July

Life here in sunny Florida has been busy to say the least. Besides taking care of two 16 month olds, and working it seems there is hardly time for anything other than pure survival. Oh, and in my free time, cleaning out our spare (junk) room and getting ready for baby. And organizing our garage. And bedroom. But I keep my head up knowing that things work out, somehow someway. They always do.

Uncle Nolan came for a surprise visit last month which was really nice. Looks like we won't get another visit until maybe December, pre-deployment! So much will change by then :) Not to mention, we get another visit from Tia in a few short days! Yay!

Audrey is my little helper. She is very good at following directions, loves to clean up and always seems to be supervising Madison's shenanigans. She is signing (and saying) new words everyday it seems. Her newest is "Cookie" from Sesame Street. Elmo is still her one true love but he still has the name "doggie!" She learned the tricks well and will sign "please" at the back door, wanting to go outside, or in front of the entertainment system, in hopes of watching Sesame Street. I guess it could be worse! Most recently, she hopped up on her rocking horse and started rocking! How fast they grow! :')

Madison, still our little tomboy, also loves her outside time. We get our diaper free time outside most mornings and/or evenings. On any given day you can count on a nudist running around our backyard. She likes to walk around the entire backyard checking things out. Eating acorns, throwing rocks, and trying to reach the pooper scooper! It's never dull. She has always been shy around strangers but it is especially pronounced now. Suddenly, it's all mommy, all the time. She goes from practically ignoring me to giving me random hugs throughout the day, only wanting ME to hold her and being grumpy with daddy. (Poor daddy) but he's used to a woman's mood swings ;) She even signed mommy for the first time today. Guess she does love me after all!

Baby Jones is 28+ weeks along! I think it is not a question of he or she but human or ninja! This kid is much more active than my girls but there is probably more available space too! I'm still feeling really pretty good but have my days of sheer exhaustion. Some days I get to lay down during nap time for a nap myself. Guess I better enjoy that now. I think the more kids you have, the less sleep you get. Is that about right? We have made some headway in the nursery, getting the painting done (yay!) and starting to put the little details together. I've got all the neutral newborn clothes washed and put in the drawer, along with the newborn diapers ready to go! Hard to believe this baby will be here in less than 3 months!

Let's not forget about my wonderful hubs. He works hard 5 days a week and I have plenty of tasks for him in the mornings before work and on his days off. Really couldn't fathom life without him! We are lucky enough to have parents stepping in to allow us a much needed weekend away. We'll be staying at the beach for 2 nights. We might actually have a few meals in quiet and sleep in after 8am! SO looking forward to this!!!

As always, pics from the month are in our web album.