RACES

Maddie and Bella love to have races! They have a lot of energy and since they weren't able to go outside for months we had to come up with some ways to get the energy out! It is finally warming up a bit so we can play at the park somedays! We can't wait of the wading pools and aquatic center! Anyway, most days we have races from the kitchen to the family room. Then we do dancing. I'll have to take some pictures, because it is darling. The girls can do all sorts of ballet moves! The love to have Dad come home and play ball or wrestle and tickle. They are pretty fast little runners! They like to jump off the couch and on to the big bear and they always get up after and say, "CRAZY!"


Our little girls are growing up so fast!

Projects

I love doing projects! After the girls go to bed it is one of my favorite things to have my alone time with my current project. I like trying new things, and I think there is a sense of accomplishment when you can see something you've made. When the girls were little I remember thinking that I would never have time for myself again. If I got a few minute nap or shower it was a blessing! I rarely had time to do any extra little thing. Now that the girls are on a pretty regular routine- one good long afternoon nap and bedtime around 8, I have some time for these kind of things! There are so many things I'd love to make and learn how to do. I have to try and control myself because it is like that talk from conference in October about good, better, and best. While these things are fun to make and have it is sometimes easy to neglect other important things- like cleaning the house or reading scriptures or working out etc. I'm trying to be better at the balance. I'm enjoying this time though-while I can do things like this. (Maybe that means we'd better have another baby... No, not yet!)
Here are some of my current projects...

This is my first ever quilting project. All those tiny squares were quite the process, and it actually doesn't look that great clos up, but I'm learning. My friend Jessica is a talented quilter so she taught a few of us the techniques on this. I learned to embroider, and then to piece together the quilt, hand quilt, and do the binding. I really enjoyed it and want to do more quilting in the future.

This is one that I'm so excited about. It is our BLOG BOOK! I did it through blurb.com where you can just import your blog and then you format the pages. It actually didn't take very long. I worked on a page or two at a time forever, but then Jessica inspired me with her finished book, so I finished it in a couple of days, and it really was fast! It is such a great thing to have. The quality is wonderful too. It looks very professional and it is so nice to have out blog in a hardbound book that will last forever. I've decided to start doing the girl's scrapbook this way as well. I've been doing it digitally, but by the time I buy the photo paper, sheet protectors, and all the ink, it gets expensive. You can make any kind of book on blurb so I think this will be a good way to do their album. We stared our blog in May of 2006 so it if fun to look back at all the entries from just before the girls were born.

I made frames! I have painted them or gotten the mat/glass or even the pictures yet, but this was a fun new thing to try so I thought I'd post it. My friend Betsy is an incredible photographer and she did our family pictures last year. She makes frames all the time so she taught a few of us how to do it. We went and bought the wood and used the power tools and everything! I was pretty proud of myself! I'll post these when they are finished.


Anway, I think it is nice to have a few things to work on to learn new skills or just to develop talents. I loved Elder Ballard's talk for young mothers in conference! He was totally speaking to me! I thought it was great how he said to pick a couple of things to learn or work on. Good advice! :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! It snowed here today, but the girls still had to wear their darling Easter Dresses!

Maddie and Bella

Always more pictures of our girls, but who can resist them?

When I was little I always loved it when my mom would give us muffin tin snacks! She'd fill up the whole tray with different snack in each- like grapes, cheese, crackers, cereal, etc. I've carried on the tradition with the girls and they love it! It is one of their favorite ways to have snacks!

For some reason our girls have never slept well when they are away from home and not in their beds. Our trip to Cleveland was no exception. At some point in the night, they both ended up in our bed. Before Scott and I went to sleep we took this picture because it was so cute how Bella was snoozing on Maddie's tummy!

Here the girls are waiting for us to load the car after we got off the airplane. Maddie turned her car seat like this and started to draw, and when Bella saw her, she had to join in the fun!

1st Time Homeowners!

We bought a house! Our first- in Shaker Heights, Ohio. It is a suburb of Cleveland. We'll be moving there mid July for Scott's 3rd and 4th years of school. He'll do most of his rotations at South Pointe Hospital there. We went last week during spring break and after 4 days of going in and out of about 50 houses we bought this!

It was actually one of the first we saw and we fell in love with it. The homes in Shaker Heights are all old and colonial and are beautiful! The area has some incredible homes! It was so fun to drive around and see them all. We found this house on a great street, just around the corner from a park and elementary school. It is in wonderful condition overall. There will be a few things to work on (like the maroon and yellow tile in the bathroom!) but the kitchen is updated with all new appliances and the rooms are all spacious and nice. The hardwood floors are beautiful. The living room has a gorgeous fireplace and moldings. It has a brick patio out back and a yard that we are so excited about!

There is just a lot of character in these old houses, but this one is amazingly well kept. We think it is a great find! It is ours May 8th! We can't actually move until July, but we had to agree to this early date because the sellers have to move. There was another offer on the house, so we were trying beat it, so we negotiated on that date, and it is ours!

Once again, we feel so blessed to have the support system of the church to help with moving. (We had some members help us find our place here in Kirksville and they became our next door neighbors!) The Lord totally blesses us! Here is how it worked out (I'm mostly writing this all for my own personal memory, but if you feel like reading on go ahead...) My good friend from high school, Amanda Flamm (jager) has a sister Lindsay, who had twins nearly a year ago. When she was pregnant we started emailing back and forth chatting about twins, and have stayed in touch ever since. She heard that we were moving to Cleveland and it turns out that her best friend, Diane lives there while her husband is in law school. Lindsay got me in touch with Diane who has been so helpful in giving us info about the area and housing etc. Then she told us about a girl in her ward, Ali, who was a realtor in the area and was putting together a ward housing list. So Diane got me in touch with Ali, and she is the one that helped us find our house! The first night we got there she invited us to her house and she spent 2 hours with us going over listings on the internet and showing us different areas. It was so nice of her to do that for people she didn't even know. She was able to tell us right where to look and places to stay away from. Then she set up for us to meet with her old partner (Ali is not currently a realtor) the next 3 days. The realtor and her assistant took care of us from then. We found the house and signed the contract friday morning and got on the plane that afternoon. It was a whirlwind, especially because we weren't initially sure if we were going to buy. It turned out that the circumstances all fell into place and we had a great feeling about the area, and about the house. I can't wait to decorate!

The Gateway to the west

Scott had spring break last week so we headed to St. Louis to see the ARCH! It was really cool.

We rode up to the top in this tiny, old little elevator thing that felt like were in a space bubble.

The girls thought it was great though, and ever since we have been drawing pictures of the arch!

40 years!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Isn't that awesome! We hope that they have a wonderful day with fun celebrations! We wish we were there! These days, 40 years is unheard of for many people. I love that my parents have always had a wondeful relationship and set an incredible example for all of us. We always knew that they loved each other (and still love each other) so much! They balance each other out well and make a great team. I look up to their wonderful example and am SO grateful for all they do for me. They are so Christlike, faithful, and generous. I'm so blessed to be the baby of their family. I couldn't ask for better. I love them tons, and am excited for their many years together ahead.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Randy, Scott and Lacey

Scott with Grandpa Hammond

Scott and his girls

Happy Birthday to my darling husband! The big 27! He's getting up there! I feel so bad that he is busy studying and taking finals today, but hopefully he can take a break for some festivities! I love Scott so much for a million different reasons. He is an incredible person, and no one in the world makes me happier. If I start rambling about him, this could get a little long, so I'm going to just do this...

S-C-O-T-T

S- The first "S" word that comes to mind is SEXY, but I won't elaborate on that! "S" is for SILLY! I love the silly/fun side of Scott. We have a great time together and he always makes me laugh. The girls especially love Daddy's sillines! "S" can also stand for SMART. The things Scott knows amazes me. He is so smart and has an amazing memory. I could never learn the things he does everyday. He's a champ!

C- is for CUTE. No explanation needed there... I just love his cute face! "C" is also for cuddly. I'm a definite cuddler, and Scott is the perfect person to cuddle with!

O- is for OUTSTANDING. Okay, well Scott really is an outstanding guy all around, but I can't really think of a more descriptive "O" word.

T- is for TALENTED. Scott is good at so many different things. He is a people person-s0 friendly and comfortable. He is an awesome athlete all around. He plays the piano beautifully! I'm so impressed that he can just sit down and play the things he does. I love it.

T- is for TIRED. (JK honey... I know you are not getting much sleep these days! You work so hard.) "T" is for thankful. Scott truly appreciates the things I do for him, or the things that others do for him. He sets such a Christlike example!

Well, there you have it - SCOTT!

Your three girls love you babe! Happy Bday from all of us!

Dress up!

We kept the girls home from church today because Maddie woke up with a fever. That means Bella will get it tomorrow :( but we didn't want to send them to nursery. Anyway, since we weren't going anywhere I let them play dress up in their closet. AFter about 15 outfits this is what they picked. It was funny because at first they had to wear all the same things, but then they got a little more adventurous. Bella kept trying to get Maddie to put on the matching outfit to the one she is wearing (Still a little big I know... but will be perfect when it warms up!) but Maddie wouldn't take off her skirt.

The girls playing on their new little table! They love to sit at this table for everything... coloring, playdoh, stickers, block towers etc.

Bella saying, "No more pictures, just hold me!"

This is a picture of our piano! I can't remember if I posted about it, but it was such a score. We got it from a guy in Nauvoo for $150. It came from a church there and is from 1911! Scott has loved having a piano! I got it for his Christmas present. It didn't come with a bench, so we've been trying to find something. Last week my friend Melissa saw one at a little antique store in town. I went to look and found this bench for Scott's birthday this week! It matches perfectly, and looks like it came together!

Good Luck Honey!

Yet another finals week has rolled around! How do these guys survive it all? They honestly amaze me with their never ending studying! Here are Scott and his study buddies cramming around our kitchen table the other night. They studied at our house so I could go somewhere. When I got home I was in the other room and could hear them studying, and I will say that they have a little fun as well as all the work! Lots of laughs and stories mixed in with all that school stuff! :) Good luck this week my Scott! I love you. You're the best!

We love Addie!

Maddie and Bella LOVE their friend Addie! They play with each other all the time (nearly everyday!) so they feel like triplets. They always give her lots of hugs and kisses. She teaches the girls all sorts of new tricks. She is turning 2 this week! Happy Birthday Addie!

Sundays!

We love Sundays! Especially because we get the whole day with DAD! These pictures are from last sunday when we tried a little walk, even though it was freezing.



The girls love spending time with Dad and could sit and read stories for hours!


I'm so thankful for Sundays! We need them!

Fun Weekend

We had a fun weekend! Friday we watched Becoming Jane, and I loved it of course! Anything Jane Austen is going to be high on my list! Saturday night we went to this awesome show at Truman State University. It was the Peking Chinese Acrobats, and they were literally incredible! The way they could contort their bodies was shocking! They also had amazing strength and balance. They were so entertaining, and I've never seen anything like it! THANK YOU Saysh for watching our kids on such short notice! You're the best! It was so fun to get out to a cultural event. We haven't done that in forever!

Maddie

I wanted to do a post about each of my girls. Mostly everyone knows them as "the twins" and since they are little still, people don't get to see their different personalities.

Our Maddie is a sweetheart! She has a very loving personality. She loves me to hold her and hug her, and she gives me lots of kisses. She LOVES her sister and the first thing she says when she wakes up from naps is "BeWa?" When I tell her Bella is still sleeping she gets this look on her face.

A classic Maddie look that we love! She has figured out how to move her eyebrows! She is great at sharing and everytime she shares with someone she says "Tank Yu" to herself and does the thank you sign. (We are trying to help Bella share in return! She's getting better at it. :) )

She is so smart and loves to look at books. She loves to find matches of everything like two butterflies etc. She is really fast at it too. She loves to sing and she knows lots of songs, and their actions. She has a big vocabulary and speaks really well.

She also loves to wrap up her babies, stuffed animals, and even her pacifiers in blankets and put them to sleep. She LOVES to wear SKIRTS and wants to wear one everyday. She's not quite so into shoes as Bella, but she'll follow Bella's lead and wear different shoes around the house. It usually only lasts a few minutes though. She's a barefoot girl like her mom.

She loves making things out of playdoh and she comes up with new games all the time. She colors for a few minutes or does stickers for a bit, but moves on to other things much quicker than Bella. She is a little collector and carries things around all day. She also entertains herself well.

She is also a little more cautious about things. She is still a climber and has an energetic adventurous spirit, but she has to be really certain about things before she tries them. Her favorite foods are Cheese anything, strawberries and especially watermelon. She loves M&M's but she doesn't eat many treats. She doesn't have the sweet tooth like Bella does! (Bella will try anything new, and loves treats, but Maddie sticks to her regular things.) Maddie loves to be tickled and to tickle Dad. She LOVES her Dad! (Bella is still a bit of a Momma's girl.) She is a fast runner and loves to cruise around our house. She plays well with other kids and LOVES her friends.

We love having these two girls in our lives and watching their similarities and differences. We get excited about all the fun thing they have ahead.

BELLA

I want to do a post about my little Bella. (Don't worry Maddie, I love you equally as much! You'll get your very own post too.)

She is a doll! She has such a fun little personality. She is so creative. She loves to play with stickers and to color. She could sit for an hour and do them. She loves play doh too, so maybe she'll be our little artist.

She has an OBSESSION with SHOES. She always wants to wear my high heels and tries to walk around the house. Everytime we go anywhere she wants to wear her sparklies, but must wear one purple and one pink. I've given up trying to fight this because she feels VERY strongly about it! She'll throw a huge temper tantrum if I suggest two pinks. She also loves to wear dresses and look "Pretty." She points to everything in our house and in every book that is PINK, and must have a pink pacifier at night. She is going to be a little Diva!

She is adventurous and loves to climb on everything and go up and down the steps by herself (walking- not crawling anymore. She's a "BIG GIRL!") She loves to swim too! She loves to play with her babies and take them on rides in her stroller, wear them in her little backpack, and wrap them up and put them to sleep. She is so smart, and is talking more and more all the time! We love our little Bella and think she is so fun!