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Blog, obx vacation, summer, vacation, Vlog

Family Vacation


I had high hopes of getting all of our vacation photos up on the blog this week and it just didn’t happen. I guess that’s just life with kids. Hopefully I can get the rest up over the weekend! I already posted about our first couple of days here.

Anyway, when we planned this trip, we really didn’t have much on our itinerary besides lots of trips to the beach and the sand dunes. It definitely wasn’t as relaxing as it was the last time we went (back when we only had 4 kids–I’m going to blame it on the 2 youngest who just have a slight obsession with their parents.) But we still had so much fun! We may have looked like a circus trying to get to the beach with 6 kids and tons of beach gear, but it was so worth every bit of effort!

I really am telling the truth when I say that my kids’ best friends are each other. Yes, they fight like every other kid. But you can tell they have such a deep friendship. They are constantly trying to work together or imagine new games together. When other moms ask me “how do you do it?”–I really feel like their relationships with each other helps me so much! They always have each other.

I love this picture of the girls! You’d never even know that Clem was terrified of the beach and was screaming like crazy at this moment.

Maggi and Mabel! It was so much fun going to the beach with them every day!

One of our favorite places in the Outer Banks is the sand dunes. We love to go at sunset to watch it set over the water (when the sand isn’t hot anymore.) The walk was a bit more brutal with a baby on my back and a baby in my belly on those steep sand hills, but again–totally worth the effort.

After a couple days of avoiding the sand at the beach, Desmond FINALLY let Don set him down in the sand at the dunes. He absolutely loved it. I asked him to go over by Liam to get a picture with him because they were matching. And for some reason, he kept mimicking the way people were standing. It was pretty adorable. I’m so glad I caught this series of photos.

When I say he loved it, I mean he LOVED it! At one point I had to splash some water in his eyes to get rid of some sand. But that didn’t stop him from pouring more over his head and rolling around on the ground.

One of my favorite pictures that I had Don snap of me and Clem. If I don’t ask for him to take pictures of me every once in a while, you’d never know I was on vacation with them haha.

The one thing I don’t miss about vacation is cleaning the kids off multiple times a day! At the house we stayed in, there was a wonderful outdoor shower to rinse all the sand off. So every afternoon and night we were going in there to clean up (with screaming babies!) One day after we got back from the beach, I went to rinse off our beach mat when I saw a spider so huge that it seriously had me running for the first time in 15+ years. The whole time I kept saying “Oh, my goodness! No no no no no no no!” I can only hope the neighbors didn’t see! But I still shiver every time I think about the fact that we were going into that shower AT NIGHT with that thing. It was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen (outside of the zoo.) Totally not exaggerating. Let’s just say we found other ways to clean off after that incident.

So, so pretty!

Every time we go to the Outer Banks, we make a trip to the Bodie Island Lighthouse. I’m totally in love with the black and white stripes. And totally disappointed that my camera lens cropped it too close. But I do have a couple full pictures of it in my August Recap post. The carrier that Clem is in is called an Onbuhimo and it’s from Sakura Bloom. It took a few tries to get it to feel comfortable but Clementine and I both love it now! She giggles and smiles the whole time. It’s the best thing in the world to hear those giggles in my ear.

So blessed to have the 2 best friends in the world! And so excited to be pregnant at the same time (again!)

Before our trip, I knew there was a possibility that we’d get a family picture on the beach. But I knew it would be a lot of effort so I didn’t really put much thought into outfits. Thankfully I’m really big on lots of blues/greens/grays/whites so I ended up having outfits that coordinated–even though they were definitely pretty casual. Like I expected, it was kind of hectic getting pictures on the beach. The kids were anxious to run around in the sand and there was a massive storm rolling in but we were able to snap a few and get home before the rain started!

I totally need to print this! I love this crew–squity/blinking eyes and all!

I’m so thankful to Maggi for being able to capture these moments for us!

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been home for a week and a half! Today is mine and Don’s 10th wedding anniversary!! We’re going on a short kid-free trip to the Kansas City area. I’m hoping that this kid free drive (4ish hours) will seem like a piece of cake after the 15.5 hour drive with 6 kids! I’m so excited to have the opportunity to get away, even if it’s just a short time. We really don’t get this chance often (I hate having to ask anyone to watch our kids for us) but I think it will be great! And then I feel like I’ll be able to come back, feeling ready for a new school year (and I’ll hopefully have my homeschool post published on Monday.) Anyway, I hope you have a great rest of the week!!

P.S.–Part one of our vacation video is up on the vlog!

September 7, 2017
Blog, kids, Vlog

How We Chose Our Kids’ Names & Our Pregnancy Announcement Vlog


Okay–so funny story. I started typing this blog post 2 days before Clementine was born. That’s right. It’s been sitting in my drafts since October 2016. But I’ve had so, so many people asking me our children’s names and their age gaps that I thought this would be a fun little post to share. And at the bottom of this post, there’s a new vlog where the kids share their thoughts on the new baby!

***This shirt is from Curly Q’s Counter and it’s the perfect shirt for moms of a few or moms of many! However, the stress of getting a decent group shot while wearing the shirt may make you feel a little less proud! (haha kidding…kind of.)

Anyway, on to the names!

First up, Liam Joseph (turning 9 in a few days!)

We didn’t have any names picked out before our ultrasound with Liam. Soon after we found out he was a boy, we were watching our favorite TV show, LOST, and heard the name “Liam.” If you watched the show, you may remember that he was Charlie’s brother (not a main character.) He was also a drug addict so let’s just say that the character himself had nothing to do with our choice. But we loved the name and the only other place we had heard it was the actor Liam Neeson. It’s kind of funny to me now because it’s SUCH a popular name. But 8 years ago, the reaction we got when we told people his name was “I have never heard that name before!” His middle name, Joseph, is Don’s middle name (and also my brother’s middle name!)

 

Kai Emerson (7)

Kai’s name was actually inspired from an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. There was a little boy named “Kainoa.” I thought that “Kai” would be such a fun nickname but we couldn’t agree on any lengthened version of his name. So we just went with Kai. Although that got lengthened to Kai-guy…a sweet nickname that I know he will grow out of soon but I’m just enjoying it while it lasts. Emerson is the last name of an actor from LOST, Michael Emerson (aka Ben Linus…aka Henry Gale.)

 

Kingston Jude (5)

Kingston is the one outcast out of our kids who does not have a name inspired by LOST. Poor guy. If we would have realized this tradition would stick, we would have tried to stick with the theme. Kingston was the name of my brother’s friend (who was maybe 16 at the time.) I had never heard anyone else using the name and I thought it was fun and unique. His middle name, Jude, was inspired by The Beatle’s song, “Hey Jude.”

 

Evangeline Skye (4)

For many years, I had multiple girl names that I loved. But when we found out we were finally having a girl, I didn’t want to use any of those names! One night my brother suggested the name “Claire” (a LOST character haha) because he knew we had used LOST names in the past. I immediately started trying to think of all the character and actress names on the show. Evangeline Lilly is one of the main characters. I had heard her name (Evangeline) numerous times before without a second thought. But at that moment, I fell in love with it and I still think it’s one of the most beautiful names in the world. One of the names I always loved for a first name was “Skylar” but it just didn’t sound right with her first name. So we shortened it to Skye.

 

Desmond Reese (2)

Can you guess where we got the name Desmond? That’s right…a character in LOST, Desmond Hume (one of my favorite characters.) I had actually wanted to use it for Kai 5 years earlier, but LOST was still a pretty popular show at that time and it just seemed too obvious. I was excited to use it this time around. Reese was kind of a random choice. I had first heard it many years ago as the lead singer of Five Iron Frenzy but it was also the last name of a character in ANOTHER show we liked (John Reese from Person of Interest.)

 

And last but not least, our darling Clementine Eloise (10 months old)

We actually had the name Eloise chosen as the first name before we even found out what we were having. Eloise is a character in LOST and after Don mentioned it, we both immediately loved it. But one night I told him that I kind of liked the name Clementine, even though I thought it had nothing to do with LOST. Then he reminded me that Clementine is the name of Sawyer’s daughter on the show! Don didn’t love the name though. I started jokingly referring to our unborn daughter as “Clementine.” After saying it so many times, he actually started really liking it. I’m so glad we went with the name because it suits her so perfectly.

 

Baby #7 has yet to have any boy or girl names picked out. Although, the kids all have some great suggestions. We had gotten some questions on my Instagram about how the kids felt about adding a new sibling. So we went out for a picnic lunch the other day (disclaimer, we actually only had fries at the picnic haha) and asked the kids a few questions. I love hearing all their answers! If you watch to the end of the video, there’s also a little sneak peek into getting our announcement photo. Don set up the GoPro and captured the photo session in action. It’s pretty hilarious to me. But so many people were asking us how we got the shot so now you can see how 😉 If you have any more questions for the kids (or for us) make sure to leave them in the comments! And go subscribe to our family vlog!

One more thing before I go–is anyone interested in bumpdate videos? I did one last time and it turned out super awkward because I am totally awkward when I’m talking on camera. But Don thinks I should do them again. Any thoughts?

Have a great week!

August 16, 2017