the best christmas present!

grandma and grandpa got here saturday afternoon and it has been the best present i could've asked for . . the girls are enjoying it too :) as much as i am a pictureholic, i haven't had the camera out too much the past few days. i've really just been soaking in all the excitement from the girls and enjoying some much needed re-inforcements :)
relaxing on their new sofa beds

such a doll!

getting the royal treatment with grandma - naps in the lap :)

layla is all Rabun - it's no wonder she and grandpa are best friends!

christmas eve

we spent the day baking cookies and going to church. the service, as always, was very moving. ella can now sing all the christmas hymns so that made it more emotional for me to hear her sweet voice singing things like "Joy to the World", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and "Silent Night". We came home and ella picked out only the best of the sugar cookies she made and frosted for santa and put out the chocolate milk - yes, "our santa likes chocolate milk" (as ella said). it has been a wonderful advent season with the girls. ella and layla are at such awesome ages! you could feel the excitement in our house for days leading up to that one special night. and the great thing is, they know what this season is really all about! of course, they wouldn't be 3 and 5 if they weren't falling all over themselves to see what Santa was going to bring them, but a few weeks back ella looked at me and said:
"mommy, you know some boys and girls do not know what christmas is all about!" so i asked her what was the reason for christmas and she replied, (throwing her arms in the air with excitement) "why Jesus of course!" it's moments like those i feel like we could be doing something right :) i hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas with loved ones!





being silly

catching up!

i cannot remember the last time our entire fmaily was sick, but we are now! danny got it about 2 weeks ago and it has steadily spread through our entire house! ella and layla seem to be on the mend but norah and i are still struggling! as moms, there's never a good time to get sick, but being the week before christmas and 8 months pregnant, AND with all 3 of your kids sick as well - let's assume this is the worst time to be sick!! so hence the lack in updates. hopefully, by saturday, the worst of it will be out of here!

i had my dr. appt last thursday and all is well with baby girl (STILL no name)! only 7 weeks away now! next month i'll be going every week and no one seems to think i'll go the full 40 . . obviously no one has paid attention to my previous births :)

18 month check up!

Norah was 18 months old last week! since she's been so sick there aren't too many pix of her this past week. We had her check up yesterday. She's gained almost 2lbs . . not as much as we were hoping for, but she stayed on her own little curve
(15%)! never had a tiny toddler :) she is crazy tall - 34 inches - which makes her look even skinnier! our dr was glad she finally took her first steps last week, but since than she has showed no more interest in it, so that's something we are still working on with her. her language is something we are definitely still watching. not too many words (but is very responsive and can follow many directions) and i'm following up with our dr. in about 6 weeks to see what the next step will be if she doesn't start getting it on her own! danny and i have joked for a while that she has been our most challenging little girl and she is keeping us on our toes! as always, i have a feeling she is waiting to do it on her own good time (something she got from her mommy, i think!) so here's hoping we don't need any intervention after the new year! i can go on and on about my sweet norah, but i won't! in my eyes she is a perfect toddler - challenges and all :)

thrifty shopper!

this year was a first for ella! she recieved some b-day money and we let her take it and pick something out all on her own! she got a new big girl purse as well, so she put her money in her purse and we headed to wal-mart. she was very thrifty in her spending - she bought 2 new things and still had change left over. it's amazing how much more stingy she was with her own money :)


getting her money out and paying all by herself! she was very proud of herself!

5 year check-up!

it seems like everything changes w/ 5 . . even the doctor's appts! ella did a great job! she had to take an eye exam, hearing test, something i called "the physical challenge" b/c they tested her ability to jump on one foot, etc. . , a drawing test, and much much more! i thought it was a lot for her to do, but she did a very good job of tolerating it all. she even sat all on her own (holding my hand) and got the last 2 boosters for her to start school - didn't even flinch! i can't wait until they are all 5 :) our dr. actually measured her twice b/c she didn't think she could be that tall, but atlas she is 47 inches - that's 3ft11 - off the charts for her height and in the 90% for her weight at 48lbs. she is just perfect! she knows all her letters, numbers, and is even writing them all now. she told me the other day now she needs to learn to read so that's our next venture. she loves drawing - mainly pix of gardens and people at the moment and she still loves to sit and read her books! she is a great helper with everything these days! she wants to help cook, unload the grceries, take care of norah, etc! she's quite handy to have around and it's nice that during the day i have someone i can chat with :) registraton for school is Feb 7th . . right around the corner! she is definitely ready to get going!

Ella turns 5!

here are some pix of us celebrating ella's b-day! she asked for a cinderella cake and to see Tangled! she has gotten very big into barbie dolls now so that what the theme in most of her gitfs :)
eating her requested birthday breakfast

the cake










seeing Tangled! we all loved it :)

Ella's Holiday Recital

On Sunday Dec 12th Ella was in her first ballet recital! it was as precious as it gets :) i think she has that "itch" to be on stage now! she loved it! she has an end of year recital which is a much bigger production! layla and norah were memorized the entire time!!



i've lost my camera cord (for the second time) so i couldn't upload my own video, but anothe mom from the class had this one and her daughter happened to be right next to ella so you can see her almost the whole time. (ella is wearing a blue tutu, towering over all the other girls!)

5 years ago today . .

I was 14 days late with Ella and in the midst of being in labor for over 24 hours after being induced . . and than i was a mom! it's kind of like my own little mother's day as well :) happy happy birthday to my sweet eleanor! i love all our girls, but there's something very different about watching your first grow up! she and i are still growing together daily, hopefully learning from eachother! she's such an amazing "little" girl - it's hard for me not to still refer to her as a toddler, but watching ella grow has been such an awesome experience!! . . check back in with me in 10 years ;)

(next time you think you're fat, just look at this pic! wow!!!)




born 12/14/2005 at 10:37am, 8lbs 12 oz, 21 1/2 inches long!


we've had a lot going on this weekend and i will try to post pix soon! we had ella's 5th b-day party, her christmas recital (yes, i cried!), and on another note - norah is walking!!!!!!! yay!!!

big sister!

ella is practicing up on holding her baby sister in preparation for the new baby! she is very excited about having another baby in the house and now that she is 5 (ahhhh!!!! yes, she is 5 in 4 days!) she has let me know she will be able to help me do it all - feed the baby, change the baby, rock the baby, - - let's hope she can b/c i may really need it :)

bedtime ritual

everynight i lay on the bottom bunk bed and we recap their day or talk about what we are going to do the following day and say our prayers and eventually i sing until they pass out. somewhere in between the time of singing and talking, the girls have now begun asking pretty random questions about anything and everything. i'm pretty sure this is a stall tactic to not have to go to sleep but for the most part i don't mind. it's pretty interesting what they come up with, and it's usually a pretty relaxing time of night. last night this is what they asked:

ella: "what does mars look like?", "what is gravity?" (seriously! try giving a science lesson at 9pm!)

layla: "why do we live in seattle?", "why do we have to pee or poop everyday?"

the thing that made me laugh about these questions is that it gives you such a clear picture of how different our girls are :) i've always said that ella is very much like danny - very analytical, always wondering about how things work or how they are put together, etc. . and layla, well layla is very much like me - although i don't wonder so much about the bodily functions anymore :) she justs asks things on a need to know basis - not too concerned about what isn't affecting her right here and now!

and speaking of bedtime . . i love these pj's
(ella at 20 months)

(norah at 18 months)

i love hand-me-downs and it's worked out pretty well having all girls :)

"Santa Town" aka Leavenworth, WA

We took the girls to "santa town", as they have come to call it, over the weekend for their annual Christmas Festival! It's a Bavarian town in the middle of the Cascade Mountains and A&E dubbed it as "The Ultimate Holiday Town in the USA" and it's been featured 2 years in a row on GMA and the Travel Channel. We went there once before for their Ocktoberfest celebrations but this weekend was the best event we've even been to! The nice thing was it was truly a Christmas celebration - not a "holiday" festival. Hymns were being sung by carolers in the streets and prayers were said before the start of the lighting ceremony. i definitely think we will be returning for many years to come!! i never feel like when we are in the presence of such beauty and awesome nature, that my pictures can do it any type of justice, but you can check out their website: http://www.leavenworth.org/modules/pages/index.php?pageid=1

some scenery getting there . . not as much snow as we were thinking we'd see in the mountains on the way. but once we actually arrived in town, you could tell they'd gotten quite a bit.




in the center of town they had a small sledding hill. we'll have to remember that for next year!


the horse drawn carriage through the town. layla really wanted to go for a ride - i told her we'd do it when grandma and grandpa visit - we are hoping to take my parents back with us!

live muscians were set up for the day in the town square

looking down main street

wishin and hopin santa will put this under the tree :) the shops there have some amazing things!


warming up in a pub for lunch


finally!!!! layla wouldn't go near any of the characters walking around (and norah really wouldn't either) but this year Ella finally enjoys it!!! so, at this rate, in 4-5 years i'll get a great pic of all the girls with santa :)

rudloph!

the nutcracker! she liked that one :)

the trip wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the fudge shop :) here's ella eating the biggest p-nut butter cup EVER - and she ate it all!! i didn't think it would make a good pic for you to see me stuffing my face with p'but butter chococlate fudge . .but ohhh it was yummy!!

getting ready for the official start of the lighting ceremony



a choir from seattle was there singing carols


i'm not a writer but i'm going to try to adequately describe this lighting parade. honestly, it felt like someone had put us into a Hallmark Christmas movie - and i say that in a good way :) a pastor came out to say a prayer and "father christmas" came out, in what was explained to be a Euporean tradition - to shoot off 3 canons to ward off any evil spirits and to welcome the season and the Christ child. at that point, from each end of town 3 people began walking with lit christmas stars and as they passed by each building, their lights would come on. that would've been nice enough for me - but than this happened. as this is taking place, the crowd is very quiet, the choir starts singing Silent Night and it began to snow! it was so on cue, it was literally like God had planned it :) and that's the only snow we had all day and night! and of course, i was crying, because, well that's me :) during this time, ella looks at me and says, "you know what mommy, this gives me Christmas joy!" - c'mon - you'd be crying too :) the only word i can say is magical!

you couldn't ask for a better back drop!






if you're ever in the PNW for Christmas, you've got to see this!!! and that's really just a shameful ploy to get some of you to some see us :)