Merry Christmas

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Happy Halloween!

Beautiful Fall

Fall is beautiful around here! The colors are amazing and there are SO many leaves everywhere- including our yard. We have some fun raking to do.





The other night Scott and the girls carved pumpkins and then we watched the Charlie brown Halloween show with cider, popcorn and caramel apples. It was the perfect autumn activity.

Random

I have been totally out of blogging mode the past while. I didn't blog while Scott was gone but now he is HOME! I'm just putting up a few pictures to catch up for journaling sake.


Maddie and Bella rarely ask to hold Nathan- probably because he is nearly as heavy as they are and is a bit squirmy but here is Maddie attempting to snuggle her brother.

Nathan is 7 1/2 months and the sweetest guy around. He is getting his top two teeth and another on the bottom (he already has two) so his poor mouth has to be hurting! I love this round happy face though.

This is for Aunt Lacey and Uncle Ashton to see Nathan in his cute Master's onesie.

A typical morning around our house- waking up and watching cartoons but only after the girls put on something "beautiful" and they had to set up their pumpkins.

My Dancers!

I've been teaching a little dance class for Maddie and Bella at our house the past couple months. It has been really fun and the girls love it. There are 7 little girls from our ward and it is low key, but perfect for this age to have something to get excited about.

A few summer pictures

I had to put up this picture because although Nathan looks tons like scott most of the time he looks just like my baby pictures here with that big round face! He is the cutest and sweetest guy ever. He sits up all by himself and has his first two teeth.

We went up and stayed with my sister in Logan and headed to play at Bear Lake for a day.

We fit 4 car seats and 2 boosters in the Sienna! Gotta love it.

The beautiful St. George temple. We were in Utah for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication and it was such a neat experience. We loved it.

Berries

I love picking fruit at the farms around here. We went rasberry picking last week and it was a blast. There were TONS of rasberries and the girls pretended to be Sleeping Beauty out picking berries. I had planned to make some yummy jam or some sort of great dessert but aside from some rasberry milkshakes and rasberries with sugar and cream we ate up all those berries right out of the container and loved it!

First day of preschool

It has been a while since I've updated our blog. We spent the last part of our time in Utah playing lots with family. Scott came out and rotated with our brother-in-law, Josh, and it was a treat for all of us. We made it down to St. George for the weekend to see Scott's great family too. We had a wonderful summer and are now back to Ohio and ready for the fall. It is such a beautiful time around here. The weather is gorgeous and in the next month leaves will start to change. It is back to school time and this year we had two of the cutest preschoolers you've ever seen! the girls started at Carol Nursery school just down the road. They go three afternoons a week and have two darling teachers. They already love it.

Maddie

Bella

This is the classic first day of school picture on the porch.

Of course the backpacks are bigger than they are!

July

Where did Juy go? The summer is flying by quickly. July is always a good month for our family because we get to celebrate lots. I already posted about the fourth and that is always a fun time. This year Scott took his Step 2 boards on the 9th of July so it was so great when he was done! He studied hard and those huge tests are always intense! I don't know how he does it. Scott had the week after his boards off and we had a good old regular week at home together. It was so nice to have him around and we did tons of little projects that needed to be done.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! Six years- wow it has really gone fast. I already can hardly remember life without Scott in it. They have most definitely been a wonderful six years- filled with tons of traveling, dates, eating out, playing together, and some incredible memories. Six years has also brought us- 5 different cars, 4 different houses, 3 different states, and best of all 3 amazing kids. I have to say I love Scott more than I can even express. (I can't elaborate right now or I might have a break down. We've been apart for two weeks now and we have many more to go. I'm missing him like crazy.) I truly couldn't ask for a better husband and think we have grown together in so many ways these past six years. To celebrate our anniversary we left the girls with some friends and went and saw the Kirtland sights together and had a nice little lunch. Alone time with Scott has been scarce the past few months with a new baby, getting ready for boards, etc. so it was truly a treat to be together. The church history sights are always inspiring and wonderful. We loved living in the Nauvoo Stake and now in the Kirtland Stake. We've had some very memorable experiences and have a deep appreciation for the early saints.

We also celebrated Maddie and Bella's 3rd Birthday. They requested a Dress up- princess party so that is what we did. They were darling little princesses and were so thrilled about their giant cupcake cakes. A few little friends came over and they all dressed up like princesses. We decorated purses, did make up and nails, and had pizza, watermelon, and cake and icecream. All their favorites. It was definitely all girl! I love my two princesses who are growing up on me so fast!

The kids and I are now enjoying our time in Utah while Scott works hard on his rotations. We miss him and we are so glad we can be here to enjoy the summer with family. We've had a blast. We've been here two weeks and have already packed things in. Here's what we've been up to...

-flying on the airplane with three kids by myself. Thank goodness everyone did well.

-tons of swimming, swinging and playing in Grandma's wonderful yard!

-enoying family dinners and play time with the cousins

-Maddie and Bella getting spoiled with presents for their birthday from all our family

-a visit with my dear old BFF Leash and her 2 cute boys

-watching the 24th of July parade and enjoying a gourmet breakfast buffet with the Lunt's

-a swimming party and barbeque with our extended family- the Gibbs and Childs.

-a trip to Discovery Gateway with Sarah and her boys

-the Kenny Chesney concert with sisters

-seeing Grandma Melanie, Aunt Lacey, McCall, and Natalie and watching Aunt Gentry Cheerleading

-bow making with Sydney. She is so creative!!

-2 wonderful playdates with my most wonderful friend Tobey and her kids. The girls were excited to be with Addie and we had such a fun time at Liberty park yesterday!

-a session at the Jordan River Temple with Sarah and having Elder Oaks in our session with us.

-catching up with another incredible friend from back in the day- Liz (Deb) Debry. You look fabulous Deb!

-having everyone adore our darling Nathan. What a great little guy he is. His constant smiles are just the best. The poor thing is taking after his dad and has has lost a lot of his hair since we've come (Sorry hon. Love you. :) ) I hope it grows back soon because it was so cute. He's been great though and I can't get enough of that sweet boy.

I'd say it has been a good two weeks that is for sure! I am so grateful for all the help from my family. I don't know how we'd make it without them all! I am so glad to be here while we are apart from Scott. I miss you babe and can't wait to see you...

Cute Boy!

Happy Fourth!

God bless the USA. I love patriotic holidays. The Fourth of July is always wonderful. We're so grateful for our country! We missed our families and celebrating in Oalkey but we had a fun day of festivities. We went to our ward breakfast and bike parade in the morning. THe girls were all decked out and we decorated their bikes. These bikes are so cute. Grandma Melanie and Grandpa Randy gave them to the girls and they were really excited to ride them in the bike parade with all the kids. Unfortunately the bikes are still a little tricky for them to ride by themselves. They are a bit heavy and they sit far back from the pedals so it is hard to get going. They are getting the hang of it, but just need a little more leg muscles. :) So, Scott and I ended up pushing them around the parking lot in the bike parade, but they were sure thrilled.

There isn't a fourth of July parade around here which we thought was kind of strange, but they did one for Memorial Day so that is probably why. We had a fun barbeque with some friends and Scott grilled us some delicious steak and chicken. He's quite the grill master these days. He made ribs today! Scott took the girls to see the fireworks last night and they were very excited that they were big enough to stay up and go. I stayed home with Nathan and our neighbor's baby, but I'm glad Scott could have a special little date with the girls.

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

We love summer around here! The weather is so beautiful and these summer nights are so pleasant. The girls have loved taking walks again and playing at the park. We've had lots of fun summer outings as well. Here's what we've been up to the last little while:

-Cleveland zoo. The camel was the favorite. Not sure why- they are such a strange creature aren't they? No pictures I'm afraid.

-Strawberry Picking at Patterson's farm. The girls were in heaven. They love to watch the part of Sleeping Beauty where she goes out to pick berries and meets the prince. The whole time they were pretending they were her out picking their berries. They were yummy little strawberries too and the girls downed them.

-Maeva's 3rd birthday. Maeva is one of the girls' friends from Kirksville and they only live about an hour away from us. We loved going to her party and it was picture perfect from the PINK cake and icecream cones to the balloons to the homemade tutus melissa did for all the girls. Thanks Melissa and Maeva! What a blast.

-Multiple trips to the Shaker Heights swimming pool. We have decided to make this an entire family outing from now on though. I took the three kids by myself last week and we lasted about 15 minutes before Bella fell in the toddler pool and scraped her knees. She was hysterical and wouldn't calm down. I was the embarassed mother who got lots of looks as I carried out my little crew of 3 sad, screaming children.

-Tuesday morning story and craft time at the library. We have gone to this all year and it is a highlight of the girls' week. They love listening to Mrs. Maureen read stories, sing songs, and making something fun. We also love the play and learn center at the library. We have LOVED having a big, wonderful library just down the street. I think we've been nearly every week since we moved here.

We've also spent lots of time dressing up like ballerinas, princesses or basically anything you can imagine. Maddie and Bella have quite the imaginations. They are really into "collecting" things these days. They find little bags or baskets or whatever and gather stuff from all over the house. It makes a huge mess and drives us crazy but they sure love it.

We FINALLY got rid of the pacifiers a few weeks ago. Yes- it really happened and you may be shocked that they had them for so long. They are nearly three! They were so attached though and they slept so good and actually asked to go to bed and take naps basically because they wanted their pacifiers. The Pacifier Fairy made a visit and took the Paci's away. The girls did pretty good at first but then we've had a really rough few weeks with them waking up all the time just crying and so sad. We have vowed not to let this happen with any of our other kids! I initially wanted to hang on to them because I didn't want to lose their naps, but the past while they are starting to grow out of naps anyway. Somedays they really need them but if they take a nap they are up till 11pm! They still take them every other day or so but I think by the fall they'll be done. Maddie and Bella have always been such good nappers and I'm so grateful. I think it was partially due to the fact that I've always been a little fanatical about their sleep schedule. Good sleep is the way we all survive though. (Love that Dr. Weisbluth! Every parent needs to read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby!)

Anyway, our other milestone is potty training. My girls really are growing up! It has been quite the process and we definitely aren't there yet, but they are certainly making progress. It is amazing how much patience the potty training takes. I was hoping that by waiting so long they'd pick it up really quick but they are stubborn little girls and it is taking lots of bribery, accidents, and PATIENCE!

They'll be starting preschool in the fall and I think it is really hitting me how big they are getting. Then we'll have all sorts of crying, tantrums, fighting, etc and I will remember that they are still very little! We've had a rough month to be honest. I think the pacifiers set them off, but we are getting through! They have been more defiant and are throwing tantrums and crying about every little thing. They are total girls- completely petrified of any sort of bug (including ants) and any tiny little scrape or bruise sends them into hysterics for a good hour (wonder where they get those things from :) Certainly not their mom.) My job as their mom has really only begun and there are days that I feel really inadequate. After a rough day it usually just takes a couple hours after they are asleep for me to remember how much I love being home with them all day and how grateful I am that I can be. I love being their mom. They are such beautiful and wonderful little girls. It scares me to think of what they'll be faced with as they grow up, but I know they have so much potential. They are so creative and imaginative and they are best friends. I'm so grateful they have each other and LOVE having twins. What a blessing. This is how we found them the other night- asleep together in Maddie's bed... We really do adore these girls.

Little Nathan has been the sweetest, happiest little guy we could have asked for. Definitely a jolly giant. :) He has his dad and me already wrapped around his finger. He gives us the best smiles and giggles. He's 3 1/2 months already. He really has been the calming presence we've needed. We just kiss those cheeks all day long.

Scott has been busy busy studying for boards. He takes it next thursday so say prayers for him! He's had a lot of stress the past little while and I'm so proud of him for getting through it all and still being a wonderful husband and daddy. We all love him. The kids and I are getting ready for an extended visit to Utah in a couple weeks. We can't wait to see our families and have lots of time at "home" but I'm also dreading being without Scott for so long. We'll miss him terribly!

Wow, that turned into a really long post! If you are still reading at this point I'm amazed. I hadn't blogged in a while and guess it just all came out! Love to all our family and friends from Cleveland and whoever is in Utah we'd love to see you while we are there.

Random pictures

A few cute pictures of my little fam.