In other news...

Shocking as it may seem, staring at Amelie is actually not the only thing we have been doing for the past month! She is quite unhappy about that fact- and lets us know by screaming every time we set her down.

 

Toby finished up his fourth soccer season!  This time he played for the Hurricanes, and he did make a few good goals, but he really has no aggressive instinct on the field, so I'm not sure offense is where his future in sports lies.

 

We had the novel experience of having our friends Sam and Jack on Charlotte's team this season and it was fun to hang out with friends on the sidelines for once.  (We've never known any of the other parents before, and of course there has been friendly small talk always, but it was so much more fun to visit with friends.)  Charlotte's coach was the most soft-spoken guy, who described himself to me as the "team mom" (in red) who drafted a friend into really coaching the team (in white.)  They were a great pair of coaches I think.

 

 

Then we were lucky enough to have Rob's mom come stay with us for more than a week.  She was so much help!  She made dinner, washed dishes, held the baby, helped me with shopping, and even read "Trucks A to Z" to Jake many times.  Rob and I were totally burned out on that one so Jake was desperate for a new reader... but I can now identify a knuckle-boom truck on construction sites, so it was educational for everyone, I suppose.

 

There has been plenty of baby holding as well, despite what Amelie might tell you.

 

And Miss Pinkness does love a relaxing soak in the tub.

 

Oh yeah, and we bought a truck. 

Three days before the governement shutdown and Rob being furloughed- we have awesome timing like that.  It is a Ford F-150 and seats six.  Really, it does.  The carseats do actually fit in there.  Jake thinks that this is the best thing Rob has ever, ever done and asks to ride in the truck all the time now.  And the furlough thing has ended, for now, so all is well.

 

Rob's sister Allyson came to visit with her four kiddos the weekend of Amelie's baby blessing.  We blackened some hot dogs and marshmallows around our backyard firepit.  These kids LOVE playing together so much.

 

And finally Rob, Jane, and Ally took most of the kids to Steed's Dairy for an afternoon.  (Baby Nathan and Ally just got cut out of this photo, dang it.)  Amelie and I stayed home to sleep.  But the other kiddos enjoyed the hayride, and corn maze, and jumping on one of those inflatable things, and they ate boiled peanuts and had a great time.  I'm glad they made some fun memories.

This is a busy time in our lives! 

We are feeling pretty maxed out on energy, and patience, and time... we even celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary a few weeks ago by looking at each other and saying, "happy anniversary, honey!" being too tired to attempt dinner out or shopping for gifts.  But we do recognize that we are also abundantly blessed with love, and family, and friends, and are trying to enjoy these exhausting days because we know that they truly will not last much longer.