Friday Favorites, Alternately Titled: It's Friday! It's Friday! It's Friday!

What a week. I'm about ready to go into hibernation. For real. #dreaming Here are some of my favorites. I'm linking up with Momfessionals this week and looking forward to reading & catching up on some blogs, hard to do when you're baaaarely surviving on 3 hours sleep each night. Ugh.

#1 -
Fall colors & weather. Here in New England the weather has changed drastically, and quickly. From summer temps one day to flurries and arctic wind the next. BUT. We had the most vibrant, glorious, breathtakingly beautiful colors, and we took lots of walks and drives to explore and enjoy it all.

From one of our little hikes. His eyes still make my heart skip a beat. Every.Single.Time.

 
#2-
It's boot season. And plaid shirts. Boots, plaid, and crunchy leaves, well, it just doesn't get any better than that.

She's pretty cute in boots, too! While lots of clothes targeted at her age group make me physically ill, we have found lots of adorable things that aren't too "little kid" OR "too adult" for her.

 
#3-
Fall baking  =)

#4-
Another great soccer season in the books. I'm always both happy and sad to see it end. I luuuuuuve watching my guys play.

Oh! As is tradition, the girls varsity team dye the varsity guys' hair mid-season. Ethan's is growing out, finally!  :/  Although, I think he can get away with it. Such incredibly handsome boys I have!!!

#5-
We're trying cloth diapers! I was a little nervous about him having to poop because frankly, that just sounds frighteningly horrible to deal with, but thank goodness we didn't have that to contend with this morning. I only have one diaper because I wanted to be sure I liked them enough to make the investment. Any C.D. tips welcome in the comments!!! :)

Aaaaand we voted. Not even listing that as a favorite. I'm not thrilled about any of it, but as I keep telling our kids, no change in government will keep us from being kind, thoughtful and generous people to those around us. On that note, have a great weekend!

Find me on IG @bethanylivs_life to see more pics

Little Levi is Six Months Old!

Having such a big gap between children has made me extremely aware of the fact that time keeps moving forward, kids gets older in a heartbeat, and the days all pass so very quickly (even the ones that seem like they won't ever end!). I try not to take any of it for granted, to savor every single detail and moment because, before I know it, they'll be off in high school.

Levi turned six months old last week, and I had intended to write a little Day in Our Life post about it. Famous last words, I guess. :)

At around five months, baby boy, who still doesn't sleep very well, had a few weeks of sleeping from about 3 or 4 in the morning until 8:45. It made our earlier-morning school routine a little easier, that's for sure. But now his stretches are from bedtime at around 7:30 until 10 or 11, a quick nurse, then sometimes until 2 or 3, other times, even 4 or 5. I know most babies are sleeping through the night at his age, but he isn't, so what can you do, really? You deal with it and enjoy the extra snuggles because it doesn't last forever. On his half-birthday day, Levi slept until around 8, so he missed seeing Isabelle before school, but the big guys were home sick (mostly better by this point...), so he got spoiled with attention as usual. Watching them with their baby brother is just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

The sun was shining brightly and it was such a gorgeous fall day. The leaves had a late start this year and were just beginning to turn. I had big plans to do a little photo shoot in our backyard after running some errands, but... on the way to the store, my stomach started rumbling. And not the hungry kind of rumble. Before I knew it, everything was flipping inside out and I needed to get HOME. So much for balloons and cute photo shoots.  :/  So we all hung out and binge-watched Brooklyn 99, which I had never heard of before two weeks ago and now we're hooked. So, so funny. We have had to skip a few scenes, and one episode entirely, but otherwise it's just really, really hilarious.

************
Well. Now it's another week later. #notwinning

Yes, big brother is now blonde. It's a Varsity soccer thing, ha.

And the day ends the same way it begins, in Mama's arms. How we love this baby boy!

Fall 2016 Family Portraits

I think all Moms agree: getting pictures done is one of the most nerve-wracking, stress-inducing things of all time. Yesterday was humid and sticky hot (so much for fall, ha!), and sometimes it's kind of annoying to be a girl, if you catch my drift. But we got some good ones, and though I am my own worst critic, finding every.single.flaw in every.single.shot, I know I'll treasure these. I already do. I can't believe they are all mine. Well, ours. You know what I mean. ;)

First Day of School 2016

We haven't had a traditional "first day" back to school for several years now, so this felt really bittersweet. But good. =) I love this school system. That helps a lot.

Biggest and littlest. Does it get any sweeter than this? I doubt it. (Ignore the dead plants, please and thank you, ha!)

Off to 10th and 11th grade. I'm so proud of them! Of course they're both playing soccer at the new school. Ethan plays for Varsity and Jonah for JV. They are really terrific young men, so friendly, thoughtful, and kind. Most of the time, ha. And super smart. They are So. So. Smart.

This girl is off to the fourth grade! It seems like just yesterday I was sending her off to preschool for just a couple hours a week. She is continuing with piano this year and wants to try basketball this winter. Hooray! Gymnastics has been fun, but I think our time with it has come to an end. Though little miss doesn't know that yet. Oops.  :/

Framer!

I always give her the option of wearing something that I haven't made, and I can only think of one time when she chose a store-bought outfit. We both love this skirt! And I really love that smile!

I can hardly believe that my "baby" is entering the eighth grade. He is such a kind-hearted, helpful, and friendly kid, I just love him to pieces. He continues to move up in the ranks at Civil Air Patrol, and each step brings him closer to getting his pilot's license. Couldn't be prouder!

He just reached out to her and told her to have the best day. I'm savoring this moment because many of the other moments are not nearly so cute between these two lately. Argh.

We're now in our third week and things are going well. Levi has no real schedule - and still doesn't sleep at night - so we just do what we want. I know first hand how incredibly quick these years fly by, so I keep that in mind with my little guy, especially when we may not be having the best day. But there is always something good in it all, isn't there?