Saying good bye to our Lucy Lou

Our last cuddle. She always sat at my feet and kept them warm.

She looked back at me once more like she was saying thanks mom.

The kids decorating her box.

Loaded in the jeep and heading out to her favorite spot in the woods.

Saying good bye was really hard. The

There's so much I want to write but it hurts too much right now.

Ummm, seriously?

I am in love with this outfit from babyGap for Lorelai. Paired with her booties knitted from NiNi in a scrumptious alpaca yarn and she was a little cuddle bug. It's her expression in this photo though that just cracked me up.

"Ummm, like seriously?" she said. "Can't you see that I am trying to get my photo shoot done?"

Lorelai Piper- 8 Months

Crawling, Standing, & Saying: dada, mama, ya

Eating great! Following a baby led weaning plan and she is mostly on finger foods.

How I Gave Up Winter for Lent

Ok, so as a joke to all the complaining I (and most of the country) have done on social media these last few weeks I decided to give up WINTER for Lent. If you don't know what LENT is here is a very quick explanation: The 40 days leading up to Easter. A time of reflection before the resurrection of Christ. many people give something up and when they crave or desire that "thing" then they replace it with something that turns their focus back to God.


So how does one give up winter? Well, one does not. Ha, it's more an attitude. For me I felt winter in the depth of my bones this year. My kids were sick constantly (new baby in the house means building up that immune system). The weather was bitterly cold for Virginia and the rain/snow was ridiculous. If I had my way we would still be living in Florida. I would prefer to deal with hurricanes and storm surges than winter, yeah I'm crazy like that.

But alas, my honey loves his job and his job is here in the beautiful, gentle, rolling hills of Virginia. So back to Lent...

My attitude this winter has been pretty bad. I am exhausted for continuous sleepless nights. We have had croup, stomach bug, flu, and various colds come to visit us. Laundry has been piled up. The house isn't as clean and organized as it usually is and the weather has been bitterly cold for us here in the south.

So I am desperately trying to keep my attitude in check. And remember that a few years from now I will be alone in the house during WINTER. It will be clean and tidy, but it will be lonely. So I am trying to relish the fighting from boredom, that lack of desire to get schoolwork done, and day after day inside.

Welcome to Moe's

While Avery was at a ballet rehearsal the rest of us headed out to Moe's for lunch. Yum Yum. Now it may not be the best mexican place, but it's kid friendly so that works for us.

 Here is Lorelai working her mad standing skills.

 Just chillin watching the cars go by while we wait for sissy to finish.

 Ok this was actually the first time she sat at the table and not in her carrier. And it was at Cracker Barrel. On Saturday afternoon we were so hungry after spin class we headed there for breakfast. I know right. ha!

 Here we are back at Moe's. Sitting up like a champ.

 Ellie was most excited about the cookie.

 Hi Reece man.

 Shane actually let me take his picture. Try not to look so excited honey.

 I ordered this. I can't remember what it is. But I only ate half it was so big and finished it for dinner.

 She can apparently do two things at once. Typical female, multitasking.

 Whoa girl. Might need to put that hair bow back in from church.

 She totally ate off of all of our plates and didn't eat the baby food I had. Score! I hate making separate meals.