Sweet, sweet summertime! Ruth is 8 months old and Chandler just turned 3!

Hello, hello! It's been a few months since I've had the time to sit down and write but I'm so excited to be back in my blog tonight. Ruth is sleeping, Brandon is sleeping, Chandler is at Camp Lovie, and I am up late, blogging! Brandon and I went to bed and I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to get up and watch something, settled on a reality real estate show (something easy to watch and somewhat entertaining), and thought it was the perfect time to open up my blog. It's long overdue and I have so many updates I want to journal about! We had a wonderful spring, which has led into an absolutely amazing summer! We took advantage of great spring weather, went to almost every local park we have, spent a day on the San Marcos river exploring, spent lots of time outside on walks, and really found our new flow as a family of 4! I am so thankful to be feeling more like myself, enjoying the wonderful sunlight and longer days, and just leaning into being a mom of two little ones. 

To kick of summer, we celebrated Chandler turning 3!!! I can't believe it! He has grown into such a sweet and silly little boy. We had a big day of celebrating at the splash pad and then a second party at home with our bible study group. He loved his cakes, blowing out candles, and his new ride-on backhoe hot-wheel toy! This summer, he finished his first year of MDO, is adjusting to his new big boy bed, is making lots of progress with potty training, and he is talking up a storm! It's so special to hear him communicate more and more with us, and putting whole sentences together. He wakes up early, comes and crawls in bed with us, and announces "the moon is gone, the sun is back!" Which tells me, that I better get up, ha! He loves all things construction truck, still loves evening walks to the construction site, loves riding his tricycle and backhoe around the neighborhood, and "nuggling" with mommy every night! We finish every day with prayers, which he has started leading and it is the sweetest thing ever to hear him pray thanks for his trucks and toys, and when we tuck him in, he always says "mommy nuggle, mommy nuggle!" I love finishing my days laying down with him and snuggling him to sleep. Other big milestones include his first trip to the dentist! He did such a great job! He was so brave and absolutely loved being seeing with Dr. Matthew! We made a whole day of it, complete with a trip to chick-fil-a and a park day picnic. 

Little Ruthie is the apple of our eye and to quote Brandon, "she is going to be the death of me!" She has us all wrapped around her little finger and we are so in love with her! She is the happiest, sweetest, and best baby in the whole world! She laughs so sweetly, is the best sleeper at night, and has really established her own little routine. She is enamored with Chandler and watches his every move! We all love our floor play time with her and showing her new things. I enjoy every moment with her and am cherishing our "us" time, like nursing to sleep and rocking her for each nap, and at bedtime. I know our nursing days are going to be ending in the near future and while I feel so accomplished that I'm able to nurse her for so long, it also breaks my heart that this sweet chapter will be over for me. We run such a fast pace most days with both kiddos that I don't always get to just sit and think about things, so when I have these free and quiet moments to think and reflect, I realize how quickly these days are going and that I have to cherish each moment with her that I have! I love, love, love nursing my babies and really don't want that to end any time soon! I hope to get to a year with her but we will see. She has a great appetite and absolutely loves food!! Like really loves it! So, I know she will naturally wean herself from me but I will take every nursing moment I can get until she is ready to give it up. Other milestones for her is that she has three teeth and is working on her top left coming in, rolls from front to back, back to front, has just started taking one crawl forward, and really loves pulling herself up on furniture. She is such a strong girl! Even the girls at Dr. Wagner's office commented how strong she is for her age. She is such a joy and perfectly completes our family. 

We're in a great place as a family and God has richly blessed us! He has been faithful to guide us through some challenges and dark days as we got settled in this new season, and has been so kind to us! We have a wonderful church to raise our babies in, an amazing neighborhood for them to grow up in, a beautiful same home for them, our marriage is strong and we are finding more time to laugh together/grow as one, and all the emotional ups/downs are normalizing, and I am feeling like myself! I started my cycles again this month and feel like that has helped a lot! My moods and energy are feeling normal again. Work is going really well at the clinic and I am loving my job again. It feels great to be back to work and I'm looking forward to starting the fall semester with students in a few months. A big praise is that I got a call today that I got a $9 raise at the clinic! Thank you Lord! I had no idea that a market raise was even being discussed with the management team so I was surprised to get a call from my manager asking if she could speak with me. She told me my current rate is $61/hr and now will be $70 and some change! I didn't even know what to say, I was so pleasantly surprised! It was a beautiful blessing in a season that can sometimes feel monotonous, so I am thankful for the gift and feeling of accomplishment for my hard work. 

Tomorrow, Ruth and I will go to Waco to meet mom and get Chandler back! I am so ready to see him! It's only been three days but I miss him so much! I have really enjoyed my quiet time and good sleep, and also getting out with little Ruthie just us two and spending quality time with her, but I'm also ready to see my boy! Tonight, Brandon is taking his girls out to dinner! We are going to a new spot in Buda, Los Olivos, and I'm so excited to get to take Ruthie out and just spend time with her! 

Brandy