Signs of Spring

Sure signs of spring definitely include birthdays in our home, we get to celebrate five each spring and Finn leads the way. He turned 17 this year, what?! Getting ready for some big changes in the next few years and it's nearly impossible to imagine that he'll be heading off to college before we know it, but not quite yet so I'll just remember to enjoy the present. No sense in getting ahead of ourselves. 

Happy birthday Finn, thank you for being such a wonderful young man. You're so funny, so smart, so naturally kind and caring. You set a shining example for everyone in the house (myself included) and I know it's a lot sometimes to have so many people looking up to you, but you make it look easy and we all adore you.

Well hi gorgeous, why yes taking pictures of this pretty lady is a sign of spring. Pictures OUTSIDE. Yay.

Easter, no explanation needed.

Oh, Saoirse my little girly girl, are we cut from the same cloth or what?

Mary and Carl hosted Easter again (which was lovely, thank you so much!) and we braved a quick family photo. I honestly cannot remember the last time we tried this, which means it's probably been way too long. Why does this seem so impossible to me? I'm thinking this summer we should really get our act together and hire a photographer to tame this crowd. Still, I love this snapshot and I wish I could bring myself to get more of these, it just stresses me out to no end though. Maybe if we just practiced more? I love these people, just love them to pieces.

Baby wearing at the mall? Sign of spring? Nah.

But I am getting closer to losing the last of my pregnancy weight, which is great because a) I was starting to wonder if I'd ever wear jeans again b) I feel soooo much better c) spring leads to summer and I'm guessing some of these kids are going to want to go swimming. Like in swimsuits. Nuff said.

Second spring birthday.

Hey cutie pie! Oh geez, the big double digit induction. Happy 10th birthday Micah, my baby boy, my first born son. You remind me to slow down, which is funny because you are constantly on the move. You're always listening to everything, paying attention to details, keeping track, keeping tabs and you want to be in the middle of it all which I love. You have grown so much this year and I'm so proud of you. Micah, I thank the stars every day that the universe brought us together.

There's no good way to transition to this next part, but look.....

We started cloth diapering! YAY.
Oisín is even more excited than I am. It's still very new and I'm trying to learn as we go, but I'll write up a post about where we started and what we're using (geez it's so complicated nowadays) and what works best for us. Until then we'll keep looking for more signs of spring, it can't be too far off now....