It seems every time I plan an activity like this it ends in frustration. The kids never "contain" the mess. It ends up everywhere and all over them and I get mad and regret the whole thing. But I still find myself trying to entertain them in new and fun ways again and again and again. I suppose it's my fault, I always leave them alone.

They sure like it though, and they sure look cute doing it.

I'm pretty sure this particular time ended in panic. When I was out of the room- Scarlet convinced Brighton to INHALE the bubbles. He did. It was terrible. I hear screaming, run inside, Brighton is covered all over his face and body in suds- I don't know what happened- but he is SCREAMING. Somehow I find out what DID happen and run with him upstairs as fast as I can. I strip Brighton and myself and jump in the tub and spray water all over him, but the soap I used was foaming hand soap so the more I sprayed, the more foamy bubbles just kept coming all over his poor face and it was the worst nightmare. I thought it would never end. At some point in the middle of all this, I yell at Scarlet telling her how much she hurt Brighton and how dangerous it was for him. So she disappears out of the room with intense guilt and worry, but of course she had no idea any of this would happen. Right after I yell at her I regret it, but can't really smooth it over at that time. Brighton's having trouble breathing and I'm honestly wondering if we need to call an ambulance. I'm staying calm but slightly freaking out that I literally have no idea how to call one- and if I DID figure it out- holy craps I don't want a local doctor helping us!!! I would honestly be worried they would make it WORSE. Anyway, after a lot of screaming from everyone involved- the bubbles eventually disappeared, he started breathing normally again. Oh it was terrible. I couldn't convince him to blow his nose- so that hurt him for a long time and I think he just kept sneezing the rest of the day. Marius was screaming in his crib, in the background, this whole time.  So that just added to it all. It was traumatic.

When Brighton isn't sick- he is just the brightest most happiest star! He is grinning and running and laughing and playing constantly. He just loves being alive. The poor kid is sick half the time, so we don't get to see his wonderful self that often- but when we do- WOW. He is so bright and so amazing. And we just love that he's in this family. It is so fun to watch him.

Greg and I have been taking lunch dates since Marius was born. It seems easier to get away during the day because of all the feeding issues with Marius and that I have to feed him before he goes down for the night. Greg had a local holiday off, so he took me to one of the bigger markets, I'd never been to before. Here was a bunch of fish with blood all over the floor. Yummy.

Completely on a whim, we bought a bunch of felt from this lady (who made it all herself!) We're going to make a felt tree for the kids to play with next year. It is going to be so much work, but Greg said he would do it, and I'm sure he will. I just have to cut it out. To me, that is the easy part. To him, sewing is the easy part- because just puts on the tv.

Ever since Marius could crawl he follows the kids everywhere and plays right beside them. I LOVE IT. It is the sweetest thing to watch- EVER.

This boy is finally eating like a baby should. After a month of not wanting a bottle OR breastfeeding, he's finally taking bottles. We called it quits on breastfeeding a couple weeks ago. It was a little weird the first week, but now everything feels normal. I can't believe how my appetite has decreased. CRAZY!!! I probably eat 1/4 of what I used to, it's just insane! Same with water. He's been growing  again and it's so nice not to have to worry about it anymore.

What can I say, he's cute!

We went upstairs to find Brighton asleep on the floor at the top of the stairs. This boy can be so sneaky. One time I was watching tv, got up to use the bathroom and there he was watching it with me, just outside the door. I have no idea how long he was there!!!

More play time! Shaving cream-

Brighton loves to build with blocks. I'm in the kitchen and after awhile I think, "Where is Brighton? I haven't seen him in 20 minutes!" and sure enough, he is by himself, playing with the blocks, even pretending they're people and talking and doing things with them. So sweet. I love it.

Little Marius learned how to crawl last month at 8 months. That is a whopping 2 MONTHS sooner than my other two kids. Man, this one just keeps on blowin' us away. I thought he'd be walking by now, because he always made us hold his hands and walk him everywhere, but now that he can crawl we don't do it NEARLY as much. Like 10% of what we used to. He used to THROW FITS until we'd get up and walk him around. It was the worst. He crawls super fast now! It's so cute.

When Marius smiles, he often scrunches his face together like this- it's so cute. He's so expressive!

I think, sometimes, about when Scarlet will go to school in a year and a half and then it will just be the boys. I used to think it would be so wild and energetic- but Scarlet and Brighton were literally just wrestling on the floor today. It was crazy. I think they were being monsters. But they were literally rolling all over each other. It was nuts.

I'm so glad we have our nice camera and we get to have such nice pics of the kids.

Daddy making pizza with the kids is starting to become a Sunday afternoon tradition, and we all like it. Greg's just good at making pizza. He used to work at a parlor so he's quite the master- can throw the dough and all. This is Scarlet on the counter helping him.

We've also gotten in the tradition of Greg taking over meals on the weekends, and it's SO RELIEVING. A lot of times we just get take out, but not on Sundays. I love not having to cook. Today I did the craziest thing, I had my babysitter/food prepper PREP ALL MY FOOD when I got home with the groceries and then I COOKED 5 MEALS. I made Pad Thai, White Chile, Moroccan Millet Salad, Asian Salad and Asian Stir Fry. And now it's just all done! Ready to go in the fridge! It's insane!!! Dinner has been SO hard to get on the table these days. The last month it seemed 3 dinners was all I could get on the table a week, and I was always calling Greg to bring home takeout, or him making us Ramen or Quesadillas or something and I'd feel really bad that he comes home and cooks- but that's just what was happening. Then it sort of came to me- this idea of making it all in one day and being done with it. I wondered if it would be too much, would the food go bad, or not taste good because it's all left overs? Would it fit in the fridge? Well, I just WENT FOR IT today. And it was pretty much awesome. I think the awesomeness of it is going to grow with each day that I don't have to make dinner or clean it up, afterward. Whether I do this for the rest of my life, I don't know- but I think I'll be doing it these last 2 months that we're here. I know it sounds silly, but I think it's the ONLY way I'm getting dinner on the table. I just put in a little time here or there over 4 hours. In all, I think I only WORKED 2 hours cooking and putting salads together. I didn't have to wash or prep my food, so that clearly saved me a lot of time. But now it's cooked and done!

I'm nearly done reading a book about Minimalism. The last few weeks, I've been going through the house, getting rid of excess stuff that we don't use and don't really want. It's been great. It's going to take awhile longer- there is so much to go through! It's detail work- but I'm finally starting to feel a change. The house seems to stay tidier and have a better feeling about it. It's nice.