Moving On

One good thing about KNOWING you are done with having kids (as sad as that is sometimes), you can CLEAN. OUT. THE. HOUSE.   I couldn't get rid of any of the girl clothes until we knew what the gender of next baby was going to be.  Between my 2 nieces and 2 daughters, I had accumulated A-L-O-T of girl clothes in all sizes.  The boxes filled our attic… then they overflowed into the extra room… then they overflowed into the movie room… not to mention my closet that was busting at the seams with 10 years worth of maternity clothes on the side… then even teensy tiny Mason has started outgrowing newborn sizes.

Next to renting out a storage space, Matt won't let me hold a garage sale, I took to social media to at least dwindle my supply down some.

I won't lie.. its hard to watch the dress that Mati Claire wore to her 2nd birthday party go to someone else.  Its hard to let go of Mitt's headbands that we laughed about in the NICU.  Its really hard to sell an outfit that both Mattox and Mason wore as tiny babies.  The outfit I had my eye on for months and kept talking myself out of it until I bit the bullet and bought it.  Onesies that all 4 of them wore at one point.  Yes, call me sentimental.  But you know what?  Its just stuff.  Material things.  They can't wear them again.  In all reality, the chances of "your children's children can wear one day" are slim.  That almost never happens except on rare occasion and that usually includes the outfit they wore home from the hospital.

So I keep their outfits they come home in.  And their Baby Dedication outfits.  I am considering the dress that Mati Claire made her profession of faith in but still holding on for Mitt to wear later anyway.
A friend gave me a headband at my baby shower for Mitt -- it had the sweetest poem ever -- the first time she wears it home from the hospital as a headband… but it doubles as her garter to wear under her dress on her wedding day.  If anyone is looking for a sweet baby gift, I highly recommend that!  I loved it.

We've been in our house 8 years now, and I definitely feel the urge to purge! Closets, attic, laundry room, extra rooms, garages, and Lord help me the toys, everything needs to go!  No more wondering "what if we have one more… what if I need this for this… "

So if you are ever interested in a specific outfit you see on Merritt or Mason - it will most likely be up for sale in the near future after that -- let me know!  It would be easier to sell then before I have to box it up!

Also if you know anyone that has an "M" name or initials "MCM" or "MWM" or "MPM" I can cover your monogrammed clothing needs probably.

Also a big Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads around here:  Poppy, Matt, Rob, Papaw, and Aaron!  I wasn't close to one of my grandfathers because he died when I was 9 I think -- my other grandfather was hilarious to me and died a few years ago… but I often wonder what they would say to me now.  Even dead, I wonder if I would have their approval or their acknowledgement.  So all you Daddies out there -- you carry more power than you realize.  You make an impact one way or another on your kids and grandkids.  Matt's grandfather was also very funny -- I even wonder what crude jokes he would be cracking if he were alive.  All the grandfathers are truly missed, and we are thankful to still have our Dads here with us.  We love you!  Here's a few random favorites of my Daddy (and strangely mostly with Mattox)!

oh my sweetness

Mason my sweetness.  My son Mason.  Lawd help me he is the sweetest thing.  He will soon be 3 months old (what? so soon?) and SO FAR he is very laid back, very content, pretty quiet, and smiles alot.  He is trying to "talk" to everyone and gets excited when someone talks to him.  He's a pretty good sleeper so far.  But the only time he gets fussy is when he's hungry or has a dirty diaper.  I can handle that!  His laid back personality totally makes up for the fact that he isn't sleeping all night yet.  I don't mind waking up and feeding him because I know its the LAST time I'll ever be nursing a baby!  Totally cherishing these late night feedings.  He will sleep 6-7 hours on a good night though.

He's skinnier than Mattox was at that age but he's definitely filling out.  We haven't had the rubber-banded fat rolls in this house since Mattox was a baby 5 years ago.  Mitt still doesn't have those baby fat rolls.

And this picture is just for fun.  We are always amazed at how much these first-cousins look alike.  They get mistaken as brother/sister all the time! We had a nice visit from my sister and nieces a few weeks ago when they came down to meet Mason.

So what is our Summer 2015 look like so far?  We started off with a stomach bug (again) but since then its been playing outside, trips to the park, VBS, art classes for MC, baseball camp for Mattox, swim lessons, swimming at home, lake time, working on birthday parties in July, and lots of reading.  I'm teaching MC cursive this summer.  and all things baby.  I desperately want to start losing weight but I have a hard time breastfeeding and losing weight at the same time - my body gets confused (if I exercise, my milk supply goes down usually) so I won't start until this fall/winter.  I didn't post much at the end of May because school.is.crazy.in.May.  Preschool graduation, class parties, ballet recitals, baseball games, baseball parties, registrations for everything next year, programs, you name it and we were there.  Here's a few of my favorite pics from the end of May:

Miss Attitude.  Miss Priss.