Love Like This: summer summer summer time!!!!!

this summer has been a little different than summers in the past. brad works nights and weekends so it seems like we haven't got to do as many activities and having a tiny baby hasn't made it easy to do the things we normally like to do. our days have been mostly filled with swimming in the backyard and playing with the neighborhood kids. and it has been a good summer. we blessed ace, kade got baptized, we went to kanarra with bryce and sal and then i went again with the kids and my family, we had a fun 4th of july, there have been tons of firsts with ace and life has been full. jovi loves to pretend to be a kitty. she calls herself pinky lee. she like to wear my moms glasses and call herself mrs. lady, and plays doctor a lot. giving check ups is her specialty. she will tell you if you have any owies and bandage them right up. reese loves swimming and playing with his friends. he was really enjoying playing baseball in the front yard for a while too, until i taught him how to ride his bike without training wheels. he asks every night for me to watch him go up and down the street and most nights i make it happen. ace is a snuggly baby. he loves to be held and falls asleep in his swing. he is sleeping in his crib, but far from sleeping through the night. i still get up with him a about 3, sometimes 4 times a night. i fall asleep in the chair in his room and it seems like i never get enough sleep. but i am grateful, so grateful to hold him in my arms at night and smell his skin. right now in iraq and syria there is a christain genocide taking place. the ISIS are taking christian men and killing them, raping the women and beheading the children. it is an awful world and it terrifies me that my children will ever witness these things. i pray that they don't know about it for a long time and i pray for those it is effecting. lately i have been reflecting. it has been a hard time for brad lately. his job hasn't been going well, and it is hard for him to have gratitude when he feels like he can't provide for our family. i just tell him that if money is our worst problem then we have it pretty good. it has been a year since we asked his mom for help and i still have a lot of resentment. i have tried to let it go and have mostly, but i still have weak moments where twinges of jealousy and resentment pop up. i know my life is full and if we keep working together and trying that we will make it. and we will... my little family is my life. reese is preparing to start kindergarten next week! where has the time gone and how has my first born little man grown up into such an amazing boy? he is thoughtful and sweet and loves baby ace to the moon. jovi drives him crazy like a sister/2 year old should. writing just makes me think of more and more to be happy about. i love my family. i love that they love us and are supportive of us and i am just grateful... so grateful.