July 2013.

No, you're light years behind on life.  

Whatev.  I'm doing the best I can.  My kids are alive and well and I'm not willing to give up writing my monthly updates, so I'll just continue to write them a few months late :D

Brian was gone for the first part of July.  The boys and I stayed busy, as we always do when he's gone.  I must admit though, that this trip was more difficult than some of his other trips.  I mean, the day the Brothers managed to climb the counter, retrieve the finger paints, and paint the kitchen floor was .... especially challenging.  Thank you little baby Jesus for washable Crayola products.

They boys were just very very very clingy.  Most of my days were spent snuggling, with 1- 3 of them piled onto my lap.  This part, of course, was just fine.  The problems arose when I'd try to get up to cook or clean or you know, attempt to empty my bladder.  Full blown fits of rage would erupt from 3 angles.  I mean, how why couldn't I make them food while they sit on my lap???  Apparently, I am not a good enough Mom.  O_o

One of my saving graces while Brian is traveling is my friend Lisa.  The boys love playing with her 2 year old son L and her almost 1 year old daughter A.  We have play dates, go on outings together, and watch each others' kids so that we can each get some alone time.  It's funny, but we both agree that when we're watching each other's kids, life almost gets a bit easier, even though we have more kids.  I think it's the novelty of having friends over that chills them all out a bit and makes them less Mommy-focused and needy.  It's a beautiful thing.

Bri returned home on the 10th and jumped right back into Daddy-duty as he always does.  One of the boys' favorite things to do is to play on the big climbing wall/slide that Brian makes out of Brennan's mattress and box spring.  It's good exercise for them and pretty low maintenance entertainment for us!

Brennan and Brian got some extra quality time together during some of the Brothers' naps.  They painted together and Brennan decided to paint a butterfly mask for Daddy ... which it was on Daddy's face.  He also insisted on going for a run with Daddy.  They ran around the neighborhood and Brian was overjoyed that Brennan wanted to go and that he was actually pretty good.

Brian enjoyed some alone time with the Brothers while Brennan and I had a little weekend in Michigan.  When we came back, it was back to chaos as usual.  Kiernan got himself a nice battle wound.  He was trying to watch through the window while Brian mowed the lawn and slipped and cracked his eyebrow open on the windowsill .  He didn't care that there was blood running down his face.  All he wanted to do was "ride tractor!!!".  Brian and the boys worked on my new table too, trying to get it nice and smooth so that I don't have to chisel food out of the cracks on a daily basis.

We are taking full advantage of beach season.  The boys are obsessed with surfing, and are actually getting pretty good at body surfing - especially Kiernan.  All 3 of them rode some pretty good waves this time around.  It's so much fun to watch them!

Check out these gorgeous pictures of my sweet baby.  His eyes get me every time.  His Goldfish-caked smile isn't half bad either.

I've said it a million times before, but we are so lucky to have friends who love to play with our kids.  Brennan had a blast splashing in the waves with our friend Kyle.

True to his personality, Mr Beckett is the cautious beach bum.  He likes the water, and he'll body surf, but he really prefers to be with and adult while he's in the water.  And really, playing in the sand is his favorite thing to do.  

Also true to his personality, Kiernan has absolutely no fear when it comes to the water.  The photo on the left was taken right after he took a wave on the body board and rolled under the water.  Brian and I are always right there, but he managed to stand up on his own before we could even help him.  And it didn't really phase him at all.  He just runs straight into the waves and we have to make sure to keep up with him.  That said, he is getting much better at listening.  The photo of him looking at the camera while Brian and Brennan head out into the water was taken while I called his name and told him to stay with me.  

So that's July.  Who wants to take bets on whether I get August finished before August is actually over?

Ha.  Ha.  Hahahahahahahahahahaha.