backyard: before & after

We've made a lot of progress in our backyard this summer & I wanted to look back & see what it was like when we bought our house. Here are some photos I wanted to share.

BEFORE:
Completely overgrown with blackberry bushes.

AFTER:
We attacked the blackberries, uncovered a lilac & shrub that were overtaken, pruned the giant photinia (on the right of the photos), planted a cedar tree from Kevin & Outi (in honor of Cedar's birth), dug out some flower beds & planted some new flowers. Our new fence sure makes a big difference, too!

BEFORE:
More overgrown blackberries, flower beds overgrown with grass & ugly dead grass on the lawn.

AFTER:
Cleaned up all the shrubs & beds; watered & fertilized the grass. Not perfect by any means, but such a huge improvement! Finn tells us often "I like our yard!" Can't beat that! :)

3 month portraits

A backyard photo shoot for our 3 month old Cedar. I have thoroughly enjoyed each stage that Cedar goes through. I am intentionally trying to appreciate each moment & not be so rushed to move on to the next stage. He's only little this one time & it's been so fun to experience babyhood again.

Even more fun to watch Finn get excited about each little grunt, cry, coo & smile. He loves his baby brother so much & always has a smile or sweet words for him. Cedar is so close to giving us a little laugh. He had great happy moments with ever-expanding "sentences" & complex coos. But he hasn't yet lost the ability to sleep among total chaos & falls asleep best while being rocked. He takes amazing afternoon naps next to me & will continue snoozing after I sneak out of bed. I have been spoiled with almost always getting both boys down for a nap at the same time (Finn hasn't given up napping yet & we're holding onto it for as long as possible). I do not take this for granted. It's so great to have that restful time, since I'm still up atleast once a night for feedings.

So there's a little glimpse into what Cedar is doing & what we're doing with Cedar at 3 months old! What a joy he is to our family!

all clean

All done with bath time, taking a little rest on Mama & Dad's bed. So clean & sweet & handsome...if I do say so myself. I love my boys!

a pirate party!

We celebrated Ronan's 5th birthday with a pirate party!

Pirate Playmobils for the birthday boy.

Josh worked super hard to finish a new play structure in the backyard before the party. It was SO close to being done by the time the party started. :) It was a huge hit - all of the kids were highly entertained!

My little pirate, dressed up with his party favors. Apparently, he chose the pirate name "Jolly Jolly" yesterday at my parent's house. :) So creative.

Finn was excited to dress up for the pirate party, so we pulled a little outfit together consisting of a bandana & a "sailor" shirt (that's really a Finnish shirt). :) So cool that Ronan provided the eye patch & earring.

Gretchen's lovely cake!

Ronan got a little shy when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him during his "kid party".

Finn loves birthday parties - he has a sweet tooth like his Dad! :)

Memaw & Papa's gift was super exciting. They filled a treasure chest with a pirate hat, treasure map, treasure &.....

Two "Gunners"! Memaw showed Finn the gunners the day before & they were all that he would talk about whenever we brought up Ronan's party. He couldn't wait to play with them. I tried really hard to prepare him for not getting a turn right away but I'm pretty sure all he heard was "Blah blah blah GUNNER blah blah GUNNER blah blah blah!" :)

He was pretty devistated when it was time to go home & he didn't get to take a gunner home. (Super hero Papa promised to take him on a special trip to get a gunner of his own, so there was still hope for "Jolly Jolly")

Sweet Cedar hardly ever makes a fuss. We were at the Ruddicks for 5 hours, celebrating Ronan, & Cedar did a great job. What a trooper!

Birthday cake for the "family party"

Kenton wore a matching shirt & a bandana too...but it was pretty hot so the bandana didn't last.

Amazing lighting during sunset. Sweet Cedar fell asleep sitting on my lap...no rocking necessary this time. I love having him in my family. :)

Happy Birthday Ronan! What great fun we all had at your Pirate Party!

new haircut

I buzzed Finn's hair last Wednesday. He looks so strange! It's been weird getting used to it, but I like it. He looks like a big kid, for sure!

Also, we started potty training two days later, so that really makes him seem older. He's doing really well & only has occasional accidents. We're still at the point of reminding him to go all the time cause we don't quite trust him to tell us. He's picking it up though & it seems like he's getting it. So exciting!

oakway park

We met up with the Green's at Mucho Gusto to pick up food & then took it over to Oakway Park, so the kids could play after eating. During the summer, whoever is in town from our Bible study group has been meeting up to hang out. This week it was just our two families. It was a pretty warm day...but nothing in comparison to what was to come - a week of 90-100+ degree days! Ick! :)


Cedar's first ride in a swing. It was a very slow ride. :)

Emma trying to crawl without touching her knees to the pavement.

Macey & Finn - both spent a lot of time climbing through the tunnel, up to the tallest part of the structure. :)

Finn!

Ethan working hard to fill his bucket with water. What a fun park!

happy birthday katrina :)

On my birthday, Kenton took my on a date to El Toritos. My parents watched the kids so that we could go to the Cantina for Happy Hour & enjoy a relaxing dinner.

We used to go to El Toritos all the time before having kids, so it was a nice treat to go again.

I love their chips & salsa! I was careful not to spill anything on my new dress from Finland - thank you Kevin & Outi!

We had fun ordering 4 different appetizers for dinner - half price! What a deal! :)

After dinner, we invited everyone over to our house for dessert. Becca made a special ice cream cake with lots of yummy, chocolately goodness + espresso. It was SO tasty!

Mama & Cedar

Aaron & Cohen. I think it's funny that Cohen was ready with his mouth open for that bite, but Aaron took it himself. :)

With my mom & sisters

Everyone gathered around to watch my open gifts. Notice the fence in the background - in the process of being built. Our neighbors replaced their fence, so we got a portion of our fence replaced for free! It's all done now & looks so nice!

Sleepy Cedar with Aunt Becca & his usual groupies of cousins + Finn. :)

happy birthday sadie!

We celebrated Sadie's 6th birthday on July 18th! She had a fun craft station set up & Finn chose to paint a little plastic snake (actually a snail) light-catcher thing. :) He did a great job & didn't want to be done...but there was more fun to be had!

Sadie, the birthday girl, painting so very carefully.

Ronan was pro at climbing the cherry tree...I supposed it used to be his tree (the Chases bought the Ruddicks old house).

A pinata!

All the kids got a turn taking a shot at the pinata.

Waiting patiently with candy bags in hand.

Score! With a little help from Aaron, the candy was scattered. :)

Sadie & Cedar

With Papa & Memaw

11 weeks old!

Big cousin Tyler is always excited to hold Cedar. He's usually the first one to ask for him once he wakes up. :) He does really well with Cedar too & is always able to get some sweet smiles.