Christmas Fun!!

We have been thoroughly blessed this year! Watching Shepherd and Spencer grow and learn each day is so fun! Then adding a new addition, Sophie has added so much joy into our lives! Yes our lives our hectic, but I wouldn't change it for anything!

We had a wonderful, busy Christmas. We flew to Texas for 6 days and then spent a few in Birmingham. Yes, we took 3 kids under the age of two on a plane. Don't you know everyone who saw us coming hoping we weren't going to the same gate as them!! But I do have to say that our kids were fantastic!! The boys watched movies while Sophie ate and slept! They even made it through a delay! I was so proud of my little ones!

Traveling with 5 people...

Sophie did great!!

So thankful for the ipad and Uncle Kyle!! We couldn't have done it without all his help!!

Mee Mee and some of her great grandchildren

Christmas is not complete without a ride on a carousel

The boys had a great Christmas. We drove home Christmas Eve. I was very proud of Matt and myself. We got home unpacked car, made cookies, fed all the children, cleaned up and was beginning to work on Santa all within an hour! We were working machines! I was so excited for our first Christmas as a family of 5!

Making cookies for Santa

Is Santa here yet?

Sophie got up at 5 to eat then went back to sleep and I had to wake her up to get ready for church. She missed all the excitement, but it was crazy with being a Sunday morning. The boys weren't sure what to think about Santa leaving all the toys...

They loved everything!! We have had so much fun playing with all our new toys!

GOOOO SPENCER!!!

Yesterday evening (12/10/11) Spencer pee peed in the potty!!! The boys have been telling us for a while that they need to go...but haven't gone on the potty yet. They still have thought it was a toy. I haven't pushed the potty training yet, because I have had a newborn and twins! Beat that excuse!! :) We were so proud of him and he was so proud of himself! We all cheered and danced around while Spence ate a M&M! Once the holidays are over and we stop traveling, Hall Potty Bootcamp will begin! For now we are enjoying our 3 in diapers and not having to go in public restrooms...eekk! Mommy is going to come to terms with that while potty training!

December Fun

I love this time of year! It is so exciting seeing how much fun Shepherd and Spencer are having with the extra activities we are doing. We started doing the Elf on the Shelf this year. I am not getting into it as much as I will next year, because the boys are so young. The elf just moves to diffferent locations each morning. Although this morning he did roll the corner of our den. The boys weren't sure about what to think about that and kept saying "Elf MESS!". It is so fun to watch them search for "Elf" each morning. Yes, his name is "Elf". Next year I will let them come up with a new name.

The elf made a mess

What are we going to do with that elf...

The boys LOVE Christmas lights and were having a blast when we put up our Christmas tree. They were great helpers and identified each color of the lights!

Daddy's little helper

Red, Yellow, Green...

In awe

I made the boys a felt Christmas tree with their own ornaments. It is a great way for us to practice our shapes and colors. (Thank you pinterest!)

I found the red star! (stars are our favorite shape right now)

I love all our Christmas outfits! It is so fun to wear special clothes! Here are my sweeties before church.

Talents galore

Our little song leader

Our little helper...whether its getting me a diaper, putting stuff away, or "helping" by pulling off socks then putting them back on :)

Our little cutie, expert smiler, and beginner to cooing (She squealed for the first time this weekend...precious!!!)

Wrestling is becoming a talent at this house too with all the practice that goes on!

What a lot to be thankful for this week!

Fall Fun

I love this time of year with all the leaves changing. We have been picking leaves and looking at all the different colors. My boys love to pick and throw the leaves! :)

picking leaves

Showing me their leaves

What a difference a year makes

Exhausted just getting out the door

Many of you know that I do not like to just sit at home during the day. I like for there to be somewhere for us to go. When I just had the twins, it took me a while, but I got getting out the door down to a science! Then Soph came along and I am still trying to figure it all out. It goes a lot smoother when Matt is with us, doing it all by myself is tiring!!

Here is a little of what goes on while getting ready...

Put Shepherd and Spencer's clothes on. This is exhausting because they like to be chased and then act like a dead fish while trying to stick their limbs into the clothes... All while cracking up laughing! Hopefully doing all this while Sophie is content...or you can have a screaming baby in the background. Next comes dressing Sophie, while the boys "help". They like to hand me diapers and ask for everything that is on her changing table. When all the kids are dressed, I put on the tv and run into my room and throw on some clothes. Hoping everything looks ok, because I barely have time to look in the mirror before going to check to make sure Shep and Spence have not climbed onto something or hurt one another wrestling. Once shoes and socks are on, I recheck everyone's diapers, because usually someone has gone to the bathroom AGAIN, and I'd rather not change a diaper in a public restroom if I can help it. Next I take Shep and Spence to the car and put them in. This is always a battle because they love playing in the car, and want to push all the lights on and buckle their seat belts BEFORE I put them in! Oh the little things! :) Once they are in, I run back in to put Sophie in her seat. Grab the diaper bag making sure I have packed diapers for all 3, wipes, full juice cups and a little snack for the boys. I never leave home without some sort of snack! Goldfish goes a long way when they get restless on our outings. Next I snap Sophie's seat in, and I finally sit in the drivers seat with a SIGH! We are all in! I always do my makeup in the car, either before I leave the driveway or once I get to the store. It is a lot easier putting it on when all 3 kids are strapped in! So we are off...

Arriving at the store...I hop out and get the stroller from the back. I unbuckle the boys and put them in first. Next I get Sophie and put her car seat into the stroller. Grab the diaper bag and throw it in the tiny basket below the boys. Make sure I have the keys in my pocket. If I put them in my diaper bag, I will have a hard time finding them if we have to make a quick exit! Off to the store! (We have about an hour and half, before we can make it home and feed Sophie)

Arriving back home... Depending on if Sophie is screaming, I usually get the boys out of the car first and let them toddle into the house. It is so nice that they can walk into the house on their own now. (from inside our garage) Sometimes they get distracted and go play with toys inside the garage or I have to go guide them in when they start closing the door on one another...which they think is HILARIOUS! Next, I get all our bags and take them in. Last, I bring Sophie in. I can't leave her in the house while I go back and forth to the garage, because the boys would be ALL over her! Then comes changing the diapers and sometimes the clothes of all three. I would love to just sit down and relax, but it is usually time for everyone to eat...so we must go get food ready!

Some would think why even leave the house? We love to be on the go! Today we went to Target and to the library. We have picked fall leaves and are studying the letter "L" this week. We now have books to talk about leaves changing for fall. What fun afternoons we will have reading and looking at leaves!

I sometimes think that it will be so nice if the boys could dress themselves or be able to put themselves in their car seats...but then I remember that would mean they are growing into big boys and I AM NOT ready for that. I wrote this so I can always remember what our day to day life is like. I am enjoying my chaotic times and my little babies while I can!

10 Weeks Old Comparison

Sophie was 10 weeks old yesterday. I remembered this picture that I took of the boys at 10 weeks and wanted to take one of her just like it. She definitely isn't as chunky as the boys, but I love how she looks like both of them.

OH... how things have changed in a year and a half!

Thanksgiving is in 3 weeks! AH! I can't believe it! What a fun holiday season this is going to be! We sure had a blast in the month of October. We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with our Little Miss Muffet and her two spiders!

These are the moments of our life!

8 Weeks Old!

I can't believe our Sweet Sophie is 8 weeks old this week and Shepherd and Spencer are 21 months old. My babies are just getting bigger and bigger!

Sophie is now 9 1/2 pounds. She is nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and only getting up once in the night to eat. Today is the first day she is napping in her bed and fell asleep without me walking or rocking her. I know it won't happen every time, but its a start! She is still sleeping next to our bed at night, but we will probably transition to her room in the next few weeks. I am still off dairy, and that has really seemed to help. It is so hard taking all dairy out of my diet, but it is worth it! She still cries a lot during the evening hours, but we do have some good nights. She loves her bath, so if we are having a bad night we can at least have some happy time in the tub! I asked Matt last week how long could we just leave her in there! HA! As soon as we got her out, the crying started up again! At least I know it won't last forever! Shepherd started doing better with colic when he was around 3 months old.

She is really smiling a lot more and has started cooing. I love those first few smiles and sounds from her! She is such a sweet heart! She is really noticing Shepherd and Spencer more. She will sit in her seat and just watch them. Today she even smiled at them as they were going crazy around her.

Shepherd is talking up a storm. He really can say any word you tell him too. He is saying 3 and 4 word sentences. I am so impressed with his ability to talk and comprehend things. This past weekend he told my dad, "No Papa No". Of course I didn't want him to tell my dad no, but he was trying to express himself! When I was painting Sophie's letters for her room, I showed the letters to Shep and Spence and they picked right up on identifying the letter. Shepherd can now identify all the letters in the alphabet. He loves finding the letter "X" in different places. I haven't pushed him at all. Learning just comes so easy to him. He loves working on learning more things! We have begun having "school" time during the day, and it is their favorite time! Shep can count to 10 and can identify most of the numbers too.

Handsome boy

Shep loves to gives hugs to everyone and is so sweet. He would hold Sophie all day long if I let him. I can't wait to see how their relationship grows. Shep loves to do whatever Spencer is doing. He always yells "TURN" to let me know he wants to do what Spencer is doing. He takes care of everyone and keeps people in line! He will go get diapers, blankets, etc for me when I need them for Sophie. He is such a big help! Shepherd LOVES to sing. He sings songs at church, sings Mickey, and the Wheels on the Bus. He loves the book Go Dog Go! and can read a lot of the pages to me. He can fill in a lot of the sentences. I love our story time together!

Spencer keeps us laughing all the time! We have begun calling him our Dennis the Menace. But, he has such a sweet personality. He loves to snuggle with a blanket right next to me, while I feed Sophie. He adores his sister and loves patting her. Spencer LOVES to climb. He always can find something to get into. He looks at you with his adorable smiles and then runs to get into something. Spencer is always running up to you and saying "Hand". This means he wants you to take his hand so he can lead you somewhere. Usually to the door, because he always wants to be outside. Notice that I said he runs up to you.. Spencer runs not walks! He is the real leader of the two. Spencer is creative and does stuff while Shepherd watches. Then Shepherd will do exactly what Spencer does or takes what Spencer has. Spencer is a good sport most of the time, but sometimes I think he just wants a break! Spencer will run and scream even before Shepherd takes a toy from him because he is anticipating it! I am a referee most days!

Spencer can identify most letters of the alphabet and can count to 10. He loves finding the letter "B" and "S" where ever we are. Those must be is favorite letters. He is also putting 2 and 3 word sentences together. Spencer is OBSESSED with the moon and stars and airplanes. Whenever we go outside he looks for the moon and can spot an airplane far away. His favorite books are the books where he can find the moon. I love it! Of course his favorite is Goodnight Moon!

Weeeee!!! Decorating for Halloween

Painting with apples when we studied the letter "A"

Pretty in Pink

Things have really gotten into more of a routine around our house. I am beginning to work on getting Sophie onto a schedule. I have been noticing when she likes to sleep and working that into Shep and Spence's routine. Right now she likes to go back to sleep about an hour and half after she wakes up. She is staying awake more and more every day so I am going to work on getting her to three naps a day in HER room! A napping schedule is very important for me. A rested baby is a happy baby in my opinion. She loves to be held and rocked, but I think it is crucial for her to learn to go to sleep on her own! I love to rock and hold her, but she will be happier if she can soothe herself to sleep. That is our goal over the next few months! We will see...

We had some professional pictures taken a couple weeks ago. I'm hoping we will get the disk of the rest of the pictures soon. I love the few we have so far.