love it when I catch them taking care of each other or helping each other. 

We're preparing for another snow storm here in central Wisconsin so I'm guessing there will be a lot more of this sibling love the next few days. Now if I can just find enough for them to do to keep them occupied and not 'bored.' ;)

6/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

Peyton: he is bored with me.
Lia: very proud of her toaster valentine box. I may underestimate her creativity at times.
Austyn: This child is very dramatic… I see her being a good actress one day… ;)
Tayt: we're smack dab in the middle of growing out the shag. and it's scary.
Nash: This child reminds me a lot of Austyn. I'm scared. Very, verrrrrrrry scared. ;)
Drew: She stood still… for a second.
Meg: This one. Oh, this one. We're in that stage where we climb on ehhhh-verrrrr-eeeeee-thing. She's a determined little bugger, that's for sure. I thought Rowdy was going to give me a run for my money. Nope. I'm going to keep my mouth shut from now on.

what? what?

Dave took the kids to a friends house to play cards this afternoon while Meg and I napped. They're not home yet so I'm sitting down at the computer to do my 6/52 post butttt I'm missing a couple kids. Now I'm officially behind on the 52 of 2014… shocker  ;)  so the plan when he gets home is to 1) take photos of those last two kiddos… somehow and 2) clean my office because this is ridiculous. I'll do a post on that just to prove how *not* together some things are in this house… eeek!

BUT the good part of me being behind, you get to see these photos, which I probably otherwise would have completely forgot to add to the blog. Ha!

Casey asked me to take Homer's 21-month photos so we had a little fun with his adorable hat. Drew and Meg thought it was a pretty stylish cap.

Drew thought she was hilarious.

None of these photos are posed. These are all Drew for your entertainment. I've said it before, I'll say it again… this one has too much personality for that tiny body. 

And I *love* it! (the majority of the time) ;)

and then my heart exploded. The End.

5/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

Peyton: I'm quite certain I can stop him from becoming a teenager… *sigh*
Lia: quite the personality, this one.
Austyn: such a beautiful spirit.
Tayt: pure boy. caught him playing p-i-g with dad, probably discussing 'rules' here.
Nash: see camera. look in the opposite direction. child!
Drew: freshly done nails. fresh out of real smiles.  ;)
Meg: I got nothin. Apparently we're raising pure wild animals around here. She does this a.lot!