Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

My mom had a BIG birthday last week...60 years! I assured her that we would have a party to celebrate, whether she liked it or not :). So, that is what we did! We had my mom's side of the family over to celebrate and we had a most wonderful time! I'm so thankful that everyone was able to come and celebrate my mom's special day. It was definitely a day to remember.

Me and my wonderful parents.My mom and Doug...such a cheeseball! Ha!Us with my mom's parents.Me and my mom :). Love her!Opening gifts...I love how all of the little ones have to be front and center whenever there are gifts involved!And the cake SO yummy! I was kicking myself for not getting 60 candles...oh well ;).Pretty girl!Doug and Isaac :).Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate!!I am so thankful for my wonderful mother! She really is the best and I hope that she had the most wonderful day! We all love you so much!!

31 Weeks

I really can't believe that I am 31 weeks pregnant...only 9 weeks to go! This pregnancy has definitely gone by a lot faster when compared to the other three...I guess that's what happens when you have three little munchkins running around keeping you busy :).

The one thing that did kick in pretty early was my need to nest. I've have been so OCD about keeping the house extra clean and keeping things organized. I even pulled out all of the little girl clothes and got them all ready to go two weeks ago! I guess it's just nice to know that this house will for sure be in tip top shape when we actually do have this little princess :).

Now, pregnancy has never been an easy ride for me. I get so dang sick at the beginning, and as soon as that wears off I get a whole other dose of symptoms. It also seems that these *not so fun* symptoms seems to get worse with each pregnancy, so I'm just totally enjoying life right now with the heart burn, pinched nerves, burning ribs, extreme tiredness, complete lack of sleep due to being incredibely uncomfortable at night, and the list goes on... BUT, I am totally pulling through. All of these things are very hard to deal with, but I'm dealing with it. I may complain, but in reality I'm just totally grateful for this little girl and I want to do all that I can to keep her safe and healthy.

The one *new* thing that I am experiencing with this little one is the fact that she moves SO much! Yes, Noah, Leah, and Isaac would move around, but not to the extent that this little girl does. It's crazy! She is so strong all ready and I am completely amazed at how wiggly she is! She is constantly poking and kicking me, to the point that my entire body will jerk around! I hope that this isn't a sign of what is yet to come! Hopefully she likes to move around when she's awake AND asleep...and that this doesn't mean that she'll be a bad sleeper and want to be awake all the time. Oh boy...I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Yes, her moving around can totally hurt, but there are times when I love to just sit and watch my belly jump all over the place. Noah and Leah can't stop laughing when she starts doing somersaults in my belly...I love watching them freak out when she really starts going! Ha!

All in all, things are going pretty well. I am beyond excited to meet this little bundle of joy, but at the same time, I think I can wait a little longer so that I can make sure that we're all *ready*!

Ready or not, here she comes!

Here I am at 31 weeks pregnant...

Fun in the Snow

Aunt Annie invited us up to her house to go sledding on President's Day. Noah has been waiting to go sledding all winter, so he was beyond thrilled when we were actually going to go! The snow has been so unpredictable this winter...it's crazy! The kids were so anxious to go out and play in the snow the moment we pulled up to Annie's house. After lunch, we got them all geared up...and they were off! I stayed in with Isaac, who was not at all happy to be left behind :(. Noah, apparently, was completely fearless and made the trek to the TOP of the mountain multiple times so that he could get go down fast!! That kid is loves the thrill of stuff like this! Doug was a total sport and took Leah and Ryan down over and over again. It was a great day!

Doug with Ryan and Noah. I just love all the snow on Noah's head...ha!
The little princess finally got cold and wanted to come in...look at those rosy little cheeks!

Toys of choice...

On this particular day, Isaac's toys of choice were pink high heels, a stroller, and a baby doll! He's obviously been spending a lot of time with Leah :).

Tulips...already?

Today I noticed that my tulips are starting to come up! It's so strange to see a taste of spring in February...it made me so happy! I just hope that it doesn't snow and my pretty flowers get ruined...that would break my heart!

Happy Valentine's Day ~ 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

In my opinion, this holiday is just a great excuse to eat a LOT of treats! And, being 30 weeks pregnant and all, I took total advantage of this and ate way TOO many treats! I totally don't regret it one bit ;).

We started off by making sugar cookies and decorating them the night before. I found a really good sugar cookie recipe on PINTEREST that claimed to be "The Best Sugar Cookie"...and it really was the best one that I have found so far. They were great! I also made the frosting and it was delicious! And I wasn't the only one who thought so...we all gobbled up most of the cookies that we decorated that night. They were YUMMY!
As you can see, Leah was more interested in eating the icing than decorating her cookie. Typical!

Noah was more focused on making little sugar cookie masterpieces :).And Isaac had a grand time eating his cookie and getting it all over his cute little face :). This pictures really doesn't do the mess justice.I made our traditional Heart Pancakes for breakfast on Valentine's Day morning. They were a hit...even Isaac and Leah, my non-eaters, gobbled them up! I guess I need to make food look more *cute* for them to want to try it :)!
These are the SUPER HERO Valentines that Noah made to give to his classmates. I found this idea on Pinterest as well...seriously, I am in LOVE with that site! Noah was SO excited to go to school and have his V-day party! He knew that he was going to come home with tons of treats, which, of course, is exciting for any kid :). When I picked him up, he was grinning from ear to ear...it was a good day at school! He couldn't wait to come home and show me all of his goods. He even shared with Leah...what a good brother!I made a yummy dinner for us that night, and then I gave the kids, and Doug, a little treat from me. Of course it was something sweet and loved by all of us...cupcakes! There is the cutest little cupcake shop by us, so I got each of my lovies a sweet treat from me. Noah ate his up so fast that I didn't get a picture of him, but here's Leah and Isaac enjoying their cupcakes. And here is my attempt at getting a picture of the kids together. This task is getting more and MORE harder...especially when there is a 1 1/2 year old involved! Isaac was actually crying here, but I got him to laugh with a silly little puppet :). I'll never quit trying :).AND, my sweetheart knows the way to my heart is through chocolate...oh my, I LOVE chocolate so much! Especially Dove Dark Chocolate! He gets me my very own bag every year...and, YES, that is all that is left! I think I've eaten half of the bag...he gave it to me last night! This is not a good thing...I have absolutely no self restraint when there is chocolate in the house! I'm sure that it will ALL be gone within the next two days! In fact, I know it will, and I don't feel bad about it ;).

Little Stud

Isaac found these sunglasses yesterday and he wore them the entire day! He knew that he was a little stud sporting these things! So darling!

Ballet

I have been meaning to do this post for a while. I signed Leah up for ballet last fall, and she absolutely LOVES it! She is going to a studio that specializes in only ballet and her teacher has been absolutely awesome in teaching her the "basics"...for a three year old, that is! Leah has been so great in her class at listening and I can really notice that she is learning what she is being taught...that's always a good thing :). She looks forward to going to her class every week and I am so glad that we found something for her to do that she really enjoys. It also makes me so happy to see her dancing, since that is what I did when I was little. So much fun :).

Here are some snapshots from her class yesterday...such a cutie patootie!