Merry Christmas!

This weekend seemed like a totally different Christmas to me. Jeff was off work on Friday - so we got to hang out and enjoy him being here all day! Love the days he gets off work!

Saturday - Christmas - was quite calm. I mean calm, as in we had nothing going on. Usually we are traveling here or there, having people all around, making the rounds to the different houses as we try to stop and enjoy a few minutes with everyone. But not this Christmas. We had decided we were staying home.

Our morning was the girls getting up and us reading the Christmas Story, then Haley delivered everyone's presents. We had decided to go light on the presents this year - to simply not overload the kids with "stuff". It was hard on both Jeff and I to not just buy and buy all the stuff we wanted to surprise the girls with.

Merry Christmas!!

Caitlin was helping Daddy make our fire!

Haley reading Caitlin's new books to her.

Daddy's little snuggle bug!

Haley picked out a candle for me.

My oldest brother, who lives in town, had us for Christmas dinner. Lamb. My first reaction to that was ... yuck, who eats lamb? But it was actually ok. It didn't taste too much off of beef.

Sunday came - and we just relaxed around the house again.

And then came Monday. :) This is the Christmas that I seemed most normal. We had all the cousins over - and then some. It was crazy and chaotic! But I LOVED it! So there was 9 kids and 12 adults! The house seemed to be bursting at the seams, and it was wonderful! We had casual finger foods of plenty, and of course lots of desserts!

My brother Holl and his wife Stacye got to come home for Christmas - this is always such a big hit for the kids!! They LOVE Uncle Holl!!! CH would not leave his side for much of anything!

A visit from Holl would not be normal with out some kind of pile on! So of course, yesterday - the kids were wrestling - and Holl was right in the middle of them. At some point he had them all pinned down in one big pile, with one hand. Then, pretty sure it was Haley Grace, one of them flew off an ottoman onto his back, almost tackling him. Little E came running from one direction, in some kind of a drop kick motion, landing right on top of MV and CR - with a gun strapped to his side and another in hand mind you.

Before we knew it - it was time for everyone to return to their own houses. The chaos ceased, and the house went quiet.

All of this was on Jeff and I's anniversary. Yesterday was our 9th anniversary! Like many - we spent it with family. One of these days, we duck out of the family chaos and go have a date.

At least he got to come home at lunch and enjoy it all with us. By the time dinner came, I was so exhausted, we just sat and watched some TV and went to bed a little early. That's what pregnancy is for me - it makes me so tired. Oh well.

Christmas

Haley sang in the choir again this year.

She LOVES singing in the choir! Look at that giddiness on her face! :)

Decided to try getting a picture of the girls together in the outfits Papa Jan got them, and here's how it went -

attempt #2

Well, maybe if Daddy holds Caitlin it would work a little better. :)

Ok - so just letting her run up to me and smile for me works just fine.

Me and Haley Grace - note the missing top tooth!

Here is our little lady

and my poor attempt to get us all in one picture.

Oh Christmas Tree!

So, it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been slow taking pictures, so there's not alot to put on here. :(

October came and went. I turned 31, Haley has been better

in school, Caitlin is becoming more adventurous, and Jeff has been working hard on some projects around the house! He made me a counter top (wood) and stained it a dark stain. I LOVE it! He also made me new cabinet doors for the cabinets in the laundry room. They look a wold different and wonderfully different I might add! He's the best!

Our new counter top!

My new laundry room! I LOVE IT!!!

November came and went really quickly it seems. For Thanksgiving we had it here - 17 people total! 8 adults and 9 kids!! To top the chaos (although it was not that chaotic) - it was cold and rainy. Thankfully, the rain held off for a little while and the kids got to play outside for a bit.

Unfortunately - we didn't take one picture of Thanksgiving. :(

December is finally here!! Haley Grace and I have been itching to start all the Christmas decorations and music. But we had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. So last weekend we went to find our tree!! YAY! And Caitlin was a little excited too! We came home from Lowe's with a new tree and colored lights (as per Haley's request).

Haley with her new ornament.

Caitlin helping put on ornaments too! Although she enjoyed taking them OFF way more!

"What?? I'm not taking them off again."

Haley got to put the star on top.

And finally - Caitlin is so tired. She just wanted to curl up on Daddy's shoulder and snuggle! That's why Daddy calls her his cuddle bug.

I am now 31 weeks pregnant! YAY! Not too much longer to go. Although if you add in an extra 2 weeks for the baby to take his time like his sisters did - then it's a little over 10 weeks left. Either way - I'm getting big. And this boy is more active than his sisters were I think. He's not still very long at a time, and he usually decides to start his entertaining right as I lay down to go to sleep! He's causing me so HUGE heart burn. I did have that with the girls, but this time is much worse. Other than that, I am feeling really great with him!

Pumpkin patch and Hay ride

This weekend - we went with our Sunday School class to a pumpkin farm. We went on a hayride to pick our pumpkin and came back to play by the bonfire pit.

Then off to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Oh the smores! YUM! I am loving this time right now - the air is turning chilly, and there will be MANY fires in our near future!

They had a tire swing right by our fire spot, the kids never left it! Of course they all loved Jeff pushing them on it!

This is Caitlin's new friend, he would run to give her hugs, followed by attacking her and tackling her to the ground.

Daddy came to rescue her!!

This is one of the constant shrieling moments from the tire swing.

My girls!

Ok, so I have always seen a big resemblance in our girls. There are differences too, but I've always thought they look a lot alike. Here are some of HG at about 15 months and 18 months. And then there's C at 15 months.

First Grade

Haley starts first grade!

Haley and Daddy before her first day of school.

So far, Haley is enjoying first grade. She is super excited that she has a new friend that shares her name! Not just another Haley, but a Hailey Grace (she spells hers different).

With meeting so many new friends, HG has frequently come home in the afternoon a little down, saying that she is frustrated at being with so many people for so long. :) Funny, she loves to be with people! but she gets overloaded with them quite quickly. It's going to take a little while to adjust to the new routine, but I think she's already getting more used to it.

Caitlin and I are getting more alone time to play and learn. She's really funny. When she thinks she's getting away with something, she tries to run real fast and pants like a puppy dog. She's just started going to either the window or the laundry room (which is the dog room) and screaming dauu (aka dog). "More" has become a word spoken very frequently. Although she pronounces it a little different - she gets her point across. :)

Haley Turns 6!

So, I am a little late in my posting of Haley's birthday. It's been a few weeks now, but better late than never. With lots going on, this birthday snuck up on me. So we decided to to a mock sleep over the Friday before her birthday - we had just a few friends come over. The girls made pizzas and then ate them, then they got to watch a movie in pj's and sleeping bags! And - they got lots of goofy make up on! 9 pm came, and parents came to get their little girls. We had a blast!

Being silly - she climbed on top of her book basket to reach her goldfish in the bowl on the play table better!

Woops - dropped some - gotta find them

Caitlin walking

Well, Caitlin is officially walking now! She's climbing all over the place too. She's starting to associate a few animals with the sounds - and everything is MAMMA!!

Caitlin turns one!

So I just figured out what was going on with my blog. I had tried to upload pictures from Caitlin's birthday a month ago. I had used up all my memory on my gmail. Ooops. Deleted some. Now I can share the pictures from Caitlin's first birthday.

I found this neat blog that shows you how to make really special homemade parties. I got the idea for the party hats there.

And the big tree you see is a donut tree! Kids LOVED that one!

Caitlin ate cake for the first time, she really enjoyed the cake and the icing!

May is here

I'm not very good at updating this, but the last month has been a crazy one (although, it's always crazy). We finished Kindergarten last week - whew! It was really difficult for me to buckle down and really finish. I don't think I did a good job of that. But it's done and over, and next year we will have a break. Haley Grace is going to Farmington for 1st grade in the fall. When I'm not trusting Jesus, I get terrified. But resting in his arms I know that is the right decision for us at this time. We looked at Jesus and Peter walking on water yesterday in Sunday School. That's what I feel like with this school thing. When I am looking to him - I am walking on water. But when I let fear take over my mind, I begin to sink, then more fear sets in, then I sink further. Look to Jesus Elizabeth. Keep looking to Him!

To celebrate Haley finishing the year - we went for donuts, but decided to bring them home with us and let Little Caitlin have a nap. I had Haley go play for a little bit, and I surprised her with a tea party/ donuts. We had fun! I even dressed for the occasion too!

Haley had a real graduation - she absolutely LOVED it!

Our Tea Party

Haley and her friend Sara from school

Haley and her friend Olivia from school.

A trip to the beach - ALONE!

So a few weeks ago, my love came to me with the idea that we needed a vacation. Totally agreed. Now, the question was "where do we go?" and "what do we do with our kids?" Not that many people would like to stop and watch someone else's 2 kids that are 5 and 10 months old. Oh ... but wait - my sister has 5 kids, would she maybe be up for another adventure? ... YES!!! Dabney was more than willing to help us out by watching our girls so we could have some alone time. This is the first time we've taken a trip just us - no one else - since our honeymoon, 8 years ago! Oh what a WONDERFUL trip this was!!! We decided to go down to Florida, and just relax on the beach. Weather was WONDERFUL, and we did nothing. :) We got up when we felt like it, although it was earlier than I had imagined. We took our time doing everything, sat on the beach until we felt like coming up. We went out to eat each night - and just relaxed. (we did see so many other people out with their kids, which made me miss my girls - but then they'd start with a fit or something, and I decided I would just enjoy my time of not making someone finish the plate of food that just cost me $8, or not constantly telling someone to stop messing with this or that, or to just sit down we'd be done soon.)

this is us at Elmo's on 30A. A memory for me.

Jeff got all you can eat Snow Crab!

Waking up with no kids to tend to. :)