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Connor: He's got a little bit to learn about catching a football ;)

Isla: This girl has independent play down packed. 

Callum: He got a sippy cup and is learning how to use it.

I feel like the monotony of summer finally arrived for us last week. And I have to admit, I totally loved it. I like having t-i-m-e. Time to be spur of the moment, time to get things done, time to curl up and read together, time to be outside, time to be. Of course this happens when the start of school is just around the corner! 

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016."

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Connor's New Room

So I get a new house, don't share any photos and the first thing I do share is my kid's room. I know, I know. But, let's be honest for a minute. I always seem to get my kids stuff set up before the rest of the stuff. Plus, there was less to hang on the walls, so not as much drama in his room with the plaster walls! But, the living room is actually pretty much done, so if you are lucky, that will be next. 

The majority of this stuff was in Connor's last room. With the move, we decided to unbunk Connor's bunk beds. You can pretty much not feel the ceiling fan on the bottom bunk and with it being the middle of summer, I thought it would be a good idea to feel the fan. 

My favorite part of the room is the light up "c" letter. It is on it's own timer and goes on for 4 hours each night. It brings a smile to my face every time I see it light up and I love tucking Connor into bed under the glow of it. I know, it's always the simple things in life for me! 

It's funny that I got those curtains for Connor's room when he was a baby. Back then I didn't know he would be into space, I just thought they were cute. And I have certainly gotten my money's worth with them. This is now the third room they've hung in. 

That little door next to Connor's bed is access to a HUGE attic. We didn't have a usable attic before, so haven't put anything in there yet. I have all sorts of big plans to push out the wall of Connor's room and make it bigger for him and Callum to share a room, but I am sure those plans are pretty far down the road…and maybe around a corner or two! 

Several months ago now, I decided to clear pretty much all of Connor's toys out of his room, except for his legos. I also kept all his books in there. I have really liked having it like this. It makes cleaning up his legos, which he plays with all the time, so much easier because they aren't mixed in with a whole bunch of other toys. Plus, now that Callum is getting older, I am implementing a strict only legos in the bedroom policy to try to keep those tiny little buggers out of the grasp of Callum. 

Enough rambling on, here's Connor's room...

Source List:

Comforter - Pillowfort from Target

"C" letter - Target

Solar System Mobile - Pottery Barn Kids

Rug - Ikea (similar)

Curtains - Dwell Studio for Target (no longer available)

"No girls allowed" sign - Hobby Lobby

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Whole30 {week 1}

^^ The most decadent tasting Whole30 approved treat.

^^ Curry and caulirice all thanks to Trader Joes (well, the curry sauce and caulirice at least)

^^ My favorite sausages Aidells chicken and apple. I literally can't get enough. 

I feel like at this point, everyone and their mother knows someone that has done Whole30. I decided to do it because I needed something to light the fire under me to help me get back into eating healthy. Because, let's be honest, after an infant, Ian's busy season and a move with three kids, I wasn't eating as healthy as I would like or should…but was doing what I could to survive. So, last Tuesday, Ian and I started Whole30. I thought I would share my observations week by week as I do it.

Because I can choose what to eat (instead of healthy eating plans that choose the food for you), I find myself eating a bunch of things I like.

The first couple days were hard. It took my stomach a couple days to even out and figure out what I was eating and old habits die hard. I never realized how ofter I would just pick things off the kids plates and eat it!

You spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Making things in huge batches really does help…like a huge thing of meat that can be used for taco boats and taco salad throughout the week.

I HAVE to plan ahead when leaving the house. I can't easily pick up things on the go that are compliant, so eating before or packing in preparation is key.

Coconut milk from a can, whipped a bit, is really good in coffee.

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Callum {7 months}

Weight: 18 pounds

Length: 27.5 inches

Likes: his brother and sister, sitting up, Ian's sunglasses, his "car"

Dislikes: peas, teething, night time sleep

I feel like I am getting to the point where I want to say, "Ok, just stop growing for now." This kid is on the cusp of changing so much and will no longer be a baby…whomp, whomp, whomp. Even with a little sadness over that, I am still loving watching Callum grow and change on an almost daily basis. 

A couple weeks ago, I started Callum on solids. I quickly went from feeding him 2 ounces of it to 4. Of course, if it's something he doesn't like, that is pretty much no ounces! So far he has had sweet potatoes, carrots, peas (which he doesn't like at all), apples, pears, bananas and apple-blueberry. With peas, Callum literally doesn't let the spoon in his mouth at all. It's like, come on kid! I even tasted them and they taste like peas to me. Besides purees, I have given him snap peas, carrots and sweet peppers to munch on whole. 

Just last week Callum went from sitting for a couple seconds unaided to doing it for long periods of time…like several minutes if he has a toy in front of him to keep him occupied. Callum also wants to stand whenever someone is holding him and will stand holing onto your hands for minutes. 

Sleep just hasn't been going well for this kid since we moved. I don't really think it's the move. I more think it is the stage he is in. The past several nights, things have been downright awful, but I really do think he is truly teething. He has even been irritable during the day, grabbing at his jaw and constantly chewing on his fingers. So, here's to hoping after a tooth or two pops through, things calm down a bit in the sleep department. 

Callum has started to get a little weary of strangers. He won't smile and looks at me and if I smile, he then smiles at them, but still with reservation. He isn't crying when others hold him, but just seems unsure and reserved at first. 

Some things I want to remember about Callum now. He is aways sticking his tongue out. Like it's always out and he is doing it on purpose just because he can. Every time I set him on his changing table, he instantly grabs for his feet…which makes me laugh because he doesn't do it instantly when I lay him other places. He will grab anyone's hair that gets close enough and he loves grabbing at glasses, though he learned pretty quick not to grab at mine. And he is still such a smily and happy kid. Besides nighttime, when this kid has become so high maintenance, he is so easy going and rolls with the punches during the day. 

And, just in case you wanted to compare, here is Connor's 7 month update and Isla's as well.

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Connor: He took an unplanned trip to LA to be with my parents for the week. He has had so much fun. He doesn't have much interest talking to us on the phone, and a little more interest talking to us on FaceTime. But, put Callum in the picture and he gets all sorts of excited. 

Isla: She does so incredibly well at independent play. Weeks like this, with Connor being gone the whole week, really lets it show. Plus, she gets so talkative with us. It's really cute. 

Callum: This kid, on the other hand, has had a really rough week. He hasn't be sleeping well and has been really irritable. I am pretty sure he is teething, given that he keeps putting his fingers in his mouth and rubbing his jaw. 

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016."

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From sweet potatoes to ice cream

We work fast around here, what can I say? 

It started with sweet potatoes less than two weeks ago and now the kid is devouring whole ice cream cones all on his own. So, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But somehow Callum just knows when people around him are eating delicious food and tries to claw his way to it. My mom did indulge and let him take a couple sucks of ice cream and he seemed in heaven. 

Outside of ice cream though, he has now had sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, pear, apple and apple-blueberry. I have to say he wasn't a fan of the peas at all. He was literally blocking the spoon from coming in his mouth after a couple bites. It's pretty funny given that if he gets something he likes, he gobbles it right up. I even tasted the peas and thought they tasted fine, but to each his own. I also let him suck on sweet peppers, carrots and snap peas. After a while, he manages to actually munch into them with that toothless bite of his, then I take them away. 

It's funny how much you just forget in four years. I really don't remember the specifics of how I fed Isla (of course, thankfully I have a blog to remind me). But I am kind of just taking it as it goes, because, I don't exactly have countless hours anymore to research all the things. 

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Fourth of July

^^ Enjoying his first sparkler

^^ Watching the fireworks 

We had a nice, low-key fourth of July. My parents took Connor to buy a box of fireworks pretty much the size of him, so we had more than enough fireworks for the evening. We had a bbq and swimming at our house, followed by fireworks. We started them early, before the sun went down…after all, we have three young children. Plus, we had a boatload of fireworks. It took nearly two hours, yes TWO HOURS, to go through all the fireworks. What was really fun was a few of our new neighbors stopped by, introduced themselves and chatted for a bit. 

I was especially proud of Connor this year. He has had some serious fears of fireworks. He started out rather apprehensive and pretty far up the driveway. But, eventually he held a sparkler, then went on to light some fireworks himself. It was the cutest thing watching him light them and run away as quickly as he could. 

As it was Callum's first fourth of July, I wasn't sure how he would respond to the fireworks. He was extremely intrigued. He would stare at them the whole time they went off and his little eyes would blink every time they would make noise. It was really cute and I was happy it went so well. 

It was nice to have the kids already in bed by the time everyone else was revving up their parties. We got to have fun, then have a low-key night. 

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