A Simpler Holiday

Ah, the elusive family Christmas picture. I would love to get a perfect holiday picture and I have this (probably false) belief that as the kids get a bit older and actually look at the camera it could be possible. Our first Christmas with twins I didn't even attempt to do a Christmas photo. I was reeling from twin infants and it didn't happen.

But, oh, how sweet are these cheeks. Yum!

The second year this was what we got so I didn't send one out but probably should have because in retrospect it was pretty cute.

Finally last year we got this one and even though they didn't look at the camera I appreciated it for what it was and sent it out with the following message: "May your holidays be more joyful than Alex and Eli are in this picture".

This year in honor of not freezing our butts off and not wanting my entire family (mainly Jared) wishing me ill I may do this (see below) so that we don't have to get that "perfect" picture and we can just make a collage and call it a day. Simple, right??

Family Wall Red

We will see though because if I could get my precious little ones to smile perfectly and look at the camera (and we all looked like supermodels) as shown below I would definitely choose this one.

Peppermint Gift Wrap

These two options along with all of these other ones are available at Shutterfly AND because they are feeling "gifty" they are giving me 50 free holiday cards for writing this post. YAY!

They also have calendars which I've always thought would be great Christmas gifts for family AND they have holiday cards if you like to write a personal message to each recipient. I on the other hand know that that is not the most practical option for us since we have a newborn, twin 3 yr olds AND are most likely moving in mid-December.

Although I have never ordered holiday photos from Shutterfly I have ordered a lot of prints from them and they always arrive promptly and on quality paper. They also e-mail you all of their promotions which often involves free prints and I love FREE.

The Weekend

I love the weekends mainly because Jared is home with us. It is not uncommon for him to have to work though. Yesterday he worked and it. was. rough. I have no voice. That in itself is a challenge while trying to instruct 3 year old boys. We had a meltdown of cataclysmic proportions. Truly, worst, EVER. It was both of them. A kind neighbor spotted it happening and offered to help. (That usually makes it more embarrassing.) It was BAD. It left me spent, completely. Today is a new day and although Jared plans to get the leaves done he does not have to work. I am hoping that today holds a lot of relaxation (O.K. a little relaxation).

This was a few weeks ago. Jared had a chance for a Saturday Morning nap and Alex decided that he'd join him. :)
*On a side note: we bought those rings for Addison and Eli calls them his wrinkles. No idea why but now of course the whole family calls them that.

Fall

I always love Fall each year but this year it was extra special. The whole time I was on bed rest and in the hospital and visiting my little preemie I would tell myself that by Fall things would be back to normal. A new normal, of course, but our normal. It gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes we need a reminder that "this too shall pass", "joy comes in the morning" so that we can face the trial and not let it overtake us.

I laid in my hospital bed missing Jared and the boys and dreamed of the day when I could take walks outside with them. At that point my biggest walk of the day was to the end of the hall to fill my water. I almost always did this just to have an excuse to walk. Sad, I know but I love my walks.

This fall Addie and the boys and I have taken a lot of walks. I enjoyed them all. The boys are even at the point where they can walk and we can get around the block without hours passing. They love exploring the neighborhood and all that it offers and they love the play scape at the end of the neighborhood.

This Fall has been far from easy but I am pleased to say things are getting back to "normal". The busiest craziest normal that I have ever experienced that involves a family of five and a big move etc., etc., but I'll take it. :)

The boys always beg to go to the "Halloween house" which ironically doesn't scare them a bit yet the Wildcat mascot terrifies them.

Now there is a turkey to visit.

A typical morning

No specific reason to post this morning, not that there is ever anything too earth shattering, I just felt the need and the boys are watching Laurie Berkner Band (their new fav) while Addie naps.

* I told the boys this morning that I didn't feel very well and that my head hurt. SO.....

this sweet little face

who eats muffins like this

said he could kiss my head to feel all better.

LOVE THESE BOYS!

*I was taking pics at the table this morning because, despite me reporting that we were not moving, we are.

*I'm thrilled and am going to have a DREAM kitchen. I am however going to miss this little kitchen that drives me crazy.

*The boys and I have done lots of baking in this kitchen and they ate their first little bites here and took clumsy little steps on this floor and were given first baths in here and I cooked many a gourmet meal in this kitchen.

*OK not so much that last part about the gourmet meals but lots of spaghetti and grilled cheese and other not-so-gourmet meals like chicken pot pie and casseroles. :)

*Nani and Papa have come over for the last couple of weeks to keep an eye on the boys while I attempt to get things done. They take the boys outside and the boys refuse to let them leave until they have played play-doh with them. Nani makes really good coiled snakes. :)

*They also tickle littley piggy toes

and admire litte Addie girl (Does she have these guys wrapped or what?)

*I love that Papa and Eli are in the same exact position.

Brothers

Eli tried to comfort Alex and tell him not to be afraid. It was one of those moments when Mama's heart swells.

A Warm Fall Day

The boys and I (oh yeah and Addie) spent this particular morning with Mindy and her girls (oh yeah and her new son, Ryan) :). We went to the library and then to feed the ducks. Alex didn't enjoy the duck feeding part so much nor the people walking by with their dogs. Poor guy, I am hoping he outgrows some of these fears he has been having lately. Regardless it has been a beautiful fall in Michigan and has been in the 60's all week.

Remember this....

I remember as a child when the Christmas catalog came in. Now it is a flimsy toy catalog but Jared and I both remember it being a thick whopper of a book. My sister Mindy thinks it was a Sears catalog. She is probably right. My grandma would sit us down with a marker and tell us to circle the things we wanted for Chrismas. I remember as a little girl circling a ton of toys thinking for sure that I would get every.single.one of course. The funny thing is I was never disappointed after Christmas that I didn't. I am pretty sure I forgot what I'd circled and was just thrilled to have shiny presents in front of me.

We received the toy catalog in the mail last week. Eli was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. He has "read" it every day since. This series of picture was of him telling me a story about what he was looking at. He thinks it is a book. :)

Don't worry Nani and Grandma Lores we are getting his bangs cut tonight! :)

I LOVE THIS PICTURE. Believe it or not he is not scowling at me he was actuallly asking me a question about his book. :)

Time flies when your sleep deprived :)

The girl can work a frown.

Addison is a good baby. She has her moments but don't we all. She still sleeps quite a bit and is starting to eat like a little piggy. Her 0-3 month clothes are fitting her well now and she may finally outgrow her newborn stuff soon. She eat 6x/day and sometimes sleeps through the night. She still likes to tease me and sleep til 8 one morning and then spends the next 3 nights waking at 3 a.m. I am not complaining though because I will take the sleep whenever I can get it. She LOVES to be held and is easily calmed as long as you pick her up. She enjoys her baby carrier when we go for walks and sleeps the whole time. We call her Addie a lot and I tend to refer to her as "Adds" from time to time. I call her stinkerbell sometimes too but Eli doesn't like it and he assures me that that is NOT her name.

Health wise she is doing quite well. Our current concern is her hearing. She did not pass her first hearing screen. The 2nd one she did not pass either but she had fluid behind the ear drum so that could have caused her to fail. We have another appointment with another specialist in 2 weeks and hope to find out exactly what we are dealing with. We are praying the fluid is causing her lack of response to sounds but we are also prepared for it being something more. With all that we were up against with this little one we feel blesed to have her and will face whatever challenges lie ahead knowing God will sustain us.

We are in love with this girl and although she has turned our world upside down for the past year we plan to keep her. :)

****Oops almost forgot, she weighs 8 lbs. 5 oz. Yay!!!

seen & heard

We started working on the cubby verse this week and I told them the reference which was in Luke. To which Eli replied "where's Logan?" (My friend Stacey's sons are named Luke& Logan) I said "no, not Luke your friend, Luke from the Bible. He said, "WELL, where is LOGAN from the Bible?" Oy. He then said his verse and finished with the reference which was "Logan 3:23". I am no scholar but I do know that there is no "book of Logan". :)

Alex's two new phrases are "yeah, that's what I talkin'" when we understand what he is trying to tell us and "I got a prah-lem (problem) here".

I also overheard Eli tell him something he was excited about and Alex replied "WONDERFUL!!".


They recently disagreed with Mama, jointly. I made the mistake of flushing the toilet when Alex had wanted to and it turned into a MAJOR MELTDOWN. I sent him to his room and I heard him tell the whole sordid story to Eli who TOTALLY agreed with him and made sure he told me about it. "Mama Alex needed to flush, you need to let him." Ugh!


While the boys bathed recently I cleaned their rooms and made their beds. Eli climbed into his bed and said "who cleaned our room? Dad?" (No comment on his assumption by the way) I said "no, mommy did it". He then proceeded to say "thank you Mommy for making my bed" I said your welcome and then to further cement his position as the "perfect" child he said "and thank you for cleaning up my room". Love it.


Jared was recently loud when Addison was sleeping. Eli is very conscious of the noise level while she is sleeping although I don't know why b/c I never worry about it. I figure it is completely necessary that she get used to noise due to the fact that she has twin brothers. Anyways he scolded Jared and said "You know better than that."


Recently Nani and Papa bought them pillow pets and Alex got in the car and exclaimed "I LOVE Nani and Papa and I LOVE my pillow pet".

I cannot possibly keep up with all of their 3 year old moments but this is my attempt.

In girl news: Addison is 4 months old tomorrow and I have a new weight to share! :)

My Sisters

An amazing thing happened today. I went out with all of my sisters. This hasn't happened in....um, let's see, how old are the boys???? Ok a REALLY LONG TIME. We met at Starbucks and then went to a Mom2Mom sale. On a funny note we shopped on our own there and I became so into the shopping that when I looked for my sisters to say bye they'd all left. :) It was so nice to sit and laugh with them for an hour or so. We kept noticing that the music seemed to keep getting louder. We aren't sure if that was due to our conversation or just a coincidence but they obviously weren't familiar with us because we can just get louder. :) We have 13 children between the 4 of us (well 12 but Molly should get there in the next couple of weeks) therefore there isn't a lot of time to chat. Moments like today are rare and I am very grateful for this time.

I made a list in October of 34 things I wanted to do in my 34th year. Some of the things on my list are to sleep in late, shop at a flea market/antique store, read a book on parenting boys and prayer (hey, that would be a good combo book b/c I need LOTS of prayer to raise boys:) ), monthly date nights, organize & develop pictures (I may NEVER accomplish this) AND going out with all my sisters along with a lot of other things. I am so glad to mark one of the things off my list. I just hope that we won't wait until next year to do this again.


I really should have taken a picture of all of us but I wasn't prepared for the audible groan and eye roll I would have recieved for being the annoying sister who always HAD to take pictures. I will get one next time. ;) Thanks girls for the fun and for helping me with my list.

#13 Out with all sisters

Flashback Friday

Alex and Eli Halloween 2007 (6 months old)

Addie (3 1/2 months old) Ryan/My sweet nephew (2 weeks old)

Due to the fact that we got rid of most of the boys stuff and the fact that we now have a girl, there are few things that they passed down to Addie. That made this even more fun. I loved seeing these two new babies on their 1st Halloween in the same thing the boys wore for their's.

The boys loved trick-or-treating this year.

They also loved when I chased them with Addison in hand and sang "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee".

I walked Eli up to a house and he said to the the man "soooooo should I have some candy?" "should" is Eli's version of "could" and the drawn out "so" starts a lot of his statements nowadays.

We trick or treated with 19 children total. I think we all managed to stay together for 1 house due to the differences in speed between a 10 yr old and 2 & 3 year olds.

Now that the boys are older and Addie adores being worn by me (in the carrier thing) I actually managed to have a bit of conversation with friends. Crazy, I know.

AND because there is no way I could share all of Halloween in 3 pictures. Here's the rest.

Despite the fact that we trick or treated with so many people I didn't manage to get any good photos of anyone. I barely squeezed in the one of our family and for some reason my carrier became a reflector.