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.

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!

19/52

ASHER / 4 yrs / More fun in the back yard! We're spending as much time outside as we can these days.

SILAS / 22 mo. / Oh my gosh, look at him! I asked him to look at me for a photo as he was walking away, and he stopped, turned, and leaned back in the pose you see here, hahaha. And that hair is just crazy!

PHINEHAS / 1 mo. / Do all babies make little pursed lip faces? Our boys all seem too, and it's the cutest.

18/52

PHINEHAS / 3 wks / Soaking up some sun on our back deck. I was lucky to get a photo with his eyes open, he's such a sleepy little guy!

SILAS / 22 mo. / He was pretty sleepy today too. It's been an exciting few weeks around here, and I think all of us could use some extra napping!

ASHER / 4 yrs / I stole this photo from this post. Summer is so, so messy when you have a pack of little boys, but I'm just glad we have a spot in our backyard where he can dig to his heart's content. This keeps him busy for at least an hour at a time!