My baby is 2, *sniff*

Naomi turned 2 at the beginning of the month. I simply can't believe that she is already 2. I'm really at a loss for words about the whole thing. It seems like she was just a little baby, then I blinked. My baby is getting so grown up. She is talking up a storm. She has a crazy stubborn mind of her own. She is most definitely in her terrible 2's. She is sweet, she is adorable, she loves to dance, her favorite song right now is mmmBop by Hanson (thanks Ray). Every time I'm on the computer she comes up and says "doowap, mom, doowap", and forces her way on to my lap and stays there until I turn the video on youtube. She doesn't like to watch TV all that much (to my chagrin, when am I supposed to ever get anything done around here??). She prefers to walk around getting in to everything she can possibly reach. It's exhausting, *sigh*. But I'm trying to enjoy it because soon I'm going to wake up and she will be starting high school! We sure love this girl and are so happy that she is a part of our family.

*Ice cream love*

We invited some of our friends over for cake and ice cream on her birthday. They got her some Dora bath toys, which she loves!

Cake and ice cream were enjoyed by all.

Especially Nathan :)

Wintry Weather

We had some really cold weather in December/beginning of January. I don't love the extreme cold, but it is so beautiful when none of the snow melts and it clings to every branch.

And when the snow sparkles.

And the pine trees are all snow flocked.

So beautiful, *sigh*.

Christmas: Part II

Christmas morning is always very dramatic around here because we can't put any presents out before Christmas because they would be immediately opened. So when the kids come downstairs on the big day they see all of the presents laid out that weren't there before. Even if there aren't actually that many presents, it seems like there are because there was nothing there before! They love it, and so do I.

Captures the moment, for sure.

It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow pet! If that song isn't stuck in your head for the rest of the day you just don't watch enough Nick Jr. The kids have been begging for pillow pets all year. Well, Santa delivered this year. I think they would've been thrilled beyond belief if that was the only present they got. They were a huge hit!

Grace got an ipod with an itunes gift card. (Her ipod looks a lot like my ipod that has gone missing, hmmmm.) She was very excited about it. Later that day she said to Ray, "I think this is mom's ipod". Ray said, "It can't be mom's ipod, it doesn't have any of her music on it". She was mollified. Especially when we plugged it in to the computer and it showed up as "Grace's ipod". That Santa, he thinks of everything!

Thanks for the sweater and bracelet kit, Colby!

Elliot got a nintendo ds.

He was thrilled!

Thanks for the cool books and the zhu zhu pet, Cole!

Maggie got some dress ups and a ballerina outfit. Just what she wanted.

She changed her outfit 4 times in 10 minutes!

She looks like a pretty tough princess with that black eye!

Thanks for the movie Lilia!

Naomi got a baby and a stroller.

She loves babies, and she loves strollers. There is always some kind of fight over the 2 in nursery every Sunday!

She also loves Maggie's dress ups. She refused to take this dress off all day :) She also LOVES the crocs and dress she got from Valerie! Thanks girl! (they got here a little late and I didn't get a picture.)

I got all the girls these adorable leg warmers that a friend of mine made.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas: Part I

We had a really fun Christmas this year. Christmas is so fun with kids, especially as they get older and still believe in the Big Guy. On Christmas Eve we decorated a gingerbread house. The kids were so excited to do this. They asked about it every day for about a week straight.

Naomi pretty much just did a lot of this...

Can you really blame her? She obviously takes after her mom ;)

You can kind of see Maggie's black eye in this picture. Well, that is a whole other post, but let's just say that she got in a fight with the bathtub and lost...3 days before Christmas. She fell and hit really hard on the side of her eye and the next morning it was completely black and swollen shut. It was very sad. I felt terrible every time I looked at her. :( But it is almost all better now, and she never really acted like she was in much pain after that first night.

Such concentration...

The finished product

I love getting Christmas cards. LOVE IT. Here is our Christmas card wall. It makes me happy.

We got our usual Christmas Eve present...new jammies!

This was the best picture I could get...that Naomi, she can be so difficult :)

Santa came and ate almost all of his cookies!!

Sunday-Before-Christmas Extravaganza

The good thing about having 3 girls is that you usually only have to buy 1 new Christmas dress a year. And if you have a Costco anywhere near you, you just might find a cute one for pretty darn cheap! (They sell inexpensive Christmas sweaters for boys, too ;) ). We had a fun little photo session before church yesterday morning. It was rushed because church starts at 9 am, but with kids it is always easier if you get it over with quick-like.

It's hard to get a good shot of this girl, because she never stops moving!

sweet little angel :)

It's also really hard to get a good shot of all of the kids together with that 2 year old around...

But we'll take what we can get.

This is what happens when you are trying to get your oldest to smile naturally and you say, "Grace has a crush on Bennett!"

"Mmmmoooooommmm!"

hehehehe...

Here is the ornament Elliot made for me at school :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!