PHOTO*JOURNAL | HOTEL LIFE

Lounging on the pull-out sofa, laying our wet clothes out to dry on the bed for lack of an available dryer, snacking in front of cartoons, attempting to cook at the mini-kitchen, new-shoe wearing, internet surfing, and general boredom sums up a lot of what our last month and half has been like. At least the parts of it spent in our hotel room. But we'll be outa here in just a few more days and then the next chapter of our life can officially begin!

30/52

Alright, well, I realized that if I waited to get caught up on all the weeks I've missed between when we first moved from New York to now, this photo project just wasn't going to get back up and running at all. So, I still want to try to get caught up once I have a real computer again {this laptop I'm working on is SO slow and hard to use, not to mention it doesn't have Photoshop}. But until then we're just going to pick up at week 30 and plug along.

SILAS / 2 yrs / Making silly faces and sporting his new railroad striped overalls. By the way, he's saying lots of new words and little phrases these days! Even an occasional "please", which is always nice to hear. Also, in case you missed it, I just posted more details about him here.

PHINEHAS / 3.5 mo. / I just have to mention that Finn started giggling on his three month birthday a couple of weeks back. I love it when the little ones first start to laugh!

ASHER / 4 yrs / He got his first real hair cut this week! Real meaning not-buzzed-by-mom, haha. He looks like such a grown up little boy.

MY BROWN EYED BOY

Silas! Where do I start? First of all, I've been wanting to sit down and write about this little boy for longer than I care to admit. So- finally- here goes.

Silas turned two in June, and- how do I put this lightly?- he's a bit of an intrigue. A mix of extremes. Sometimes he is the sweetest, most endearing cuddle bug who wants nothing more than to curl up on our laps and stay there for as long as we'll let him. Other times he's known by a variety of behavior-inspired nicknames including Despot, Megalomaniac, and Silor, hahaha.

Here's a list of some of his most notable traits to date;

SWEET  Oh my goodness. When Silas wants to be sweet, he is the sweetest. He's grown up a little since Finn was born and isn't quite as cuddly as he used to be, but he has the most endearing little puppy-dog face and the softest brown eyes and there are moments when I could just eat him up!

CAUTIOUS  He takes his time when it comes to doing new things. He made sure he was good and ready before he started rolling over and crawling and walking. I always expected him to take cues from his big brother and want to get moving as soon as physically possible, but nope! Just the opposite. And that's not all he took his time warming up to, swimming pools and elevators gave him much reason for concern until just recently when Finn was born and he sort of graduated to the big-boy club with Daddy and Asher.

OBSERVANT  He knows how to do things like find his coat and shoes and sit down to get them all on {and has for a long time} without asking him to. If I start talking about going outside or doing some other task that requires getting ready, he knows exactly what needs to be done! And he loves looking at books and pointing out lots of little detailed things and hearing what they're called. He most definitely wants to keep up with Asher, so he pretty much watches him like a hawk as well.

CRAZY  He doesn't always know what he wants, or how he wants what he wants to be handed to him, or whether being given what he asks for is reason for celebration or exasperated screaming. Meal times with him is like having a front seat row at the theater of the absurd. But he's learning how to talk a little better these days so things are getting better.

TEMPERAMENTAL  Silas does a lot of things that leave me scratching my head. Like calling for me to come get him out of his crib when he wakes up and then refusing to let me pick him up when I get into his room. His whole face lights up when he realizes he's about to get a cheese-stick, but if I don't pull the wrapper down to a specific spot {or if I try to take it off completely} his little world comes crashing down.

QUIRKY  He loves all kinds of little, unexpected things, like wearing hats! He's constantly finding winter hats, toy hats, etc, and putting them on. It's the cutest. He also likes to pinch skin or anything malleable for some unknown reason. He never used a pacifier, but as long as he can pinch something when he starts to get sleepy, he's pretty relaxed. Other times, he gets these little bursts of energy and has to reach out and squeeze something {usually one of us} as hard as he can with both hands, hahaha. Oh Silas.

By the way, his beloved high-tops have just about seen their last days. They've had a good run, though!

Photos taken July 4th, 2015.

23/52

So it turns out that juggling three kids + a move to Germany is a little bit nuts, hence me being massively behind on our 52 Week Photo project posts and just about everything else in my life. But the photos have been taken, just not posted. So here's hoping I can get things caught up! 

ASHER / 4 yrs / All smiles on the farm during our long stay with family between duty stations.

SILAS / 2 yrs / Happy birthday, Silas! Unfortunately he turned two the day we drove from New York to Virginia, so we didn't do much celebrating that day. He got a party a little later with lots of the family though, so it was worth the wait.

PHINEHAS / 1 mo. / Still spending lots of his days napping, but starting to smile a little bit here and there!

FINGER PAINT PHOTOBOMB

I don't think I'll ever have too many photos of the boys doing their finger painting!

21/52

ASHER / 4 yrs / Smiling for the camera and jumping on the bed; always a good combination! We recently bought two twin sized beds, one for Asher and one for Silas, but so far Silas is more than happy to stay in the crib in the other room. So Asher has a field day having TWO beds all to himself. At least until we get to Germany.

PHINEHAS / 6 weeks / I haven't quite caught it on camera, but he's starting to smile! He's also much more wakeful most days and sleeping fairly well at night, {with a few exceptions, of course...when are kids ever totally predictable?}

SILAS / 23 mo. / Everyone deserves a chair that's just their size! This little vintage school chair is mostly used for climbing up onto Thane and I's bed, but this week it was a great prop for our photos. By the way, Silas technically has a few more days until he hits two, but he has fully arrived to his terrible two stage. Asher seemed to skip that altogether, so this is new {and scary} territory for us.

SAYING GOODBYE TO WATERTOWN

It's hard to believe that our time in Watertown is coming to a close. Ever since Finn was born- and even a little before that, honestly- the weeks have been flying. Between cleaning out in preparation for the move, getting our house ready to either sell or rent, cleaning it for showings, enjoying a visit from family over the weekend, normal life, and keeping up with all three little boys, it's been a whirlwind! 

But what better way to finish our time here than to finally have some family photos done! I'm so, so thankful to Nicole Regan for her beautiful work, she captured so many great photos of the five of us. A lot of what you see here has already been posted to her website and to Facebook, but here are a handful of our personal favorites...

I love this one because it's so true to form. Thane and I are trying to keep all three boys under control with a shoe-less Asher standing on Thane's foot, Silas being held place, and Finn wondering where his next meal is, hahaha.

Look at this handsome man! It was great to get some single photos in addition to all of the family ones.

I'm so proud to have the best husband I could have ever asked for and three vivacious sons! It doesn't get any better.

Speaking of Thane, we're coming up on our eight year wedding anniversary, which means we've been together almost twelve years now. There's nothing like marrying your high school sweetheart!

It's getting harder and harder to say goodbye to the life we've made in each place we've lived, and this time I'm not ready to leave at all. Not even a little bit. We- Asher included- will miss our friends and we'll miss our house. There's so much more I could say about the people and things we were blessed with here if I had the time, but I'll just leave it at this- our God is good, and I am so thankful for each place He sends us! Watertown being no exception, despite the fact that the last couple of years have definitely had it's challenges. 

But now it's time to put one step in front of the other, to move forward and trust the Lord's plan for all that lies ahead. There are moments when all I want to do is dig my feet into the ground and stay right where we are. But not having a choice reminds me of this; He is our portion and our prize. Not a place, not a house, not people. Just Him! I can't tell you how many times we've moved on from one place to another- totally unsure of the "why"- just to see the pieces fall together in a way that only He could have orchestrated. You know, that great "ah-ha!" moment that we all want while we navigate the crossroads. But even when those moments of clarity don't come as quickly as we'd like, one thing I know; He always goes before us and He always has a plan. 

"The Lord is my portion", says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."  Lamentations 3:24

20/52

ASHER / 4 yrs / The aftermath of playing in the hose outside. He loves making faces for the camera so much that I rarely get any that aren't totally silly, so- as much as I love the silly faces- this is a gem!

SILAS / 23 mo. / I gave him his first haircut last week! He's looking so grown up these days.

PHINEHAS / 5 wks / He's starting to be a little more alert during the days {and a little less alert during the nights, praise God!}, but it makes for interesting mornings... And when I say "interesting", what I really mean is CRAZY, hahaha. Keeping up with three boys is no light task!