Just Have to Tell Someone...

We have a sitter for tonight! NYE! We haven't been "out" for New Year's in 3 years. A friend offered to couch sit (what we call babysitting when all babies are asleep already) out of the blue and I am so thankful! We are going to a friend's for board games and cocktails and while there is no way we'll make it till midnight, I will be celebrating like it anyway!

This year my goals are:
1. Lose the rest of my baby weight
2. Learn more about photography and Photoshop
3. Begin praying with our children daily.
4. Move!
5. Get a job teaching, hopefully my old one.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Everyone!

Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. It was fun and overwhelming at the same time. We are lucky to get to see so much family on the holidays, but its exhausting too. Gracie and Tater did great at home Christmas morning, I actually teared up as they ran to the tree and saw the gifts. Gracie went right for them and Tate just stood there unsure if he was allowed to touch them. It was sweet. We got packed up and went to my mom's for Christmas day in our Pj's, a tradition for me since childhood. That was a bit hard on them because there were a lot more people and we were drowning in a sea of wrapping paper. I think next year will be more fun for them. Here's a few highlights:

Benny's first Christmas!


Gracie, Tate and their cousin dancing with the Christmas music


Christmas morning



Opening gifts




I think in the coming years some things will change. We are scheduled heavily back and forth between my family, his and little time for us as a small family. We want to have more downtime and be able to attend our own church service. Not sure how all that will shape up, but we are looking forward to many more Christmases as our little ones grow!

Busted

Just a few pics of the twins teaming up to cause trouble.. You'd think the whole Santa thing would deter them, but no dice. Maybe next year...

Nigh, Night

My favorite part of the day is our bedtime routine (and not just because they are going to bed!) We have really established a good pattern over the last few months and even when we've had the whiniest of days, bedtime always makes me smile and appreciate them.

6:15PM PJ's and diaper changes with a rousing rendition of us yelling"naked baby!" as they run around the house slapping their bellies. I have NO idea why they do this, but it's awesome.

6:25PM Read Goodnight Moon and Counting Kisses, or whatever they pick out.

6:30PM "Let's brush our teeth!" They run to the bathroom door and use their pointer fingers as fake brushes and wiggle around their mouths. They jump up and down and bang on the door. Who was ever this excited to brush teeth?!
We take turns saying "ahhhh" and help them brush. They are usually cooperative. We wash faces and then they stand on the scale to see how big they are. Sometimes together (like last night, while hugging).

6:40PM Nigh, Night! My favorite. We say goodnight to Benny (he still goes to bed an hr later), Goodnight to the Christmas tree, then into the nursery. They kiss each other first, then us. It's like a big love fest in there, people. We tuck them in with their "lovies" and more cuddles as they lay down. Then they just go to sleep!

Sometimes we here giggling for a few minutes afterwards, but generally they are tired and ready for bed.

I hope bedtime is always this sweet around here.

Update

This is mainly for me, but if I don't write down what the kiddos are up to I'll never remember.

Tate: WILD MAN. Running, climbing, jumping off tall buildings (or couches). All boy and all energy. He is still a cuddle bug though and likes to suck his thumb with his "Linus" blanket and lean on my leg for 20 seconds, then it's back to the races. He loves to wrestle with daddy when he gets home and try new moves out on Gracie. The Christmas tree is proving too tempting for him and I'm thinking about starting time out pretty soon. We need a better course of discipline. Tater is starting to talk more, that is, his babbling is starting to sound more like real words. The kid loves to vacuum. He is such a good sport playing "where's Gracie" over and over and ring around the rosie whenever she wants. He loves Benny and smothers him with kisses all day long. He is quick to apologize and quick to hit. I adore him.

Gracie: SASS-A-Frass. Still. Getting quite the stubborn streak these days. I hope she's teething or we're in trouble. Loves to dance and has started singing her own songs! CUTEST thing ever! Sometimes it sounds like songs we sing together, sometimes just random. I love it. She is a social butterfly and loves to yell "HI!" to people everywhere. She just started climbing this week and furniture all over the house trembles in fear. Nothing is safe from my toddlers anymore. She learns new words every day it seems: Go away! DOOO it! Tater! Up(ah), down, mamammamamamammama, etc. I love it. My favorite time with her is one on one. She LOVES ths red couch blanket and has taken to sitting next to me with it and cuddling. She might read a book or watch tv with me, but she's so still! It's sweet. We had snack that way yesterday while her brothers were still napping.

Benny Bear: All Smiles. He is so easy going and mellow 99% of the time. God blessed us with the perfect baby to fit into our busy household. He takes pokes from the older babies without complaints and waist patiently awake in his crib for me to come get him in the morning. He naps anywhere and everywhere and will smile at your slightest effort. I have a suspicion he wants to roll soon. He likes to blow bubbles and Gracie and Tate make him laugh out loud! Warms my heart.

'Tis the Season

Our visit with Santa turned out pretty much as expected:







But THIS is my favorite part of the season anyway

I am in trouble here, people.

Thanksgiving Recap

I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of my kids or us as a family on Thanksgiving! Actually, I can, since we are always so busy on holidays. I guess I am more disappointed. The kids looked super cute. :)

We went to my in laws and my moms on turkey day and stayed the night down in Puyallup. Friday we even braved the mall for a little black friday shopping. Going in the afternoon wasn't too bad at all. I love being at the mall around the holidays. It feels so festive with a million people there buying gifts and having a big budget to shop for my family. I love gift giving! Sean and I also have a game we play where we guess how many Santa hats we will see in the mall that day. The person closest without going over wins. Ha ha, it's silly, but fun.

We spent Saturday and Sunday at home and at church, showing of our new Christmas themed outfits (thanks to Grandma). Besides Gracie's massive temper tantrum at a friend's house, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Here is the only picture I have-of Gracie and Tate and my niece tackling my mom on Thanksgiving. Better than nothing I suppose?

Bring on Christmas!

Peach Fuzz

Is there anything cuter?

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

This is going to be a bit disjointed, but I never write out what I am thinking before hand (like I have that kind of time), so bear with me.

I have been presented with challenging situations lately, that have felt like tests of my intergrity. Basically a series of accidents at stores (Gracie's sticky fingers, my absentmindedness) that have given us things we know we didn't pay for. Gracie took a hat from a clothing store, I left the grocery store with items that didn't get rung up (twice!). In this situations it would be easy to go on our way and steal actually, but I have felt strongly compelled to do the right thing. This meant extra trips back to stores and returning and/or paying for said items. It's funny, I felt proud of myself and almost happy with an opportunity to witness to my kids. Of course they have no idea what's going on, even when it was just Benny and I at the store yesterday, but I would know and of course God would know if I just put the case of coke in my car and drove off.

I want to be better than that and I want their little eyes and hearts to see that mommy does the right thing, even when it's a pain. I was happy to call my mom and husband to tell them what happened. So I was thinking about all that and patting myself on the back a little bit when I felt a nudge from the Father. "Why are you so proud of yourself for doing what your supposed to?"

Ouch.

I was proud, I thought I had passed these tests with flying colors. But perhaps I missed the point. No, I didn't steal, but hello?! I should be ashamed if I had? Is this not what is expected of me? How often do I congratulate my students for doing their work or praise my kids for not hitting? It's what they are supposed to do. I have set these standards for their own good and while I am glad they do it, It's not necessarily something I want them to gloat about. Perhaps it's the same with my Father and Teacher. He would expect me not to sin in front of my children, He would be glad I didn't succumb to temptation, but probably more disappointed at how prideful I was about it. I can get my rewards here or in heaven, and lately, I've been choosing here. I want my kids to know why we choose to do the right thing, but I also want them to see their mother walk in humility. After all, I am likely to screw up in a variety of other ways.

3 Months Old

Time is flying by Benny Bear!

My Boys

All those blue eyes just melt me! You can see where they get them from :)

Dog Pile

Just checking in to say that we have been hit by a flu of epic proportions. Not sure if it's swine related or not. First Sean, then Tate, then Gracie, and now myself. I am seeing the light today, but praying that Benny some how lucks out of it. High fevers, snot, and misery all around. What were those flu shots for again?

Sean and I did have a wonderful weekend away with friends at a marriage conference and had some much needed rest and adult time. *ahem*
Seems we timed it perfectly between fevers. I am so thankful for my mom, aunt and sister for taking care of our brood while we were gone.

Life goes on here, and I'm thankful, even if it feels like a dog pile.

Attention!

This is how we will let you know we would like to be tickled now:

Sass-A-Frass

That is my new nickname for our Gracie Girl.

In her ripe, old age of 18 months, she is exhibiting a new talent for sass. She can often be found giving "the brows" ( as seen above) and telling us "DOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT!" I don't even know where 'do it' comes from, but she heard it somewhere and is holding on like its a new sippy cup. She also is perfecting a high pitched squeal that makes daddy's ears bleed when we have not responded to her needs quickly enough. We are trying to teach her about patience (ha ha) and saying please (which she does half the time), but then this sass rears its ugly head again. I've also seen it in deliberate walking away from me when she needs to apologize for hitting and when she purposely throws her food off the highchair tray while I am trying to clean it.

Needless to say, I think we are in for it.

But I am determined. I do not want her to turn into one of those diva toddlers that rules her home, I have seen those girls in high school. NO THANK YOU.
I have also been known to throw around a bit of sass myself. Just ask my Mother. I still get emails and voice mails from her that start with "Now, don't sass me, girl".

So when patience and discipline fail, I will be prepared to fight sass with sass. I think we all know that her daddy doesn't have a prayer in disciplining her, all she has to do is give him a kiss and he will race out to buy her a pony. That's fine with me, he can take the boys to the ER every time they break a limb.
I will take on miss sass-a-frass AND those Brows.

WHO THAT?!

Lots and lots of new things happening around here. I guess that's the thing about kids-they grow up.

Benny is almost 3 months old and sleeping through the night like a champ, so we bit the bullet and put him to bed in the twins' nursery. It was so neat/overwhelming to see all 3 of our little ones lined up in there sleeping. We even paused to bask a bit until Gracie grunted and wiggled and Sean and I had to run out the door so she wouldn't see us. ANYWAYS. It was very sweet to hear them squealing this morning as they often do, but when we opened the door we were met with Gracie's angry eyebrows and she yelled "WHO IS THAT?!" pointing at sweet Benny. She has never strung words together before! Tate was also pointing and yelling, but more like a "YEAH!" than actual words. Gracie the repeated "Who that?!" about a zillion times before I told her Benny was allowed to sleep in their room now. When did my child learn to speak? I mean like actual words, not the made up ones they have trained us to understand.

Other things we now know they can do:
-Open bedroom door by themselves-as seen by surprising mommy on the toilet
-Draw straight lines-beautifully debuted with the artwork on their closet doors
-Understand what "no" means-demonstrated by screaming it at me when I make a request

Yep, my babies are growing up!

Just Us

Just me and my Benny bear today.

Feels strange, but nice to have some one on one time with him. Here is a picture of his cuteness.