12 months in a flash

With four children ages 5 and under, for the next two weeks at least, things are always busy! Our hearts are so full as each of our children brings such personality, fun and joy to us.  Typing this sounds cliche, but this year really did fly by. I see and hear don't blink often and days are long and years are short. There is so much truth in these statements.

I remember like yesterday, October 22nd 2014 when our 4th child, Bowen Christopher, was born. 
I remember the anticipation of meeting our baby and finding out the gender
I remember the anxiety of adding to our family and the prayers for a healthy baby
I remember his 10 sweet fingers and 10 tiny toes, his sweet round face and his smell
I remember cherishing the days in the hospital and staying up almost all night trying to breastfeed
I remember introducing him to his proud siblings and thinking it doesn't get any better than this

Over the last 12 months, Bowen has brought such joy to our family. I have loved watching sweet Bennett as he transitioned from baby to toddler and welcomed a new baby. He is so tender hearted and loving and adores his baby brother. I love that he has an opportunity to be a big brother as well as learn from older siblings.  Kate and Wright have been so helpful and sweet encouraging Bowen as he learns new things. In the last week as Bowen has improved his balance and starting standing on his own he has such a cheering squad in all of us. He has started to take steps and the pure excitement from his siblings makes my heart melt.

I am so lucky. Thank you, God for picking me to be Wright, Kate, Bennett and Bowen's mother. 


We celebrated Bowen turning ONE with a fun party at the house. We had grandparents and close friends join us and the day was perfect!

 He loved his cake!

Family of 6!

Bowen Christopher Dinkins born on October 22, 2014
He weighed 7lbs 8 oz and is perfect!
Around week 34 I started to have an increase in contractions and Bowen started to move down in preparation for delivery. My doctor sent me to bed so we could delay labor for another few weeks. The following weeks were filled with anticipation around meeting our baby, we weren't sure what the gender was and the health of both baby and me.  At 37 weeks 6 days my contractions continued and I went to the hospital. A few hours later we met our 3rd baby boy!
All the kids have adjusted so well to a new baby and are so in love with him!

Blessed is an understatement.

Our family is growing!

We are expecting another sweet blessing early November!  Shortly before Bennett turned 1 Will and I were surprised with a + sign!  I am 18 weeks today and am having a great pregnancy so far. Kate & Wright are very excited and talk about all the things they will do to help. Kate's latest is that she can carry the baby down the stairs to help me get everyone in the car…uh oh! Wright says he will start getting Bennett out of his crib when he wakes up. Oh no! We definitely will have to curb these requests, but I am so thankful that they are excited and want to be helpful!

Finding time for the blog becomes more and more difficult, but I do love looking at back at fun events and pictures over the years. It is too difficult to capture the funny sayings, moments, smiles and milestones and I hope they remain in my memory for a lifetime. Here I can capture a brief snapshot of my blessings and joy!

Bennett turns 1~We celebrated at the house with a vintage circus theme! Complete with a photo booth, jump castle and sweets!

So much to say

I have found it more and more difficult to find time to post although there are so many things to write about! Kate and Wright turned 4 November 9th and we celebrated in Disney World! MOST MAGICAL TRIP! We made the decision to leave sweet Bennett with grannie which allowed him so one on one bonding time without having super long days at all the Disney parks. We missed him, but it was the best decision. We were busy at the parks, meeting the princesses, enjoying rides, parades, pools and more princesses!

Kate and Wright are so great with Bennett. They both talk about all the things they plan to teach him and they get so excited playing with him. He LOVES them and gets so excited when they play with him!

Our 4 year check up went great. Both healthy and growing up too quickly!
Wright continues to be about 8 lbs heavier and 2 inches taller than Kate.

They both enjoy school although Kate more than Wright. We had our first parent/teacher conference and they are both doing great! Wright did not recognize all his letters (he makes the sounds and knows all of them) and when asked his reply was, "My mom knows that letter, but hasn't told me yet"
He is too funny!

Kate received a dazzling dolphin on Monday for being so caring. When showing her wallet at show and tell she told her class that the money in her wallet was for the offering at church. So sweet!

Wright has been asking lots of questions about knowing God and meeting Jesus. He inquires a lot about love and asks so many questions. We love his active, inquisitive mind.

Bennett is crawling everywhere and walks around furniture. He has also started making lots of sounds! we think it sounds like mama and baba. He now has 6 teeth!

Thankful

Kate and Wright were asked by their teacher, Mrs. Bryan, what they are thankful for and to draw a picture. She then shared these with the class at their Thanksgiving Feast.
We will always treasure these!