Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Santa Claus and Christmas Parade

Yesterday we took the girls to see Santa at our clubhouse.  We knew they would probably be scared but wanted to try to get a picture anyway.  They were all very clingy as we waited in line.  Mrs. Claus was able to attend with Santa and they weren't quite as terrified of her as they were of Santa.  Olivia actually sat with her with no problems.  Emma finally sat with Mrs. Claus and Olivia moved over beside Santa, but Savannah would have none of it.  Here are a few pictures that sum up our visit.

Today we went down to Waxhaw for the Christmas Parade.  It was a little chilly at 49 degrees, but with jackets on it wasn't so bad.  It was a long parade and lasted about an hour.  The girls' cousin Bethany was in the parade riding on the cheerleading float.  We tried to find her but there were lots of girls and we couldn't find her.  The girls liked collecting the candy and they all had lots of pieces.  Their nana is pretty weak, apparently if you are 2 and cute and you ask her enough times to open a piece for you she will.  Everyone had a nice time and we had dinner afterwards at my parents.

Cheerleading float

They were having more fun than it appears

Day Trip

This weekend we took a day trip to see a few friends before the holidays.  I haven't seen my friend Melanie from college in 3 years.  She also has 3 kids, though they are spaced a little further apart than mine.  She has a boy and 2 girls, the youngest girl is just a few weeks younger than the girls.  I had been really dreading the trip since just going 30 minutes away seems to be too much car riding for the trio.  They actually did really well, it took about 4 hours and we only had to make one stop.  We arrived just in time for lunch, which was steak from their own cow that was recently killed.  It was a great meal and a great place to visit since everything was child-friendly and they all played well together.  We really had a nice visit for the afternoon.  We then headed to Fayetteville to see our friends Lisa and David.  Lisa just had a new baby a month ago so it was our first time meeting Morgan.  She was sweet and very laid back.  They made the girls favorite meal...hotdogs.  It was a big hit. We headed for home around 7pm and the girls were great riders again, they feel asleep around 8 and then went to bed at home with no problems.  It really couldn't have gone much better...I'm allowed to say that now that it is over ;)

Cailyn, Olivia, Emma, Savannah, Preston, Juliana

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving with the girls.  We have a lot to be thankful for again this year.  The girls are doing terrific and are so healthy.  Sometimes I still can't believe we had all 3 in my belly at one time. 


We had lunch at my aunt's house and it was such nice weather.  The girls had so much fun running around and playing with all of their cousins.  There was even a hayride (lawnmower with a wagon) for the kids to ride down and see the llamas, horses, and chickens.  One llama even came up to the fence to see us for a bit.  I rode with Emma and Olivia because Savannah did not want to go, but later that day Savannah changed her mind so Scott rode with all three for another trip to see the animals.








The girls mostly grazed and wouldn't sit still long to eat their food.  They sure enjoyed eating Denise's cheesecake though.




We left around 3, which was way past nap time for the girls.  Savannah asked to ride Nana's car so she went home with my parents.  The other two went with us and they were both asleep in record time.  Scott dropped me off at Michael's since they were opening at 4pm and I met a few friends to do some shopping.  They dropped me off at home at 5:30 and I found Scott and the girls all sleeping in the van.  That evening Stephanie's family and my parents came to our house for fondue. 

My mom stayed with us that night so Scott and I could do some black Friday shopping.  We weren't too adventuresome this year and only hit CVS, Staples, and Stein Mart.  Later in the morning my mom and I went to AC Moore and Hobby Lobby, but that was the extent of our shopping.

Trick or Treat

We had a wonderful time trick or treating last night.  I think this is a much better holiday when you have kids and you get to go trick or treating with them.  My sister Stephanie and her family and my parents all joined us at our house for a night of fun.  I took half a day off work so we would not be rushed.  It was great I was able to go to the grocery store and make chicken pot pie for everyone.  We then dressed the girls at 4 to take pictures.  They were not very cooperative but we were able to get a few good shots, here are our 3 pigs:

After pictures we used our computer camera to show Scott's parents and Mem.  They enjoyed seeing the girls.  We then took off the costumes to eat and play.  Before leaving we took a few pictures of the family:

The 3 pigs and the Big Bad Wolf
and Little Red Riding Hood

Everyone was ready to go after all the pictures and we headed out around 6pm.  We started over in the townhouses since the girls could walk from house to house.  They had a great time going from door to door and ringing the bell.  They were great at saying 'Thank You' and 'Bye' and even did pretty good with 'Trick or Treat'.  We then headed over to see some of our neighborhood friends and the girls mostly rode in the wagon for that part.  Around half way through the girls started eating their candy or what they could of it through the wrapper.  At that point they were not interested in saying 'Trick or Treat' and just wanted to look at all their candy.  It got pretty cold but the girls were nice in warm in the wagon with some blankets.  We got home around 7:30 with lots of candy.

Happy Halloween

Party, Party, Party

Last weekend was another busy weekend for us.  First of all I have been organizing a party for my dad's 60th birthday.  I tried to keep it pretty low-key and it turned out great.  We had a small gathering of family and friends at the Captain's Galley restaurant and served lots of good finger foods and cake.  The kids all joined us at the end, as it would have been chaotic to all 7 grand kids (all under 4) there during the entire party.  Here are a few cute photos:

That night we decided to swap kids around.  Mom took Savannah, Stephanie took Jesse and Olivia, and I took Emma and Bethany.  I don't think anyone but Savannah got a lot of sleep.  Jesse and Olivia played and ran around until almost 10.  Stephanie tried to put them to bed before then but they weren't going to go to sleep.  Emma was so excited to have Bethany spend the night and poor Bethany wanted to sleep but Emma was determined to talk to her and keep her up, finally around 10 I went in and rocked Emma to sleep so she would leave Bethany alone.  In the morning they played and were have such a good time together.  I'm so glad that they are all pretty close in age and have these opportunities to bond with their cousins.

Since we only had 2 kids, and one was pretty self-sufficient Scott and I decided it was the perfect morning for breakfast out.  I can't even remember last time I ate breakfast out.  It was very good, we all had plenty of food and it was pretty relaxing.  We then headed off to the family reunion, we made it early so we could take advantage of the private swim time.  It was good and as always the food was excellent, though I was still full from our big breakfast.  They even had games for the kids this year which was fun.  We couldn't stay long though because we had yet another party to attend.

That afternoon we had a second birthday party for our friend Ryan.  They had his party at the pumpkin patch, isn't that an awesome idea for this time of year!  The girls enjoyed the chickens and petting the bunny.  We even took a hayride and picked our own pumpkins.  It was a great party and we had beautiful weather, here are a few pictures.

Savannah

Emma, Lucy, Olivia, Ryan, Savannah

Emma and Mommy

Racing ducks

Fall Festivities

Last weekend we had a busy weekend enjoying some fall festivities.  We were invited to the annual corn shucking at our friend Larry's father's house.  I love that the girls get to participate in this truly southern celebration.  The food was excellent and the girls had lots of fun.  At the end of the night they all hugged Larry's dad which secured them an invite for next year.  Hopefully Scott and I can behave so we get an invite next year too, lol.

Emma

Savannah

Olivia

We also attended the Waxhaw Fall Festival.  They have a great event for the kids and it is all free.  Olivia loved this big caterpillar blow up maze, that basically she ran through 50 times.  Emma was scared and wanted me to go with her, the guy was nice enough to let me and after I went with her she went again with Olivia.  It took Emma a while to come out and I was getting a little nervous, but then I saw Olivia come out and then turn around and help Emma out.  So sweet that Olivia had stuck with her and helped her through.  Savannah refused to go in and was content hanging out with Nana, especially when Nana took her to see the animals. Olivia and Emma also did the big slide and bounce house, again Savannah didn't want to go.  They also got to decorate a pumpkin and they really enjoyed that, they like to see their little pumpkins on our front porch.  It was a beautiful day and we finished it off with a terrific funnel cake, one of the best I've had in a long time. 

Feeding the animals

Catching Bubbles

Olivia, Emma, Savannah, Mommy



First Haircut

The girls got their first haircut yesterday.  Aunt Stephanie, the professional, came up and did a trim for everyone including Scott and me.  The girls did great, no one cried or anything.  I think it helped that it was their aunt Stephanie and that it was at our house, so they were totally comfortable.  They just got a little trim, but it really makes their hair so much more cooperative already.  I can tell a big difference on Olivia and Savannah their hair is curling more now.  Here are some pictures of each girl getting a haircut.

Emma

Olivia

Savannah

Playing Outside and the Moon Bubble

Scott's parents arrived in town last Saturday and we have really enjoyed this nice weather with them.  The girls have had lots of fun the last few days playing outside.  Lynn caught a lizard one afternoon and the girls enjoyed playing with him.  I was surprised they let him crawl all over them, ok maybe not so surprised that Emma did given our last lizard experience with her.  But Savannah was a lot more willing to let him crawl on her than I would have thought.  Olivia seemed mostly disinterested in the lizard.

Savannah and lizard

Emma and lizard

Another evening we played with bubbles and they really enjoyed trying to catch them.  Scott bought a battery powered bubble gun that blows tons of bubbles at once, I love the way bubbles look.  We stayed out pretty late and it was starting to get dark.  The girls were still running around the yard and Olivia got really excited and pointed in the sky.  She was over by the side of the house and we couldn't see what she was pointing at.  Soon the other two were pointing and jumping around.  Then we heard Savannah say 'bubble' so we got up to see what they were looking at and it was the moon.  It was a beautiful full moon coming up on the horizon.  We told them it was the moon, so Savannah said 'moon bubble'.  So now we call the moon 'moon bubble', so cute!

Emma

Savannah

Olivia

Happy Day

Last week was my birthday, so for breakfast we continued the tradition I grew up with and had cake for breakfast.  Technically they were mini cupcakes but it worked great for the girls to have their own.  The girls tried to tell me Happy Birthday but it came out "Happy Day" instead.  They repeated it a lot and it was so cute.

That night my mom had us down to her house to eat my favorite meal (crispy chicken, rice, and fruit salad).  Scott bought me my favorite ice cream cake and my niece made me cupcakes too.  We had a nice time and I was allowed to eat without holding any babies.  Scott had two girls on his lap at one point and he looked at me and said he was glad my birthday only lasted for a day.  I got lots of good gifts including clothes, monogrammed cards and notebook, and lots of new dips to try.  My favorite gift of all was my cricut from Scott, I am so excited to try some new crafts.  Now I have to clean my craft room so I can get to work.  It was a nice birthday here are a few cute pictures.

Emma helps mommy blow out the candles

Olivia helps mommy

Savannah helps mommy

Labor Day

On Labor Day my whole family meet at Monkey Joe's for an evening of fun.  This was the girls first time at Monkey Joe's and we weren't sure how they would do.  It turned out to be a blast and the girls were totally loving the bounce houses.

I think all 7 kids had a great time!

Olivia standing, Savannah sliding, and Emma climbing

Olivia, Bethany, Savannah, and Jesse climbing up the slide

Aubree, Jayla, Olivia, Bethany

Emma

2 Year Update

I know I'm a little late on the 2 year update, but I wanted to wait until we went to the doctor for their checkup so I could post current heights and weights.  So yesterday we had our appointment and everyone is doing great.  The doctor had no concerns about their development which was no surprise to Scott and I, as they are into everything and very active, vocal girls.  Here are their weights and heights, but since they are technically 25 months their percentages are adjusted to compare to the average 25 month old.

Emma: 23 lbs (8%) 35.5 (80%)
Olivia: 26 lbs (25%) 35.75 (85%)
Savannah: 25 lbs (25%) 34.75 (70%)

Life at home with the girls can really vary from day to day, they are testing their boundaries and often pushing our limits.  Some of the things we are struggling with now are:

1) Naps: they use to be great at taking naps and would consistently sleep for 2 - 3 hours everyday.  Now we have trouble getting them to sleep as they are just not interested, but they still need a nap and are cranky on the days they do not sleep.  This is a constant struggle and we are trying to adjust their schedule to see if that helps.

2) Teamwork: while this may be a good skill for them to develop it makes life harder for us.  They have learned to team up and move their cribs across the room so they can climb on top of the dressers.  It would be very hard for one girl to move a crib but when you have 3 working together it is apparently a piece of cake.  We have now mounted the cribs to the wall.

3) Naked: We have walked in to their room several mornings to be greeted by 1, 2, or 3 naked girls. Yes our girls apparently have a desire to be naked, especially Emma.   So now we are dressing them in onesies or other things that button.

4) Mischievousness: The girls have learned how to open their drawers (which are very tough) and pull out all their clothes.  Some of the drawers have baby locks but that doesn't seem to stop them, they can somehow get their little hands in the cracks and pull out the clothes.  They know this is a no-no but they can not seem to help themselves once they are alone.  We are still working on a solution to this, currently most of their clothes are out of the room, but since we are only wearing onesies due to item #3 this isn't a big deal for now.

5) Climbing: So as we learned from item #2 (using cribs to climb on dressers) our girls are also climbers.  They recently learned to climb over the baby gate downstairs and occasionally appear in Scott's office when he is working at home, or they meet me in the bathroom down there.  I'm not sure what to do about this.  In some ways we want them to have more access to the house, but there are certain areas that would be hard to baby proof so we are still working on a solution to this.

As you can see they are keeping us very busy and not just physically but now mentally as they are learning to plot against us.  Here is a little something I wrote for each girl for their birthday:



Emma: You are a silly girl, you make the silliest faces and can always make me laugh.  You love to play dress-up and often put on several outfits at once.  You love to sing, you try to sing your abc's and you also sing 'pooh-oo-oo-oo' when I sing you the winnie the pooh song.  You are a snuggler and we often find you sleeping with Savannah at night.  You love to watch tv and I love it when you sit my lap and let me love on you while you are watching your 'show'.  Your favorites are Caillou, Thomas the Train, and Yo Gabba Gabba, but you will watch most anything.  You really get into the shows and and will often be dancing or singing along.  You use the couch to perform many acrobatic tricks and sometimes I think maybe you will be a gymnast.  You are very loving and friendly and I love you so much!








Olivia: You are such a happy, playful child.  You love for daddy and I to read to you and sing to you.  You are still a 'collector' of all things and sometimes your sisters will take a piece of your 'collection' just to have you chase them.  You are a good listener and very sweet.  You are easily excited and your big deep belly laugh really warms my heart.  You are stubborn and will often cry big huge tears if you don't get your way, but you are easily distracted too so it usually doesn't last long.  You are starting to talk a lot more and you have a little country twang to your words which is cute.  You also shake your head 'yes' or 'no', it is really adorable.  You are a little timid and shy in new places and if you get a boo-boo regardless of how minor you insist I kiss it several times. Your excitement for life is contagious and I love you so much!










Savannah: You are our talker and often our most energetic girl.  You love to jump and run and you are a bit of a daredevil which scares me.  You love the outdoors and you ask to go outside all the time.  You love for mommy to rock you and sing to you, and you often ask for me to do so, "mommy rock", "mommy sing".  You are my little mommy and will often correct your sisters and copy what I say. sometimes you even threaten them with timeouts and I have to gently remind you that I'm the mommy, but I do think it is funny. I love hearing your vocabulary expand daily, sometimes I will hear you in your bed talking and 'practicing' your words, it is so cute.  You have a tendency right now to prefer me over everyone so sometimes it is difficult to get anything done because you want my attention and no one else will do, which is endearing to me but frustrating to your daddy.  You are very strong-willed and independent, right now your favorite sentence 'but no I do it!'. You are also very tender and I love you so much!