Family Pictures

As usual, we enlisted the help of my friend Wendy to take our family pictures this year. Then, the bills started arriving from Luke's procedures this summer, and I wondered if I could just take them myself. I cancelled on Wendy, got brave, and convinced dad to come help us out and take the family shots. I've been practicing this year with family friends, but I knew trying to photograph my own kids would be an entirely different beast. And it was. Luckily, no blood was shed, and the pictures turned out great. I did a little more yelling than I would have liked, and the mosquitoes were terrible, but it was all good at the end of the day.

Good Birthday. Bad Church. Cool Eclipse.

We're back to massive updates, apparently. Life is crazy busy right now. I'm back to teaching lessons, Darreck is working tons, and Max is in full school mode. It's cool and chaotic and awesome. Life is really awesome.

My birthday was a week and a half ago, and I seriously forgot to blog about it because it was pretty much a non-event. It was a Wednesday, so Darreck worked all day and I taught all evening. I did have friends over for a playgroup in the morning, which was cool. We also squeezed in cake and presents in between lessons and bedtime. The boys spoiled me, as usual, and my parents got me a cool new blender, which I've been using nonstop since then. We did go out to dinner on Friday for a belated celebration, and that was surprisingly relaxing for having all three boys there. I'll take it!

Onward to today, which was a total disaster at church. First, Darreck went to a choir practice that was canceled. That should have been a sign of things to come. During Sacrament meeting, Jack was a little bear. He normally naps at 10, so ten o'clock church is somewhat of a challenge. Today, no matter what we did, he wouldn't calm down, so Darreck finally took him home to sleep in his own bed. I'm pretty sure he's sick or teething or something. Then the Luke poop drama started. Darreck took Jack home in our car, so when Luke pooped his pants, I had to have my mom take him home to get new pants and shoes. That was fine until he pooped, yet again, only 20 minutes after he got back to church. I was in the middle of teaching my Sunday school class, so he was passed off to Grandma again. She deserves sainthood after today.

Luckily, after our bad run at church, we had a great remainder of the day, and we even got to watch a full blood moon eclipse. I wish I had thought to pull out the tripod and take some good pictures, but I didn't think ahead enough. It's seriously amazing! So completely cool!

Weaning Jack

This time finally came this past week to wean Jack, and I'm surprised at how hard it's hit me. This is the first time I've weaned a baby without expecting to have another one at some point in the future. We're not planning on having any more kids, and while I know that God and our plans sometimes don't align, our family feels very complete for the time being. For the more part, I'm really looking forward to having three bigger boys who can hike and kayak and play with us, but it's also sad to say goodbye to the baby stage. Not so long ago it felt like I'd be attached to the couch nursing a baby forever. Six years of my life have passed incredibly quickly.

If you ask Jack, I'm not sure he'd care about this week one way or the other. He's pretty cool about not getting bedtime feedings, which were the last to go. He put up a small fuss the first few nights, but nothing more than an extra squeak or two when I turned out the light. He's definitely ready. Jack seems like a toddler now more than a baby, especially since he's babbling up a storm. That kid wants to communicate! I felt the same way with Max, but Luke took longer to speak and therefore felt like a baby longer in my mind. Jack has no plans to remain a baby in anyone's mind any longer. He's big. Just ask him.

So, I'm taking this week to mourn a little bit, but I know I'll be fine after a good cry and my hormones righting themselves. Really, I do love being a mommy to bigger boys. While I miss Max during school, I love getting to see the "real" him. Max and Luke have such varied interests and temperaments, and it's so much fun getting to know these very real people who reside in my house. Darreck and I may have created them, but they are certainly individuals unto themselves. Now, Jack is joining their ranks.