as the world Turns...: he's growing WAY too fast....

Ok, this is SO cliche, but it really is hitting me hard this time!! My sweet baby boy is growing WAY too fast! I can't get over how much Layton has changed in just 18 days! And I must say, every single night I just hold him while he's eating and praise God for how well he's doing. I'm amazed that in just 2 short weeks, Layton is on such a great schedule and in the past few days has even started falling asleep on his own in his crib WITHOUT sucking his thumb, like his brother AND sister did. He's basically taking 4 two-hour naps and eating every 3 hours...around the clock :) If there was one thing I wish I could change it would be for him to extend his sleeping at night a bit past the 3 hour mark, but if that's the only thing we're dealing with, I'm totally fine with it! He is like a perfect alarm clock and seriously wakes up within 5 minutes of the 3 hour mark. But, I am so grateful that even though he's still waking up twice at night, I'm back in my own bed and asleep within 30 minutes, having fed him and put him back down. Praise the LORD!

Reilly and Braxton are still over the moon about their little brother. They both kiss him probably 50 times a day and Braxton, thankfully, has learned how to do "gentle kisses" finally :) This is my first full week at home by myself with all three kids and I'm feeling pretty good about things. The only real challenges we've had have to do with normal behavior issues with the big two...nothing out of the ordinary :) I've managed to get out of the house once per day with all three kids, even if it's just up to the Chick-fil-A drive thru and back home. It's all about priorities people :) The morning/wake-up time is definitely the most challenging. Since we have set 8:00 as our "start the day" time since Reilly was born, it's a bit tricky managing all 3 kiddos wanting to eat breakfast and start their day at the same time. Braxton needs to be taken to the potty, Reilly needs help pouring milk, Layton wants to EAT and needs to stay awake so he doesn't just keep right on sleeping through the morning. I've definitely missed a few breakfast meals myself this week, but I guess that's just par for the course!! And, quite honestly, it probably does me some good to miss some calories, given that ALL of our friends/neighbors are spoiling us with some amazing meals and desserts which are really just packing on the pounds instead of helping me to get rid of this baby weight! But once again, we are so grateful. I will say that life with three kids means that there is ALWAYS something to do or someone to take care of! Holy moly. There's always a toy to pick up, laundry to finish, dishes to clean, something to put away, a child who needs me for one of 100 things. I literally don't think I stop moving from the time I wake up until the minute I lay down at night. I know this will just take getting used to and I know that this is just a stage....so that keeps me focused :)

The other challenge has been to find things to do for Reilly and Braxton instead of just letting them sit in front of a television set for hours everyday. We are trying hard to stick to our limited tv schedule but this summer has just been so.stinkin.hot that it's hard to keep busy inside! And now that we are more tied to the house, it limits our ability to go out to fun places. So, we're trying to get creative. I guess it goes without saying that I'm definitely ready for FALL right about now!

Here are some pics from our week.....