Family Park Date

It was too pretty of a day to stay home! So we packed up and went to the park!
All the kids love to be outside, but baby Jake especially loves it! 
Look how handsome he is! My Mommy heart!!! 

HIGHER! HIGHER! HIGHER!
Since experiencing the sing with Daddy, I'll never sufficiently measure up! 
hahaha! 

Maggie has always been my dirty kid.
Must get dirty everywhere she goes!
Rock angels...

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Every time I see this picture I snort out loud.
This is Maggie's smile right now and its so funny and cute! Those teeth! 
She sticks them out and crinkles her nose! And all those whispy hairs make me so so happy.
I'll always remember this Maggie. No matter how big she gets.

Because Luke's gotta win... hahahaha!

Rachel Lynn... the big sis!

Those brown eyes of hers are mesmerizing and are gonna put many a boy in a trance one day!
Heaven help me.

BANG. KA-POW. BOOOOMMMM!!!
Those are the sounds my heart is making when I look at this picture.
My BABY. My BABY. My BABY.

Hey there Maggie girl!

Because I never want to forget his baby head...

Or his baby toes...

Bedtime Stage

Stages.
You know... stages. The throwing a fit stage, the only Mom can buckle me in stage, 
the have to take a bath after every meal stage...
Well, this is the stage we're in with Luke...
When transiting Luke from a crib to a bed we'd put him to bed and lock the door so 
he could wander around everywhere and then open it after he fell asleep.
Since becoming potty trained, we've stopped that and he has learned that he can 
just walk out the door. So we find him in random places around the house when we go to bed. This time it was on the stairs...

Oh my Lukeman... you're so cute. 
Even if you don't stay in your bed.

Being his Mommy is my favorite. 
P.S- I love this stage. 

Krispy Kreme Babies

Weekends are pretty busy around here... We've (Tyler and I) have been working hard at building our Lularoe business and normally I have a party to prepare for on Saturday evenings. 
So we told the kids we'd do something special Saturday morning... so we went to the Krispy Kreme store to get some Valentines donuts! 
Jake approved!!!

Luke... oh Luke... 
I love everything about this little boy. 

Grins for the camera!!! That never happens!!! hahaha! 

Pretty sure he's yummier than the donut. What am I saying? That's a given!!! 
Oh how I love baby profiles!

Maggie Ila Payne... the sugar lover. All things sugar is what Maggie loves. 
Pretty sure it's what she's made of.

Rachel Lynn... the big sister. The lover of "mothering" and "nurturing"... you can see it in her eyes...

She also loves to pose for the camera... and I certainly don't mind...

These jammies crack me up. This is what happens when you're the fourth kid...
Jammies get too small? Mom just cuts the feet off... hahahahaha! 

We got home and I caught this picture of Dixie and I surprisingly love it. Sometimes its the most imperfect shot thats the best. 
And a few thoughts from Jess---
Life isn't perfect. In fact its far from perfect. I constantly have to remind myself to count my blessings and stop being so hard on everyone including myself. 
I came home from selling Lularoe... it was a long drive and not super fruitful. While I was gone Rachel accidentally left the water running in the upstairs bathroom and flooded it, causing the ceiling in the kitchen under to leak...... yep. A leaky ceiling.  It was easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed when I got home. And I'll admit it... I was. 
But after a good nights sleep I woke up feeling grateful. Grateful to have a home and a leaky ceiling. 
Grateful to have four crazy, mess making kiddos. 
Grateful.
I'm grateful!!!!
Life is so good. It really is! It's easy to get caught up in the stress and overwhelming moments. 
But golly... I LOVE MY LIFE. I love my children so so much. And I'm so blessed to be a Mama. 
The End.

Jump In

I had a wonderful Mommy opportunity to take a little road trip this weekend.
Driving by myself is therapy. I get lost in thoughts. Thoughts of my childhood. Thoughts of good times... happy times. Thoughts about my little family.
During this trip my mind kept going back to one thing... JUMP IN.
JUMP IN JESS. Just jump in.
When you walk through that door, don't let anxiety overwhelm you. Don't let the chores and dirty floors blur your vison and dampen your attitude.
You're babies are all here. THEY ARE HERE. They are all yours.
SO JUMP IN. Jump in at bedtime and do it with all your heart.
Jump in and make those cookies with the kids hovering and fingers sneaking into the bowl of dough.
Jump in tomorrow when they ask... "Mom, what are we going to do today?"
Just. Jump. In.
And love every second of it.

My Jake boy! Even though the days are long and leave me exhausted. I can't believe how fast the months go by...

I'm not a perfect Mommy.
I yell and scream. I lose my patience. I skip prayers. I sit on the couch exhausted instead of doing fun things.
But gosh dang it, I'm going to try harder.
Because gosh dang it they are growing so fast!
I love my tribe.
And this baby... oh this baby...
I missed him the most this weekend.
I was told he missed me too.
He'd walk into our bedroom looking for me and yell "ma-ma, ma-ma! at bathtime and bedtime".
I can't tell you how happy it made me to be missed. I missed you too little buddy.

Jake loves his Daddy. Especially when he eats his face.
JUMP IN.
This is our time.