What on the Earth We've Been Doing...

It's been a whirlwind of a three + weeks...and it's not even Christmas yet!

So what on the earth have we been doing?

We started off December at the Zoo Lights with Gramma and Papa Al. 

The next week was Addie's school's Christmas program. Oh my! I'll do another post on this one with pieces of the video we took and more pictures! Loved seeing our girl up there singing her heart out!

Then we jumped into a crazy busy last week of preschool 3's before Christmas break complete with a rockin' class Christmas party! We made gingerbread houses for centerpieces (that we later used at our very own Gingerbread House Decorating party and finally took to the nursing home), Nutter Butter Reindeer cookies, and treats for her sweet teachers! yum!

We ended the week with me taking some Christmas pictures for a friend...

...second shooting a wedding with Allison in Birmingham, and taking more pictures for our friends Chad and Mandy! I'd say that was a photography filled weekend!

And then I did one of the crazier things I've done in a while...hosted no less than 25 kiddos and their sweet mama's for a Gingerbread House Decorating Party. I'm thinking (hoping) it was as much of a success as it appeared to be! (another few posts on this one soon!). We had so much fun spending time with friends!

We had to skip our yearly tradition of the Zoo Lights with Chad, Mandy, and Cady due to rain, but that didn't stop us from heading to the inDoor mall to eat CFA, ride the train and ride the carousel! (thank you iPhone!). Addie and Cady were so sweet to take care of the little girls while riding the train! Love these 4 girls and can't wait for Cady's baby brother to join the fun!

And we all jumped crawled out of bed the next morning, thankfully including my mom, and visited the nursing home where my grandmother was almost 12 years ago. What a beautiful place with some amazing staff and just as amazing residents. We met some wonderful people, shared a few treats with everyone, and our girls were simply delightful, which if you know our girls (or any 3 year or 19 month old for that matter), can be hit or miss! And of course, we delivered the gingerbread houses, both big and small!

I'm pretty sure we bought a few gifts somewhere in there, decorated the house and our little tree that sits somewhat safely in our window seat, and managed to complete a few pinterest inspired crafts with an overly excited 3 year old!

And there you have it. My excuse(s) for blogging in such limited form. Do forgive. I'll get the Thanksgiving in Augusta pictures edited eventually...maybe before we head back for Christmas.

But throughout it all, we've worked to keep our focus on the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. Not for the presents. Not even for the giving. But for the tiny baby who was sent as our Savior, the most amazing gift of all!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:8-11

Let's Go!

Saturday was gorgeous!

Paul had been up half the night with a call from work.

So after he let me sleep late, he took a nap.

We knew we wanted to do something outside

but I had no idea we could move so quickly!

Within 30 minutes, we were all 5 up and dressed.

Babies' lunch packed.

Drinks and snacks packed.

Diapers, wipes, jackets, lovies, pacies, phones, camera, keys...

And off we went to pick up c-f-a for lunch and on to the zoo!

After unpacking everyone and everything from the car, Paul got another call.

Nothing big, but as he was trying to hold the phone and a drink while pushing Addie up the curb, he spilled his drink.

More on that later.

We had a blast. It wasn't too crowded. Everyone cooperated.

And we have pictures to prove it!

The little girls loved strolling around the zoo and being able to see so much.

Addie loved walking around and seeing all the animals!

I even attempted a picture of all 3 together.

Can you imagine what Addie is saying here?

It begins with DON'T...

Fortunately I got some cute ones of her when she wasn't looking.

 

I love Audrey Kate's little coyness here

And Anne Perry's serious little face here

After hitting the main attractions, we headed to the train.

The line was long and a few little {and big} ones started protesting.

I all of a sudden started looking for my phone.

I had Paul call it, and it went straight to voicemail. Not a good sign.

And then I remembered I'd tucked it inside Addie's stroller sunshade.

You know, the waterproof sunshade on the stroller Paul was pushing up a curb while holding a drink and talking on the phone?

Well, apparently unbeknownst to us some of that spilled coke managed to collect in the folds of the waterproof sunshade

And my phone apparently sat in said puddle of coke for over an hour.

No amount of time sitting in rice, begging, pleading, hoping, anything

would turn my good 'ole blackberry back on.

So in addition to a child with a double ear infection, another with a single one, and yet another with strep throat, and all 3 girls with snotty noses and gunky eyes...

...I got this for my birthday!

It did not in fact negate the immense levels of sickness, crankiness, and all around no fun in our house

but a little bubble blaster, drop 7 and so many sweet calls, emails, texts, and facebook messages

might have sweetened it just a little!

Gramma and Papa Al's Visit

So I'm backtracking here.

Christmas posts: done.

Baby's 7 month post: done.

Still to come:

Lots from December:

Kindermusik Christmas gathering, Zoo Lights with the Egglestons, lots of Randomness.

And then there was the wedding that I second shot with my very talented friend Allison in mid-December.

Then the babies turned 8 months! Oh my!

And I just got home from another wedding with Allison. Lot's of wonderfulness to process!

But this one is all about Gramma and Papa Al. They came to visit at the beginning of December. You may remember a picture or two (and story) that I posted here. Our house was, well, in complete upheaval. A ginormous hole in the middle of our unfinished kitchen. Dust everywhere. Wait, there's still dust everywhere!

So instead of hanging around here and playing, we went to the Zoo Lights, our neighborhood tree lighting, church, out to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and to Kindermusik. It was a super fun 3 days and a tremendous break from being at home!

We started at the Zoo Lights.

Waiting in a very long line for the train:

Gramma and Anne Perry

Daddy and Audre Kate

 

Of course Addie loved seeing the lights!

Want to see her favorite Zoo Lights? Check out her face here with Papa Al!

All because she was looking at this:

You might not be able to see it, but these frogs were jumping into a tree! Every time one would jump, she would yell DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!?!?

Oh how I love the uninhibited enthusiasm of a two year old!

We also took Gramma and Papa Al to Addie's last Kindermusik class.

Addie was super excited to have her baby sisters there...

but even more excited to have someone to play with just her!

She jumped right in and helped Ms. Sarah read the story.

One of Addie's favorite things is to dance with the scarves.

And this right here shows the difference between little girls and little boys: our sweet friend Thomas, who looks more like a bandit here!

This is Thomas leaning against his Mama's tummy. His new baby sister is planned to arrive a week from yesterday!

And this is Thomas hugging Addie. Sweet friends!

 Addie "dusting" with her duster. I wonder if we could transfer this to home!

Thank you Gramma and Papa Al for a fun-filled weekend!

We look forward to you coming back soon, hopefully to a finished kitchen!

Addie

Gramma and Papa Al came to visit this weekend. I have several fun pictures to share, but I've got to finish a few more things on my to do list before I get to the rest of the pictures.

We had so much fun at the Zoo Lights Saturday night before the weather got freezing! We went to our neighborhood tree lighting on Sunday. I'm not sure Addie even noticed the tree, she was too busy jumping in the bounce house! And today, Gramma and Papa Al joined the girls and me at Kindermusik. We had such a fun weekend going, doing, and staying out of our house under construction.

(Anne Perry, Gramma, Papa Al, Addie, Daddy, Audrey Kate)

Along the way, Addie seemed to be constantly amusing us with her words. She made up a story about getting the dinosaurs out of her zoo that involved a train, giraffes, all of us that were there, oh, and Didi! She talked our ears off about anything and everything you could imagine. And she absolutely loved the lights, at the zoo and at the crazy house in our neighborhood (blog post to come).

But first I have to share a couple of things with you that she said over the last 3 days...

tonight:
Addie:  Are Gramma and Papa Al coming back to my house?
Mommy: Not tonight; they went back to Augusta.
Addie: What's Augusta?
Mommy: They live in Augusta like you live in Montgomery.
Addie: No they don't, they went to Show and Tell.
Mommy: Show and Tell?
Addie: Yeah, they went back to the Show and Tell.

I think she might have meant Hotel!

on the way to get some dinner:
Addie: I got my tangle out.
Mommy: Oh Addie, please don't do that. Let Mommy help you.
Addie: It's ok Mommy. It's my fault.  :(

In the car:
Mommy: Are your panties still dry?
Addie: No, they are wet.
Mommy: Sweetie, we can't wear big girl pants out if you can't keep them dry.
Addie: Don't worry Mommy.

Saturday night dinner:
Addie: Where's you're hair?
All of us: trying to figure out who she was looking at and what she was talking about.
Realization: I do believe that marks the first of many embarrassing brutally honest, yet completely innocent, childhood comments.
Sorry Papa Al.  :/ She really does love you!

Thanks for a fun weekend Gramma and Papa Al. It was a great break from our makeshift bathroom-kitchen and being confined to the living room! ...and I do believe Addie had a blast!

rhinocerNos

We love going to the zoo. Last Monday was a gorgeous day.  The humidity was low, and our playgroup hit the zoo. The little girls were precious, Addie had a blast, and I only ate an entire 12 foot sub for lunch. It's ok; I had already burned it off.

It's no secret that Addie loves animals. Period. I hope this passion continues, and that she's able to utilize this love in her future!

There are a few things that Addie says that crack us up. One of my favorites is how she pronounces rhinoceros: rhinocerNOS. I decided that rhinocerNos' are not the most attractive creatures. When we came across this rhinocerNos, Addie was quite excited to see it!

But this is apparently what the rhinocerNos thought of us...thankyouverymuch.

The first animal that we always see on our loop around the zoo is the Bengal tiger. I had a hard time not asking the other lady and her little girl who were standing there to PLEASE step back so I could take a picture without their reflection in it...but of course I didn't! So thus the quality of these photos are highly questionable! I learned quickly that I both hated and loved that 3 inch pane of glass though.

Let me take you through this series of pictures...

picture 1: Bengal tiger laying peacefully in the grass gazing sweetly through the glass at us. The other lady and I comment on how cuddly this wild creature appeared...awwww

picture 2: The other lady takes her hand and places it on the glass. The tiger flips over, lunges at the glass, bares his teeth, and growls at us. I think my heart literally skipped several beats!

picture 3: The tiger stands up and glares at us for a minute. If I were face-to-face with this creature in the wild, it would not have to kill me. I would most certainly die of my heart stopping...

picture 4: He struts away to "snuggle" with the female tiger under the trees...

I promptly stroll us away to avoid having to explain anything further to my 2 year old! Lesson learned: Bengal tigers are not snuggly with any person...just their mate, and I am thankful for 3 inch glass!

I digress...

I thought Addie was so cute here watching the animals!

Our newest zoo attraction are these penguins. Our zoo does an excellent job creating natural habitats for the animals, but these little guys didn't seem too happy. Don't you think they are probably pretty hot in this humid climate?

And we always love the elephants! Typically they put on a show for us, but this time it was clearly the tigers!

I have not a single picture of our cute group of little girls, but there were 4 of us mamas and 7 little girls! I guess I have an excuse with Addie running around and at least one baby requiring me to carry her in the Baby Bjorn.

Our trip ended promptly after lunch when the little girls got hungry. I am not a public nurser and was not about to sit in the pavilion and nurse them! So I put them in the back of the stroller, got Addie in the front, packed us up, and literally ran out to our car with them screaming at the top of their lungs! I decided that by the time I got them home that they would be entirely too worked up. So...I blasted the AC, found some shade under a tree, reparked our car, started a video for Addie, got the little girls into the front seat, tied one of their blankets around my neck (because once you start feeding twins, you don't have an extra hand and of course I didn't have my nursing cover), and fed them...

Our ride home was much more peaceful with two full babies, a sleeping 2 year old, and me finishing off my 12 inch sub!

As I always say, life is never dull with 3 little girls! :)

the Zoo

We love the zoo! Addie loves the zoo! So last week on the last day Daddy was home with us (during the week), we spontaneously went to the zoo! We were headed to get a chicken biscuit, it was 9am when the zoo opened; and when we asked Addie if she wanted to go to the playground at Chick-fil-a OR go to the zoo, you can imagine what she chose!

Doesn't she just look thrilled to be there here? It's because we were delaying her entrance to the fun!

My favorite: the Bengal Tigers. amazing creatures!

Checking out the zebras.

She talked about the lions the ENTIRE time we were there! They were one of the last animals on our loop around the zoo. So I pulled the little girls out to get a shot of all 3 girls. Addie looks SO grown up here to me! :(

Audrey Kate

Anne Perry

They had this beautiful eagle out getting some exercise (because apparently she's a little on the heavy side!). From what I remember, the Auburn eagle is her son (daughter/offspring?).

We went to see the black jaguar and found this! Paul tried to tell me that the black one must have changed to this. I may still have a pregnancy (ditzy) brain, but I'm not that gullible! He/she was lounging in the tree and actually fell asleep while we were standing there. Again, what an amazing creature!

We actually got brave and took all three girls on the train. It was the little girls first train ride (I'm sure they will remember it fondly)! It was packed with a school group, so we had people all up in our space (which doesn't make the mama of 2 week old twins real comfortable). BUT...it was fun!

I was totally shocked these turned out. It was pretty dark in the viewing area where the black bear is, but at the same time, there was this wild sunlight in random places; and I was shooting with my old camera. This bear was pacing back and forth, walking straight towards us over and over! Addie was completely enthralled! I loved capturing her expressions in the reflection of the glass!

Although not our first outing, it was one of our longest. The girls slept the whole time, and Addie was delightful! It's made me be a little more adventurous on my own now that I know she's not quite as much of a wild card as she was when we first brought the girls home!

On that note, I must say that Addie's been precious to the little girls; but her behavior has literally kept us on our toes for the past two plus weeks. She is testing limits and boundaries left and right. Exhaustion from having twins just doesn't compare to the sheer exhaustion of retraining a 2 year old! She can undo, mess up, and tear through a room faster than any human being I know...all with an attitude!

But we're making progress, chipping away, taking baby steps. And seeing results only makes us more determine as parents!

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6