Elo, Leo...our baby.

I feel bad I haven't been very good about documenting my little buddy's early life. He is so much fun. the literal highlight of our whole family's day is constantly loving on his every move and it is probably ruining him for life.

Leo turns three in a few weeks and he's so much fun. He doesn't require any song and dance like I felt the girls did. It always felt like if I didn't keep them in the thrilled zone we crossed over to a dark side for hours. Leo wakes up happy, forgives fast, takes no for an answer (unless it's the gummy vites...he really just wants to eat the whole bottle and I need to ban them from the house forever), he loves being outdoors and doing work...like carrying heavy things (unless he doesn't want to, then he says, "it's too heavy for me", shoveling things and wiping things down. If he wasn't scared of all noise, I imagine he would want to vacuum things like his pops.

He sleeps with me. There is something so restorative about sleeping with my kids. If I could watch any of them sleep it hits a reset button in a way nothing else does. I love it. I love his breath, his bed head, his common sleep positions, his tiny snore, his bedtime songs, how he sings, how he doesn't want me to leave so he tells me to snuggle but then he doesn't snuggle. I love how he falls asleep hard in less than five minutes because he worked so hard all day long he is out! I love how he cuddles with his blanket and gets mad at me when I sneak it away to snuggle with it at night.

Leo likes to use the word poop a lot. This is new, haven't experienced it since my childhood with four brothers.

Me: What song do you want to sing?
Leo: Poopy Poopy Little star, poop song...

Me: Want to take a bath?
Leo: Poop bath.

Me: Let's get your shoes on to go to the park.
Leo: The poop park?

Me: Leo we are going to go to the beach and build sandcastles.
Leo: Okay, poop sandcastles.

Sometimes he forgets and just adds poop to the end of any sentence, "I'm hungry. Poop."

The latest is a quick fart noise with his mouth at the end of every sentence. It's really quick, just a little air pushed through the teeth against his lip real quick. I'm hoping this isn't a tick and is just a boy thing.

Leo has declared once in the past six months, "Mah Penis is big." I called Chris immediately to ask him if he taught him that line. Nope. I have no idea where that comes from, because it isn't big, it's tiny and who cares about a two year old's size? The other night I went in to join him in bed after he was asleep and it was a hot day (we have had huge, record breaking 85 degree temps around here like five times IN APRIL) and so he was sleeping in a diaper and a t-shirt. His hand was in the front of his diaper just hanging out.

Leo still loves Alice the most of all of his siblings, but guess who he is wanting more and more for the nurturing stuff? ME! And I love it! Of course he loves to work along side his dad or rough house with him, but if he is hurt or sad or left out, I'm his girl. I love it. He also loves his Ruby too, and he and Betsey are buddies once a month or so, otherwise rivals.

He is very intentionally pestery. He takes what you want just to pester and get a negative response from a sibling. He walks VERY slowly to me when I call him over for a diaper change or to get dressed. He always commandeers the things Betesy wants and ruins her cute play efforts with friends, so I'm always glad when there is good weather and I can coax him outside.

Leo could take us to the poor house just with the quantity of life cereal he consumes single handedly. He really only wants to eat Life. We had to stop buying it to diversify a bit but he's picky like almost all toddlers. I don't cater, but he goes hungry or helps himself later.

He loves the park, Paw Patrol, Trains, DIGGERS are his fave. We got to the park in a new community being built and there are excavations always going on, so we stop and he watches from the car window and loves it when the operators discover his interest and wave or so something else cool. He talks about getting a digger daily.

I feel like he talks in a silly lower voice some of the time. It makes me chuckle.

Leo loves pink and fought Betsey for her pink camping chair in exchange for a blue one. He also wanted Frozen underwear when we talked about potty training.

Leo has a love for Batman (He calls him Fatman because that is what Chris calls Leo, so that is what Leo thinks Batman is called), Spiderman is his fave, He seems uninterested in Superman, and he talks all the time about Elsa from Frozen and how she can build houses with ice. I one imitated her hand movements with my palm up and he corrected me, you can't fling frozen fractals with your palms up, they have to be down.

Leo is firm. He doesn't get budged to do some things even if the bribe is really great. He loves diapers and want to skip potty training. He has had some fun success when we have coaxed him onto the potty while he watches a show, and we have had some crazy celebrations, but nothing that has moved him closer to choosing to potty train. I really want it to happen!

He was jealous of Betsey's birthday.

He asks for Oma every morning when he wakes up.

Leo is super social. He talks to all people at the park and asks their names and tries to play with them. Even older kids. He's just super outgoing. I love it.

We had a good few weeks where we were all taking turns being sick and it hit me, Alice and Chris the worst so there was a lot of tv watching. So now, Leo fakes sick all the time to try and watch a show or get out of something he doesn't want to do. Great.

That feel better!

Halloween 2015...

I didn't take a bunch of pics this year for Halloween. Too busy having fun. We don't live in a neighborhood anymore, but our three neighbors pretty much insisted that we bring our kids around as their only trick-or-treaters and they got like wrapped gifts when they went. So nice. Then we went to the Benners to enjoy a bunch of tasty food and good company. It was a fun holiday, and didn't rain too much. Leo loved it so much, he devoured his candy and it was gone on the same day! Leo has a Thomas the Train costume under his Thomas the train raincoat. Betsey was a witch. I always manage to talk them into costumes that we already have. Win!

Alice was a zombie but I didn't get a pic of her all dressed up before she had changed. Ruby stayed back and passed candy out with Kiley.

Picture day!

I'm the photographer every year for our co-op back to school pics fall 2015 and that always means my kids don't get really prepared for pics. It isn't likely that I would get them all ready even if I wasn't the photogapher for a 9:15 arrival. I think they are the cutest no matter what.

Thoughts on Mothering...

Being a mother to all four of my babies has been an all-consuming experience. The soul crushing love I have felt watching them all grow up has been consistent with them all. The immediate love when they are born and the natural desire to protect, nurture and give them the love all children deserve...it's just always there. I'm so far from a perfect mom, but the intense connection I feel to my kids has always been just there. I think it is that way for most. We all think the sun rises and sets with those faces, the smiles, the mis-spoken words, even the tantrums and messes.

It's just intense being a mother. Intensely joyous and also intensely difficult. It isn't easy to exist in an all day service project. It isn't fun to hold a toddler while taking a poop or to have four eyes watching while you shower. It isn't easy to navigate the sibling rivalry or to hide in the garage knowing little people with needs are actively looking for you while you try to pay a bill. It is joyful when they first learn to say, "I love you." Or when they learn to give kisses. When they dance, poop in the potty, throw up in a bowl or hold the hand of a sibling to comfort them when they are hurt. Those moments are the kind where you feel like your hear has grown inside your chest. There are so many moments like that.

With my baby boy though it is different. Not because of who he is, I think it is either because he is the last one or possibly because I have the motherhood experience now that I lacked when I was a mother with fewer years behind me. If I could, I wouldn't take a poop without Leo on my lap. If I could, I would chat with him while I showered every single time. I am in full life abandonment over this baby. I am not put out by him ever. I want to snuggle him to sleep, I want to share a bed with him, I want to read him ten stories, I want to sing him fifty songs, and when he sleeps I miss him. I have never experienced that before.

I feel like if motherhood ever was this joyful I would have wanted more kids. I don't regret having four, and I wasn't even in charge of when they came, I didn't have the luxury of getting pregnant right when I wanted. But I think if I had felt this way when Ruby was two, I may have eight kids right now.

When Ruby was little, the cutest, sweetest, easiest toddler ever created...I lived for nap time and bed time. I mean when she was awake, she was my best friend and we had a great time bathing, puzzling, parking, strolling and jabbering. A GREAT time...but I was always ready for me time.

I still enjoy me time, and I still get it. I just don't have half my mind fantasizing about it while I am pushing Leo in the swing. With the first three, I would commonly feel like the clock would never arrive at the bedtime hour, but with this last one, I more often than not realize it is 9:40 and little buddy is still going strong and it is no shirt off my back.

So there. Mothering thoughts by me twelve and a half years into the mom gig.

Seaside Cell phone pics...

It is kind of a bummer that the pics seem to upload in reverse order. So we went to Seaside, OR for a full week in July. It was just before Jeff's family moved to Spain and they were able to come for some of the time, I think we got there on a Wednesday and they left on Monday. Anyway, we were all there, even Ashley, Jordan's girlfriend was able to make it with him for a few days. Chris couldn't come, I think he got there Friday night and left Monday before it was light out, which was a major bummer.

I LOVE SEASIDE. I am seriously a little bit obsessed. I had no idea Hawaii like beaches and cute shopping and beauty like that was so close to home. I understand the weather isn't always perfect, but we had nearly perfect weather and enjoyed a balance between the great, oceanside pool at Worldmark where we had four units totaling nine bedrooms, and the beautiful, deep, sandy beaches with cool water (I prefer cold water). It was sunny and perfect. 

The sad part was the day Jeff and Mary left (they moved to Rota, Spain for a 3-5 year job on a naval base there)...we had to say goodbye to them! Here are some sad kids...Ruby, Sarah (moving), Alice and Hailey.

Alice really loves Sarah, she feels a special friendship with her and was super sad about her moving.

Here are the five older girls which often hang out all together. Alice, Sarah, Emma, Ruby and Hailey. 

We went to a local surfing beach after we said goodbye.

Braden and Amanda in heaven...

Betsey and Carson are such happy buddies. 

My strong baby girl doing a long handstand.

Gosh the pool was so awesome. Leo learned to float pretty well with his puddle jumper which really helped him have fun in a later trip to McCall.

We were only one unit from the front of the oceanside building so we had a beautiful, unobstructed view of the ocean and sunsets.

The Bachelorette always has to end when I'm away from my viewing buddies. Thankfully, Jordan and Ashley are regular viewers and wanted to catch the finale with me. So this happened in April and it's November and they are still together which is pretty legit for the outcomes of the show. Anyway, it is just a silly thing I have fun watching with my girlfriends.

One of the best parts of the trip was sharing a room with Leo. He just wakes up so happy and since Chris was not with us, we slept in the same bed most of the time which is heavenly.

Ice cream trips in jammies!

We played Telestrations togehter a bunch which is our fave. We had so many laughs. I don't remember how this started, Oh! The word was "newborn" and my dad figured if he drew a baby, no one would get newborn, they would just say "baby", hence the delivery picture. Good times. Did anyone guess, "newborn?" No.

Seriously, who claims this one? So bad. 

Exploring caves at the beach.

Molly, Carson, Nathan, Jane, Addy, Betsey, Mason, Van.

Alice and Emma.

Hailey, Sara and Ru.

My mom with some littles.

Heather made some super cute YW theme shirts for the girls. So nice. 

We got away as just adults for a nice dinner at a fish and chips place, I think it is called Dukes. So tasty.

Canon Beach.

Canon Beach is amazing to see. I wish it hadn't been freezing, hurricane winds on the day we went. It was perfect weather if it weren't for the wind. But we got to the beach and promptly turned around, it was that windy. It was awful.

More views from our room.

I even managed to bust out a few quilt squares on the trip! 

So the bottom line is, I don't think I can ever go a summer without Seaside again. I really, really loved it there. I want a full fledged vacation property there so I can drive three hours and just be in paradise. However, I am nervous about the possibility of an earthquake or tsunami taking the coast into the sea. So anyway, a vacation home is a pipe dream regardless of natural disasters.

Seaside, OR Family Photoshoot...

We had an amazing family reunion in Seaside, OR this summer. Wow. I loved it there. I have really not done much coastal stuff in WA or OR and it's such a shame! Wow to the sand, the water, the beauty, the touristy feel to the town. I just love Seaside. So. Much. I'm not a hot weather and warm water person, so the mild but nice weather, the cold water...does it get better? I literally fell in love with this place a three hour drive from home. 

I didn't take many pics with my nice camera, but here are a few...

Cute Isaac...the youngest grand baby, and Jeff and Mary's youngest...

Isaac and Mary...

Sleeping on the beach is the best. Here are my folks.

those two big buildings behind him is where we stayed. Our room was on the left side only one room from the beach side of the building. We stayed at Worldmark which can't be beat. Best spot in Seaside! Thanks for putting us up, Mom and Dad! We had four rooms for the big group and it worked well. I shared a three bedroom unit with Robb and Heather's family. It was fun.

Molly...I may have taken more pics of Molly because she moved to Spain like two weeks after this trip!

Leo loves playing in the sand!

So does Betsey...

So do all the cousins...

We ventured out in our coordinating outfits for a big family photoshoot...I'm so glad we did. It was a beautiful backdrop and the weather was perfect and the kids, though dirty pretty fast...took some amazing portraits! And now...please endure and onslaught of Hamm Family posers...

First, the older boys. Van, Nathan, Carson and Mason...

Next, the three little boys...

Isaac, Leo and Davis.

Be still my obsessed heart...

They were a hoot to photograph...but I mean, Leo is pretty much nailing this shot.

My folks, who I am told look like mature models...

Jordan and Ashley with a photobomber...

Jordan and Ashley...it was our first time having Ashley join our family on a vacation. It was so fun having her along and getting to know her better. She fits in well.

The big girls...

Hailey, Sarah, Ruby, Alice and Emma...

Had so much fun with these beauties.

My mom playing with some of the kids while I worked with other groups.

Jeff and Mary.

The three first borns. Three girls, born within eight months of one another. Hailey is the youngest, Ruby is the oldest and Sarah is between...

My folks with their grand kids...

 My folks with their five children. What a blessing to still be all around, able to take a picture like this...

 Braden's cute family...Amanda has her hands full with those three cute buddies.

 The little girls. Jane is the older of these three by a couple years, but she is one of the girls. Betsey, Addy and Molly are all close in age, just a few months between the three. So fun.

 Bets, Jane, Adaline, Molly...

 Isaac was ready for more pics after a good roll in the sand.

  

 Leo wouldn't join us for another pic, but my girls did. 

 Braden and Amanda...

 Emma and Alice are truly besties.

My family. I don't mind it.

Jeff and Amanda's family...

 Braden and Amanda's family...