Back to School Playdate

Our playgroup had one last get-together before school starts for the big kids! I cannot believe the summer is over and they are getting ready to head to school!

We took the kids to the Museum of Natural Resources for an afternoon of exploring! They had a dinosaur exhibit that was new, so that was what everyone was excited to see, but they all enjoyed everything else just as much!

Yesterday's Group

We were so glad that Tara and Eden joined us! We love having them back in El Dorado, so they can do fun things like this with us.

They had this really neat little "Tinkering Studio" that was new since the last time we had come. Lot's of little gadgets and gizmos for the kids to play with. They loved this part!

Gabe and Karis in the Tinkering Studio

Jonah and Brody

Jax and Beckett

Trinity (I discovered that Beckett is the ultimate photo bomber. He appears in everyones pictures)

We loved having Brooke there with us, too!

Sweet Jon Tyler

Levi

Eden

Learning how an oil well works!!!

My favorite part of this museum is the area where they have the replica of Old Town Smackover built. Little general stores, a restaurant, hotel, church, jail, faux dirt roads, carriages...I just love walking around it and imagining what it was like to live all those years ago!

The kids loved playing in the jail! Ha!

The last thing we did was go into their auditorium that was set up as "Exploring Arkansas Heritage". The kids had a blast playing in all of the old timey dress up clothes.

...Posing for pictures in the giant canoe!

(I have no idea what he was doing here...but it makes me laugh)

...Playing "sping the wheel" to find out what their destiny might have been if they'd made the long journey across the country to Arkansas way back when it was first discovered. I think I got bit by a snake, but Brooke discovered a lead deposit and became rich!

...Brooke pretended she was the mother of these two cuties :)

...Jax and Beckett hung out at the bean bag toss game.

We had so much fun letting them play and pretend! We will definitely have to schedule more playdates here when it's too cold to be outside this winter!

Our Thursday

The boys and I made the dreaded Walmart grocery shopping trip this morning. Brent usually does our big grocery shopping trips, because once you load my cart full of kiddos, there isn't much room for groceries. But now that I've discovered and LOVE the big shopping "bus" as I call it, it isn't too bad. Brody and Beckett are buckled into the big kid seats, Levi is buckled into the regular child seat on the cart, and the whole basket part of the cart is open for groceries. And Levi is facing the big boys so he stays totally entertained watching them goof off. I know all you moms with multiple kids get this too, but I get so tickled at how so many older people stop us and want to look at the boys and tell me how I must "have my hands full". I just grin and say, "Yes, but I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Soon after we got home, we ate lunch, then I put Beckett and Levi down for naps. I've kind of figured out a system that is starting to work. Levi was taking two naps a day. One around 10-12, then another from 3-4:30 or 5. But Beckett naps from 12-3, so it seemed like someone was napping all day long. It was getting hard to find a good time to go and do things because it was always someone's nap time. Levi was beginning to get harder to settle down for that 10:00 nap, so the last couple days I have been keeping him up until 12, and I've been putting them down at the same time. They are both sleeping until 3 or 3:30, so I've had a good long stretch with them both asleep! Levi is good and ready to go down at bedtime now, and Brody really enjoys having that bit of alone time without a little brother (or two!) right on his heels.

Today, he wanted to make smoothies while they were asleep. I pretty much let him come up with his own little recipe...I just manned the blender. He put in Snicker bar ice cream, crushed ice, blueberries, and a banana. I have to say - it was delicious! He agreed!

Later this evening, after the boys woke up, we met Tara, Eden, Mom, Brooke, and Morgan at the pool for a nice swim. It was soooo wonderful. The water was really warm...just how we like it! We ended the day with dinner at a little Mexican restaurant! So thankful for these days with my family!

We have a few fun things planned this weekend...looking forward to it!

Little Happenings

I know that with all of the adoption updates I have been posting recently, it seems as though that's all that has been going on in our lives. But life has actually been going on as usual, and we have been having a super fun summer with these three little boys!

I have been enjoying snuggling with my footy-pajama'd Levi in the mornings.

And I took my big boys on a date with Amie and Luke to see Brave at the movie theater! We ate pizza before, then watched the movie...we really enjoyed it and the boys did awesome!

This was our official Application 2 approval that came in the mail earlier this month. Think somebody was a little excited?

I caught the boys decorating each other with mud...Yea, that was fun to clean up.

But they sure were proud of their artwork!

My poor little Levi had pink eye a few weeks ago. He was so pitiful.

The school I went to my whole life is closing down, so we had a huge alma mater reunion this summer. I enjoyed getting to see everyone, especially the teachers, and getting to stroll through the school one more time. Being in the gym, where I cheered on our basketball teams all those years, was a little sentimental.

We've been playing a lot of Super Hero games!

This was a fun afternoon. Brent and I were in Monroe, so we drove by the Duck Commander warehouse to get a pic of it for some friends of mine (who live out of state) who are huge Duck Dynasty fans. When we drove by, we saw the big RV out front so I decided to get Brent to take a pic of me by it.

While we were there, we noticed that they had opened a little store there at the warehouse to sell their merchandise, so we went inside.

And Willie was inside!!! He was so super down to earth and friendly. Can't wait for October for the new episodes!!!

A lot of evenings, after we put the kids to bed, Brent and I sit down to make bracelets. Thank you soooo much to those of you that have purchased bracelets so far! You are blessing us more than you know. Not just financially, but also just knowing you are excited about our coming addition, and that you are praying for us as we go through this adoption process!

If you haven't purchased a bracelet, but want to, you can order from my ETSY site (SeoulJourney link on the right sidebar) or you can just message me with your order!

I've been enjoying sharing my breakfast with this little sleepyhead :)

This picture may be blurry, but it is so special to me. The boys were cheering on Park, the South Korean swimmer, in the Olympics...and he won gold! (Don't worry, he wasn't racing against an American in this race :) )  How fun will it be for their little brother or sister to always be able to look at this picture and see them cheering for his/her birth country!

Yesterday, Brody got creative and made his own version of a Popsicle. He poured orange juice and crushed ice into a tumbler, stuck a fork in the middle and then froze it. After dinner last night, he turned them upside down, pulled the cup off of the top, and Whala! Homemade orange popsicles! He was so very proud of his creation.

Levi Hudson {Thirteen Months}

Levi Hudson, you are 13 months old!!

You weigh about 22 pounds, wear 12-18 month clothes, a size 3 diaper, and size 3 shoes. You are between the 25th and 50th percentile on the growth curve, but you still just seem so tiny to me. I think maybe once you start walking you will seem bigger. But for now, I'm just enjoying my little bitty Levi! :)

You eat great, pretty much whatever we give you, and you drink cows milk from your bottle and sippy cup. I'm still giving you one formula bottle at bedtime, but I think once this can runs out, I won't buy any more. You eat well, and love fruits and veggies, so I don't worry about you not getting enough nutrients.

After that horrible fever virus/ear infection you had at the end of May, you haven't gotten back into a great sleeping routine. I slept with you beside me in the bed that week and you haven't forgotten. You still go to
sleep on your own, but are waking up between 2 and 5 usually every night and wanting in our bed. We will figure it out!

You are still a vocal little guy...love to talk and mimic our words. And you also have quite a temper when things don't go your way. You let out a squeal that stops people in their tracks. You are cruising like crazy and starting to stand alone more and more. I don't see you walking this month. Maybe in the next couple months though.

Happy 13 months, sweetie pie!! We love you so!!!