Pictures from this week!

Blake dressed up for Mother's Day.



All the kiddos.





Ayden being a boy!




Notice his fluff!



Our girls!







Naptime and snacks!

Making Friends

I wrote a few weeks ago about coming out of my fog from years of having babies. Well, my new challenge is I am bored!! I know, I know, I watch 3 kids all day long, I do laundry, dishes, and keep a house clean for 7 people. I am still bored!! Now that I am not overwhelmed with diapers, feedings, and lack of sleep, I want to get out and do stuff. I do have to say, my house is never really clean. I am have come to the conclusion that housework is just not a strong point for me. Maybe one day, I will be able to afford a maid. Anyways, back to being bored. No more fog, means I have to occupy my time more efficiently. I really need to start a hobby. My mom has said she will teach me how to sew, which sounds okay. At least it is something to do. The other thing I would like to start doing is making friend again. I now feel like I could be a decent friend. Before, by the time I finished with all my kids and my husband, I had no energy to be a good friend. I can now officially say, I think I am ready to socialize again. There is just one BIG hiccup in that plan, keeping all my kids well. UGH!! Everytime I have tried to schedule a playdate with someone, somebody in my house has caught something contagious! Last week during spring break, we all had 5th's disease.
I miss going to church! I know I would make good friends at our church but to get there seems impossible sometimes. I guess, this is one of those lessons you learn when you have a big family. Especially when your big family, has little ones in it. Just because your ready to move on to the next step in life, does not mean the rest of the family is. What I do know, is that things continuely get better. A year ago, jumping up and going to the lakefront would have been impossible. Now that is a weekly thing. So maybe by the end of this summer, Jeremy and I will be social bugs again. I have so much faith that God has people out there that are suppose to be apart of our lives. I get all giggly thinking about it. :)

Wonderful Photos from a Great Photographer and friend!

If you remember a while back, Jeremy and I took Blake and Ayden to take pictures. Well, I must share!! These photos were taken by the same friend who took the other photos shown on this blog. She is unbelievably good!! She has a knack for capturing beautiful pictures, without making small children pose. She is also one of the sweetest people I know! If you are in the Southeast Louisiana area and need a good photographer, she is the person to call!!! (and yes, I am shamelessly promoting her business!)





Here are a few of my favorites pictures from our shoot.

If you would like to see more of her pictures, go to her blog.

ambervphotography.blogspot.com

And now for an update...2011

Two posts in one day!! I can't believe I am doing it!! So I am sure it is time for an update on The Rich family. Here goes:

Jeremy: He is working his booty off a very long drive away from home. He has had some blows lately. His car breaking and me being sick. He really has been handling alot of stress lately. He is doing well since just having a wife and 5 kids is normally stressful. He is still an awesome husband and Dad!!

Caroline: She is 9 now. :( She is growing up so fast. This is her last year in elementary school and will be going to middle school in the fall. She has lost about 15lbs and is fitting in clothes that were too tight last summer. She looks so pretty and I am so proud of her for working hard to get into shape and be healthier. She is also playing softball. Her team has played two games and not lost yet.

Kylie: She is 7 now. She lost both front teeth. ;) She is so much different than her sister. She is taking tap and ballet and is also playing violin. She excels at everything she attempts without much effort. Her "Make Mandeville Clean" poster won at her grade level for her school. Kylie loves to learn and spends alot of time looking up facts so she can tell us new things.

Thatch: He is 3 1/2 now. He is definitely our comedian. He does anything to make us laugh and is always smiling. He has the biggest heart! He went for a speech evaluation and qualified for a further assessment in articulation. They will also check his fluency at that time. Right now, his two favorite things are superheros and dinosaurs.

Ayden: Ayden is 1 1/2 now. He is much happier than he used to be. He is still my problem child but we do not have days where he screams continually. He is more light hearted and spends most of his time making sure Blake doesn't play with any of his toys. He is starting to talk. His vocabulary is Da-dee, Kylie, Jack, Mo (for Nemo), Bolt, Down, and more.

Blake: She is now almost 9 months. She is the sweetest, happiest baby anyone could ask for. She is round all over and has the sweetest smile. She absolutely LOVES her big siblings and always wants to be in the middle of them. She is crawling, pulling up and has two teeth.

Me: Well, most days I am good. I do get overwhelmed, alot! I was sick with a kidney infection for about 2 weeks. Those things are awful. I am coaching Caroline's softball team and having so much fun!! I still stink at housework but I am working on getting better. I have made it a point to find every way I can save money. Most days, by the end of the day, I am exhausted! Sometimes, I feel like thier is just not enough of me to go around! That is why my house is a mess. (or at least, that is the excuse I am using :)).

The most important thing Jeremy and I have learned in 2011, is how EXTREMELY BLESSED we are to have each other and our beautiful children. They teach us new things every day!

My New Obsession

It has definitely been a while since I have written and we have done so many things that I should update about. But first, I must get this particular blog out of the way. I have a new obsession!! CLOTH DIAPERING!! WAIT!! Before all of you think I am crazy and on some impractical binge of buying things that I will never use, I must inform everyone, cloth diapers have evolved. But first, let me begin at the beginning.

It all started about 2 months before Blake was born. A very good friend of mine started cloth diapering her son. She began explaining the whole process to me. No more pins, or folding like the old diapers. The new ones have snaps and are as easy to put on as a disposable. The biggest problem (she told me) was the I would have an extra load of laundry every other day. Well, I really considered starting then, but to be honest, I was a grump when I pregnant for Blake. I could not imagine adding any extra housework to my daily or weekly routine.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, and I started considering it again. To be truthful, we are struggling financially in Mandeville. Jeremy drives 128 miles a day and does get mileage, but when gas prices went up, his mileage rate did not. So I started considering CDing again, to save money. Now that I am out of my grump phase, and I actually read all of the info, I am HOOKED!! We figured we would save about $80-$120 a month by cloth diapering. Do you know how much money that is in a year????? I started by buying used ones on diaper swap pages. I got my first "fluff" mail Saturday and I was so so so very excited. I immediately washed them, so we could start.

By Sunday night, Ayden was demanding cloth instead of disposable. (we did not have enough cloth to go a whole day without some disposable use) That was all it took to sell me. Since then, I have been shopping and finding deals trying to up my stash, so we can go solely cloth. And yes, my friend was right, all it is is an extra wash daily (right now, b/c we don't have enough).

So you ask? How did it turn into an obsession? Well, cloth diapers are expensive to get started with. Most name brands run about $20 a diaper. So I really had to shop to find good deals. Well, as any girl knows, finding deals is so much FUN!! I have gotten diapers as cheap as $5 a diaper!!!

This new adventure had done so much for me! As a SAHM, finding something that makes you feel accomplished is very hard. Cleaning does not do it for me. I have too many kids, so once my house (or I should say a room) is clean, it takes about 5 mins before it is messy again. This CDing is helping me save money and help out the enviroment!! Can't get any better than that!!

Hello, my name is Kendra and I am a cloth diapering addict!!!

The truth of the matter is we all have something that is a weakness. For me it is my weight, I like to bake and cook but I also like to eat those things too. Add in the genetics of a slow metabolism and here I am, overweight. But that is something,that if I work hard enough, will go away. I can be thin and in shape, with enough willpower, dieting, and workouts. My husband is not so lucky.

Jeremy stutters. His mom noticed it when he was about 4. She noticed he was trying to say something but his mouth just wouldn't let it come out. I don't know all the history but I know that when he moved from New Iberia to Mandeville, the stress of the move effected him and he was considered a severe stutterer. He has told me horrible stories about being bullied. Stories of no friends and crying himself to sleep. Junior high was miserable for him. Somehow, in high school, he fell into a group called Pride. This group gave him the confidence he need to beat back his speech problem. By the time he was a senior in high school, most of his friends did not realize he stuttered.

When Jeremy and I met, he had just moved to college and the stress had gotten to him again. He could no longer hide his stuttering. It got better as he became more comfortable with us (his friends) and school. After we married, Jeremy grew up alot very quickly. One of the things he had to face was his speech. It was one thing that was holding him back. It took a lot of praying and conversations with God but Jeremy finally realized that his speech was a part of him. That for whatever reason, God had given him this " thorn in his side" and that Jeremy would have to embrace it.

At the begining of this year, Jeremy started a support group for young stutterers. He has two little girls that go. They talk about how they are treated in school and how they can make people understand what stuttering is. He is starting to consider talking to different school kids so that he can maybe help childern understand stuttering and stop some of the bullying that goes with it. I can not express how unbelievably proud I am of him.

Now, I know that stuttering is not as horrible as everyone thinks it is. In fact, I go to Jeremy's group with him and try to help teach these kids that stuttering does not have to define who you are or what you are going to do with your life. But there is a hiccup in all of this, Thatcher has begun to stutter. Not nearly as bad as Jeremy did or even does now, but we have seen it. When he is nervous or scared, we see his mouth and neck tighten and nothing comes out. Now, with all the facts I know, I am struggling with this alot. I don't want my sweet little boy to get picked on. I don't want him to have all those problems his daddy had with friends and school.

I know that I will have to turn this over to God. I knew when Jeremy and I started having children that this was a huge possiblity. I guess, I am just shocked at how much it really does bother me.

Our day of fun!

For Christmas, I got Jeremy an aeral flight tour over New Orleans and the Mississippi River. (and before you think I spent a ton of money, it was through groupon.com) He was suppose to do his tour yesterday morning. Well we decide to meet him afterwards and spend the day (or most of it) at the zoo and having a picnic. Well, the flight got cancelled and we ended up driving over there all together.

We made it there 15 mins before the zoo opened. Gosh, I really didn't realize how crowded the zoo was on a Saturday. It was hectic but we made it through about half the zoo in 2 hours before the kids got hungry. Our kids had a blast at the zoo. They love animals and had the best time looking at everything. The hardest part was that we have little ones that just like to look at the animals and move on. Then we have two big girls who like to read all the information on the signs and watch any presentation on the animals imprompt to or not. Lets just say J and I had our hands full. Thatcher was so excited. We learned while we were there, that it was Earthfest and Ironman, Spiderman, and the Green Goblin were there. Thatch got to take a picture with them! He was so excited he could barely talk to them.

By noon everyone was starving, so we left the zoo to find a place to have a picnic. The picnic was a blast. Last year I bought this picnic blanket that zips up into a pouch and can handle any spills. It is a great investment if you have kids. Our thing is we probably need two now. LOL!! The kids ate and then ran around for a bit. We then headed home.

At home we opened these kits we had bought. It was dinosaur bones in a block of clay. You dig the bones out and then put the bones together to make a model dinosaur. Kylie and Thatch are into dinosaurs right now, so they had a blast. Caroline even had fun. It took forever to get the bones out of the clay so we are going to build the dinosaurs today.

Overall, we had a blast yesterday!! Life it getting easier for us everyday, as Ayden and Blake get a little older. J and I enjoy our family so much, we would never change a thing. It has taken a while but we are finally seeing the benefits of those sleepless nights with babies and so many dirty diapers. Life is great!!