Moments Mommy Captured: Minka’s Return!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend! We enjoyed a fairly quiet weekend at home, and here we are facing another week already! The weekends always go by way too fast, don’t they?!

We have big news to share…our sweet yellow lab Minka is BACK! She was on a long sabbatical at Grandpa and Grandma Kuiper’s house in the Wisconsin northwoods. After Emersyn and Mckinley were born, the poor girl wasn’t getting enough attention from us and the extra work that comes along with having a dog was enough to push me over the edge. We’re so thankful that Jake’s parents took good care of her and gave us time to adjust to being a family of five. We decided we were ready to give it a go with her back, and it has been absolutely wonderful. She’s been so well-behaved, and extra gentle with the kids. They love watching her, and Baylen spends the majority of his day chasing her around, giving her hugs, and giggling when she tries to snatch his food from the dinner table.We were super excited to discover that there is a 70 acre dog park about 5 minutes from our house! We took Minks there on Friday and we all had a blast watching her run around. We’re looking forward to more family trips to the dog park! We really want to make sure she’s getting enough exercise – that’s definitely key to her behaving like we need her to!I think one of Minka’s favorite things about being back home is that there are TWO babies in high chairs to drop food for her. I, of course, don’t mind having help cleaning up after them, either!I truly am so happy to have miss Minka Mae home. Our family feels complete again! I could do without the constant vacuuming up of her dog hair, but I think it’s a small price to pay for having such a lovable furry friend for our kids to grow up with.Here are a few other shots from our week…

Emersyn & Mckinley continue to grow and grow! They each have three teeth now and are working on their fourth! It’s crazy how everything developmentally so far has been within a few days of one another. And because I’m working on doing a better job of taking photos of them individually…

Here’s Emmy Jaye…And here’s Mack Jo…both of them are loving the challenge of feeding themselves puffs these days.And here’s their two year old brother, Bay! Most days I still can’t believe he’s two. Unreal.Jake had to go to Iowa for a quick overnight business trip last week, and I had an itch to get out of the house, so we joined him last minute! It was nice to have a change of scenery, and the kids and I enjoyed a laid back morning in the hotel room snuggled up on the big fluffy white bed. The trip went pretty smooth, but I had to laugh when I looked in the back seat as we were about to take off. Three kids crammed in the middle seat of Jake’s work car, and one large dog keeping watch over them…I definitely felt like we were running some sort of circus.Life really is a bit of a juggling act these days, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the precious moments we share together, and having our fourth child back is just icing on the cake!

Have a great week, friends!

Amber

P.S. For more reflections on parenthood and life, follow us on Facebook (Hun Let’s Run) and on Instagram: @ambermariekuiper and @jakekuiper! We’d also love for you to subscribe to our Hun, Let’s Run Podcast! For more info about joining our fitness community as a customer or coach, please email us at amber@mommysmetime.com!