Here's what's new:

A Peek Into the Last Two Weeks

She asked me to go with her to her ice skating club banquet two weeks ago. And I have to be honest: it was not something I was looking forward to.

I wouldn’t know anyone. It was 3 hours long. It would mean sitting at a table for dinner with people I didn’t know and making small talk (one of my least favorite things as an introvert!) And what was I going to wear at 9 months pregnant to a banquet??

But it was important to her, so I set aside my excuses, ordered a dress from Amazon, and said yes.

Someday soon, my almost 15-year-old daughter will be grown and gone. She may live in another town or state or country. These days and opportunities to go to outside-my-comfort-zone banquets together won’t last forever.

Say yes, mama. Even when it’s uncomfortable.

Say yes, mama. Even when it’s inconvenient.

Say yes, mama. Even when you want to make excuses.

At the end of your life, I believe you will never regret saying yes to your kids.

By the way, the banquet was awkward. I didn’t know anyone. The dress just barely fit. And there was a lot of small talk that happened. But Kaitlynn and I had a special time together, I got more of a window into her ice-skating world, and she and I had a lot of laughs together on the drive there and back. It was so worth it!

He’s starting to figure out how to use a walker — which is a big deal!

The joy on her face!!

Hair cut time!

We’ve been taking lots of evening walks recently. It’s been hot and humid during the day, but after dinner, the weather has been really nice most nights and it’s the perfect end to our day!

We’ve gotten to babysit for C a lot recently and he keeps us all in stitches. He’s so busy, so talkative, and always saying the funniest things! (It’s hard to believe that preemie clothes were too big for him when we first met him in the NICU and now look at how big he is!)

D got to go in what they call the “Spider Cage” for the first time in PT last week.

And he also got to try out this new machine!

I committed to doing one craft per month this year. This month, I made these Backpack Dangles that were one of the Annie’s Creative Girls’ Craft Kits.

My parents sent Kierstyn and D this little sink that actually has working water (you fill it up and it just recycles through over and over). They have been LOVING “doing dishes” on the back screened-in porch!

Jesse and I took Kierstyn out on a date while Kaitlynn was at ice skating one day this past week. She thought it was the best to have one-on-one time with Mom & Dad.

It’s so fun for her hair to be long enough to fix in different ways! Pig tails are one of my favorites right noww!

These two were sitting on Kathrynne’s lap smiling all cute — until I got out my camera to try to take a picture!

We took C, D, and Kierstyn to the zoo one day this past week (we recently got a membership). we realized that keeping them in the wagon is smart, but also makes it so they can’t see very much. So Jesse improvised!

It was a HOT day at the zoo and very humid and we had some unexpected things come up that morning that meant we didn’t get to go earlier when it was cooler. But we went anyway — and we had a great time, despite a diaper blowout and a few toddler meltdowns.

The thing I’ve learned the past few years is that is easy to make excuses as to why we should just stay home instead of going out and doing something with littles (or even with teens!). But pretty much every time we just get out and go or do the thing, we make memories and I rarely ever regret it.

They spent a long time watching the fish and were mesmerized by them!

We loved watching this little baby on its mama’s back!

I had a $15 gift card to Target that I’d been given as a gift for volunteering at youth group camp, so I took Silas shopping last week and let him pick out what he wanted to spend. He had a lot of fun figuring out the best way to spend the money — and he got some great deals!

Almost 39 weeks pregnant!

(I wanted to snap a photo of Kierstyn sitting on my bump this weekend, but I forgot to check to see if my camera lens was clean and later discovered this was the end result. Sharing it anyway because it feels kind of like a good picture of the imperfection and real-ness that is life at our house right now.)

The hospital bags are packed. My induction date is scheduled for Monday. And we’re doing lots of fun family things these last few days.

Want to know when the baby is here? Follow along on Instagram stories as I’ll likely be posting there first.