Fall part two

I get very caught up in the day-to-day grind that sometimes it takes looking through photos to realize just how beautiful our life is at this stage. It's very therapeutic to do this blog - and that's what keeps me coming back despite the lack of time I have for it!

Sweet Junia in her snowflakes on her first snowy morning!

Ephraim is our buddy who loves to sleep in - and we love that about him!

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit!

Ephraim found one of his dad's favorite dress-up outfits from when he was a kid!

My favorite five-year-olds!

Those legs! She never can keep socks and shoes on!

 

Uncle Josh and Kayla came to hang out with us, too!

 

We went to our favorite apple orchard for a bag of blushing goldens - always the best fall tradition!

Cuties!

We bought a "blue doll" pumpkin at the orchard as well - which is still going strong on the front porch many weeks later.

At five and a half months, Junia started getting up on her knees and rocking! I thought we had more time before she learned to crawl.

Beautiful red trees at the park by our house.

I love what the boys bring home from my moms' group. Here Nolan made a mosaic coaster as a Cubs logo, August had painted a picture, and Ephraim made a pretty sunflower and a seed packet.

Her Sunday best!

Another trip to Culver's during AWANA :)

Halloween isn't really my favorite holiday, but Junia looked so cute in this outfit we inherited!

And the PJ Masks had a great time trick-or-treating in the absolute worst snowy/cold weather! I got all three of these capes & masks for $10 total on Amazon - and thankfully they were perfect for going over winter coats!

Junia's six-month photo! At this point, she had started army crawling, which quickly turned into up-on-her-knees crawling. It was a whole month sooner than all three of her brothers! It's easy to get her to smile but tough to make her laugh. She loves watching all of the activity of our household, and she started saying "ba ba ba". May the next six months slow down just a little bit!

Nursing life.  :)

Zionsville might be the cutest town in the universe.

We had an impromptu family reunion in November! One of my cousins was coming through town with her four kids - and we made plans to meet up with her - and then everyone else in the extended family began to plan to join us! Even my cousins from New York City and Houston were able to make it! This is my grandpa and step-grandma with all thirteen great-grandkids!

We started off the new generation with one girl, then came TEN boys, followed finally by two more girls :)

My cousin Lindsay with Junia.

Great Grandpa & August

Lindsay and I both have three boys & one girl! (She has twin 1-year-olds!)

This was the first time we'd all been together in 12 years - and that was before some spouses & all the kids.

My four cousins on my mom's side! Love them so much!

Working on a Thanksgiving recap post now!

xo,

Rachel

Fall part one

I feel like these series of photos should be called - "hanging on to summer for as long as I could." :)

Little watermelon girl.

We enjoyed an afternoon at the park right before the leaves started to change. . . I will miss all of the green!

Sweet dandelion gifts.

We made it to the splash pad a couple of times right before they closed it down for the winter. I'm already dreaming of summer nights next year!

A quick photo op at Trader Joe's before church.

I had seen this Vera Bradley onesie many years ago when VB started a line of baby things. I think I even posted it on my blog, despite me not having a girl. . . just to share that I loved it. When someone gave us a box of hand-me-downs for Junia, this was in it! I just thought it was so meant to be!

Michaela still always asks to hold Junia! And then she says, "I don't mind if she cries."

I loved these Scottie dog leggings!

Steve and I got a night out to attend the Justice For All Gala downtown. It was so fancy!

Junia came with us, too, and it was a little tough to be there with a baby, but we made it through. Bob Goff spoke, and he was really interesting and hilarious.

Saturday morning caffeine.

We've made a couple of trips to IKEA recently, and we need to make another one soon :)

Sweet girl's 5 month photo. My favorite thing she was doing at this point was taking my face in her hands and pulling me in for a huge open-mouthed kiss. She has not been even close to sleeping through the night, and she wails if I leave her side, but I forgive her for those things when she lights up at me. :)

On Wednesday nights, when the older two boys are at AWANA, we sometimes spoil August with an ice cream trip just for him. He eats up the alone time with us!

Cousins happy to be watching Toy Story 4 when it came out on DVD!

Nolan sitting in the driver's seat of a firetruck!

They built little firetrucks, too. I heard Lowe's is restarting their Build and Grow workshops soon!

This was a big day! We bought a new van from the Carvana vending machine!

The boys put a coin into the white slot, and the van came out of the vending machine, then down the hall towards us! I'm sure they will remember that experience forever!

Happy to have a new, dependable vehicle!

This is one of my very favorite photos from the last few months. I'm sure her relationship with each of her brothers will be special and unique!