the threee best friends

reminiscing a bit here while going through some recent photos... bear with me... it's a long one!

these babies are only 3 days apart, and we started taking photos of them together almost immediately after Will was born. obviously, that's what coffee mornings should be all about. photos of baby cousins. together. daily. 

seven weeks after they were born, a third cousin was born. and then he was added to the mix as well. 

they're the threeee best friends that anyone.could.have ;)

Theo 9 days * Will 6 days

and he was already smarter. weird.

Theo 7 weeks 3 days * Johnathan 6 hours * Will 7 weeks

I think Will had his ABCs mastered when we took this photo...

fast forward 15 months. insert Casey crying. and they're old. and dirty. and sassy.

Will is still light years ahead academically. you can see it in his eyes... wait...

Will... the blinking... come on!

both of them looking. easy enough. ha. don't be fooled. twenty-eightttt photos were taken.

Meg passing out kisses. Theo denying.

no, thank you.

stiff arm.  Theo: siblings. shakes her head.

at least he's not biting her...

this is boring Theo.

she's outta here.

and then there were threeeee. Will looking brilliant. as usual.
Theo 13 months * Will 3 days shy of 13 months * John 7 weeks less than Will... oh, whatever... you do the math ;)

best of 16 taken.

Theo nailed it. John's confused. which camera again...

nope. this camera. right here, guys. guys?

Will's confused. Theo's most definitely perfecting her pig squeal.

Will thinks this whole situation is dumb.

They're all over it.

here's where it gets ugly.

John's the naughty one. and the weakest link. 

he may have been kicked out of the village.

26/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015"

Peyton: all arms and legs. all electronics too.
Lia: still hates having her photo taken. still growing up.
Austyn: playing peekaboo with Will.
Tayt: chillin.
Nash: transplanting trees with Grandpa Z.
Drew: dddeeee.va.
Meg: love it when her face lights up.
Will: finds all the puddles.

it's easier to take photos during the summer than the winter months. but for whatever reason, I post less during the summer. probably because I rarely sit down to get them off the camera. I'm working on it... a little ;)

first+last

I'm in denial that July has started. where is the summer going!?! we had a wonderful weekend. we ran so much I barely took my camera out of my bag. probably an indication we were enjoying ourselves :)

playing a little catch up. because I love a good comparison, here are a few photos from the kids first day of school. Nash did not attend a 4k program so he was *beyond* excited to go to kindergarten with the big kids. I wish I could tell you his first few days went as well as his face would suggest. there was screaming. and crying. and it was downright ugly from what I hear. the kids attend a small Catholic school here in town so the teachers and staff know the kids pretty well. he spent a couple days real close to one of the teachers and after that was right at home :)

Nash in front of Tayt.  Austyn.  Lia holding Meg.  Drew.  Peyton holding Will.

just the school kids

Rowdy's hair! Willlll!!!! 

{all the tears}

and now the 'current' photos... the whole crew on the last day of school :)

Meg.  Drew.  Nash in front of Tayt.  Lia.  Austyn.  Peyton holding Will.

well, this just isn't fair.

and then we added in my nephew, Luke, because why not ;)

and of course, a comparison to make me cry myself to sleep :(

threw you off with Peyton's choice of hoodie. his favorite I guess.

grades entering:
Peyton: sophomore
Lia: 7th
Austyn: 5th
Tayt: 3rd
Nash: 1st

andddd Drew is entering a private 4k program here in town. while I didn't send Nash because I didn't think he was ready, Rowdy... she's beyond ready to go. that girl has nnnooo problems leaving me :(

I will never wish these years away. I only wish time would slow down. My once baby is now a sophomore. Signed up for drivers ed this summer. DIS.BE.LEAF! They're sure quite the bunch. And I wouldn't change a thing. My only prayer is we continue to live a long, happy, healthy life together!

okay, that got a little deep... no apologies. they're worth it!