Innocent Joy

Happy Birthday Katie!

2012-01-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday Katie!

Mommy and Daddy love you very much

you are the absolute PERFECT addition to our family.

Tik Tok

2012-01-17T16:41:00.000-05:00

She created this hance hersolf! While I don't necessarily love this song I do think its cute how hard she worked on her dance.

Kylie needs her own youtube channel

2012-01-16T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's important that you watch these videos in the correct order. First:

Then:

I love how she just talks to the camera like its a person...so cute!

Pixie Dust

2012-01-11T13:18:00.000-05:00

There are short little exchanges that happened between Lacey and myself. They are so cute because she has been watching Peter Pan and really likes it!

Earlier in the evening around dinner time...

Lacey:   Mommy I need some pixie dust

Me: You need PIXIE dust, why?
Lacey:   So I can fly!

Just before bed...

Lacey:   Mommy when is Peter Pan coming to our house?
Me: Well you have to go to sleep first.
Lacey:   Then he will come?!
Me: Maybe so..

This morning..

Lacey:   Mommy I didn't see Peter Pan last night
Me: You didn't?!
Lacey:   No
Me: Well maybe tonight after you fo to bed
Lacey:   Yeah and maybe tonight, but I haffa sleep good!

Facebook

2011-12-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

Some statuses from my facebook page...updating facebook is much easier than keeping this blog updated. But I'm still going to try!

December 14, 2011:
Note to self: When making the home remedy or apple cider vinegar, honey and water, a little vinegar is good...more is DEFINATELY not better!

December 27:
Lacey: Mommy what are you eating?

Me: it's stuffing
Lacey: It wooks wike puke! Are you eating puke?
Me: It's not puke
Kylie: Lacey when you were sick last week did you see mommy eat your puke? No! Mommy doesn't eat puke!

I found this little interaction so funny. I don't know what was funnier the fact that Lacey thought I was eating puke or Kylie finding the need to explain to her that I DON'T eat puke!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:49:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Gingerbread Village

2011-12-24T17:20:00.000-05:00

The girls decorated their gingerbread village

I really thought they would have fun doing it for quite a while

I was wrong...

They decorated for about 10 minutes

before telling me they were done

They did, however, get a lot done in that 10 minutes

All in all they houses they decorated turned out cute. I guess the main thing is they had fun!

Christmas Parties!

2011-12-21T17:58:00.000-05:00

All three girls had their Christmas parties today. It was so nice to be able to be at all 3 parties.

Kylie's was first, they each colored a puzzle piece and then all the kids put it together to see the 'secret message'.

Then they did a candy cane race, Kylie's team came in first! And then of course there were treats and gifts to open. I think all the kids had a great time.

Then Kylie and I were on to the little girls Christmas party at their daycare. It was nice that the timing worked out so well!

Katie and her friends enjoyed some juice and muffins! Then they were off playing with all of the parent that came into see them. They had lots of fun enjoying the extra attention!

Kylie mostly stayed in Lacey's class enjoying the treats they had (theirs were better than Katies :)). After Lacey's class enjoyed their treats they sang 2 songs for the parents that were there. They had lots of fun opening their books that they exchanged. Although some knew which books they brought and didn't quite understand the 'exchange' concept....their only 3, I guess that's what you'd expect!

All in all each of the girls had a great time, and so did Mommy!

11 Months!

2011-12-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

Look who's 11 months old already! It's hard to believe that in a month's time this little sweetheart is going to be 1 YEAR old! Seems like she should still be the tiny helpless baby, but she is anything but helpless. She tries very hard to keep up with her sisters and does an amazingly good job at it! She took her first steps earlier this month but has not yet REALLY taken off. Everyday I see her try to take more and more steps, won't be long now! :)

Stripes

2011-12-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

Check out the stripes on her belt! Kylie earned her first stripes tonight at Karate! She has only been going to Karate for 2 weeks! They had a group of kids leveling up and those that are not getting another belt are able to earn stripes. She was so proud of herself.

To earn the stripes she had to break a board with her fist. She was able to do it on the second try! She said afterward, 'Mom do you see how purple my fist is? That is HARD work to break that board!'

We are so proud of her! She LOVES going to Karate!

Random things heard around my house today

2011-12-10T19:18:00.001-05:00

Kylie: Lacey do you even know what jail is?
Lacey: Uh, yeah
Kylie: Really, then what is it?
Lacey: Uh, it's kinda like a time out.

Lacey: Kylie did you write one this thing (foam magic wand)
Kylie: Yes, I did
Lacey: O.M.G!
Then when Kylie and I were laughing she looked at both of us and said 'was I silly?' Too funny!

Lacey: Mommy you've been very good, you get one skittle!

Traditional Christmas Pictures of all the girls together

2011-12-07T18:03:00.001-05:00

The 3 girls together, the did a beautiful job.

Kylie and Katie...Lacey was having a bit of a hard time at that moment ;-)

Katie's First Christmas pictures!

2011-12-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

Katie did such a good job getting her picture taken!

I really thought she was going to be the one that was the hardest to take since she is so busy crawling these days. She did great, my only complaint? She looks so much older that 10 months!!!

Kylie's Christmas Pictures

2011-12-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

Kylie lost her two front teeth a couple of weeks ago so now she's sportin' the 'all I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth' look!

Love her, she is a great job as usual :-)

Lacey's Christmas Pictures

2011-12-02T17:36:00.000-05:00

Lacey's Christmas, 2011

Katie's 10 Month's Old already!

2011-12-01T17:24:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe our youngest daughter is already 10 months old.

She fits in perfectly with our family. And soon she will be walking! Right now is practices standing unassisted for long periods of time. One of her FAVORITE past times is to push all of the kitchen chairs as far as she can until she runs into something. She has a toddler toy for walking but very much prefers the chairs and the garbage can!

Lacey's 3 Year Birthday Pictures

2011-11-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

I had orginally planned to take Lacey's pictures myself, but the weather just would NOT cooperate!

So we opted for the tried and true Portrait Innovations. I love that place, I always get WAY more pictures that I need and almost always LOVE all of the pictures.

I think they did a great job capturing Lacey's personality! Fiesty, spunky, and sweet indeed!

The tope 3 pictures are the ones that I ended up selecting. She did a great job!

Love you Lacey!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T17:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful day with family. The only downside is Greg had to leave on Thanksgiving Day to work early on Friday. Bummer!

Happy 3rd Birthday To Lacey!

2011-11-21T17:07:00.001-05:00

Our loveable, laughable, lively little Lacey turns 3 today!!!

She is such a smart, sweet, yet sassy, spunky, and silly little girl. We wouldn't want her any other way.

Dear Lacey,

Mommy and Daddy love you so much. We love the fact that your eyes are always sparkling. It is you that keeps us on our toes at all times. Not just because we wonder what you could be getting into but also because we wonder what you are going to think to say next! You have such a way with your words even at only 3. Lots of people have a hard time beliving you are just turning 3!

At 3 years old you can spell and recognize your name in print. You are obsesessed with Dora and the Disney Princesses. You Love the letter 'L'. Your favorite colors are pink and purple. You can count to 16 and know pretty much all of your colors. Your teachers at daycare tell me you are almost the first one to shout out the letter when they print them on the board.

We are so proud of you Lacey. Mommy and Daddy cannot wait to see what your future holds, one thing we know is it will be bright! We will always be there to support you no matter what.

Love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Halloween!

2011-11-01T17:54:00.000-04:00

The girls had so much fun for halloween this year.

I was able to visit all three girls' parties at their school.

Kylie's had a parade at hers, the junior high marching band led the way. I'll post that video tomorrow!

Kylie decided that she want to be a bumble bee this year, which was a surprise because all year she wanted to be an indian girl and at the last minute changed her mind which is SO unlike her.

Lacey and Katie's daycare did a parade too. Its was cute, as soon as the little ones came around the corner and saw their parents....parade was over!

Katie was carried in the parade by 'thing 2'

Evidence of kids breaking away from the parade...namely Lacey! Although it looks like she was the only one in this picture, you will notice all the other parents standing around too, that's because their kid already came and go them.

Lacey loved being a princess this year...she told everyone she could how pretty she was. I thought she looked pretty cute too!

My little ~~Katie~~bug Ladybug! She is the second one of my daughters to be a lady bug, Kylie was first and hated her costume. So much so that the next year for halloween I didn't even get her a costume. Katie didn't mind hers at all!

A rare photo of Lacey and Katie together. I love that they are both looking at me...doesn't happen very often!

Lacey being...well...Lacey :-)

Katie loved the party too, she had so much fun playing in Lacey's classroom. She's looking very mischevious in this picture!

Tough Day

2011-10-28T17:58:00.000-04:00

Please say a prayer for my family today.

Today we said our final goodbyes to 2 of the most wonderful people in the world, Nana and Papa.

We love and miss them terribly.

Kylie

2011-10-27T17:55:00.000-04:00

My beautiful oldest daughter...

Kylie loves to have her picture taken. During our family photo shoot this past weekend all of the girls got to do some individual shots. They enjoyed their 'special' time.

Silly Little Lacey

2011-10-26T17:51:00.001-04:00

Miss Lacey is less than one month away from being 3!

Where does the time go?

She is such a silly little girl. She has us laughing at various times most of the day. You never really know what is going to come out of her mouth.

The above picture definately shows off her personality to a tee!

My hubby and I

2011-10-24T17:46:00.000-04:00

Two of my sister's and one of my nephews came to visit us this weekend. While they were here I asked my sister Shawna if she would be willing to take our family pictures. She does a really great job, and it is so much less stressful than going to a studio. Thankfully she agreed! This is one of the many pictures she took. She did a great job!

guess who's 9 months old already?!

2011-10-18T17:03:00.000-04:00

It's hard for me to believe this little sweetheart is nine months old already!

Where does the time go?

She had her 9 month well baby check up and did great! She met or exceeded all her milestones.

She did, however, do something neither of the other 2 girls have ever done before....want to know what it is?????

Here are Miss Katie's current stats:

20 pounds 11 ounces - 81st percentile

29 inches long - 92nd percentile!

BMI - 52nd percentile

Have you guess what it is she did that the other 2 never did??? Now, I know you are not supposed to compare kids, but its hard not to do. I couldn't believe my ears when I found out that she was in the 92nd percentile for her height! Looks like she might be my tall one, never thought I would ever hear myself say that...of course that's what it looks like now. We all know how things can change over the years. Kylie and Lacey NEVER broke free of the 50th percentile for their height...ever.

Katie has officially 3 words to her vocabulary: Mama. Dada, and Uh-oh! She is a crawling maniac that is obsessed with the steps! She obviously has no concept of falling down them, when we are upstairs she is constantly crawling as fast as she can towards the steps!

She thinks it's REAL funny to turn over and crawl as fast as she can away from me so that she is out of my reach before turning back to look at me when I change her diaper. She giggles as soon as she flips over...of course I think its kind of funny too, unless I'm in a hurry!

She is so much fun to be around. She loves trying to play with Kylie and Lacey. She tries really hard to do what they are doing. One of her other favorite past times is to stand at the basement steps and play with the cat. The door going downstairs is shut (of course) but it has glass in it.. she thinks it is so funny when Lexi (the cat) jumps up. She is my little shadow...Greg affectionatly calls her my little hip growth. She LOVES to be with me ALL the time! If I am in the room her little radar is in search mode until she locks on to me, then there is NO getting away!

My Father-in-Law

2011-10-12T17:39:00.000-04:00

My beloved father in law passed away today. This was totally unexpected and we are in complete shock. He was an awesome man that wanted nothing more than to see his family happy. He was willing to do whatever he could to help. He was taken away from us much too soon. He will be dearly missed, heaven again an angel today...

This poem I think is s perfect description of him and how (I believe) he felt after the loss of my mother-in-law. He missed her terribly (as we all do) and think maybe much more than any of us realized. They were no more generous people around than they were.

I'm Free

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free

I'm following the path God has laid you see.

I took His hand when I heard him call

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way

I found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss

Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life's been full, I savored much

Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief

Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts and peace to thee

God wanted me now; He set me free

Fun at the park

2011-10-02T17:42:00.000-04:00

The girls LOVE to go to the park

Are there any kids that don't?

I'm fairly certain that my girls could go the park everyday and not get sick of it

Doesn't seem to matter what park we go to either, they love them all!

Lacey's favorite is the slide

Kylie's favorite thing to do is the monkey bars...she never tires of seeing if she can make it all the way across

her new thing is to see if she can go backwards across them...her hands are full of caluses...totally undeterred

Even little Miss Katie has a good time, she like to swing and eat leaves. Yes you read that correctly...eat leaves. She keeps me on my toes for sure, she can crawl really fast especially if she has her eye on something she wants!

We went to the pumpkin patch!

2011-10-01T17:28:00.000-04:00

The girls and I went to a local pumpkin patch

Kylie liked the straw bale maze

Lacey like the hay ride

Katie thought playing in the corn box was pretty cool!

Lacey tried every tactic she knew to get the pony to come close enough to her so she could pet it...sadly none of them worked.

Lacey did have some success in finding just the right ~~pumpkin~~ gourd

Tried to get a picture of all 3 of them in the pumpkin patch...2/3 of the clan are looking at me...that counts for something, right?!

This one worked out better :)

The straw bale maze was just perfect for Lacey. She went through at least 3 -4 times!

All in all it was a fun trip to the pumpkin patch...now come the not-so-fun part of carving them. I do.not.enjoy carving pumpkins. Ahhh the things we do for our children.

8 Months!

2011-09-27T17:36:00.001-04:00

This little beauty and her sisters had a great time playing at the park this weekend! It's hard to believe that Katie is 8 months old already! She's a crawling maniac!

Miss Katie loved crawling around on the rocks

She loved watching the other kids play on the swings and slide on the slide

It was also a great opportunity to get some pictures of Katie for her photo album. I'm feeling a little bit of a bad mom, the other two girls had their pictures professionally taken EVERY month until they were a year old. The last time Katie had her pictures professionally taken was when she was 5 months old. Although I've been happy with the pictures I've taken of her I feel like maybe I should be taking her in every month like the other girls. Hopefully she doesn't hold it against me when she's older!

This is my favorite for this set! I love that she is standing and looking over her shoulder at Mommy.

Lacey

2011-09-26T17:45:00.001-04:00

Lacey,

what can I say about her?

She is a thoughtful almost three year old,

she love to look at the sky to see if she can see Daddy 'frying'

loves to play outside, but really hates bugs!

loves to be a little, ok A LOT silly,

and she keeps us on our toes!

She comes up with some of the funniest phrases, we never know what's going to come out of her mouth next. She has a VERY large vocabulary, well beyond her years!

She loves cuddle, kisses and hugs!

And you know what? We love to give her those too!

Arrrrghhh!

2011-09-19T17:43:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen a cuter Pirate?

me either

keeping the hair out of you eyes is important when your a pirate

otherwise you get frusterated and yelll ARRRRGGGHHH!

And then you find your target you've been looking for!

She loves to play pirate with Kylie. They both have such an amazing imagination, its so fun to listen to.

Parade

2011-09-17T22:32:00.000-04:00

Kylie dance in the parade! It was so fun to watch, she had a great time.

Of course there was the high school marching band. They were great!

The haunted house hearse...

What would a parade be without every tractor known to man...well maybe not EVERY tractor but a bunch of them

Katie enjoyed the parade too!

I think this car could use some help!

Now that her performance is over, Kylie gets to enjoy the parade too!

Cowboy church? Why not?

It was a great parade. Kid got lots of candy for me them to eat too!

Flash Mob!

2011-09-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

Kylie danced in her first 'Flash Mob' dance today. She had a ball! The high school cheer leaders held a 3 day cheer clinic to teach all of the girls Kindergarten thru Eigth Grade (that wanted to participate) a dance to perform in the parade that was held on Saturday. Everyday she came home and had to show me more of the dance she learned. She is already waiting for the next cheer clinic so she can learn a new dance.

The danced to 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. I'm always amazed at what these little ones can learn in such a short amount of time...6 hours to be exact...over a 3 day time span.

Untitled from msgemini95 on Vimeo.

7 Months

2011-09-12T17:27:00.001-04:00

I've been having so much fun taking pictures lately! But with taking them comes editing them. I really enjoy editing them, but I have a terrible time deciding which edit I like the best!

I really like black and white pictures, however the color ones also look great!

Katie is like both of the other girls, loves to have her picture taken and will sit and smile for quite a while. Although I think that will be ending soon since now she has become a 'master' crawler!

This one is definately one of my favorites.

What about you, which one is your favorite?

Mission Accomplished!

2011-09-08T18:08:00.001-04:00

Kylie and I had a fun day taking pictures. She loved it, I kept telling her the whole time that I was sure that she had modeled for pictures before. She thought that was so funny, and kept telling me over and over that this was the first time. She loved the fact that it was also Mommy and me time...her favorite thing. Doesn't matter what we are doing, ifs its just the two of us she is happy.

I was hoping to get some good pictures of her, hoping that I could NOT have to take her in to a photographer to have them taken. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home and started looking at them, I feel like its MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

I love how they turned out. What about you? Which is your favorite?

Labor Day!

2011-09-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

Today we went to a parade in a neighboring town.

The kids got entirely too much candy

During the parade Katie was able to fall asleep.

After the parade there was a petting zoo for all to visit.

The girls loved it! Kylie held baby rabbits, Lacey pet them.

They were both amazed at how soft they were. Mommy had temporary insanity for a moment and actually considered a bunny for a pet...thank God it was only temporary!

They also got to feed the animals. I though Lacey would be too scared to feed them...I was wrong.

Kylie got her face painted...just a small painting because the truth of the matter is she hates face paint. Loves the look of it, hates the feel of it!

There was also a band playing, lots of kids playing on the playground, and several vendors. It was a great time!

Butterfly Butt

2011-08-30T13:18:00.000-04:00

Lacey was found a moth in our family room. She was totally intrigued by it, she watched that moth for at least 10 minutes. Then, when he moved, she was SO excited!

Look who's crawling!

2011-08-29T11:11:00.010-04:00

It isn't the most graceful she just started crawling 2 days ago and she's already trying to pull herself up on different objects. She was up on her knees near a box yesterday. We are in trouble!

I'll Stand By You....

2011-08-28T10:38:00.005-04:00

The words don't necessarily match the pictures its showing, but the message of the song is perfect. We want Kylie to know that no matter what she's going through, we are her for her....always.

Take my picture too!

2011-08-26T16:15:00.000-04:00

When I was taking pictures of Kylie's first day of school and Katie being 7 months old Lacey decided she should have her picture taken too! Take my picture too Mommy!

This was the result

She is definately showing her true colors these days. I think she is trying to figure out her place in our family. She's been testing the limits lately...A LOT

I love her so much, its hard to believe in a few short months she is going to be 3!

She is a fun little girl with a crazy personality! She loves to be silly, loves to sing, and hates to be ignored (or if she perceives it as ignoring). She will not allow that to happen..."MOMMY TALK TO ME!!!!!" is what you will hear.

First Day of School

2011-08-18T17:46:00.019-04:00

Kylie had a great first day of school. Mommy probably had a harder time than she did with going to a new school. I wanted to walk her to her class so I could see her classroom and meet her teacher and she politely told me that I could leave. I told her that the gym monitors told me I could wait with her, that it was OK and again she politely told me 'No, I could leave.' I said well what if Mommy wants to stay and walk you to your classroom, she politley told me again, 'No, you can leave and your embarrasing me.' At that point I took my hint and Lacey and I left. I'm so proud of her for handling the change so bravely! At the same time I REALLY wanted to see her classroom! Why does she have to be so independent?!

She was so excited when I came to pick her up. I think she went on for 15 minutes before she slowed down telling about her teacher, classroom, classmates, the rules, everything you can imagine. Kylie was happy that 2 of the kids from her after school care are in the same class and they sit right by her! She even has a desk all of her own. That really thrilled her.

Over all she really likes her new school and teacher. Lets hope for a great year!

Katie's 7 Month Pictures

2011-08-18T17:40:00.000-04:00

Look who's 7 months old already!?

She is really trying hard to crawl

I keep saying it should be anyday now...but we are still waiting

Love this one! She is squealing with delight! Probably Kylie behind making her laugh :)

She is finally starting to like 'some' of her veggies.

She is growing up right before our eyes.

She loves her sisters, Mommy and Daddy.

She loves her new daycare, Grandma Sheila and Papa Ronny

She is is a blessing...

Which one is your favorite?

Flying with Daddy!

2011-08-15T17:46:00.015-04:00

Kylie was so excited when Greg to her her was going to take her flying in Papa's new airplane. Kylie definatly has her Daddy's love of flying.

Preparing for flight!

Getting ready to go!

This is what she thinks about flying....picture speaks for itself!

She had so much fun! Thank you Daddy!!!

Happy Birthday Kylie!!!!

2011-08-09T15:57:00.006-04:00

Kylie's birthday cake on her 'actual' birthday!

Happy birthday Kylie! Mommy and Daddy are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Butt Bomb!

2011-08-01T14:37:00.002-04:00

It's a little hard to see but I think you get the idea...

Katie's 6 Month Pictures

2011-07-31T15:56:00.011-04:00

Mommy took Katie's 6 month pictures again this month.

This one is Mommy's favorite. Which one is yours?

It's hard to believe that it has been 6 months already that this little beauty entered our lives.

She is sitting up now, and is trying to crawl. Sometime during month 7 I do belive she will crawl then look out world!

She loves her sisters, she gets SO excited when she sees them come into the room.

She started eating baby food, however I think she is going to be a picky eater. It seems that the only veggies she likes are of the orange variety, forget about anything green! She cries when you try to feed green beans or peas to her. She loves all fruit!

I think she is going to be the kid that says forget about baby food, and give me the REAL stuff!

Boating with Uncle Chris and Auntie Charissa

2011-07-30T15:55:00.033-04:00

Uncle Chris and Aunt Charissa invited us to go on a boat ride with them. The girls and I were really excited, it's been a while since I've been on a boat and for the 2 little girls their first time. Kylie went fishing with Greg last year and remembered how much fun it was.

Both of these pictures of the the two older girls were taken while waiting for Uncle Chris and Aunt Charissa to get to the marina with the boat...

Lacey said 'it's berry windy!'

Hi Uncle Chris!

Hi Auntie Charissa!

We were just getting going, they were already lovin' it!

Does she look happy or what?!

Riding in the front is berry fun!

Uncle Chris let them drive! They both did great. Kylie really thought she was big stuff because Uncle Chris let her drive first.

Lacey took her job as Captain of the boat VERY seriously!

Me and my little girls! Even Katie had a good time, she was quiet the WHOLE time! Yes, I've had better hair days... :)

All in all it was a great time had by all! Can't wait to go again!!!

Thank you again Uncle Chris and Auntie Charissa!

Kylie's Birthday Party!

2011-07-28T15:57:00.059-04:00

Kylie wanted to have her birthday party before we moved. We decided to have it at a local gymnastics gym in our area. The kids (and parents too) had so much fun. It's a great place to have a party. They provide the cake (depending on the package chosen), they direct all of the activities right down to the gift opening and they even helped arrange for group shots of all of the kids. It was perfect. It was so funny seeing all of the kids's faces bright red and the sweat from how hard they had been playing. Kylie really enjoyed having so many of her friends there. It was a great time.

She originally wanted to have a Justin Bieber (JB) themed party, but since we couldn't get a JB cake she compromised and just wore JB shirt to her party instead.

Her Cake

Make a wish!

One of many group pictures

Present time!

All of the kids got to try out all of the equipment, they loved it!

Another group picture in the foam pit!!!

First attempt at a post present opening group picture...where did those boys go?!

Second attempt at a birthday picture...there's those boys again!

Silly face time!

Big group hug!

Swimming at our new house

2011-07-27T15:53:00.022-04:00

The girls absolutley love the pool at our new house!

I'm pretty sure Kylie could have been a fish in another life.

Our nephew Brandon has been an awesome help to us! He takes the girls down to the pool and never complains. They love Brandon and he is so good to them. I never have to worry about them when he is with them.

Kylie would live in the pool if she could, she never wants to get out.

Lacey has a lot of respect for the pool. I wouldn't say she is scared of the water, but is definately not as carefree about it as I thought she would be either.

Both of the girls have developed a very nice tan from the water. Kylie's is beautiful, one to be envious of for sure!

Even baby Katie likes to to be in the pool. Although I've limiting her to only a little bit here and there. She loves to splash the water in her face. So cute!

We are moving!!!

2011-07-24T15:42:00.001-04:00

We are moving tomorrow! I tried to take a picture of girls in front of our old house. This is what I got:

First attempt

Second attempt...

Third and final!

And just for fun, one of Kylie and Katie. Lacey had something to do...

Why do pictures have to be so difficult to take??? I don't even ask for perfect pictures, just ones that they are all looking in relatively the same direction....oh well.

This house has been good to us, it's where we brought all three of our babies home to, where our little family started and lots of memories.

On to new adventures!

Katie's 6 Month Doctor Appointment

2011-07-21T14:20:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that Miss Katie is 6 months old already! She is so busy learning new things everyday. She's already cut 2 teeth and is eating solids now. She does NOT like baby cereal (I can't say I blame her) and love bananas!

Today was her 6 month doctor appointment. She had a great appointment, the doctor was pleased with her progress and developments. She is a BIG girl, her stats are : 19 1/2 pounds (95th percentile) and 26 3/4 inches (90th percentile)! She is as tall as she is heavy. Most people that see her do not believe me that she is only 6 months old.

She is pretty much sitting up on her own, rolling like crazy, and I don't think it will be long before she is crawling. Whenever she is on the floor her legs are kicking all the time. She works hard to get what she wants, but she is definitely determined and eventually she will get it.

Katie's 5 Month Pictures

2011-07-12T16:14:00.001-04:00

Mommy attempted to take Katie's 5 month pictures. Daddy keeps telling me that I can take just as good of pictures as the professionals do. I, however, do not quite agree. But do to time constraits I tried, what do you think? Be honest...

This one is my personal favorite.

And this one it looks like she is showing me her new tooth!

She is such a fun and loveable baby. She fits in perfectly with our family.

Look who just got her first tooth!!!

2011-07-09T16:04:00.001-04:00

Miss Katie just cut her first tooth!

At 5 1/2 months old she is officially my youngest child to get her first tooth. Both of her sisters were approximately 8 months old. I am so grateful for kids that cut teeth without issues. I just happened to see her tooth in her mouth, she didn't fuss or cry anymore than her normal amount so I had NO idea!

Happy Fouth of July!!!

2011-07-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

Silly Lacey

2011-06-28T15:55:00.000-04:00

Silly little Lacey...

Lacey loves to be silly, most of the time she's silly without any effort...she just is

She has a sweet, cuddly side and then the REALLY silly, wacky side

She is so much fun to be around, we love her so much. Even when she does stick her tongue out at us ;-)

Kylie's new do!

2011-06-27T15:38:00.001-04:00

Recently Kylie got her hair cut.

She donated 10 inches to locks of love. They make wigs for children that have diseases that cause them to lose their hair. Kylie donated her hair in her Nana's honor. Nana recently passed away due to lung cancer.

I absolutly love the innocense in this photo.

This one shows off her personality!

Deep thoughts..

Love her!

We think she looks great! Although Daddy can't wait for her hair to grow long again. She told him she would grow it out again so that she could keep donating it.

Slip 'n' Slide!

2011-06-23T15:30:00.001-04:00

The girls love to play on the slip n slide!

See for yourself...

Happy 8th Anniversary to my Husband!

2011-06-21T23:17:00.000-04:00

Eight years ago today I married my best friend. Three beautiful daughters later, I still kinda like him...just kidding! You are an amazing father and wonderful husband.

I love you.

Lacey...

2011-06-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

Lately Lacey has been talking a lot about when she grows up. It's really cute the things she comes up with, here is what I heard this morning:

"Mommy when I grow up an be a Dad I gonna cook"

"Today is my daddy's brday, he is 30-10 today"

"When I grow up and be a Mom I not gonna have a wa-wa (pacifier)"
How many kids are you going to have?
I gonna have all the kids. (she held up her hand with all 5 fingers showing)
That's a lot of kids
I, I, gonna have 2 kids. (she held up her hand to show me 2 fingers)
That's a nice number, what are you going to name them?
I gonna name them Tiny Tim! (she was serious....)

She is so much fun to listen to. Both her and Kylie usually have something funny they say at least once a day...sometimes more... :-)

Happy Birthday my wonderful husband!!!

2011-06-20T10:57:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday!

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day

Love, Your Girls :-)

Birthday wishes...

2011-06-16T11:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday will be my birthday. Today Kylie and I were outside and I asked her to pick up her bike and apparently she didn't hear me...ahem This is the conversation that followed as I was walking to pick up her bike...

"Kylie for my birthday I'm going to wish that just once that my kids would do what I ask the first time I ask them to do it. Rather than waiting for me to ask 13 times."

"Well that's pretty much not going to happen"

"Why, not?"

"Because your not supposed to tell your wish!"

"Well then I'll have to change it a bit so maybe will...."

"I don't think it will work...."

This child is waay too smart for both our goods!

Heard around my house this week...

2011-06-14T16:33:00.000-04:00

Lacey: "Mommy wook Wexi is the the potty cave (litter box)! Maybe I need to see her in there?"

Me: "No you need to stay out of the potty cave"

Lacey: "Maybe if I be a cat, den I can go in the potty cave and see her."

Me: "Yes, if you were a cat then you could go in the potty cave"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Me: Kylie where's Lexi (the cat)?

Kylie's response "oh behind the tree, cleaning herself. a girls gotta keep herself clean ya know....always" said with had on her hip

Girls just wanna have fun!

2011-06-06T15:21:00.004-04:00

Here's to lovin' all my baby girls...

Aren't they the cutest girls you've ever seen?!

I think so too... ;-)

Lacey's Photoshoot with Daddy

2011-06-05T15:20:00.001-04:00

Daddy did a photoshoot with Lacey too!

These two are my favorites!

Daddy did an awesome job on these. They really capture her personality!

She is such a fun little girl to be around. She makes us laugh just about everyday.

Daddy did a great job!

Kylie's Photoshoot with Daddy

2011-06-04T14:59:00.018-04:00

Daddy got a hold of the camera the other day and these pictures are the result!

The pictures above and below are my absolute favorite.

The day these pictures were taken is the day she had field day at school.

I think the face painting adds to the character of the picture.

She is so photogenic, I love it. I think Daddy did a great job on these pictures don't you?!

He's got a great eye for pictures. Great job sweetheart!!!

Katie's 4 Month Doctor Appointment

2011-06-03T14:27:00.001-04:00

Recently Mis Katie had her 4 month well child checkup. She did great and is growing like crazy! I guess they do that when you feed them. ha ha

Here are her stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 13 ounces

Length: 25 1/4 inches

She is in the 90 th percentile for her weight and 75th percentile for her length. She is my biggest baby, at 4 months old Kylie was 15lbs 13oz and Lacey was 14 lbs and 12 oz. Kylie still holds the title as the longest at this stage, she was 25.5 inches at 4 months old.

Dr C was happy with her progress and development. I can start her on solids whenever I'm ready. So far I don't feel like she needs them, she is satisfied with just milk.

The pictures on the top and bottom of this post are my attempt to take my own pictures of Katie. Greg keeps telling me I can do a good job and I should take my own rather than paying someone else to take her pictures. I'm trying however I am still not sold on the idea just yet. :-)

I love this picture, I think it's the first time she's noticed that she has toes!

Field Day with Kylie

2011-06-02T15:23:00.002-04:00

Field Day at school with Kylie was lots of fun. All of the kids seemed to have tons of fun!

They had face painting, lots of sports activities, a picinic, and I think the favorite...a water ballon fight! The kids thought that was great!

My personal favorite it the plunger races. The looks on the kids faces is priceless!

While waiting their turn at the various activities the kids played on the playground. And of course Kylie is never one to shy away from the camera struck this pose for me. I love it, it's so full of life...so her.

One of the other things they did before the picinic was tie-dyed shirts. Each class wore a different color, I thought it was a great way for the teachers to be able to keep track of their classes. Kylie's 1st grade class wore purple. All of the t-shirts looked cute on the kids.

We have really enjoyed our time at this school. It's a little sad knowing this will be the last time we will see most of the kids. This is Kylie's teacher Ms. Frucci. She was a wonderful teacher with lots of patience. Kylie said the other day that she thought she was going to grow up and be 'just like Ms Frucci'. I asked her what she meant and she said 'you know, nice like her!' I thought this was such a sweet thing for her to say about her teacher, and I agree Ms Frucci you are a 'NICE' teacher!

Lacey's Picnic

2011-06-01T21:48:00.001-04:00

Today I spent my morning at the her daycare/preschools annual end of the year picinc. The weather was beautiful, couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

Lacey is quite the little daredevil. One minute she is driving the car with her friend Carson and the next minute I look up and see this....

Below you can see how big this slide really is, I have admit I was a bit scared when I saw her up there. I went over to help her and she said "I not know how to do dis'

I told just give herself a little push and come down. She did just that and let me tell you that slide is like a rocket, she flew down it and if I hadn't been standing there she would have went right off the end!

The above picture is my personal favorite of the whole day. She loved playing in the little house and spent a lot of her time in it.

You can see how warm it is, her cheeks are turning pink! Love the static in her hair!

Loving her horses.

She and I had a great time, it was nice to have some one on one time with just Lacey. She doesn't get that very often and soaks it up when she does...she is just so lovable and fun to be around.

Field Trip with Kylie

2011-05-31T19:16:00.000-04:00

Kylie's school went on field trip to the Discovery Zone.

The kids all had so much fun!

Auntie Shayla came with us since she was in town to see Kylie's dance recital.

She, of course, loved the climbing wall.

Never afraid to strike a pose!

Love this one, it's so playful

Kylie and her friend Elle.

Auntie Shayla and Kylie, Kylie adores her...

They got to ride the carousel twice. This was my favorite horse...

And on the second time around she rode on it! Yay!

Meet Cuious George.

Dance Recital Pictures

2011-05-31T16:14:00.002-04:00

Pictures from Kylie's dance recital on Friday.

She did great

We were so proud of her

She was a beautiful ballerina

I'm not sure who was more excited for her dance to start, me or her?

Daddy, unfortunatley was not able to attend...he had to work

Kylie's dance was in the second act of the recital, there were 2 acts

She sat with me during the first act and counted down the dances until the second act

She kept asking me how many more until mine?

I promised her she would not miss her dance

She loved her costume and plans on wearing it for her halloween costume this year.

She will be a beautiful princess...not a ballerina

She plans on dancing again next year, maybe adding another type of dance

This was her teacher, Ms Sara. Kylie really enjoyed her class

She got two awards, a first year award and a class participation award. Her class danced to "Constant as the Stars" from the Barbie move Rapunzel

All her flowers, from Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Auntie Shayla

Auntie Shawna was kind enough to make the 14 hour drive to come and see Kylie dance

Kylie was so excited that Auntie Shayla was able to come too. She made the very long drive down her with Auntie Shawna.

The beautiful ballerina and her Mama.

Love this little girl.

Memorial Day Parade 2011

2011-05-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

The girls and I went to the annual Memorial Day Parade

They loved it! Lacey was clapping along with the band

I just thought this car looked cool!

Dance Recital Video

2011-05-27T14:07:00.000-04:00

Kylie's Ballet Recital from msgemini95 on Vimeo.

Having Fun in the Rain

2011-05-20T13:20:00.004-04:00

Playing in the rain is lots of fun.

It means...

you get to take the umbrellas out and make a tent out of them

you get to use your rain boots so you feet don't get wet

and most of all you can be silly and Mommy isn't going to get upset 'cause she's in the rain too!

Love this Girl!

2011-05-19T13:18:00.005-04:00

My oldest...

Love her!

Hula Hooping fun!

2011-05-17T15:36:00.000-04:00

It's fun to hula hoop, see?!

Not to be outdone by her big sister, here is Lacey's attempt:

More hula hoop fun!

Soccer game!

2011-05-16T13:33:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday Kylie had dress rehearsal for her recital coming up next week, hence the slicked down hair and way too much makeup!

It was just me and her, therefore I finally got to take some pictures of her playing soccer.

This is the second to the last game of the season

She played great

She dribbles the ball with ease, ahh what a difference a year can make!

She's slightly more aggressive this year too, I'm not sure if that is good or bad :)

Look 2 on 1 and she handled it with ease!

Fun with Ferns

2011-05-15T15:33:00.002-04:00

Hmmm, I picked two ferns, what to do....

She's an insect!

She's an alien!

And she has an endless imagination!

Going for a drive!

2011-05-14T15:28:00.011-04:00

Lacey loves her car

She loves to be outside.

And she loves to go for a drive!

In the tree

2011-05-13T15:17:00.000-04:00

Kylie loves playing in the tree.

And I love photographing her in the tree, makes a great background!

Bubbles!

2011-05-11T16:24:00.000-04:00

Lacey, like all kids loves to play with bubbles

Sometimes their expressions are the best when you just sit back and wait. I personally love this picture, expression is priceless!

Flowers in my Garden

2011-05-11T16:18:00.001-04:00

3 1/2 Months

2011-05-09T16:31:00.002-04:00

Miss Katie is 3 1/2 months old already! Where does time go? She is a great baby, just the last night she slept all night! I was so happy. She couldn't have timed it better, I went to bed waaaay too late. By her sleeping all night I was able to get all 5 1/2 hours of sleep uninterrrupted!

She's been sleeping until 4 am each night, waking up to nurse and then going back to sleep until I wake her for daycare at 7am. If we don't have to go to daycare she will sleep until 8:30 or so.

Two weeks ago I brought her to the doctor because she had a severe cold. I had her tested for RSV since she's had it in the past, she tested negative thank goodness. I was told she just had a cold virus and it had to run its course. She sounded terrible, no voice, and could hardly cry. They weighed her and she weighs a whopping 15 pounds! She's gonna be a big girl! :)

Dance recital preview

2011-04-26T10:54:00.000-04:00

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

2011-04-25T12:19:00.001-04:00

It was just the girls and I this Easter. Daddy had to work, so I tried to make the day as fun as I could. The girls did 2 Easter Egg hunts! One in our backyard, the video follows and the other one following Mass at our Church!

Pictures of their loot!

Kylie right before they opened the gates for the Church easter egg hunt, she's excited!

Lacey's ready, except she is beyond tired...but she didn't let that minor detail slow her down!

Found one!

Kylie's getting to be a pro at Easter egg hunts, she knew exactly where to go!

The girls had so much fun, they love Easter egg hunts. So much so that after the backyard egg hunt Kylie took all of her eggs and hid them around the house so they could have another one. The only problem was that Lacey didn't understand that the eggs she was finding in the house belonged to Kylie and that she had to give them back. This resulted in a 'slight' dispute! :-)

Happy EASTER!

2011-04-24T14:23:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Today we dyed easter eggs

Yay Lacey did a great job!

Kylie's very proud of hers too!

All of their Easter goodies!

Kylie's favorite part of her Easter basket, the CHOCOLATE BUNNY!!!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable day, we sure did!

Always my baby

2011-04-24T00:18:00.000-04:00

Today Kylie was playing outside

I decided to take out the camera

to see what kind of pictures I could get

I think they turned out rather well. :)

3 Months!

2011-04-21T14:20:00.003-04:00

This little perfect baby is 3 Months old!

Why do they have to grow so fast?!

She is so fun to watch and talk to, she tries so hard to talk back. Ususally you get a huge smile from her when you talk and just last week she started trying to laugh! It's the best!

Kylie sings!

2011-04-18T15:57:00.001-04:00

Kylie loves to sing. Last year Nana and Papa gave her a karaoke machine for Christmas. She loves to get the microphone out and sing and dance her heart out. It is so much fun to watch. Enjoy!

She was in a halloween mood, here she is singing to Ghostbusters!

And Monster Mash!

Healthworks!

2011-04-14T16:45:00.001-04:00

The girls and I went to a local kids museum on the first day of spring break. It's very a fun place, it's all about your health, and has lots of interactive exhibits. The girls had a great time, we spent almost 3 hours and I'm pretty sure they tried to do everything in the museum! Kylie had been there before when she was in preschool so she had an idea of what to expect.

This eye ball really freaked Lacey out, she would only look at it from afar. Kylie tried to encourage her to look at it by going up to it but Lacey was not convinced.

They had a plastic chair that was filled with lot of used cigarette butts, it was really gross at the smoking and lung exhibit.

Kylie's reason not to smoke....

Dr. Norton hard at work performing a surgery. Look at the concentration, even her tongue is sticking out!

Dr. Norton successfully removed her patients heart!

Her assistant Lacey removed the patients leg bone.

The girls playing shadow soccer. Your shadow is what makes the balls move, much harder than it looks!

Lacey's attempt at keeping up with the lights on the floor. Pretty difficult when you are just under 3 feet tall!

Kylie had lots of fun climbing the 'skin' wall.

At the supermarket, then Lacey went to the garden 'pick' her vegetables.

This picture speaks for itself :-)

Scientist Kylie discovering a new molecular structure.

Puzzles!

At the dentist!

Balance!

Lacey's turn!

And finally they ended their day by coloring a picture. Funny enough they both picked the same picture to color without even knowing it!

All in all it was a great day at the museum! What I love about this place is it isn't huge so when you take more than one kid they have a little freedom to roam without Mom hovering over them. Kylie loved that she was able to have that little bit of freedom, made her feel independent.

Kylie and Nana

2011-04-13T16:44:00.003-04:00

My wonderful husband dedicated this video and song to our daughter Kylie who was so deeply hurt from the loss of her Nana (his Mother). Nana will always love you and I will be there to help and love you too. I wont let go!

Kylie and Nana had a very special bond. Kylie shares so many of Nana's personality traits, it is beautiful.

At the Zoo!

2011-04-10T16:28:00.003-04:00

Lions and

Tigers and

Bears Oh my!

This is the Red Panda

On my last day off before I have to go back to work I took the girls to the Zoo. The Zoo in our town is small and doesn't have a huge amount of animals, but there are still enough animals to have an enjoyable day. The girls had a great time. Kylie was slighting disappointed that the petting zoo, pony rides, and the butterfly exhibit was closed until Memorial Day. I promised her we would go back when they all opened. I know Lacey would enjoy all of those things too.

Kylie and Lacey looking at the White Napped Crane

This is the Playful Otter's exhibit. It is a new exhibit for this Zoo. They are so much fun to watch, seems like they never stop playing.

I thought the Tamarin's were cute, they were cleaning each other's backs.

Cotton top Tamarin

Camel

It was quite warm outside, I believe the temperature got up to 84 degrees. It was one degree below the record high. Pretty warm for this area in April. It was great!

Flamingo's

Black and White Colobus Monkey

We had a great day, even Katie enjoyed the outdoors. She was so good, she was just amazed at all the surroundings, very cute.

Lacey singing for everyone!

2011-04-05T23:34:00.000-04:00

Lacey was entertaining us with her music...

Five Little Monkeys jumping on the bed:

Hey Elephant:

First attempt at 5 Little monkeys...it turned into her singing part of the ABC's

Love this little girl so much, she keeps us laughing :)

Katie's first interview

2011-04-04T09:42:00.001-04:00

I interview Katie today, I think it went well. See for yourself:

We had another conversation, where we talked about very important stuff :-)

She's a happy baby, and fun to be around! Love her so much :-)

Kylie's First Song

2011-04-03T22:58:00.002-04:00

Today Kylie wrote a song for her Nana. We are so proud of her, she wrote the entire song all by herself and then together her and Daddy added the music. It turned out great!

She definitely got her Daddy's genes when it comes to music. She has been struggling with Nana's passing and I personally believe this is an excellent creative outlet for her to express her feelings. Nana would be so proud of her girl :)

Two months Pictures and Doctor Appointment

2011-03-29T06:31:00.000-04:00

Here are Katie's pictures from she had taken on Friday. She did such a great job! We are so lucky to have kids that like the camera. The large picture and the picture just above the pink picture in the corner were my choices for the packages I bought. All of the pictures on the this page were my favorites but I limited myself to only two packages :)

Katie had her two month well child visit today, she did so good. She is 13 pounds 6 ounces, 24 inches long, and her head circumference was 16 inches. She was in the 90th percentile for her height and weight and the 50th-75th percentile for her head circumference. I looked at the doctor and said 'Are you sure she's my child, 90th percentile for length?!" Wonder if she will stay on the tall side, wouldn't that be nice for her. I always wanted to be taller.

She has to see an opthamologist because her left eye is slightly crossed and her doctor wanted to make sure if there is anything we need to do to correct it, it gets done as early as possible. I agree, earlier the better.

All in all she had a great doctor appointment. She received 3 shots and only fussed for a minute. By the time I picked her up she was done! She is a tough little girl.

Mommy and Me

2011-03-25T16:46:00.000-04:00

Today Katie and I had our pictures taken together. With each of the girls I have taken a Mommy and me picture all of them when they were 2 months old.

It was quite funny at the beginning of getting our pictures taken because the photographer was tying to get Katie to look at her and all she would do is look at me and smile. It was so darn cute!

Eventually she did look up at we got some great pictures of the two of us and of her individually. I'll post them tomorrow. She did a really great job, the photographer was really impressed with how well she was smiling already.

I had my picture taken with my mother at around the same age and I'm so glad to have it. I hope my girls cherish their picture with me and much as I cherish mine with my mom. :)

Little Sister

2011-03-22T22:19:00.001-04:00

She's the adorable LITTLE SISTER!

'nuff said!

Fun with my sisters!

2011-03-20T19:52:00.000-04:00

Kylie and Lacey love to play with Katie. Kylie is constantly asking to hold her so she can play and talk with her.

Lacey is beyond thrilled when Katie smiles at her. She gets all excited and says 'Mommy, Katie 'miled' at me!" And if she just happens to coo at Lacey, Lacey is over the moon. She says 'Mommy her likes me!"

Kylie is absolutely convinced that she has taught Katie how to kick her feet and move her arms in the air. The first time it happened couldn't believe she could 'learn' so fast!

It's so much fun to watch the ways Kylie and Lacey play with Katie. And Katie gets so excited to see either of them, her eyes light up when they come near her. It's beautiful!

Two months Old!

2011-03-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe Katie is already 2 months old.

She is a happy, smiley baby. She loves her sister's so much. Her eye light up when she sees them. She is a joy to be around, we have been blessed.