January and February!

I guess this will be my new normal. Blogging multiple months at a time seems to fit our lifestyle now! During this season of life where we are almost outnumbered by our sweet children, it's the best I can do to sit down and organize a few (hundred) photos of the past few months. It's been a busy and unfortunately very sick past few months as we await sweet baby girl's arrival.

Random tidbits of our life...

Our routine includes a weekly church staff meeting for Blake, small group at our house, watching "This Is Us" and "The Great British Baking Show," band practice, trying to keep Saturdays a family day spent outside in the Florida sun, and a long (but good) day of church on Sunday.
We're addicted to the new budget app called "Mint" by intuit. It's really helped us be disciplined with our spending/saving/etc.
We found the best salsa ever, Mateo's Mild!
I'm addicted to Moody Radio and don't know what I'd do without pastor James McDonald's teaching. It's been so on point for me lately. God's always speaking through His word. It's 89.3 for all you SoFlo friends.
Jude and Laurie Kate's favorite things are Legos, books, Oatmeal Squares, sprinkles, playing outside, Play-Doh, Mary Poppins, and definitley "Little Einsteins."
This recipe for Paleo (we aren't Paleo people) coconut bars has been saving my life!

We spend a lot of time talking about our weekly schedule, who is picking up Jude or LK from school, who needs the next doctor's appointment, and all the while throwing out as much extra stuff as possible to make room for baby girl. She won't have a room for a while (poor third child) but that won't matter much since nursing is pretty much her main activity every few hours for the first few months. We've been so fortunate to stay in our lovely rental home for the past four years. We've moved seven times so this house proves to be the longest running stay for us. We love overlooking the river and watching the palm trees blowing in the wind. Plus, our neighbors are awesome. Coming home from work, you can expect six or so smiling faces to greet with you with a big, "hello miss Caroline! Can Jude and Laurie play with us?"

I can't wait to set up the Pack-N-Play by our bedside. I've had many moments where I've been completely overwhelmed by little hands tugging on my pant-legs, cough after cough, explosive sneezes, and feeling so weak from sicknesses. Laurie Kate's new school has been a blessing but goodness, it's full of germs! I know there are moms shaking their heads right now with memories of the same plague that hit after starting daycare. If not, I pray that this sickness avoids your household but you are now warned! We've ALL battled sinus infections, ear infections, constant coughing, pink-eye, the stomach flu, tonsillitis, and more. Being pregnant has always been 99% enjoyable for me but this round has been difficult. I've prayed for confirmation that this may be our last little Herron and I believe I got that confirmation LOUD and CLEAR. This will be the last! Haha!

On the other hand, we live in quite the paradise. I'm so thankful for the sunshine, lush green scenery that surrounds us, the beautiful tropical flowers that are always in bloom, and our many precious friends that have taken care of us lately. We've settled in to a new community at our church and have loved hosting our small group Bible study at our house. Blake has had a wonderful experience with his new job at Ultimate Software and I continue to enjoy my amazing co-workers. I will definitely miss their company while I'm out for maternity leave but I look forward to coming back to the world of oral surgery soon afterwards.

We've seen God working in our life and in the lives of others who don't know Him (yet). I tend to keep those details private because I care deeply for my friends who've become like family. It's between me and the Lord anyways! However, I feel constantly burdened by my lack of boldness and yet, I have to trust that the Spirit of the Lord is always working.

My mind is always a bit clouded with how to shepherd these sweet babies, be the wife Blake needs, the friend that I want to be, and more. Lately, I've just had to put it all down and rest. I've been sick for about fourteen weeks, I'm growing a baby, and I don't want to take any of this life for granted. Christ sacrificed everything for me so that I could have a life that is not defined by my circumstances but by His promises. It's a daily battle for me to put aside the mundane, to turn off my phone, and to remember His presence restores my soul. Not the perfect balance that I'll never find in life, not chocolate, not quality time with loved ones... it's just Jesus. It's nice to know that God is always greeting me with grace when I'm at my wits end. :)

Every once in a while Blake has to get out the N64. It was so good to catch up with our old pals, Jenessa and Stephen!

It's always a blast to drive about forty minutes to Hollywood Beach! The kids shake with excitement and they hate leaving. Jude loves to play in the sand and LK HATES the sand! LK loves the birds and sneaking into the snack bag. She likes to sit with me under the shade, haha!

Jude and Dad did a great job building a little chest for baby girl!

This girl. She's one of my closest friends and I couldn't be more thankful for her wisdom. Thank you for always pointing me to Jesus!

Jude's buddy, Victoria.

23 weeks

waiting for the school doors to open

poor LK had cellulitis from a sinus infection

loving my job and my amazing friends. Jennifer and I have had a blast doing some marketing! i enjoy welcoming everyone as they tremble with fear of the dreaded wisdom tooth surgery. of course, that's not all I do but it's the part that I treasure.

As the kids have gotten older, we've loved playing in the circle with our neighbors! They love to ride around in their cop car, bikes, scooters, and trikes! The weather this time of the year is perfect- 75-85 outside!

little charmer is always kissing LK!

justa normal evening

i love listening to you read

they've definitely gotten bigger when I see how much the stroller seems to shrink!

can't wait to find out what infection we have next!

picking Jude up from school :)

25 weeks

"all by myself!"

January means it's BLAKE'S BIRTHDAY MONTH! Jude's favorite thing to do lately is to make birthday hats since he wore a birthday hat at school. So, Blake got the coolest hat ever!

our motto as parents, "if we can survive dinnertime then we can survive anything."

26 wks

This beautiful piece was welcomed to our family recently and I couldn't feel more special to have it! My friend Ashley's great-grandmother passed away and left many timeless pieces here in FL. I never expected to have such a charming piece of furniture to display our china in. I hope to honor her memory and continue to open our home (and plates) to anyone who wishes!

Daddy's home! and i think it was time to clean up the Christmas decor!

always playing dress up with our stuff. we always go to put a shoe on and find that one is missing!

always has to carry her own lunchbox to school all by herself

pink eye, yay!

These kiddos have the BEST dad ever!

probably watching "Little Einsteins"

my buddy Jennifer from work and sweet Victoria!

It was a treat to have Granna come down to celebrate LK's birthday! More on a separate post later.

Blake's new job! Ultimate Software has been such a blessing to us!

one Sunday we discussed discipleship and I was so excited to share/answer a few questions. i really hope to explore more public speaking/teaching in the future but for now, I'm busy being momma and working.