Let's see...

• Everett D is a crawling maniac! He went from getting a bit of coordination of some arm-leg movement to full-on crawling in two days. Two days later he had mastered the two shallow stairs that lead out of the family room into the dining room. Say wha?! He just turned 7 months on Sunday. I wasn't prepared. But, boy, is it cute to see him crawling into a room...little man is so very proud of himself. And happy. That kid exudes happiness. He also insists on entertainment during most meals. He often gets fussy while we're feeding him but will consistently eat if I'm singing some peppy song with lots of voice inflection and funny faces.

• Kelly Anne is such a wonderful little lady. I fall more in love with her all the time. The other day I opened the sugar canister that sits on the counter and there was her perfect little hand print on top of the sugar...I continue to love the thought of that. She loves pink (sometimes purple) and princesses and has a fabulous imagination. The other day I walked into the family room after we'd finished painting our toenails (something she insists on regularly when hers get chipped) and she was using the fingernail polish as people. Sister sings and often corrects me as to her name depending on who she is pretending to be at the moment - Jessie from Toy Story, Violet from The Incredibles ("Sometimes her mom calls her Vi"), or Lady Spiderman are the regulars. Sister knows how to bring the drama and sass. Her sad facial expressions are awesome. She loves her brother and when friends come to play...but if it gets to be too much she'll disappear to a quiet place where she won't be bothered and play solo for a while. One of my favorite things she says is, "I can do it 'cause I'm a big sister."

• Maxwell T is growing up before my eyes. Last night I was putting medicine on his poor eczema-ridden thighs and bottom and then looked way up into his eyes (I was sitting on the floor) and suddenly realized how big he's getting. Sure, he's on the short side (and skinny! that boy is so skinny!) but he's a lot bigger than the little 1-year-old I used to have to help get dressed. He's started a soccer course and will take a break from that to start swimming lessons next week. On our trip to Vegas he went from nervously insisting on holding my hand while he jumps into the pool to asking me to back up and yelling "Cannonball!" as he runs from a great distance taking the cannonball stance as he splashes into the water...in a matter of minutes. I was shocked. Once he makes up his mind to do something, he's all in. He likes to tell me about his dreams and had one the other night about me, him, and the iron rod (it was made of scriptures). While he sometimes gets a kick out of pushing Kelly's buttons, he's mostly a really thoughtful, attentive older brother to both Kelly and the Ev man. And he's a big helper to me.

• This handsome love of my life is on a school vacation! He has nearly a month off of school and we are loving (trying not to get used to) it. He took Max on an overnight camp out, just the two of them, last weekend. Max felt like the most important kid in the world. They had so much fun. Last night I took Max and Everett to Max's soccer class and Ty took Kelly by herself to the school to play some soccer and pretend and chat. He loves his kids and his wife (that's me! I'm so lucky!) and it is so obvious. We are running a half marathon together (well, I'm not making him stay with me this time) in Leavenworth, WA, at the beginning of October. We're not ready for it, but we're excited! :) I feel really, really, really lucky to belong to him.

• As for this momma...I have some things to say. A few weeks ago I was on a walk with my family - it was our favorite walk down a beautiful dirt road surrounded by beautiful trees. There are goats and llamas to be seen and we were checking out the new bridge that had been built. We started picking blackberries and made the top of the jogging stroller into a makeshift bowl to contain them all. We had plans for those blackberries - jam and cobbler and our bellies. I was lagging behind with Everett in the stroller and Tyler and the kids were just up ahead. The sun was going down and cast the most beautiful light through the trees onto my little family. Everything about that moment was perfect - the light, the temperature, the smells, the happiness that comes from simple joys, and the fact that we were together as a family. It took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes it is so hard to be a mom of three tiny people...sometimes I just want a break...sometimes I yell at my kids...sometimes I feel like sitting on my booty while someone else cleans my house and answers the next thousand questions of the day. But then sometimes - most times, I'd say - I feel completely grateful for this life that I lead. I know that I am going to ache for these days once they are gone and so I try to cherish them. I love watching my kids grow and as each phase passes I hope in my heart that I have cherished them enough in that moment of time. I just changed Everett's closet out - put away the 3-6 mos clothes and brought in the 6-9 mos. So fast. Oh, and I think it's really fun to take self-portraits on days that I do my makeup and hair. Should I do my hair straight or curl it for our upcoming family pictures? I'm leaning toward curling it.

Ev crawls! It's cute (and short)!