12 of 52

post by Courtney

our house is always busy, but I sit down to write something to the blog and cannot for the life of me think of one single thing that happened this week... 

and after some thought... 

finishing touches to a second bathroom in the basement happened this week. Peyton, Lia, and Austyn started practices. Chiropractor visits. Sap is running. Our seedlings came up. and my house is clean this morning because of our new 'cleaning game' on Sunday morning!

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

last one up for breakfast means it's cold... bum.

not interested in me or photos.

slept on wet braided hair for the win.

he played with Nash over the weekend.

playing together.

even the littles get excited about Sundays game

placing 4/4 despite her surprise cleaning my room ;)

Meg's prize was ice cream during naptime.

challenge convincing him to get in the boots for this photo 

after he put both hands in the boot and fell flat on his face :\

finally caught the tongue. 

none of my children have ever stuck their tongue out like he does. 

cutest.ever!

#the52project Week12

post by casey.

it's been the busiest week! I took to rearranging a few things around the house, which set in motion abouttttt 18 different projects. All.at.the.same.time. I have a habit of kissing Jacob good bye for work and then setting out to change THE WHOLE HOUSE...and every paint color...but this ambition normally only lasts till abouttttt 1130AM, when my energy level comes to a screeching halt...along with all the projects I started! And then there's Jacob's face when he walks into the disaster after work. Oops;)

But we (my sister, Megan and myself) were able to get the majority of things back in order by the end of Saturday night! Although, our house is far from finished...it seems we're doing an okay job minimizing and finding a place for everything! Slowly but surely!

also, we finished up just in time for me to completely shut down today...this bit of dreary weather had me laying around for A LOT (understatement) of the day. I did, occasionally, leave the couch or bed for snacks - duh;) Andddd I invested at least a few hours (understatement) into researching the cost of a quick trip to Paris in June (that's unlikely to happen but a girl can dream/ignore her children from 1-5PM for the sake of vacay research;).

my good stuff: 15 minute workouts. learning the guitar...very slowly...with lots of interruptions:) finding a new TV Series (How To Get Away With Murder - soooooo goooddddd!!!!) that both you and your husband are into - weekly date nights are back (we used to watch Castle together:)!!!:)

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

homer - he asked me to be his girlfriend this week:) Which turned into a very confusing conversation;)

theo - "I'm the babe!"

rockyp - couch potato:)

11 of 52

post by Courtney

week by week, I gradually get more and more behind. anyone who knows me well, shocking... I know. 

buttt here you have it... our week 11(ish)

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

lovin on the chub

more lovin

free airplane rides

homework

he's supposed to be reading

reality: organizing his books. again.

laughing in an attempt to make Coy laugh

sometimes the beast just needs a nap

chewin

chub

#the52project Week11

post by casey.

coming in a tad late and had to catch 2 of them first thing this morning! BUT we did it;) Week 11 down. 41 more weekssssss to go. 

my good stuff: beginning my Birthday Week with an early morning, 1st Day of Spring, pretty sunrise, walk:) starting from episode1 of The Office. my husband hand scrubbing the floors while I eat my way through 2 cinnamon rolls.

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

homer - currently in a time-out (his time-out isn't in front of the TV;) and working on getting a shot of vinegar for sassing. HI, Monday!!!!!!

theo - the only person that's looked through those photo albums, that I agonize over, in the last year;)

rockyp - about to work out? just worked out? 

10 of 52

post by Courtney

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

he'll be 17. seven.teeeeeeen. next month. emphasis on seventeeeeeen.

caught an authentic laugh, and it's one of my favorite things ever.

she won a date day and got a new sketch book.

he desperately needs a date day, but I'm not quite ready. 

sssooo he's been doing a lot of this.

practicing math skills.

practicing reading skills.

she's really come out of her shell. she's a strange one sometimes.

he was very serious about the noodles.

dude is all smiles almost all of the time. and yes, I chew on those jowls all.the.time!

SaveSave

#the52project Week10

post by casey.

you may or may not remember all the complaining I was doing last week - reminder HERE?!;) Not this week, my friends...not.this.week;).

as promised...I'm trying to keep a close eye out for all those little things that make those not so fun/long/cold days feel better than:) And I'm here to deliver with a little list:)

my good stuff: a router that ended up not being broken. it's my birthday month. my husband suggesting a trip to Paris (in 5YRS:).

and now these kiddos. Who may make an appearance or 2 on My Good Stuff List from time to time...maybe...highly unlikely...maybeeeee;)

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

homer - just realizing now that it'll be at leasttttt 30 more years and maybe a couple of his own kids until he fully understands my love for him:(

and those eye lashes aren't Rodan&Fields;) - all his!;)

theo - when you're the first one up, you get the last of the 'good' cereal:)

rockyp - ravioli/bath night:)

theo daisy: 35 months and rocky peyton: 16 months

post by casey.



this month is completely irrelevant because Theo Daisy will be THREE in a few weeks. So 35MO means NOTHING. NOTHING. 

baby girl is keeping us on our toes. If we're 'getting after her', she'll ask: "are you yelling at me?!?!!". If our answer was "YES!", she'd respond with: "donnnnn yellllll at meeeee!". Girl is cray cray. 

she's wild. But the sweetest. Still putting her bare belly on walls and door frames and fridges...and anything kinda cold and yeahhhhhh, it's that weird;). She's still sucking her fingers but I'm not too concerned about that. I was a finger sucker and it's something she'll have to move past in her own time. I do encourage her not to and with her birthday coming up and talk of getting her own bike...we've been doing a teenyyyyy bit of bribing;) - which hasn't worked at all;). 

she feels so original:) One of a kind. A unicorn, if you will;). 

this might be my favorite photo of Theo. Ever:)

 *all photos courtesy of Courtney Smith Photography:)*

rockyyyyyyPPPPPP. You do know those legs were made for walkin'?! No? ;) He's only walking about 1/4 of the time. SO, I thought he might beat his siblings to the walking thing and now he's actually coming in dead last - bum;).

this kid is a blast! He's still damn near perfect;) There's the occasional fit and we're introducing him to the word "No". Which, like most kids, he doesn't understand;). He's starting to get the hang of sleeping through the night. He loves to be tickled and I love making him laugh...so that works out well for both of us:) 

unfortunately?!, it's a pretty quick process getting RockyP's photos. He's normally functioning on one mode - Perfection - and so there you have it. Rocky looking happy/content in 3 photos:)

life is pretty good right now. I think it was shitty a few minutes ago...but right this second...there's some sun shining in and I finished up a morning coffee date with a few girlfriends and Courts and a bunch of extra kiddos...and they let us speak to each other. In full.fucking.sentences. It was pretty magical:) And now the 5 kids that I was left with, are playing with a tent we made and together and I'm just trying not to make eye contact while I finish this blog post:)

happy Friday, friends:)

9 of 52

post by Courtney

a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2017

caught him not in his bedroom!

milking a head/chest cold :(

blurry braids.

working on his man bun.

intense conversation going on.

proof they play nicely. occasionally ;)

;)

keeping babies safe from littles while in the swing is a full time job

we lucked out in the dad department