i'm not so good at this blog thing lately, am i?

let's face it

blogs aren't "the thing" anymore and when it's private it's even less motivating to do it

but i can't quit it because it's a documentation of my family's life and i need it to help me remember

 we went to a new park in boise

it was a lot of fun and the weather was great

 the kids loved playing in the water and sand

good thing we had extra clothes for henry in the car

 me and ju ju

 a fun game of jumping bunny with the girls

 henry loves dress up lately

and getting his nails painted, and using purses

it's tricky having 3 older sisters

 we went with eleanor to her fire station field trip

they loved it

 eleanor is such a helper....

despite being told multiple times to not walk around with jude she does any way

and picks him up when he's sleeping

and tries to burp him and be his mom 

it's sweet and a little scary

 she loves to cook with me and helps me chop veggies

 hen and michael on the roof while michael took a break from hanging our Christmas lights

 i walked the kids to school and voted with the three little ones

 henry is getting closer to potty training

but won't get off the toilet forever when he's done and it's a power struggle

 i tried cloth diapering henry and jude and lasted like 3 days

 some days are hard

and jude fusses a lot and i don't get a chance to brush my teeth or get dressed

 wearing her baby in my wrap 

 lunch date with dad

 little love

 michael being phyllis on the office on valentine's day

 date night to a sweet swedish movie with subtitles

we lasted 20 minutes before jude's fussiness made us leave

 then we tried going to the mall and he fussed the whole time we were there

so we got the kids, put them to bed and enjoyed slurpees while we watched the office

to salvage our terrible date night

 sometimes i get tired of holding fussy jude 

so i let the boys in our class hold him during sunday school

 i finally finished this quilt that has quilt squares my grandma kelly made a really long time ago

my aunt liz sent them to me in case i wanted them and i planned to make our baby girl (i thought)

a quilt with them but instead i gave it to eleanor

 she loves it!

 tandem diaper changes for the boys with their two mamas taking care

 thanksgiving mantle

 jude likes his couch naps

 our sweet friends the dalley's are moving

so we went to say goodbye and help them a little

and olive got their cat elliot to sit on her like a baby

 sweet baby

 henry asked me to take his picture of his blanket wrapped around him

 and then they both wanted on my lap

 on a chilly day this week

henry said he wanted to go outside and go swimming

and went straight to this puddle and did it :) 

 michael was so sweet and went to work extra early so he could watch the kids for me

during my 6 week post partum check up

he's so thoughtful

 hazel gave a report on the white house for her GT program and she did great 

despite being really nervous beforehand

 henry helped me make split pea soup 

 and we jumped on the trampoline (my first time in a long time)

while eleanor was at school

 post partum depression has been creeping in so i was especially grateful when crystal invited us over

we hopped in the stroller and spent all afternoon with her

 the kids had a lot of fun

 and she held jude for me and took care of us

 i forgot about this old rug and pulled it out

it works perfectly in jude's room

 sweet crystal came over and hung out with me last night while the family was at pack meeting

this morning i took the little boys to costco while eleanor was at school

we weren't thrilled about the line to get in

but apparently black friday starts early at costco

 we had fun there anyway :) 

my post partum depression was pretty bad this week

but between jude and henry there is SO MUCH CRYING

and i don't get much of a break from it...ever

and it's wearing

but since being vocal about it, i've felt better and less alone

i love my kids, every last one of them

and i'm so glad i'm their mom

even when it's crazy