Sunday Best, Sunday Chaos

Joel and Taft picked their Sunday clothes. We've got a plaid/striped theme going on. They wanted to wear their suspenders like Papa Nelsen. I also love the drawstrings sticking out of their pants. They are funny boys. They look like they're getting ready to be awesome engineers someday. Or maybe they are hipster?

Last Sunday felt a little chaotic. I'm not sure why...Somehow Joel took a nap through the chaos on the couch, but I captured everyone else's chaos. Five kids is super fun but I will say adding the fifth hardly seems like adding one more to the mix. It has been a whole new level of adjustment. I think part of it is everyone is a little older and though that is helpful, it also means there are more independent needs. I can't just group everyone together and hope they all got the attention they deserve. It is time for some individualization around these parts!

 

Introducing Evan Erik

 Evan Erik was born January 16, 2021 around 6 PM. He was 9 lbs 4 oz and healthy! He is already 8 weeks old! Here is a photo dump of him over the last 8 weeks. In true Archibald fashion we moved 3 weeks after he was born. He likes having more space, though!

Coming home from the hospital was a little overwhelming but also beautiful. It was the first time we were all together!

Evan had lots of pictures welcoming him home. He is loved by all of his siblings! Kent, in particular, is very fond of Evan. Kent was hysterical when I took Evan to his first doctor's appointment. He also loves to rub Evan's head and say "hair".

Remembering his hospital times...

"Is that me?! Was I really that small and NAKED?!

Evan is a sweet guy. I think I finally know that you can't spoil a newborn. Evan has had the privilege of being rocked to sleep every single sleep cycle. But he is also learning to stay asleep, which is nice. We are getting decent stretches of sleep each night. Somehow it feels like sleep is all that matters at this point! 

Evan smiles a lot! Likes to eat and be held. He loves his paci, he's fond of swaddling. At 6 weeks he graduated to the arms up swaddle. He smells like a sweet baby. I love feeling the weight of his relaxed, sleeping body against mine. I love to rub his cheek against mine.

Weeding the Grass

Taft has been worrying about the weeds in the grass. He decided to do something about it. He rounded up some gloves and tools and his brothers they went to work. They do an excellent job of pulling to tops off. It turns out the dirt is really hard and the roots are stuck fast. But they try their best!

Taft also got to operate the garbage truck arm. You can hear about it here:

Taft's Garbage Truck Experience

I don't think there has been a happier boy in awhile! And now Joel is hoping for his own turn soon!!