Our life just keeps getting busier and busier! Only two more days until spring break! I plan on having lots of fun and taking endless pictures during this time… What’s new?

Hmmm… Reilly and Dave have started soccer again. Dave had a birthday (March 27). Addie will be four years-old in  April–on the 25th! Jolie is developing more of a personality! And trying to take off! Nooooo! Not yet! I am not ready for her to start crawling… She is determined, though! Dave and I went on a “date” on his birthday! The first time in a long time! I even baked him a cake! And it turned out!

PT is good. Reilly and Addie have their dance recital coming up. We are going to Indianapolis over spring break. I can no longer eat gluten (what a pain!).

Twins were born into our family! I hope to take (and share) some photos soon! A boy and a girl! They are still in the hospital. Leggar and Lainey.

I have not been stressed out in over a month! That will change soon enough… For now, I am enjoying every moment of every day! I have been taking more pictures! And not just people pictures (shocking, I know)!

Here are just a few recent ones of the girls: Just a few random moments!

Reilly at the playground (on the monkey bars):

Addie in the woods by our house:

Jolie in the kitchen after one of her baths. I had to crank the ISO on this one, but for once, I am not minding the grain too much! She is just the cutest thing!

Reilly at a recent birthday party for a friend in her kindergarten class. All of the kids had such a blast swimming in the pool at a hotel! Used my 85 mm 1.8 lens for these…and cranked the ISO once again…to 1600! I am finally not minding the grain on some of my photos!

My cute little Addie, being bribed for a picture before I bought her a scoop of Blue Moon ice cream at Captain Sundae’s. Zero sharpening on this one! Love my 100 mm macro lens!

Jolie in her car seat: Such a sweet moment to remember!

Life is fun! I am gearing up for some photography sessions this summer! I now have studio lighting, too…and lots to learn! The whole family cannot wait for summer!

June 3!

So much more to share, but I have been going to bed much earlier these days! I love having energy every day! I will share more photos (many more) very soon!

There is so much I want to do everyday. I am such a motivated person! This can be both good and bad! I have such a zest for life (on most days). I just want to go, go, go!

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. Not lately. Sometimes I feel super productive. I have been in that mode lately. Yet, no matter what I accomplish each day, I never feel like it is enough. There is always more to do! More that I want to do! I have worked so hard ever since having Jolie at trying to relax more and simply enjoy the everyday moments, especially with my kids.

This approach to life has made me less productive overall, but happier. I have been trying to think, really think, about everything I do. I need to pay more attention to the little, everyday moments with my kids. These little bits and pieces of our life together are so important! There is so much I want to teach my children. I am trying harder each day to take advantage of  “teachable” opportunities.

I am raising all daughters, and this is a responsibility (and honor) that I do not take lightly. What most people do not know about me is that I have pretty much paid for everything in my life since I was sixteen years-old. I am a fiercely independent person…because I have had to be. I want my girls to be strong and independent, also. I want them to be able to take care of themselves in life. I am trying my hardest to help Reilly and Addie discover their talents and abilities, along with their interests and loves in life. I want them to be the best that they can be. I want to provide them with many different opportunities.

I want them to have healthy, happy, and successful lives. I love the fact that we are able to put our children in multiple activities. Right now, I am trying to figure out what Reilly and Addie will do this summer. I love keeping them involved in a variety of activities. Addie will definitely stay in gymnastics all summer. Both girls will be in swimming lessons one final time, and they WILL learn how to swim completely on their own! They are signed up for private lessons that begin very soon. I am currently looking into art classes in the area and any other opportunities for children I can find within an hour of us. They love being involved with activities!

It is a challenge to balance a professional job (and one that requires much work beyond the regular work day), a family, a house, physical therapy three times a week, Dave’s negotiations, and the girls’ activities. Plus cleaning the house, doing the laundry, preparing and making meals, playing with the kids, teaching Reilly to read, reading to Reilly and Addie every night… I am sure I am forgetting a million and one other responsibilities at this time! Then in our “free time”, we visit with friends (one way or another), take pictures, edit pictures, blog, work on home improvement projects, and talk about many other things we would LOVE to do…if only we had more time! Some days I feel totally overwhelmed! But I am learning to simplify…

I write goals every week (I am not kidding). I type them. I print them. I work on achieving them every week. What I have learned is to cut down on the number of goals I set each week…and each day…of my life. I prioritize and try my best to let go of what I do not “get to” each day…

There is just too much that I want to do! Plus throw in the fact that I am a total neat freak…but can NEVER get every detail in my house to be perfect all at once! That drives me crazy! I just.cannot.do.it. I know it is more important to spend time with my kids than to have a perfectly neat and clean house at all times, but wow, do I ever love a neat and clean house! Super neat and clean!

I am sure I will always feel like I do not accomplish enough…but I am trying hard to focus more on what does indeed get accomplished each day. More and more, I realize that if I bond with my kids and pay more attention to the little moments with them, then I have been successful. Time goes by too fast, and I have learned to back off of many of my own personal and professional goals to just be with them…and just BE. I am enjoying motherhood now more than ever. I need the other things in my life, too, but the majority of my time, my energy, and my efforts is invested into my own children.

Here are some fun new things about the kids:

Addie (almost 4 years-old): Out of the blue: “My real name is Hannah Montana. My second name is Addie J. McEntyre.” This kid cracks me up every single day!

Reilly and I attended a birthday party for one of her kindergarten friends this past Saturday. There were lots of fun girls there from kindergarten. It was a pool party at a hotel. What a blast the kids had!

Jolie is getting her first two teeth (the bottom ones) this week–at six months old! Reilly was four months old, and Addie was 5 months old. None of my kids have ever fussed over getting teeth. Jolie sure does drool a lot, though! Yuck! Not my favorite thing! She is also sitting up, rolling over, and even *trying* to crawl. Hopefully she does not crawl for some time yet…

And yes, I have photos, lots of photos…but no time to edit them. I am hoping to have some (alone) time to work on my photos very soon! Then it will be photo overload on here, I am sure!

Jolie is six months old today! Hard to believe, but I have to say that I get so excited about my babies being 6-12 months old! It is such a fun age, and babies learn so much during this time!

I have many photos to edit and many more to take. Below are just a couple of Jolie from this week, which, by the way, has been an awesome week! A couple of nights ago, I took her downtown and pushed her in the stroller. It felt great to get some fresh air, exercise, and some one-on-one time with my baby! I have only recently put Jolie in a stroller, and she loves it! I cannot wait for more warm weather days!

Every time I actually “tried” to take some photos of her, though, she screamed! Oh, well. I snapped a few of her while she was sitting in her stroller. I’ll promise I’ll post more soon!

She is such a sweet girl! She LOVES to be held! I have been holding her SO MUCH since she has been born! She’s a little bit spoiled… Right now, she is blond-haired and blue-eyed. She looks like Addie! She has big eyes like Addie! I never thought I would have blue-eyed children, but now I have 2 out of 3 blue-eyed little girls! Reilly has green eyes, like her mom. Dave has blue eyes…

Jolie can sit up, grab objects, and talk “baby talk”! She is definitely the most verbal baby out of the 3 of them. She likes to “talk”.  Right now, she is waking up and demanding attention!

Here are just a couple of recent snaps for now!

More to come soon! It has been a great week! I look forward to taking more pictures now that the weather is getting nicer! Yay for spring and summer! Can’t wait for beach time!

This past weekend was filled with mostly fun…and very little work! It’s about time! And…my husband cleaned and cleaned and cleaned our house while I was away with the girls! That was so nice!

Friday night I attended my monthly book club meeting. We read The Last Lecture. I thought it was a very inspirational (true) story. Sad, but it makes people think about what they would do if they found out they had a terminal illness. How would we spend our last days? Why do we not live every day that way? Every day is a gift.

I had a great time at the book club. I was invited to join this club last summer, so I have not known these women very long, but I am starting to get to know them better, and I am really starting to enjoy this one night a month of girl talk, wine, laughter, and fun. Just in recent times, I have really desired “girl time”…a break from my regular, busy life. Every mom…and wife…needs some time away. It’s so hard to meet nice, good, “normal” people who have kids my kids’ ages where we have things in common! I have been very lucky to meet such great people in the past year! All of my really good friends live far away from me!

Saturday morning, I took Addie J. to her dance class. Actually, I spent the whole day with her. It was so nice! And long overdue! I feel that I have spent so much time with Reilly in the evenings…reading and doing school work with her…and I know I have spent a great deal of time these past (almost) six months with Jolie. I have been feeling badly for not spending as much time with Addie. I am the one who takes her to gymnastics each week, but I have been wanting more time with just her.

After dance, we went shopping, and then we went to her first “friend” birthday party. Her friend Angelina had a winter-themed birthday party. This is one of Addie’s friends from gymnastics. We had such a great time! I met many moms who were right around my age and had kids the same ages as mine. Three of us have baby girls! It was great to talk with some new moms while the kids participated in activities. There was a birthday party event coordinator there. That is an idea for Addie’s upcoming birthday party… My friend found this lady through Holland Christian Schools. I may have to hire this person, too! I need all the help I can get!

We did not get home Saturday night until around 7:00 p.m. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I took all 3 girls out and about for about 8 hours. We went out to eat, we went to the mall, and we went downtown GR. I am getting prepared for many photo opportunities!

It was Jolie’s very first time riding in a stroller, now that she can pretty much sit up. I have never even pushed her in a stroller while she was in her car seat. I have always just carried her around in her car seat, but she is too big for that now! Jolie LOVED her long stroller ride! She was one happy little girl! She wants to be held constantly, but she was totally content to just be pushed all over the mall.

We shopped a little bit, the two big girls rode the carousel…the first time ever without me…and I got a haircut. While we were gone, Dave cleaned the house and grocery shopped! I did not ask him to clean. I have learned that Dave does so much more when I do NOT ask him to do anything! It was SO NICE to come home to such a clean house after being gone so much this weekend. Usually, I am the one who cleans each weekend. This was a huge break for me! And it was a break for him, too…peace and quiet without any girls in the house! I was so thankful…

The weather was beautiful all weekend! It was a great weekend to go all over and have some fun! I am looking forward to many more fun times now that the weather is getting nicer!

A new beginning will be here very soon…

My husband made an awesome dinner tonight! We had salmon, potatoes, and corn! The girls were not loving the fish so much!

I went outside with Reilly and Addie tonight so they could play in the snow. I am so NOT a winter person! This is the first year they have wanted to be outside in the winter, in the snow, playing!

My two older girls are in bed right now. I can hear Reilly singing…”Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Ha, ha! I think that is her favorite song!

We completed another reading lesson tonight. Reilly has about 20 lessons left in the reading program we are using. I have loved teaching her how to read!

Still waiting on airline tickets to go down in price so Reilly, Addie, and I can fly to San Antonio over spring break this year! I don’t think it’s going to happen!

Book club on Friday evening! Girl talk, lots of snacks, and a little bit of wine! And discussing our book of the month, of course! This month we read The Last Lecture. {a true story} It was a great book! Sad, but at the same time, very inspirational!

Held my baby the whole time while we were at the dinner table tonight! It is a challenge, though, now that she can grab for everything!

Feeling super blessed by my family, my home, and just the simple, everyday moments I get to spend with each of my family members.

Baby Jolie is so, so vocal! Much more so than my other 2 babies! She loves to talk! She is not a quiet little girl! That is for sure!

I do not understand certain people…

My girls make everything so worth it!

I have met so many generous people online. I always see giveaways on others’ blogs, and I would love to have some giveaways on my own blog.

I will start small this first time. All you have to do is leave a comment. On Friday, I will have Addie J. (my almost 4 year-old daughter) draw a name. The person she draws will win a $10 gift certificate to Shutterfly. Leave your email address, and I will email the “winner” to get his/her address. Then I’ll send that person the gift certificate on Saturday morning! That’s all you have to do to play!

I promise to have more giveaways in the future! We’ll see how creative I can be in the future… For now, I’ll keep it all very simple! Leave a comment!

Dave is a negotiator… What can I say? While he is off negotiating our contract, I am a single mom to 3 kids–ages 5, almost 4, and just 5 months! I really do love this alone time with my girls!

I have been trying to get smarter about these evenings, though. Tonight I picked up all of my kids after school. Then we briefly stopped at home so I could get them all “looking cute” to go out in public–yeah, right! Basically, that means matching, clean clothes and hair brushed and done!

I asked Reilly and Addie if they wanted to go to Crazy Bounce, and of course, they were giddy with excitement! They love that place! I knew they would have fun. Plus, it would wear them out before bedtime AND help keep my house clean by NOT being home alone with them all night!

I do value a clean home. A VERY clean home. The house is not exactly where I would like it to be quite yet, but we are getting there! Anyway, back to Crazy Bounce!

The girls ran and played hard for an hour. They were both beet red and sweating! Jolie had fun, too. Between being held pretty much non-stop (by one of us, mostly me) and sitting on the floor… Have I mentioned that JOLIE IS SITTING UP NOW??? She is 5.5 months old.

After Crazy Bounce, where there were maybe 5 other people in that place…which was awesome…we made a stop at Target. Addie has been invited to her first *friend* birthday party this Saturday, so we went to pick out a birthday present and card. I am trying to stay on top of everything around here…

Then we came home. It was a little later than it should have been (about 7:45). Their usual bedtime is 8:00, but sometimes it stretches to 8:30 or *I admit it* 9:00. Not good. Most of the time, it is 8:00. Tonight it was closer to 9:00. I still had to make them dinner. I cooked. Reilly said to me, “Mom…you know how to cook?” I think that question lets you know who does all of the cooking around here.

Dave got home at 8:30, so I only had about 45 minutes of craziness. Reilly and Addie had made a “path” with all of the couch cushions… I do not like messes, but I am learning how to lighten up at times and let my kids just be kids, as much as it pains me to “let things go” a little bit!

The kids are in bed. It is 9:45. I am tired but not exhausted. There are a million things I want to do, but I will most likely collapse in my bed within the next 45 minutes. And then start over tomorrow… It is a busy life, but I love this time with my kids while they are little!

Tonight was FUN!