Saturday, April 25, 2009

Family Pics 2009

i love him


just too cute to pass up


this one is our fave



liberty doesn't want to cooperate here




these great pics were taken by my sis-in-law bekah. thanks!!










Wednesday, April 22, 2009

10 Smile Wednesday

1. nadia rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first (and only, so far) time over the weekend.

2. a late easter dinner with jonathan's family. sunshine, good food, family, hunting easter eggs, and lots of time outside!

3. our move...so excited!

4. sunny, warm weather. i'm loving it!

5. making progress packing. i've gotten lots of boxes packed already. how is it that we don't own a lot, and yet it takes forever to pack it all?!

6. crockpots. oh how i love a good crockpot recipe. makes for an easy dinner and a yummy aroma throughout the house all day.

7. playdates. the girls love playing with their little friends. and the mamas love chatting while the kiddies play.

8. punching balloons...equals hours of entertainment!

9. getting a little crafting done...and i do mean little. but i'm happy to get in any craft time when i can!

10. today i asked liberty what she wanted for lunch. she said a sandwich. i was thinking more along the lines of homemade mac & cheese, so i asked if she wanted that...she said, "no, that's too messy. let's have a sandwich." this girl is so funny!

Monday, April 20, 2009

On the Move

i did intend to post about nadia's checkup, but time just got away from me. she's doing great, though. she weighed in at 10lbs 8oz and is about 22 1/4 inches long. she's growing so much so quickly!

i do have other news to share....we're moving yet again. we'll be on the road to michigan two weeks from tomorrow. yep, that's right...we're moving back to michigan (for good, God-willing). jonathan was offered a job with a newspaper circulation company. he's really excited to get back working with newspapers again. the downside? he'll have to do a lot of traveling for a while until the contacts in michigan are up and going. he'll be gone 3-4 weeks at a time, and then home for 2 weeks. it's definitely going to be a huge adjustment for us, but it's not permanent. the pay is good and we're thankful for a better job. so, keeps us in your prayers if you would.

and now, off to pack boxes...again!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

10 Smile Tuesday...on Wednesday

i tried posting my smiles yesterday, but our already sloooow dial-up internet was super sloooooow...so i chose to wait until today to post. i sure wish i could post pictures, too....i have so many great ones to share. the girls are growing and changing so quickly. ok...on to the smiles.

1. a family dinner. that's with poppy & gree, aunts, uncles and cousins. it's fun getting everyone together and having a meal.

2. flying kites. a couple weeks ago liberty saw some kids flying kites at the beach and she has been wanting a kite ever since. when we were at wal-mart the other day i found some cheap kites for $1 so i picked up a couple. jonathan and i took the girls to a park near the beach where we knew there would be wind and attempted to fly these cheap kites with the girls...unsuccessfully. they were just too cheaply made to get any air...oh well, the girls had fun anyway!

3. a date night. always a huge smile for that, eh? we didn't do anything spectacular. we dropped the girls off with poppy and gree for a couple hours, picked up $5 footlong subs and headed back home. we got to eat without interruption, talk without interruption, and do things around the house without interruption. it was really nice to have some time to ourselves at home. although, the quiet was a bit disconcerting. we were happy to bring the girls home a couple hours later :).

4. reading stories with the girls. they LOVE for us to read books to them. usually the same few books over and over.

5. bathing suits. we recently picked up a couple bathing suits for liberty and leila. the girls love them so much the insist on wearing the around the house when we're at home for the day. we have yet to actually go swimming with them, haha!

6. leila is LOVING talking on the phone these days. if it rings and we don't hand it to her, she gets really upset. she is constantly asking me to call poppo (that's my dad). it's so cute. she gets on the phone and smiles and chatters and giggles and paces around the house. i love it! the only downside is getting her to relinquish the phone...it's trouble, i tell you!

7. i am getting more and more used to running errands with all 3 girls. the carrier is a huge help in this process.

8. superbook. did anyone else watch this bible cartoon as a kid? the girls got a dvd of the first 4 episodes for christmas and the loving watching it...liberty is currently obsessed with the cain & abel episode. i think it's great they are watching and enjoying bible stories that i did as a kid.

9. "i love you" from leila. she's been saying "yah you" to nadia for a while now (and only nadia), but the other day i took leila to run an errand with me and i told her i loved her. she said, "i yah you" right back to me. now she's saying it to us quite a bit...i'm loving it!

10. liberty and memorizing. this girl has an amazing memory (although it doesn't seem to apply to rules and such, ha!). she can "read" stories to us and quote parts of her favorite shows/movies. it's crazy!

i'll be taking nadia in today for her 2 month check up...can you believe she's two months old already?! where in the world has the time gone? anyway, i'll post again later about how much she's growing :).

Thursday, April 9, 2009

10 Smile...Thursday

somehow tuesday just got away from me. i think it was because tuesday and wednesday were hard days with the girls (the older girls, that is). let me share just one story to give you a hint of how the last couple days have gone... yesterday i was attempting to post my smiles when i heard the girls' voices...not coming from their bedroom, but the bathroom. i walk in there and they are in the bathtub (fully clothed, mind you) with shampoo EVERYWHERE. they were covered head to toe in shampoo, the bathtub was covered in shampoo...you get the picture, right? and that was just one incident. libbs has been extra naughty and sassy, and leila has been extra clingy and whiny. oh my! needless to say, i definitely needed to find some smiles in the midst of the chaos. :)

1. our stroller finally made it...but we haven't been able to go walking because we've been either busy or it's rainy. but i'm happy with it and the girls enjoy playing with it :).

2. leila said her first sentence this week. i asked her where her sippy cup was, and she said, "i don't know." i was so shocked.

3. "the shop around the corner." does anyone else love this movie?! i don't think you can go wrong with james stewart. :)

4. baby carriers. i've mentioned this one before, but can i say again that my carrier is a life saver?! it soothes and comforts nadia, it keeps her safe from little hands that think nadia is a doll, it keeps my hands free...it's a beautiful thing! i may even attempt to sew my own mei tai in the near future.

5. nadia's smiles. oh how i love them. and she's smiling at me so so much these days. i adore her and her precious smiles!

6. gripe water. it seems the gas drops haven't been working as well for nadia (she's a bit colicky), so someone suggested i try gripe water. it works great and makes for a happy nadia.

7. liberty's hugs.

8. leila's kisses.

9. liberty is getting the hang of actually counting things. she's been able to count to 20 for a while, but not really count things. she can most of the time count up to 10 things. and she's really loving counting EVERYthing.

10. dinner with jonathan's granny and uncle g. they invited us over for spaghetti last night and we had a good time visiting. libbs and leila love going over there...they can get away with just about anything and they sure love their great granny and uncle g.

11. and one more for good measure...my wonderful hubby. with my crazy i wanna pull my hair out days i have been a bit snappy with jonathan. thanks for putting up with me, love! i love you!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

11 Smile Wednesday

oh how the days get away from me...

1. a good checkup for nadia. she's 7 weeks old now and weighs 9lbs 14oz and is 21 1/4 inches long. she's doing great! she still has lots of dark hair (it's lightened some) and the cutest chubby cheeks. some day i'll be able to post more pictures...

2. we now own a 2nd vehicle for the first time since the first year we were married! woo hoo! we got a used jimmy with a bit of our tax money. it's so nice to be able to get out of the house when jonathan is working (he has to use our vehicle for work).

3. red envelope day. have you heard of this? there's a website, but i can't remember the web address (sorry!). and i think they may be extending for a month. anyway...it's basically a way to make a statement to the white house against abortion. i sent a couple red envelopes out today :).

4. walking. lots of walking with my family whenever weather and time permit. i love it!

5. finally finding some time to craft again. i started knitting jonathan a pair of socks before nadia was born and now i'm finally knitting on them again here and there. it feels so good to get a little crafting done again. it's harder to find the time with 3 young kiddies, but i can do it!

6. today nadia smiled for liberty for the first time. it was so cute and liberty was so excited that she made nadia smile.

7. having a "new" stroller on the way. we have a double stroller right now that i hate. it's heavy, bulky, hard to push, and the kid in the back always kicks the kid in the front, etc... i've been looking at a side-by-side, lightweight, umbrella-like stroller for a while now and finally found an affordable used one on ebay...hooray!!

8. chocolate shakes. yum!

9. dinner menu plans. for the past few weeks jonathan and i have been writing out a dinner menu before grocery shopping and it's working out really well. we've tried some great new recipes, we're eating healthy, and we're less tempted to eat out. we're loving it!

10. baking cookies with liberty. we made some banana chocolate chip cookies for daddy and had a great time baking together. liberty loves to help mama cook!

11. a successful time running errands today. this was the first time i went out running errands with all three girls by myself. we went to the post office and the grocery store and everyone did great. i was quite pleased as i have been so nervous about attempting errands with all the girls.