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Hi, blog readers! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update. First off, I would like to hear how your summer was. What were some of the highlights? We had a busy spring and a more relaxed summer. We were home most of the summer, which I really enjoyed, and we welcomed a few visitors, which was great. I generally prefer hosting family and friends over traveling to visit them.

In June, we met Mr. Handsome’s side of the family in Gatlinburg for four days. There were 15 adults and 15 children, and we all stayed in one huge lodge. It was well set up, with a large gathering area and a lot of small bedrooms.

We took all the kids on a three-mile hike, and it went surprisingly well. It was pretty flat, so the terrain was easy on the children’s feet. Those with babies brought a hiking carrier. We parked at the Metcalf Trailhead and hiked up to the Little Greenbrier School, a schoolhouse built in 1882 that is open to the public. The kids loved sitting at the original desks and looking at the writing on the chalkboard. They felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder, and honestly, all the adults did, too. We all thoroughly enjoyed this piece of living history.

From there, we hiked to the Walker Sisters’ Place, a cabin built in the 1840s that is also open to the public. There was a three-page document inside the house that detailed the interesting history of the family. The Walker family owned the house before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established and were allowed to stay after the park opened, but their activities were limited by park regulations. For a while, the Walker sisters welcomed visitors to their property.

One of the evenings we were in Gatlinburg, after all the other kids had gone to bed, I took six-year-old Little Buddy on a special outing to a mountain coaster. It’s not a typical roller coaster. The car you sit in is self-propelled, so you can control the speed. I don’t love roller coasters, but this was incredibly fun. I enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my oldest child.

All 15 kids did great on the trip, and everyone slept well, which was my biggest prayer. One of the highlights of our time in Gatlinburg was seeing two black bears up close. While Mr. Handsome was on the back deck grilling burgers, they walked out of the woods to investigate the scrumptious smell. They were directly under the grill, just ten feet below the enclosed deck. When they saw Mr. Handsome, one of them walked slowly back into the woods, and the other sauntered out into the parking lot and passed several other lodges before we lost sight of him. There were plenty of people and cars around the complex, but the bear did not seem scared at all.

Hello, blog readers! It has been a few months since my last post. Life has been busy, and it has been hard for me to find time to sit down and blog, but I want to give you all an update on our family.

Little Buddy is six years old and has matured in leaps and bounds over the past several months. He is eager (most of the time) to help me around the house, and he even enjoys doing things for his younger siblings (often without me asking him). He is full of energy and always has been, but he has just recently gotten to the point of being able to sit down with a chapter book and read independently for a short period of time. He and Littlest Buddy are great friends and spend a lot of time playing together. Sometimes things get rough, as is expected with young boys, but for the most part they are kind to each other. I love watching them become best friends.

Littlest Buddy is three years old. He is very perceptive and takes everything in. While we are driving, he will frequently point out places we have been, even if it was a few months ago. And he sometimes even tells me the correct direction to turn when we are going familiar places. His “baby voice” is slowly disappearing, and he has recently figured out how to pronounce more difficult sounds like “th.” He still uses a few of his “baby” words, such as “mook” for milk, and it makes me smile every time because I know it won’t last long. When mook becomes milk, I think both Mr. Handsome and I will cry.

Little Lady is one, and she is enjoying her newfound freedom that comes with being able to walk. Her greatest desires are to get into the bathroom and climb the stairs, so much so that if she is across the room and she sees that the bathroom door or the gate blocking the stairs is open, she bolts over. When we close it, she lets out a scream. She can say a few words, like “mama,” “dada,” “moe” for more, and “nun” for done.” The other day, she was running around holding two of her brother’s Beanie Babies, and she put them in her dollhouse. I said, “Can I please have Brother’s monkeys,” and she grabbed them and handed them to me. We have enjoyed watching her interact with her brothers.

How have all of you been doing?

From Mr. Handsome:

Last weekend, I had an epiphany during breakfast with the family, as I was enjoying my Corn Chex (the only cereal that Ellie buys) with a little bit of Trader Joe’s granola. “You know Ellie,” I said. “I think that as a father, it is very important for me to spend quality time with our children. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I think that is very important,” replied Ellie.

“Well, I have some free time this afternoon, and I could plan an outing,” I stated. “What do you think?”

“That’s a great idea,” responded Ellie.

“What if I take the kids to Five Daughters Bakery for donuts?” I suggested.

Ellie looked up sharply from her no-sugar-added oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins (what she eats every single morning). “So what you are saying is that Daddy wants donuts,” she stated.

“No, no, no” I replied in total shock. “The donuts are just extra. The focus is family time.” I could tell that Ellie didn’t believe me.

After breakfast, I hosted a men’s Bible study. Throughout the entire study, I could almost taste the creamy deliciousness of Five Daughters 100-layer donuts. And of course, I couldn’t wait to spend quality time with my children.

I excitedly told Little Buddy that we would be going out for donuts after Littlest Buddy’s nap. I was expecting my five-year-old to jump for joy, so you can imagine how shocked I was when he looked back at me and said, in a very mature tone, “That’s okay, Daddy. I don’t need a donut.”

“”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. “”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. One of our friends had brought mini cinnamon rolls to Bible study, and Little Buddy explained that he had eaten a few and that he therefore didn’t need any other treats for the rest of the day.

“But don’t you want a sugary chocolate donut with sprinkles on top?” I asked my son. “And don’t you want to spend quality time with Daddy?”

“Well I would actually rather stay home and wrestle with you, Daddy,” said Little Buddy. “And could you give us horsey back rides, too?” How could I say no to that?

At that moment, Ellie, who had overheard the conversation, came rushing into the room with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you, Little Buddy!” she exclaimed. “Deciding that you don’t need a treat shows that you are very mature.” Ellie works hard from the time the kids are six months old to give them vegetables at every meal and limit their sugar intake to one small treat on most days. She is the only person I know who genuinely likes the taste of vegetables, and our kids are following in her footsteps.

Ellie turned to me and said, “Mr. Handsome aren’t you proud of Little Buddy and his wise decision to stay away from sugar? Since you’re a mature adult, I’m sure you won’t mind skipping the donuts, right?”

I felt a small tear welling up in my eye as I said, “Yes, Little Buddy, I am very proud of you.”

Hi blog readers! Mr. Handsome heard that I haven’t kept up with my blog this summer (been busy enjoying the weather and making memories with our three kiddos), and he decided to help with posts. I hope this one gives you a good laugh.

From Mr. Handsome:

I must make a public service announcement that you might find concerning, shocking, and possibly even disturbing. The sad truth is that there has been a steady decline in the quality of coffee beans over the past several years. The taste is fine and has not changed significantly, but the concentration of caffeine has dropped dramatically. It seems that they are taking the caffeine out of the beans, and I do not know why. Perhaps it is inflation, government regulation, worker shortage, or climate change. I really can’t say for sure. But I have proof that it is happening. Allow me to explain.

I noticed the issue when we had our first child. It literally happened the exact week that Little Buddy was born, specifically the day I returned to work. The timing could not have been worse. I noticed that even after my morning cup of coffee, I still did not have the energy that I used to. I just chalked it up to a bad batch of coffee beans and bought a new bag. Unfortunately, the new bag was just as bad, and I had to switch from 8 ounces of coffee in the morning to about 12 ounces just to feel awake and ready for the day.

“Must be corporate greed,” I said to myself. “The coffee manufacturers are taking some of the caffeine out of the coffee beans to force us to buy more coffee.”

One morning at breakfast, I noticed Ellie looking tired and asked if she was also noticing the low concentration of caffeine in her coffee. “Yes, Mr. Handsome, I think that must be the problem,” she stated, as she bounced a fussy Little Buddy while holding his pacifier in his mouth.

But this drop in caffeine quality was nothing compared to what happened a few years later. This time, it was perfectly timed with the birth of our second child. I noticed that not only did I need a larger cup of coffee in the morning, but by lunch I needed a second cup just to get through the rest of the day.

“Ellie, do you think the Covid supply chain issues have caused coffee companies to have to thin out their coffee beans?” I asked my wife.

“Yes, dear, I think that is the problem,” replied Ellie, who was feeding Littlest Buddy while Little Buddy did somersaults in the living room.

Earlier this year, we had our third baby, and what do you think happened that very week? The worst drop in caffeine quality of them all. At this point, drinking coffee is basically just drinking flavored water. They must have taken all the caffeine out of coffee beans to fight inflation. The other day, I tried a monster drink for the first time, and even that didn’t provide energy. The poor caffeine quality has spread beyond just coffee and is now affecting the entire caffeinated beverage industry. However, the caffeine shortage has had no effect whatsoever on the energy levels of our children.  

If we all band together, perhaps we can can petition the Food and Drug Administration to address this terrible problem. Have any of you noticed a decrease in the effectiveness of caffeine over the past few years?

Hi blog readers! In celebration of the nine-year anniversary of Nashville Wife, I want to take a few minutes to share something with you that is very important to me. That is my faith in Jesus. My testimony in a nutshell is that I began following the Lord in my later elementary years. When I was in 4th grade, my family started going to church, and it was there that I began to understand what it means to live my life for Jesus.

I am eternally grateful to the church’s children’s ministry director, youth pastors, and volunteers who loved Jesus and loved kids. They were dedicated to following God, and they showed it with their selfless service to the kids in our church and the volunteer work that they led us in outside the church walls.

The Bible tells us that a relationship with Jesus gives us a peace that transcends all understanding, and that is something that everyone can experience. God invites anyone to call on the name of the Lord and accept His free gift of salvation. It doesn’t matter what kind of past a person has or even if he or she has committed murder. The Bible says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9).

We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God, and we deserve eternal punishment and separation from God in hell. But God made a way for us to have a relationship with Him by sending his Son, Jesus, to take our punishment by dying on the cross. That allows us to live in communion with God here on Earth and to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

I am not a perfect person. I still sin and fall short of God’s standard every single day, and because of that, I am reminded daily of my need for Jesus and how grateful I am for His sacrifice on the cross. His blood covers my sins.

I understand that some of you may have been hurt by people claiming to be Christians and that the idea of church and Christianity might give you a bad taste. Let me be the first to tell you that I am deeply sorry for your pain. There are people out there who say they follow Jesus but don’t. Living for God means loving others as we love ourselves, so anyone who hurts people does not understand what it means to be a Christian. The Bible tells us that people who genuinely follow Jesus will show it with their actions and the fruit of their lives.

If you have no interest in a relationship with Jesus, then feel free to disregard this post. But if you have any questions or would like to learn more, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I will not begin to pretend that I have all the answers, but God does, and He promises to answer us if we call on Him.

Hello blog readers! Sorry we have been MIA recently. Life with a baby is always busy, but we are really enjoying the dynamic of having three children. It has been a lot of fun to see them interact.

Like her brothers, Little Lady struggled with jaundice as a newborn. Instead of being readmitted to the hospital for treatment, we were able to find a medical supply company that had a blue light blanket available for rent. Little Lady’s doctor prescribed it before her levels went high enough to require hospitalization, so we were able to keep her at home. Her doctor closely monitored her bilirubin levels.

Little Lady is smaller than her brothers. At 12 lbs 12 oz, she is average sized for a three-month-old girl. Until about a few weeks ago, she was sleeping really well. She even had about a week when she was sleeping through the night. Then she hit a bit of a regression and wakes up multiple times a night, but she always goes back to sleep quickly, so I can’t complain.

I am going to plan to be more active on the blog. I would like to do another Q and A post, so feel free to post questions in the comments section, and I will answer them in a future post. They can be about anything.

As we shared a few days ago, our third child is here, and we are thrilled. My last couple months of pregnancy really took a toll on my body, but within a few hours of delivering the baby, I was feeling much better physically than I had in a long time. She was born at 39 weeks and weighed just over 7 lbs. My boys (the second arrived a few days before 39 weeks and the first came just before his due date) were both close to 9 lbs, so this delivery was much easier.

I was mentally prepared for a larger baby, as my provider had told me that while girls can be smaller, that is not true for all women. For that reason–as well as my past problems with blood pressure and the issue we had with our second son being born blue and not breathing–my provider and I decided to do an elective induction at 39 weeks. My first two inductions were very smooth, so choosing this method of delivery brought me a lot of peace. Would you like me to share my birth story?

We wanted to hop on here to announce the arrival of our baby girl! We look forward to sharing more details in the coming days, but for now we are focusing on enjoying the newborn snuggles and adjusting to life as a family of five. I am thankful to be getting more sleep than I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, when discomfort was causing me to wake up almost every hour. Even with nighttime feedings, I feel more refreshed because I am able to sleep longer stretches.