Another December has come and gone all too quickly, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year + even though this year felt more busy and crazy than ever, I would do it all over again if I could.  A few things I always want to remember from the 2022 holiday season:

Waverly stopped “believing” this year, which was heartbreaking and also one of the sweetest parts of the season for me.  She was SO excited to help us hide the elves each night and 110% was more consistent and creative than her dad or I at it.  I was worried that once she knew she might slip with one of her sisters, but she was the cutest keeping it a secret and wanted them to believe so much.  This month was also big for her, she had a ton of performances for dance and also performed in her school play.

Avalon running down to find the elves and get her chocolate from the advent calender each morning will forever be some of my favorite Christmas memories, it is her favorite time of day and her excitement is the best.  This year she wanted a hover board, fidgets and puzzles, all so very true to her personality right now.  She loves a good holiday hot chocolate and will always bake all the Christmas treats with me.

Remie Rue, age four, and probably at my favorite age for Christmas.  The magic at this age is the BEST, she just gets it and it’s also the most magical thing to her in the world.  I loved listening to Jingle Bells with her each morning on the way to school and seeing her perform in her first ever live holiday preschool performance this month.  She changed her wish list so many times, a couple days before the actual holiday she added a “red monkey” to her list, I will forever laugh about that.

And sweet Delilah — her very first Christmas!!!!  She is seven months old and has changed so much in the past few weeks, she is currently babbling all the time, laughing, and smiling so big at her sisters.  She is just so, so precious, and pretty good about going along with us to all of the activities (just as long as mama and dad is close, she is very much at that seperation anxiety phase!!).  Also a forever core memory, she learned to sit up on Christmas Eve!  With all of her sisters cheering right beside her, of course.

And now it’s on to 2023!  This year will be big, we have a future kindergartener, a middle schooler, and I will turn 40!  Excited for all that is to come. 🙂

Our Delilah June is SIX MONTHS old, this time last year we were just finding out that we were actually going to have that fourth baby that I dreamt about for so long + now she is here and I cannot imagine a life without her.  Life with four kids is definitely crazy and I haven’t been able to update on her as much as her sisters, but she is such a little sweetheart that I know she will forgive me one day and completely understand 😉

Sweet little Delilah.  She is pure happiness and light.  We don’t think we have ever had such a smiley or chatty baby as her, she just constantly radiates joy and wants to use her voice to “chat” with everyone around her.  She loves bath time (her favorite time of day since she was just a few weeks old), being held, a good warm bottle, + her big sisters.  She really doesn’t like being without someone very close to her and I guess that’s a good thing because when you are the fourth kid, you never really have to.  She is definitely the current house favorite, I look at how much my three older girls adore her and it’s really one of the very best parts of having a big family.

Last week she hit the DOUBLE DIGITS (10.1 pounds!), she has close to tripled her weight since birth and is absolutely perfectly healthy.  Such an answered prayer.  She is still tiny for her age since she started out small, but growing just like she should now that she is on the outside, and meeting all of her milestones.  My pregnancy with her was so incredibly stressful + I am so, so glad it’s behind us, but I truly believe the silver lining in it was the perspective it gave me.  I used to get so sad when when my other girls were growing what felt like all too fast, and now after praying + hoping for the little babe inside me to just grow week after week for the entire second half of my pregnancy, I realize what a gift it is to be able to watch our babies grow.  That’s exactly what we want them to do, and I am sooooo grateful to be able to watch our Delilah girl do just that.

Some favorite pictures of Delilah from her first six months, she is such a doll!!  We think she looks like the sweetest little mix of all three of her big sisters, with the brightest blue eyes of all four of them (one of my favorite features of hers!!).  HAPPY half birthday Delilah, we love you so!!!

And for a fun comparison, all three of my other girls at six months — Waverly, Avalon + Remie Rue!

It’s just a couple days until Halloween, it seemed like a good time to share some favorite photos from the past month!  October is always a favorite, this time around feels extra special since our last little babe is here to soak it in with us annnnd since last year I was so sick this month with her in my belly.  We are still very much knee deep in our addition and a lot of time has been spent close to home so my husband can work on that, but we have managed a few trips to the pumpkin patch, some fun Halloween crafts, and the boo zoo.  I still cannot believe that we are old enough to have a ten year old or that we have four little girls now, the days are long (sometimes very long!) but the years are short + I love each of them so incredibly much.

We hope fall is beautiful your way! XO

Happy to report that we survived the back to school hustle over here, we are now almost 4 weeks into the 2022 school year + settling into a bit of a routine!  Our three big girls are in FIFTH, second and Pre-K this year — hard to believe that Waverly Maye will somehow head to middle school the next time a new school year rolls around, I am truly soaking in these last super sweet elementary school days with her.

A few things I always want to rememeber about this school year.  Half our girls are at one school and the other half at another, of course Waverly + Avalon are together (always so dang cute!) and now, Remie + Delilah get to be together also!  We switched Remie to a new preschool this year because it offers an infant program for baby sis, it was so bittersweet to leave a school we loved and I was pretty worried about it, but it has worked out so well.  Remie loves her new school and looooooves that Delilah is in the same place as her.   I am working part-time this year so I am able to drop them off on the way and come back in the afternoon to get them, it’s always one of the best parts of my day.

Waverly is such an active fifth grader, I am so proud of her and love how much she loves school.  Avalon is the cutest little second grader and loves seeing all her girlfriends each day, both of them (and Remie Rue!) are still doing dance and look forward to it each week.

Some photos from the first week of school. 🙂

Happy almost October and FALL!!!!!  Love this time of year so much! XO

Aaah, our sweet Remie Rue is FOUR!  She is the last of all our girls to have her special day during our “birthday season” + she has waited so patiently for her special day, I looooved celebrating her this weekend so very much.  She requested a baby doll party, she has always loved baby dolls but loves them even more now that Delilah is here.  A true little mama, she loves changing + feeding her dolls, just like I do with her baby sis.

This has been such a big year for her, becoming a big sister and really growing to become one of the big girls.  She loves to read, to color, and is her daddy’s biggest helper in the addition.  She is a mix of sweet + sassy, always giving someone a hug when they need it most but also definitely lets you know when she’s not happy (she has always been this way!), and used to be a little shy but has mostly grown out of this and will talk anyone’s ear off now 🙂 Definitely a Brickner sister.  This week she started a new preschool for Pre-K and I was so nervous about how she would do, when I came to pick her up she was smiling ear to ear and couldn’t stop telling me about what a fun day she had.

Some photos from the past year, she still looks like her daddy the most and just kills me with her cuteness.  Stay little forever, my girl.

Happy four Remie girl, we love, love, love you!!!!!  So excited to see where this year takes you.