Treasure Hunt

I was searching for the library books we brought home only just today. I knew they must have slid behind/under the girl's bed during rest time, and I was suspicious we might have lost an old iPhone we use for games under the bed as well.

I pulled out the drawers and slid out the rubbermaid containers of too big/out of season clothes. But my baby belly greatly inhibits my ability to bend over and makes it impossible to crawl on it under a small space. The swiffer wasn't cutting it. So Anne Perry came in, put on Paul's head flashlight, and eagerly crawled under their bed!

But her sisters would not be outdone by her!

Addie came in with a flashlight, they all switched up gear and kept pulling things out from under the bed.

They dust-busted the dust, tossed out the toys, and slid out the books...and would have stayed and played longer had dinner not been ready!

One Mr. Potato head ear, two iPhones, three misplaced library books, four hair rubberbands, six old pacies, eleven books and more dust bunnies than I care to count later...we had a clean under-the-bed!

I have since shoved a sleeping bag down along the side of the little girl's bed to hopefully prevent so much (their pillows included) from slipping down and under. Thing is, it can also slip down the ends. I guess our little swiffers will just have to grab flashlights every so often and go on a treasure hunt!

Happy Birthday Party

the little girls love them some Pump It Up (think three huge jumpy jump blow up things, indoors, ridiculous amount to have a party there). but it's a good thing we didvbc it rained cats and dogs that morning! they were so very excited and so gracious and grateful to be going to their birthday party. it was absolutely precious in so many ways to see them be so joyful to celebrate with all of their friends! so i'm very thankful we sucked it up and had it there.
because look at these happy girls!

anne perry has always been our dare devil. i have a feeling she'll be my roller coaster buddy one of these days when she's tall enough!

but it wasn't until a few visits ago that audrey kate would make it all the way up the slide and down on her own. 

and she loves it now! there were lots of sweet friends to enjoy it with us. some big ones...
and some little ones...

sweet big sister enjoyed herself thoroughly as well!

and i love seeing her sweet smile too! finally everyone had had enough and we attempted a picture. anne perry melted before it. audrey kate during it. but we got a semi-smiley one...
...and a silly one!

everyone hopped into the party room for some pizza...

capri suns and cupcakes!
(thanks to Jellybean Paper for the darling cupcake toppers!) neither girl was too sure about sitting in the big birthday chair...

but audrey kate was quick to warm up to it...

...while anne perry wanted to sit back at the table and insisted on holding my hand while everyone sang happy birthday! (it was pretty sweet, i'll admit, even though it fully prevented me from taking a picture of her.)

and then things got a little silly ;0)

for everyone! finally Anne Perry climbed up in the birthday chair with a few friends

and thoroughly enjoyed herself! then again, so did addie and her friend Will.
i'd have to say it was a great success. everyone left full of pizza and cupcakes. it finally stopped raining. we collected quite a few bags and cans of dog and cat food for our humane shelter. and our sweet girls had the best birthday ever!

we then got to spend the rest of the day and sunday with grandpa, ms. gail, gramma, papa al and rierie celebrating these little girls! perfect weekend!

Happy 3rd Birthday Anne Perry & Audrey Kate! I can't imagine two more grateful, more loving, more precious three year olds! we love you!

Growing Up...

these sweet little girls had their last day of K4 and 2 year old Mother's Morning Out on Wednesday. I told them I was taking my real camera & wanted to take a picture of their last day. I was assuming at school. Anne Perry plopped down on the top step and inquired why we weren't taking a picture right there. So we did...

There were squeezes.
And attempts at a smiling picture. All of which quickly erupted into crazy silliness!

which wasn't too too different than it was a mere 9 months ago. only 9 months for these babies to turn into little girls.
Until we finally got just the sweet smiles.

This big girl has grown up so much. From the almost 4 inches she's grown in height to her handwriting to her reading...she's learned so much this year. Lots about how to be a good friend...and more than I'd prefer about what kind of friend she doesn't want to be. She loves learning and especially reading. She tries and often times succeeds at reading anything her sweet eyes can find...and frequently shocks me with what she can decipher. Her little world is about to be rocked with starting kindergarten and welcoming a new baby brother in August, but I have no doubt she will grow and stretch as we go. I love this five year old more than my heart can hold; and I'm so thankful she made me a mommy!  I can't believe I dropped these two little munchkins off in August. They were so tiny! Anne Perry has loved every minute of school! She begs to go to school and is sad when it's not her day, but still has so much fun playing with mommy. She sings with any song on the radio or tv or at church. She loves dancing and can swing those hips like no other. I think the biggest accomplishment of the year is full time panty wearing for this little girl! She approaches life with such exuberance and passion. She gives the biggest hugs and sweetest snuggles! I think of the three, Audrey Kate has changed the most in appearance. She's gone from a squishy cheeked baby to a little girl in nine months. She also loves school, but isn't as enthusiastic as her sister about going. I often times left her in tears and waited outside the room to make sure she settled down before leaving (she always did)...she might have been a daddy's girl for the first year of her life, but she's pretty tight with her mama now. her vocabulary, language and enunciation have grown leaps and bounds. She loves to talk, but it's her thoughts and her words! She's also in full time panties and could be at night too...waking up dry every morning. And this girl can run and kick a ball better than some kids twice her age! Where did my baby go?   We are so thankful for all of the girl's teachers this year. They embraced our girls where they were and helped them grow and mature in their own ways. They loved them and their all of a sudden crazy pregnant mama.

And we are so thankful for these three precious girls. God has blessed us so richly! Everyone is thrilled we get to welcome a little boy into our family, and so are we; but I cannot imagine life without these loud, drama-filled, question-drilling, sweet-sharing, fun playing, dress-up loving, full life living three little girls!

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! 2 Peter 3:18

More Tea, My Dear?

there's been a lot of nesting going on around here. in fact, it's in high gear. from purging little girl clothes to sorting through little boy clothes, cleaning out our freezer, organizing cabinets, and cooking...i'd say it's in full swing. and it's about time!

but after feeling miserable until almost 19 weeks, i feel like i've missed some precious time with our girls. it's been strict survival for weeks; and i am SO thankful to be over that and feeling sweet baby andrew's kicks at all hours of the day instead of knowing he was in there because i was throwing up!

dressing up is a daily occurrence around here. sometimes it involves music. other times it involves just playing. and other times it involves lots of pretend. but before i know it, clothes are flying, and i'm being begged to help put on beautiful dresses multiple times a day.

this day was not unlike any other, except we pulled out real food and real juice and used tea sets to have our very own fine tea party.

more tea my dear?

love! 
all documented on a camera...or two. 

precious little girls. precious memories. one thankful mama.

Lake Seed

a few months ago, Millie (Paul's brother's wife/my sister-in-law/the girls aunt) and i were talking about how we'd love to get our two families together for a few days. we are so blessed to have had some fun trips with lots of family and have some planned for the future, but we also want to foster these first cousin relationships! they adore each other, and we certainly love spending time with Jay and Millie and their kiddos.

so we started exploring options. and oh my! between moms/grandmas and aunts with mountain homes, a dad/grandpa that lives at the beach, and a dad/grandpa who's siblings/kids/25+ people get together at the beach once a year...we are s.p.o.i.l.e.d! ...and oh so blessed! ...and cheap!

so millie offered for us to come to her parent's lake house in the mountains for, get this, f.r.e.e! we split food, had an extra long table big enough for 10, enough bedrooms for parents and kids, a field for the kids and dogs to run in, a boat ride, and space to relax and play. that's all we needed!

perfection!

we spent as much time outside as the kids would allow! they played with sticks and picked up pine cones.
played together...

and just kicking around the ball by themselves. and were just plain cute. seriously! how adorable is my only niece! love her sweet four year old self! we brought kira uno moo for her birthday. and while john had the most fun dumping out the pieces and carefully placing them back in the barn, the girls had a pretty good time with my attempt at teaching them how they could play. 

we spent some time on the deck. a lot of time on the deck, because the view was breathtaking! and then uncle jay got the boat started and took us all on a boat ride!

even the dogs got to join us! and i'd certainly say they enjoyed it!

although uncle jay was in charge of driving, we had a few alternate drivers! this is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend! i think it's beautiful of millie, and simon is too cute for words!

anne perry got to drive...
and audrey kate took driving to a whole new level. this girl was swerving all over the place! we're going to have to watch her when she turns driving age! kira was super cute driving, and i'm thinking she's an old pro! but the picture of addie's hair completely blocking uncle jays line of view takes the cake! i mean really! she's so tall and that wild hair! love her wrinkle nose scrunched up shoulders smile! (thank you uncle jay for letting all of the big/ger kids drive. clearly they loved it!)

anne perry and kira started hugging at one point, and i was almost fearful they'd go over because they were on their knees being so silly. thankful everyone stayed in (and that they love each other so much!) uncle jay promised them we'd go fast, and we did! i'd have to say they enjoyed it! you think?
{sigh} when did they get so big and growny?

of course the best place to eat a popsicle is riding on a boat! as we were pulling in (ok...as uncle jay and daddy were attempting to paddle us closer to the boathouse, grab the pier beams, pull the entire boat into the right position (going into the boathouse forward and not sideways) all while receiving numerous questions and encouragement from the peanut gallery), i slipped back to where john, simon and millie were sitting. and once again, i love this picture of simon. he's so beautiful. so full of smiles. and adores his mama so much! {heart}

but what you can't see in the picture above and that happened after the picture of simon and millie driving is that strange mustard colored, um, well, poop that literally exploded out of the little guy in all directions possible!!! not one single tear. not one moment of fussing. and not one complaint from his smiling mama who was holding him. seriously. i've been pooped on, but that wins the prize! i dont think the outfit even made it into the wash! it happened minutes after we started, and millie was so laid back about it. we continued our ride, everyone drove, we went fast and weaved in and out of tree branches and boats...all while millie patiently held this much content, very wet poopy baby! pretty amazing mama i might add!

at night, everyone piled on the sofa to be read to.

and before naps one day, simon got to join them! i love this picture of him with is hand on his face. it's like, oh my, these big kids are so exhausting (are they ever!)....or maybe it was the toy?. but i also love how he's looking up at addie in the other picture! sweetness!

there were plenty of questions and comments, rearranging and situating, taking turns and my turns. and for the record, their ages: addie-5, kira-4, anne perry-almost 3, audrey kate-almost 3, john-almost 2 and simon-almost 5 months. by christmas, they will be 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1 and a newborn. oh.my.word! that will be seven cousins 5 and under! absolutely amazing and unbelievably blessed! 

and eventually the little girls hopped up and each wanted to hold baby simon. there are no words!

except that we truly had a wonderful 3 days with uncle jay, aunt millie, kira, john, and simon. on the whole, the kids got along beautifully! of course they all had their moments; but from what i can recall, there was lots of sharing, compromising, playing and just plain 'ole enjoying each other!

thank you millie for letting us come to your parents lake house! thank you jay and millie for planning and bringing all the food. our drive might have been longer, but y'all did some serious work calculating ounces of milk needed per child, eggs, snacks, lunches, juice, fruit, dinner and everything in between.

addie did, however, top off the trip with throwing up about an hour and half away from home and threw up the rest of the night. while that was completely less than desirable on all levels, we still have some wonderful memories of our trip to Lake Seed!