The many faces of Noah

God gave me this picky child as a kind lesson for what I put my Mom through.

  

Now that we are settled in the new house, Mama has her groove back.

On the top of my current missions, I am determined to only cook ONE meal each night.

For the longest time, I was making up to three meals a night--one for the kids, one for Matt, and a low carb meal for me.  It was exhausting.

So now, we have one meal (mine just tends to be modified) and if the kids eat it, they get "a point."  It's been 4 days & Connor's doing really well...

Noah is going strong with a 1/2 a point... hahaha.

Tonight I took it easy thinking it'd be one night without complaints from Noah and made Turkey & Cheese Melts with grapes and chips.  It was hardly a dinner.  Wouldn't you know Noah thought the chips were too spicy and he was not hungry.  Another "point" failure.

I will go back to the drawing board for meal ideas for the next few nights.

The monster looked cute, as the last one left at the dinner table like usual, so I grabbed my camera and let the magic happen with this goob.

Bless his heart..

First day!!!

Noah was excited--he had almost all the same kids in his class as last year, so he was pumped.  Connor wasn't crazy excited, but we liked his teacher and he knew a few kids in class.  My Connor had bedtime anxiety last night and needed some mom snuggles/chat time to fall asleep easy.  

So this morning, I assumed Connor didn't need his embarrassing mom to walk him into class anymore... but surprisingly, he wanted me to walk him in.  While I thought he's too old for this, I happily went along with him and tried to chat with him to ease any first day jitters.  There were no hugs or kisses in front of classmates and I snuck away before he actually got to his classroom doorway, so I did my job.

Noah went into school like a boss.  Put his lunchbox on the counter, set his backpack in the hall by his name, gave me a hug and kiss, and walked right in without turning back.  It was amazing.  

I carry more anxiety for the boys than they actually do.  Darn this parenthood thing.  There's something about 4th grade that makes Connor SO MUCH older now.  It's the age of deodorant and being forced to be more responsible.  It's weird really. About an hour after dropping the boys off to school I randomly realized I forgot to put a spoon in Connor's lunch box and had that awesome mom guilt like, "Oh I hope he's comfortable enough to ask for one."  Then I reminded myself, "Dude, he's wearing deodorant now...surely he can find a spoon on his own."  What's wrong with me?!

Then there's Noah.  4 years old going on 18.

It was strangely refreshing to get both boys to school and not feel like bawling.  Actually it was quite the opposite.  I rejoiced, went to the gym, watched one of my shows, and am headed to treat myself to tacos for lunch.  It's glorious, people!!!

Can't wait to hear how their days went!!

Summer!

Our summer in a nutshell...

Living out of boxes.

Rotating daily meals of chicken fries & pizza.

Fortnite for Connor.  Fortnite Dance Challenges for Noah.

Repeating sayings like "Get your hand out of your pants," "Leave your brother alone," and "We don't shoot at people's heads" on a regular basis.

Counting down the days until I can unpack & organize everything again.

Oh & waiting patiently for my new nephew to arrive.  

So here we are~ Nolan is here (and finally has a name other than "Cletus") and we are four days away from closing on our new house!  Praise the Lord!!

I won't post house pictures until its completely done, but I do have an abundance of preciousness to share in the mean time.

I mean, seriously... I know they're my family, but goodness they are just the perfect little family.  

Now countdown until we move!  More summer fun ahead!

Nolan James is here!!

He's here!  He's here!

And he's absolutely perfect.

My sister was the most patient 41 week pregnant lady you'd ever meet. 

This 4th of July at 12:46pm, 'Grandma Beach Day' became even better.

-8 lbs 11 oz-

-21 inches long-

We love this boy overwhelming amounts!!!

I see lots of commutes to Orlando in my future!

Fishing tournament 2018

Papa brought his "A" game.

Nana brought the gummy snakes & other essentials.

Boys kept whining to a minimum like I had hoped.

The clouds provided a nice 5 degree heat reduction.

It was a beautiful combination for our annual fishing tournament!

 Within a few minutes, Connor had his first fish!  He raced it to the judging booth to see if he'd be the first catch of the tournament, so I didn't snag a photo of the fish, but got a proud photo after he got back!

Connor brought in the first 2 fish, then Noah caught 3!

The boys scored themselves a new fishing pole and net this year!  It really was the most relaxed, non-draining fishing tournament to date!

Now we anxiously wait to see when Baby Brewer shall arrive!!!!!

Beach visit

Sometimes a simple shell collecting, frisbee throwing, memory visiting, ice cream eating, and hoola hooping kinda evening is just what you need.

Now onto the last day of school!  Here's to surviving summer with both of my crazies home all day!  It shall be an adventure!

Mama's Day 2018

Cheers to a day of no laundry, no cooking, adorable handmade cards, and sweet memories with my humans!  

Noah's class

I may be living out of boxes...

I may have not slept more than 10 hours in the past 3 nights...

but when Noah's teacher noted that their school photographer was only doing individual photos of students and will no longer do class pictures, I grabbed my camera & came to the rescue!

I am beyond grateful to have such a sweet teacher for Noah AND that Noah happily goes to school each day.

Mrs. Beth's class - McGregor Baptist - 2018

Halle - Gordon - Eli - Trinity - Jeevan - Lily - Kane - Noah