another one bites the dust

Drew is at the age where she naps mayyyybe every other day. This in no way means she does not *need* a nap. Lord knows she could use a nap every day. By the end of said days where no nap is in her schedule, she falls asleep quite quickly. Not to be heard from until morning when the kids wake for school. 

Sunday was just one of these days. Drew went without a nap. Later in the afternoon she went  missing. I couldn't remember the last time I saw her so Lia and I went to find her.

She could have been painting her nails. Playing quietly with her new Frozen dolls. Coloring. Buttttt... 

curled up. sleeping on top of a foldable tv tray. strangest place to find one of my kids sleeping to date. and funniest!

1/52

As a clean start for 2015, I'm starting over with #the52project. Inspiration found here!

Last year I ended at week 11. I'm going to blame that entirely on Will, #ochosmith  ;)

I love looking back at them so much. It's also very painful. They're growing, right before my eyes... okay, maybe this is a *terrible* idea. Kidding! It is amazing to look back through them :)

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

Peyton: Nash is his biggest buddy, but I catch him with the littlest ones a lot. Melts my heart.
Lia: This one. This one is straight up a teenager. Eek.
Austyn: Girly, girl. Through and through. (pretty hair courtesy of aunt Mal)
Tayt: Heart throb in the making. And currently growing his hair back out. 
Nash: Currently obsessed with Legos.
Drew: I was going to post an amazing, beautiful, innocent photo of this one. But it's totally inaccurate. While she is amazing and beautiful, she is *not* innocent, and this is 100% a better portrayal of her personality.  (pretty hair courtesy of aunt Mal)
Meg: Oh brown eyes, you are the light of our days. And also quite a challenge. (pretty hair courtesy of aunt Mal)
Will: Under the weather lately, but smiling (and napping) through.

intentional

well, hello 2015! jumped right out of nowhere, didn'tcha. and now it's almost a week in and I'm still thinking about what to blog about. yes, with 8 children, we have a lot I could be blogging about. but a lot of it that I don't.

I'm rather disappointed to read my resolutions from 2014 and have the same feelings. I'm taking that as a "pull it together, Courtney!"  :|

moving right along...

my sister, Casey, has a great post on her blog currently regarding being the 8% this 2015 year. she has seriously inspired me when it comes to blogging and doing better overall. while watching the video she posted, I came to the conclusion that I need to 1) have less 'goals' and 2) have an ongoing list of these goals so I can move from one goal to the next once one is complete. SSSOOO here goes:

ONE
live intentional:
I want more than anything to be present in my daily life with the kids. More often than not I'm distracted by blogging, Instagramming, people I have no control over, situations I have no control over, why I'm not getting enough done around the house, why I'm so unorganized, why why why, why not why not why not, blah blah blahhhh... 

I'm not sure how to clear these distractions, but I'm going to give it my all. Less worrying aimlessly. Less for others, more for my family. I realize that sounds completely selfish as I also want to be able to serve and help others more because I think we're all called to help others in some way, BUT I think in order to serve others, you need to have your faith and family in check first. SO... I need to be much more intentional about all time and energy used.

TWO
read:
part 1: I ran across this Bible reading plan, printed it, and I'm diving right in. I don't like to put it out there that I'm attempting to read the Bible (again actually... only made er half way last year), but I feel as though if I don't put it out there, I'll never finish it.  so attempt two, in full swing.

part 2: "book club!" This was probably a coffee morning idea with the sisters, but we just recently picked a second book. Mallory picked and finished the first pick... first... but she's a cheater so we're not really counting it ;) 

book club: the idea is to pick a book, read it in a month, and who ever finishes first gets Starbucks or a meal out (to be determined)... on the others...  again, Mal is a cheater ;) you need to do laundry and dishes in addddddition to reading, not instead of... Meow! ;)

feel free to join along with us:
month 1) Mal's pick: Dave Ramsey's, The Total Money Makeover
month 2) Renee's pick: R.J. Palacio's, Wonder
(picking order is youngest to oldest)

This goal didn't go so well last year. I read 2 and almost a half books. :| that's progress, right? ;) I'm half way through the book club pick. I'm a slacker, but I have good intentions. I'd like to read more and nap less, because in all honesty... naps are rare for me these days because coordinating naps for the little 3 is rare :(

anddd
three
organize:
(there will probably be a million parts to this, but I'll start with only a couple... baby steps people!) :)
part 1: counters
I'm continuing with the "organize" again this year. This is usually an epic fail for me. Almost daily. In an attempt to take this baby steps at a time as well, part one of this 'journey' is going to be the counter. Decluttering. Tossing papers. Wiping it down daily. You know, all the things I should be doing daily regardless of everything else going on around here. Der.

part 2: office
My office was intended to be the organizational hub of our house/household. It most certainly is not that currently. This one is going to take some time, and I realize that. But I'd like for this to be an entire year long goal. Anything in this house that we don't know what to do with... goes in the office. I may have come to the realization that it may mean we don't necessarily neeeeeeed any of the things in that blasted office. The entirety of that office hasn't been seen in a year so why have it? I can't remember where I read it, but it really struck a chord... and it went something like this: if you lost your home tomorrow, what would you pay to replace. I came to the quick realization there isn't much I would want to replace.

so I'll end this post with this line from last years post because this sums up my 'resolutions' almost perfectly ;)

There are some things I want to continue working on, some things I want to start working on, and some things I maybe want to quit working on.

here's to a wonderful 2015!

still here. kinda. sorta.

I've been going back and forth whether or not I want to continue blogging. Obviously, I'm doing a terrible job. Updating once a month is not what I intended when starting this blog. I'm not entirely sure what I intended for this blog when I began or what I intend for it now, but I might just take a break until the first of the year... yes, I realize that's only a couple weeks, but I'm going to attempt to put more thought into this blog over the next couple weeks and decide what I want to do here.

In the mean time, a few photos of the last couple months :)

Even though I asked him not to, Peyton is growing up, seemingly rapidly, but he is such a great big brother. Blessed!

many thanks to my mom for this photo. I'm so glad Dave is always willing to get a quick photo with me. this is probably one of my favorites :) this guy, this guy is my rock. that shine in his eyes... I'm glad he's mine forever.

Thanksgiving 2014

I've really been slacking with the photos lately, but as usual, we thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal at my aunts. Makes me long for the deliciousness again! 
(good thing Christmas is in a couple days)

We celebrated a few birthdays since I last posted. Meg (Mega Meg, The Beast) turned 2! Following right along like the other kids, this girl has quite the personality. She makes me laugh and lose my patience daily. She, alone, is my true test of patience, but she is just the biggest joy. 

she's a professional with these faces

Our oldest daughter, Lia, turned 12. Twelllllvvvveeee. I can't even. She and Peyton are terrible listeners. Don't age I said, and no, nnnooo... they're ruining me.

She's such a great helper and so, SO wonderful with the little ones. Couldn't do this mom business without her.

and then there is Rowdy (also known as Drew). This girl is such a lover. She has a twinkle in her eye... *sigh* sentimental night... she turned 4. And I love her. Gosh, I love her.

obviously I love all of the kids, I didn't mean to single Drew out. this brown-eyed trouble maker holds a special place in my heart as well. he knows how to work those eyes too :)

oh nuts, Nashie man. he has perfected his smile :)

okay, I had a baby, but then... what happened?! I'm lost. 
He *was* little. I remember. I birthed him. and then he's sitting. and crawling. and throwing fitsssss (not cool, Will. not cool!) and eating everything off.the.floor. seriously, saving babies is NOT what I wanted to cross off my bucket list! see here... what else does he do? hmm, oh he climbs stairs. yes, that's not cool. cause he can't climb down stairs. he likes to smile. and laugh. and be tickled. and eat puffs. We haven't started solids routinely. He's had some... I can't remember which kinds. This is probably the latest we've gone with all the kids, buttt I have no excuse really. I'm just boycotting it, putting it off, being lazy... you pick ;)

so he's 8 months now. 8 months. 22 pounds. 4 teeth. and a partridge in a pear tree. kidding. I couldn't think of anything else.

Meg wants in on all the monthly photos of the kids. Dirty face and pants ad lib.

and Drew as well. but she's clothed more often.

I love this photo of Dave and Nash. Nash has needed a lot of time-outs adjustments as of late. Here Dave is giving him a little firm talking to. Maybe not firm enough judging by the smile on his face ;) but I still love the photo.

a new-to-Tayt teddy bear hat

sometimes we deem it a no-television-day (or week), and the kids do the craziest things... like play games. bogus. unheard of. I know. but I think it makes them smarter... we mayyy need to learn them how to play tic-tac-to... or is it toe... 

brothers don't shake hands... brothers gotta hug! (name that movie) ;)

there's a lot of blurry love happening here. kitchen dance party!

and on that note... see you on the flip side... in 2015! 
(or maybe before if I step up my game and decide I'll blog more often... doubtful...)