Sunday, January 22

my baby girl turned 3

and, we celebrated like crazy- starting out with snowman pancakes!

I, honestly, can NOT believe how big and grown up she's getting these days...it almost makes me sad to have her getting so big!
she's still our little princess, though.

We all had so much fun with Hailey's princess party on Saturday!! She totally enjoyed all the attention, presents, getting to dress up cute, but her favorite thing was having all of her favorite people in one place! She is such a social little bug and she just loved having all of our family here to celebrate with her.

Happy Birthday, Hailey!

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Hailey turns 3

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Friday, January 20

8 weeks

it's true...time flies when you're having fun :)

aren't they adorable all snuggled together?? I just can't get enough of how cute they are sleeping together...
Maysen Ann

Maelle Kay

Wednesday, January 18

I hope you...

"I hope you have kids just like you!" I don't know about any of you, but I personally have always hated it when I hear parent's saying that to their children! I know that my children are challenging and I know that they drive me crazy sometimes...but, I wish for better for them! I never want Hailey to have to go through times when she wonders what to do about her sassy daughter, I never want Jack to have to chase after his son for endless hours, I don't want Maysen and Maelle to have to be up all night with crying babies that can't be soothed- I know better than to think that each of them won't go through times that they will do all of the above, but I wish I could make it so that they didn't have to! Instead, I can honestly say that I hope my kids have kids just like them! I hope that Hailey has a daughter who is sweet and kind, who loves to help and makes her want to just squeeze her when she walks by. I hope that she gets a little girl who loves her Daddy more than anything else and who cries for her Daddy when she's hurt or sick. But, most of all I pray that she will have a daughter who will pray to Jesus at night just like she does! And for Jack, I hope that he gets a little boy just like him- one who has the most adorable smile, who blows kisses to everyone, who gives the best hugs and who just wants his mommy when he's sick! I hope he gets a little guy who loves to be outside and follow his Daddy around "helping" him, I hope he gets a little one with lots of energy so that he can enjoy all the silly antics and crazy stuff that he does for laughs! For Maysen I hope that she gets a sweet and lovable little girl who just curls into her body when she holds her, who loves to just be held and is always comforted by her mommy's arms and who smiles as easily and quickly as she does! And, for Maelle, I hope that she gets a sweet little girl who loves to have her sister around as much as she does and who nurses as well and sleeps as well as her! In fact, mostly I hope she gets the privilege of nursing her sweet little girl and seeing her milk drunk face when she's finished! :)
I guess I do hope that my kids have kids just like them- even the bad aspects, because I love all of my kids and consider it such a privilege to be their mommy and have grown and matured so much because of them and I want them to have that same privilege!

Friday, January 13

7 weeks

and smiling up a storm...well, at least Maysen is! Maelle is still a little behind in that category, but she is the youngest one, so I guess we can't get too down on her :)


the girls still LOVE to snuggle...aren't they adorable together?? I just love the fact that they like to be close and they don't care at all if they're hanging out on top of each other.


did you notice that Maelle is kinda smiling in the first picture and that she's holding her sister's head?? I think she just likes to be super close to her sister and all snuggled in :)

Wednesday, January 11

kinda scary...

Today Korey and I did something that we should have done long ago...something kinda scary...something that will completely and utterly change our lives!

this...

we cut up our credit cards!

(right after we canceled them, apparently it was just fun to cut them up)

Korey was given a book by a co-worker by Dave Ramsey and it definitely was a huge eye opener for us both about our finances. We don't have any dedt, other than our house, but we have never had a budget that we lived by (we'd tried before and always went back to the trusty credit card and even though we paid it off each month it was too easy to spend $ when we didn't have to physically watch it leaving our pocket) and it seemed like each month left us wondering what happened to all of our $. Korey's always been a saver by nature, but we never had a specific savings plan- never really a plan at all, actually! So, now, we have an all cash specific plan for our lives and we both feel like we have a new lease on life. Ok, I gotta admit- it's a little scary and a little intimidating and a little sad to say goodbye to certain perks of not having to think about where your money goes. But, it's also incredibly exciting to think of paying off our house, saving $ for our kids college educations, our own retirement, and knowing exactly where our $ is going each and every month! :)

4 kids...2 and under

Really is CRAZY! There's just no other way to describe what goes on at our house...it's loud, it's wild, it's funny, it's full of tears, laughter, basketfuls of dirty laundry, spit up, snotty noses and everyone needing their butt wiped at the same time and that's only in the first 5 minutes of the day!

Today at the gym I was taking a shower and I overheard two ladies comparing the ages of their kids and almost bragging about how many they'd had in how many years and all that they'd survived...it made me chuckle at some of their crazy storeis! :)(and really laugh out loud at what they thought was a lot of kids in a few years...it's all about perspective, isn't it?!) But, it really made me think that I should really be documenting some of the craziness over here, because at some point it's going to be super funny and my kids are going to enjoy hearing about it...but, I'm afraid that I'll forget, in my sleep deprived 1/2 working brain I seem to have a hard time remembering that I actually have to let the dog back in after I let her out to go pee, or to take all my kids with me when I go somewhere...somedays I can barely remember what my kids names are- I called Jackson Jason the other day...I named the kid and have called him Jackson for 16 months, now, but apparently remembering his name is just too much to expect out of my sleep deprived brain :) Actually, the worst was when I "switched" the girls and all day long called them by the wrong name- I didn't even realize it until it was time to put them to bed and "Maelle" didn't like sleeping on her tummy, like she usually does and then I realized that the one I thought was Maelle did have her toenails painted...oops!

One of the craziest days that we've had around here was last Friday when Hailey was so sick and I was home alone, I was feeding the girls and Hailey started to throw up and I started to set the girls down to help her, but it became increasingly urgent that I get myself quickly disengaged as Jackson found the bottle of baby tylenol and proceeded to expertly open the child safe lock on the top and spill a whole bottle of little tablets all over the floor and then try to eat them...I sprang into action, just about dumping the girls off my lap and scrambling to pick up the tablets before he got too many of them (he's really quick), but in my haste I didn't realize that I left one of the girls(honestly, I can't even remember, anymore which one it was) a little too close to the edge of the ottoman and in her anger she managed to roll just enough to propel herself off...so, I had one crying, puking girl, one baby who fell off the couch and one little man who was trying to commit suicide by tylenol! by the time I got the tylenol cleaned up, the baby picked up, Hailey cleaned up and was able to sit down and finish nursing (about a half hour later) I realized that one of the main reasons I may not have had the baby blues this time around is that I'm, honestly, too busy to cry! I don't have the time to sit and feel sorry for myself or sit and even think about myself, because it's go, go, go- give 110% until I fall exhausted into bed at night and at that point I'm just way too tired to think! :) (a blessing in disguise?? could be, as one of my biggest worries was post-pardum depression)

why is it that 1 Dad can watch 3 little girls and 1 Mom can barely keep up with 1 little boy?? Our little Jack has been running circles around me, lately! It's definitely a good thing that he's so cute, otherwise he might not have even made it through today! ;) (or yesterday, or the day before...) The other day I found something in his mouth, removed it and still had a hard time figuring out what it was...that is, until Hailey very helpfully informed me that it was dog food and he really liked it!! Yikes! Really- how long had he been eating this stuff?? Apparently he felt that if Allie was going to do him such a great favor in eating all the food that he didn't want- he was going to help her out by eating the food that she didn't want! :)
Yesterday we went to try and get some pictures taken- mostly for Hailey's 3rd birthday party, but I figured if I was going to go through all the trouble of getting all the kids there I wanted to get a picture of all 4 of them...I think we may have gotten one that is 1/2 way decent and it took us an entire hour and lots and lots of coaxing from my mom, the photographer and I! In fact, we had finally gotten both of the babies calmed down, Hailey and Jack in position and all was going well...that is, until Jackson decided to drop his basketball (the bribery we used to get him to sit down for the picture) on Maysen's head and we had to start all over again...good thing I have such a great and patient friend who takes photos! :) Speaking of time consuming things...today we decided to capitalize on the warm weather by taking a little walk! We started getting ready to go at 11:30 and we finally made it out the door to try and get the kids in the stroller at 12 and managed to get the stroller put together and all the kids in it by 12:30! (yup, you do the math- that's an entire hour to just take a little 1/2 hour walk- doesn't really seem worth it, does it??)
I think one of the best "stories" that I have is from Monday morning at the gym...once again it took me an entire 1/2 hour and a lot of sweat and hard work to get the kids in the car and ready to go (but, it was TOTALLY worth it to get a good work out in and spend some time alone), I finally got all 4 kids wrangled into the gym and I went to swipe my card to sign in and as I turned my back I heard Jackson screaming bloody murder, turned around and saw that a lady had literally run him over without even a backwards glance (apparently she was in a huge hurry to get to the treadmill...)! Before I could even debate about saying anything to her, Hailey piped up and said, "That my brother. You hurt him. You need be nice and say sorry!" I'm pretty sure that I should have reprimanded Hailey for speaking so "naughtily" to an adult, but I was actually fairly proud of her for sticking up for her little brother- and, I'm sure that this lady learned her lesson, because Hailey is soooo incredibly loud and I think that every single person in the whole gym heard her- or maybe they just heard Jackson crying, but whichever it was we all created quite the scene!

Sunday, January 8

my 4 kids

when I realized that all the kids were dressed up so cute for church today, I figured I'd better take a picture- 'cause it just might not ever happen again! :)

then Jack got tired of being a part of it and I had to just get my 3 girls! :)
then after church I had to get some pictures of just Maysen and Maelle, because they slept through church today and didn't even get out of their carseats and I had to prove that I did get them all dressed up cute! :)

and, lucky me- Maysen even gave a little smile for the camera! Her first one caught on camera! :)

I love my 4 kids, even if having all 4 of them means that my life is extremely crazy and loud and exhausting. They are so worth every minute of it!






Friday, January 6

one sick little girl!

I feel like we have sort of been hit by a lot of stuff, lately, but I think mostly it is just the fact that Korey went back to work and real life finally set in for me and I realized that real life is rather chaotic! :) go figure- life with 4 little kids is chaotic...huh, who woulda thought!! ;)
Anyways, last night Hailey woke up throwing up twice and it didn't get any better as the day progressed- she is one sick little girl! In fact, if you know Hailey this picture should prove to you how sick she is- it is taken at 10 in the morning, downstairs in our basement, the tv is on, Jackson is playing with trucks in the same room, and one of the girls was crying in my arms...and she fell asleep in the middle of it all!!! She's sleeping again, now, and hopefully will sleep away the sickness. It's so hard to see your kids sick and suffering- especially when you know you can't do a thing about it- except hold her hair back, rub her back and let her throw up in the bucket you're holding! :(

our "little bugger"

that is what Hailey has been calling her little brother lately! :) I think she says it affectionately, but one can never truly tell...he has been in a lot of trouble these days!


it's a good thing he's so cute, huh?!


Hailey's been trying to make Jackson into a "prince" by crowing him with bubbles in the bathtub- too bad she has bad aim, 'cause he usually ends up looking more like a pirate or bearded man than a prince ;)


who can possibly look cute with food on his face other than a little boy?? (actually, I took this picture to prove to Korey that he could eat dinner without making a HUGE mess) :)




I sure am enjoying this little bugger, lately, even though he's been in a lot of trouble :) It's sad that he's already 16 months old...I feel like he's growing up way too quickly.

6 weeks!

our little girls are 6 weeks old today...and, we're learning new stuff each day! :)

Yesterday, for the first time I got the two of them in my wrap and was able to make dinner "hands free" while they slept away!


isn't that just crazy how snuggled in they are?? And, they absolutely loved it- both were super crabby and were crying, but the minute I got them in the wrap they settled down, snuggled into each other and fell asleep!


sorry for all the weird pictures, but I just thought it was so cute that I wanted you all to be able to see what I saw...I just thought they were so adorable all cozy and sleeping! they were, honestly, so close that I kept checking to make sure that they were both still breathing! :)


I know 6 weeks isn't a huge milestone or anything, but I'm just happy to report that we all survived the first 6 weeks of these little girls life! :) And, I'm praying that the next 6 are a little easier and filled with more sleep for everyone!!

Monday, January 2

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My Dad had a birthday at the end of December and being the sweet Grandpa that he is he asked if he could come up and visit his grandkids for the day to celebrate! :)

that's why I love my Dad so much- he enjoys being a Grandpa!

(and, consequently, my kids love having him as a Grandpa) :) I love you, Dad! I can't wait to celebrate more and more birthdays with you!!

Thanks for always being there for me and my family! You are an amazing Dad and I think you're an amazing Grandpa. Hailey and Jack love you so much and Maysen and Maelle are going to love you just as much!!

Happy Birthday!